What’cha Got?

John 6:1-14 July 26, 2009

The “Yes, and . . . “ story of Jesus’ life continues today.
This “Yes, and . . . “ story follows right on the heels of last week’s story.

Remember how the disciple came home from their 2 by 2 mission and were tired?
And remember how Jesus planned a restful vacation for them?
And remember how, by the time they got across the lake to their retreat there was a huge crowd waiting for them?
And remember how we felt when we saw the crowds?
Jesus we’re tired, we need some rest.
And remember how Jesus had compassion on the crowd and began teaching them?

Well, today you get the rest of the story.
Today you get one of the most important stories in all of the Bible.
Want to know why I know it is sooooo important?
It is the only miracle story reported in all four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
This is the one miracle or sign that gets reported in all four stories of Jesus life.
Pretty significant considering all that’s not shared by the gospels.

Jesus takes the huge crowd up the hill and starts teaching.
After a while the crowd gets hungry.
And the disciples are worried.
What do you do with a hungry crowd when you yourself have been living on handouts?

Jesus turns to Javier and says, “So these folks are looking hungry. How’re we going to feed them?”
“What’cha got, Javier?”
“What’cha got, Martha?”
“What’cha got, Lisa?”

And Lisa, Javier, Martha and Philip turn to Jesus and say, “What do we got? You, of all people, know what we got.”
“We got next to nothin’.”
“Yes, Jesus,” Greg says, “but it would take 2/3 of my year’s painting salary to feed all these people.”
“Jesus, there are 10-15000 people here,” Kent says, “How can we even start?”

Then Diosselyn slips up beside Jesus and says, “Hey, Jesus, I brought a friend with me today!”
Simon Peter says, “Imagine that, Diosselyn brought a friend!”
And Diosselyn says, “Hey Jesus, my friend happens to have five bags of tortillas and two pounds of carne asada.”
Sam and Luke butt in and say, “That’ll do for us, but what are the rest of you gonna eat?”
David says, “Jesus, I work in a restaurant and the numbers don’t add up.”
Gely and Veronica say, “Right, We’ve stretched a lot of meals in our day but, 15,000 people and five bags of tortillas and two pounds of asada, Puuulease!”
Jesus turns to Jean & Cheny and says, “Make ‘em sit down.” And they do. And the people sit.

And Jesus took the tortillas and the asada and grabbed enough for himself and then started it around?!?
No. He took the tortillas and the asada and raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Thank you, God, for this gift.”
And then the food went around and everybody, all 15,000, had all the tacos they wanted.
And when the dinner was over Telma and Jennifer and Ricardo and Ivan went around and cleaned up the leftovers.
And what was left over?
Twelve baskets of tacos.
How many disciples were there? (twelve)

And again Jesus said, “What’cha got, Javier, Martha, Lisa?”
And each of the disciples replied, “More than I ever could have dreamed possible.”

There’s a lot to be learned from this story.
It’s a story of amazing grace.

We live in a world that tells us you get what you deserve.
The world says, “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.”
The world says, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he’ll sit in boat drinking beer for hours on end.” (No I think I got that one mixed up.) But you get my drift.

Did anybody in this story deserve the meal they got?
Does sitting through a sermon entitle you to a free meal? (sniff, sniff) Well maybe so.

Think about the people who showed up by the lake that day.
I don’t think there was an admission fee.
Nor was there anyone checking peoples papers or looking for signs of circumcision.
And I don’t think that the police were there weeding out the criminals.
There were probably some spies from the temple.
My guess is that there were democrats, republicans, greenies, libertarians, communists and dare I say it . . . socialists!
Jesus didn’t require anything from anyone to receive the meal.
This wasn’t a weed and seed program. It was 100% seed.
Pure, unadulterated, awesome-tastic, amazing grace.

What do we do with this story?
Grandview Park, what do we do with this story?
Is this just pure folly? Is it Pollyanna thinking?
When bank accounts are shrinking and the bills keep coming?
What do we do with this story?
When the needs of our neighbors, the world are increasing as it seems our resources are drying up?
What do we do with this story?

What do you say when Jesus turns to you and says, “What’cha got?”
Is it “yes, but . . .” time?

Jesus takes whatever we have and multiplies it.
The surprising thing is who it is that’s brave enough to admit he has something.
Out of that entire crowd, one boy steps forward and says, “I got this!”
Once again, it is a little child who leads.
A child’s faith trumps the faith of 15,000 others.

What’cha got, Grandview Park?
Are you defined by the hard-cold facts of a balance sheet?
Is the information your getting about the economy, about your retirement accounts, about the bottom line making you slow to answer Jesus?
Are you tempted to say, “Jesus, we ain’t got nothin’.” ?
"Look at us. Look at this building. Look at our bank account."

But just when we are about to answer, a huge crowd of kids show up for the summer and somehow are fed.

This sermon is not much different than last week.
In a world where we hear “Yes, but . . .” know that the Good Shepherd’s answer is “Yes, and . .”

Don’t let worry and fear derail the mission that Christ has for your life and for the life of this church.
Scarcity is how the world operates. Cold-hard facts are how the world makes decisions.
Abundance is where Jesus comes from. Dreams and visions and missions of hope and faith are how Jesus makes decisions.

Everyday when that alarm goes off Jesus’ question for you is “What’cha got?”
“Have you got enough to get through this day?” Jesus says.
And while we’re rubbing our eyes and clearing the cobwebs out Jesus whispers, “Remember the five bags of tortillas and the 2 pounds of asada.”

And at noon when you’re trying to get the bills paid and trying to figure out where lunch is going to come from, Jesus whispers, “Remember the five bags of tortillas and the 2 pounds of asada.”

And when you close your eyes at night but your brain won’t shut off because there is so much to worry about, Jesus whispers, “Remember the five bags of tortillas and the 2 pounds of asada.”

I know, then you’ll have to get up and go to the fridge!

Trust and believe.
God is good.
Life is a gift.
And Jesus’ amazing grace is always there for you.