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03/01/2009 - A Vacation to Remember, Mark 6:30-44

All of us need rest from time to time, don't we? We all need a break. Some one once said, "Come a part or else you'll come apart." And that's true. We all need time away from the routine and the demands of our day to day responsibilities.

Today is March 1^st and I've got to be honest with you March is probably my least favorite month of the year. No offense to the Irish in our midst! But it certainly feels like the longest month of the year. If we took March off the calendar and went right from February to April it wouldn't bother me at all … except I would miss March Madness!

But by this time every year I'm ready for winter to end and spring to come. I'm ready to put away the bulky clothes and get out the shorts. I'm ready to push the clocks ahead and get more daylight. I'm ready to turn off the T.V. and get outside in the fresh air. I'm ready for a vacation. And March is a great time to take one. But if you can't take a vacation, March is a great time to start planning one.

I love planning vacations. But as some of you know our vacations haven't always turned out real well. It started a number of years ago when we went to Maine on vacation and had a car accident our first day there. We were rear ended at a red light in Portland. Chelsea was 2 years old and in the back seat and Jennifer was in the front seat eight months pregnant with Jordan. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but our car was totaled and I spent the rest of the week on the phone with body shops and mechanics and insurance companies and rental car agencies. It wasn't fun and it certainly wasn't my idea of a vacation.

On our very next vacation we went to Ocean City, NJ, and we didn't have a car accident, but we were there the same week of "The Perfect Storm.," remember the movie? It was a weather event that had never happened before in recorded history. Three storms converged in the North Atlantic producing 100 foot waves. Well we were in it and half the island got flooded. Not great beach weather.

On our next vacation we went to Myrtle Beach and it rained all week. In fact, they had a hurricane and it wasn't even hurricane season! It was unprecedented. And so we packed up our bags and came home early. And now we really started to wonder, "God what have we done to deserve this?"

Well fortunately, things have gotten better since then. But people still ask us, "When are you going on vacation this year?" We want to make sure that's not the week we go!"

There's nothing worse than getting all excited about a vacation or some time off and then have something ruin your plans. It's a real drag! Well today we'll see that's exactly what happened to Jesus and his twelve disciples. They were looking forward to some much needed rest and time away when something happened that totally ruined their plans, but ended up being a vacation to remember. If you have a Bible turn with me to Mark 6:30.

Mark 6:30-32, (Map Slide) The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. ³¹Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest."³²So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.

Now remember after Jesus was rejected in his hometown of Nazareth he had sent the Twelve out two by two to take the message of the kingdom to towns and villages all around Galilee. And he had given them kingdom authority to cast out demons and heal all kinds of diseases. And he told them not to take anything with them because in the process he was teaching them to walk by faith and showing them how God would provide through the people who responded to their message.

Well, you can imagine that they couldn't wait to get back to Jesus and tell their stories of what happened on their trip and how people responded to their teaching and how God had healed the sick and drove out demons and provided for their needs. It was incredible! They had never seen anything like it before and they couldn't wait to process it with Jesus and the rest of the Twelve!

But now they're getting frustrated because they keep getting interrupted. They have so much to share but they're having a hard time getting Jesus alone. In fact, so many people are coming and going that they don't even have time to eat!

So Jesus says, "We're outta here! Come with me. Let's take a break. You've worked hard and you all need a vacation and I've got just the perfect place in mind, a nice, quiet cove that not many people know about. Let's hang out there for awhile and get refreshed." And they say, "Yes!"

So they hop in the boat by themselves and sail off to a solitary place with Jesus. Oh, it sounds great. We'll set up camp. We'll take a swim. We'll build a fire. We'll go fishing. We'll make smores. Tell jokes and stories and laugh together. We'll have Jesus all to ourselves and we can pick his brain and find out how he would have answered this question and handled that situation. And we'll get away from all these people. We are peopled out!

Look at verse 33, But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.

This is their version of the "perfect storm" that's going to ruin their vacation. The people on the shore are watching their little boat as it crosses the lake. Now remember the Sea of Galilee is not that large and from certain vantage points you can see the whole lake. And it's also about 600 feet below sea level surrounded on the north side by hills and mountains so it's easy to see the boats that are out on the water. And when they spot Jesus' boat they take off on foot. And they're running through towns and people are saying, "Where are you going? Why the hurry? What are you running for?" And they say, "Jesus is coming! Jesus is coming! Follow us!"

And so while Jesus is sailing the three or four miles across the lake the towns are emptying and this mob of people is running to that quiet, little cove that Jesus said would be deserted. In fact, they're running so fast that they get there before Jesus. And as the boat gets closer to the shore, the disciples see this mob of people waving and they're like, "Oh no! I can't believe this! Jesus you said this would be a quiet place. We're not going to get any rest here. Let's turn around!" That's their reaction, but that's not Jesus' response.

Look at verse 34,When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

Jesus has a completely different response. He sees this huge crowd of people and he has compassion on them. Literally, his heart goes out to them because they are like sheep without a shepherd. Now that was a very common expression used in the Old Testament.

In Numbers 27 Moses uses it. At the end of his life he asks the Lord to raise up a successor who will lead Israel so that the Lord's people will not be like sheep without a shepherd. People need leadership and Moses prayed that they would get it.

In 1 Kings 22:17 Micaiah a prophet of God uses the same phrase when he says, "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd." And the Lord said, "These people have no master."

We're all like sheep, the Scripture says, and we all need a master, a leader, a shepherd, someone that we can trust, someone that we can follow, someone who loves us, and will take care of us. (Blank Slide) Because without a shepherd sheep get lost and they get hungry and they die because they're helpless little things. And we are too. Without a shepherd we're lost and we're hungry and we're helpless and we die and we face an eternity separated from God which is why we need a Savior.

So thank God for Jesus because he's the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. Jesus is the only shepherd worth following. He's the one who saves us and feeds us and helps us and gives us life both now and forever. He's the one who makes us lie down in green pastures and leads us besides still waters. He's the one who restores our soul. He's the shepherd who guides us in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. He's the one who walks with us through the valley of shadow of death so we need not fear evil because he is with us and his rod and his staff they comfort us. He's the one who prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies and anoints our head with oil so that our cup overflows. He's the one whose goodness and love will follow us all the days of our life and one day we will dwell in his house forever. That's the promise that Jesus gives his followers.

So he sees this mob of people and he's moved with compassion on them and what does he do? He teaches them. He teaches them many things. Why does he do that? Because sheep need to be fed. Jesus said that people don't live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. We are more than just physical beings. We have souls that need to be fed and nourished on the truth. And so he gives them the truth about life and about God and about the kingdom and about who knows what else. And the people are lovin' it! Nobody's going home.

And now it's getting late and the sun's starting to set and the disciples are hungry. Remember they haven't eaten in awhile because of all these people. So we read in verse 35, By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's already very late. ³⁶Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."

"Send them away, Jesus, they're hungry and they need something to eat!" And I'm sure they were just thinking of the crowd, right? Wrong! I think they're still ticked off that they're vacation is ruined by all these people and they're tired and they're hungry and they just want Jesus to close the meeting in prayer and send the people away so they can eat.

Verse 37, But he answered, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "That would take almost a year's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?"

Now this is a huge crowd. Verse 44 says that the number of men who were there was five thousand. In those days they didn't count women and children. So this could have easily been a crowd of ten thousand people. When was the last time you were part of a crowd of ten thousand people? You have to go to a professional sporting event to see that many people.

So they say to Jesus, "How in the world are we going to cater that kind of meal? It's going to completely drain our resources. Even if we go to McDonald's and just buy everybody a "Happy Meal" that's going to cost us a year's wages."

So we read in verse 38,"How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see." When they found out, they said, "Five—and two fish."

"Find out what we've got to work with." Jesus says, "There's got to be somebody in this huge crowd who's got some food." And so they go around and talk to the people and all they can come up with is five loaves and two fish. Nobody wants to share what's in their backpack, nobody but a little boy.

Now this is the only miracle that Jesus ever did outside of his resurrection that's found in all four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. That's how much of an impact it made on the disciples. Everybody writes about it. But only John tells us that they got the five loaves and two fish from a little boy. Out of that whole crowd of thousands of people it took a little boy to say, "Sure, Jesus. Here's my lunch. It's not much, but you can have it!"

Now when you think of five loaves and two fish don't think of five loaves of Strohmann Bread cut in slices and two large salmon. Think of five English muffins and two little sardines because most likely that's what it was. In fact, in John's gospel we read that they were barley loaves. Barley was fed to animals. Only the poorest of the poor ate barley loaves. So this was a poor boy's lunch. It's not going to go very far until it's given to Jesus.

Look at verse 39,Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.

So the disciples fan out and say, "Okay everybody sit down and count off. We need groups of a hundred and groups of fifty with some room in between. Yes, you can sit with your friends if you want." "Why are we sitting down?" "I don't know why. Just do it because Jesus said so, okay!" The Greek word for groups in verses 39 and 40 is very vivid. It's actually the same Greek word that is used for rows of vegetables in a garden. So this is all very organized. It would have to be with 10,000 people. That's like 100 groups of 100 each.

And so they sit down on the green grass which is a significant clue that this is probably late April or early May because the grass is only green in Israel for about a month. Once summer hits everything turns brown. So it's probably around Passover time about a year before Jesus will be crucified in Jerusalem.

Verse 41, So taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, Jesus gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²They all ate and were satisfied.

It's a miracle! Jesus says grace and then starts breaking these five little English muffins and divides up these two little sardines and it just keeps multiplying. And the disciples are running back and forth and the people are passing it around in their groups. And Peter's looking a James and James is looking at John and they're like, "I can't believe this! What is going on? Where is this stuff coming from?"

And the people are eating and their laughing and they're saying, "Hey, more bread over here. This bread is delicious! Yo, more fish over here. Man this fish is fresh!" And they eat until they're satisfied. And the disciples are like, "Anybody want anymore? Can we get you anything else?" "No we're stuffed. That was so good. Hey, tell Jesus we said thank you! And let us know where he got that bread and those fish. What's the name of that restaurant? Do they deliver?"

Look at verse 43, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.

Remember the disciples were hungry. That's what started this whole thing. And now Jesus makes sure they get their share, a basketful for each of them. It's an incredible story. It's a vacation to be remember! But let me tell you this, nothing would have happened on the hill that day if it wasn't for that little boy giving up his poor little lunch of five loaves and two fish. It wasn't a lot, but it was all he had. And Jesus took it and made it go a long way. And I think there's a lesson in this for all of us.

We may not feel like we have a whole lot to give to Jesus, but when we put what we have in his hands he can make it go a long way. We just have to be willing to give it up to him. So we give him our time and our talents and our treasure and our little lives and we ask him to use them for his kingdom and his glory.

And notice something else. Jesus could have bypassed the disciples and just snapped his fingers and put fish and bread in every body's lap. But he didn't do it that way. He gave out the bread through his disciples. They were his hands and his feet. They couldn't create it. They couldn't multiply it. But they could distribute it. And so Jesus is asking us to partner with him to give out the bread of life to those around us who are hungry. And we do that as we share the good news of Jesus in word and in deed. We are his hands and his feet today. We are the body of Christ.

And if we put ours lives in the hands of Jesus there's no telling what he can do in us and with us and through us. Little is always much in the hands of the master.

A few weeks ago I had lunch with Adam Hoover who was home from France for his grandmother's memorial service. And Adam mentioned that he saw someone worshipping at Valley View that he used to work with. And it made him so happy because four years ago he gave that person a Bible and never knew what happened. And we both said, "Isn't it amazing what God can do if we just keep sowing the seed."

Sheep without a shepherd. That's what we are without Jesus. Jesus is the good shepherd who gives his life for the sheep. And that's the thought we bring to this table this morning. The good shepherd laid down his life for us. In a moment we're going to sing a song called "Rescue" that goes like this.

You are the source of life
I can't be left behind
No one else will do
I will take hold of you
I need you Jesus

My heart is yours for life
I need your hand in mine
No one else will do
Lord, I put my trust in you

I need You Jesus to come to my rescue
Where else can I go
There's no other name by which I am saved
Capture me with grace
I will follow You

FOR MORE INFORMATION about Valley View Community Church, feel free to contact us at info@valleyviewseek.org or call 610.631.2707.