Monday, June 05, 2006

you give them something to eat

You give them something to eat.

- Jesus

This is such an incredible and troubling line to me. The disciples are doing their best to follow Jesus. They’re not Jesus. They’re just following him. What do they know? If they have a problem, they turn to Jesus. They cast their cares upon him for he cares for them. But Jesus didn’t look at himself the same way these elders saw him, nor did he see them as they saw themselves.

Jesus saw himself as the first among many who would follow.

Sometimes I come across someone who needs help. When leaving the movie with a couple of friends a few weeks ago, a guy staggered up and sat carefully on the steps in front of the theater. He was shaking. He was stoned. He wore a t-shirt jeans, was kind of dumpy, and had a mohawk—one of the 18 inch straight out kind that made him look more like a Trojan or a rooster than a savage. In any case he looked like an outcast. My friends and I stayed around talking, and I frequently looked back over my shoulder to see what he was doing, to see if he was ok, and prayed in my mind the whole time. I asked God to comfort him and lead him to peace. I asked God to protect him on that very night with his angels. I don’t know how he got there or where he was going next. Maybe he was going to meet someone there. Maybe he liked movies but didn’t have any money. Maybe he was hoping some of his friends would happen upon him. Maybe being at the theater was the last time he could remember having fun. Maybe the theater reminded him of one of his few happy childhood moments with his mom or his dad. Or maybe he was just confused—harassed and helpless, like a sheep without a shepherd.

Anyway, I prayed for him. As we got ready to leave, I mentioned the guy to my friends. One of them, no stranger to bad drug trips, said he had seen him and was wondering what was up with him as well. The other asked if I wanted to go over and help him. I told him no, that I had been praying for him the whole time, and that I believe God will take care of him. But it’s bugged me ever since.

Jesus made known to his disciples everything he learned from His Father. And Jesus told them that that they were to go on and do everything He had done. And yet, they turned to Jesus when they were in trouble or didn’t know what to do. It seems like Jesus put up with them for a little while because he understood it was a process of learning by discovery. But eventually he expected them to just know and be and do…without continually crying out to him.

You give them something to eat.

This amazes me. And it bothers me too, because I frankly don’t get it. When I break bread it doesn’t multiply, and it seems like it’s my fault, like there is something wrong with me. It might not bother me so much if it was one of those unique Jesus moments, one of those special times when Jesus supposedly did something as a sign to reveal his glory and prove He was the Messiah. But this was not one of those moments, and man does that make me feel naked.

The scene was that Jesus had sent out the twelve on their own to heal the sick and to deliver those under demonic oppression, which they did. Then they reconnected with Jesus and withdrew, but everyone followed them. Jesus of course welcomed the crowd (of 5000-10,000) and began healing everyone who needed it. Then the twelve came to Jesus and asked him to send all the people into town to eat. I imagine the crowd looked pretty bedraggled. This is when Jesus says, “You give them something to eat.” Us? We? But we’re not Jesus. We’re just following him. We are powerless. He is the only one who can do miracles. Maybe that’s not what they said, but it’s what I am tempted to say. And it’s certainly what most Christians say and expect me to say. But I think Jesus had other ideas.

Like I said, this wasn’t one of those miracle moments unique to Jesus. If it was, then it would be easier for me to dismiss it. But the same story had happened before. A man just like us named Elisha was out in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of his own disciples in the middle of a famine. A man showed up with a few loaves of bread for Elisha, but he said to give it to the people. When the guy complained that there was no way what he brought would feed 100 men, Elisha replied, “They will eat and have leftovers.” And they did.

Maybe Jesus was thinking about this very story when he told the twelve, “You give them something to eat.” Yeah, he probably was.

Jesus saw himself as the first among many who would follow, but also as the inheritor of all who came before him. He is the sum of all things. He is over all, in all, and through all. And in him we live and move and have our being. So why wouldn’t he expect us to feed his sheep?

You know, I bet it’s just as frustrating for Jesus as it is for me. I bet he wonders when I will get it, quit asking him to do everything, and starting giving them something to eat.

2 comments:

John Three Thirty said...

this is so solid.

Codependency on Jesus. Don't hear that preached much, but what a great point you hit on here.

On one hand, the much-quoted John 3:16 says whoever clings to the Son has (eternal) life.

And so Followers cling to Him. We remain close to the Vine, and ask Him to do...everything.

And then on the flip side Jesus says "help these people".

As we cling to Him, do we have the ears to hear Him saying "okay, you cling to Me, great, yet right now I want you to do x (feed, heal, cast, etc)"?

Might this be tied into the act of being weaned off of milk and beginning to eat meat?

When do we cling, and when do we do?

I think this ties into something that often comes up in conversation: getting on the same page with God.

Are we where He is, or are we off doing our own thing in His name and calling it His? (Matt 7:21-23)

You've often mentioned Jesus was on the page with the Father.

Such simplicity.

And as complicated as it seems we the Body make things (with our debates and contentions and opinions and spiritual programs and committees), isn't our following as basic as getting on the same page with the Father and simply doing what He bids when He bids?

As we do this, get on the same page with the Father, we know when it's time to rely and when it's time to do.

This ties in with the spirit of Ecclesiastes 3: there's a time to lean, and a time to do. There's a time to pray, and a time to act.

This post compels me get a spiritual Q-tip to make sure my ears are cleaned out so they can hear.

Are we in position if God says "okay, I know you've been doing a mid-week worship service for umpteen years, but now I'd like for you to take that mid-week time to feed the poor, go visit widows and the sick, etc"?

This pricks thinking about a spiritual rut that many of us don't think about. Awesome.

Steve Coan said...

Maybe it is part of a maturing process, maybe it's kind of like when we grow up we will be just like Jesus, like there comes a time when the disciple is just like his teacher.

On the other hand, maybe it's not like growing up at all, maybe it's rather like being a little child. Good fruit is borne on the tips of the branches, not the vine. Maybe me giving them something to eat is just me being an extension of Jesus, and Jesus being an extension of God.

Whichever it is, Jesus it seems is interested in getting out of the business of feeding the world. It's like he did that and showed us what it looks like not so that when the same situations came up we would run to him and ask him to do it again, but rather so that we would know how to do it ourselves. He showed us what it was to forgive sin, to heal disease, to touch the unclean, to feed the multitudes, to give to the poor, to deliver the oppressed, and to preach good tidings, even before he had all authority given to him. And then he said, "All heavenly and earthly authority has been given to me; therefore now YOU go."

So interesting.

Maybe it was like he was the original tip, but now the tip has grown into a vine, and the vine has sprouted new tips that will bear fruit and feed the world. And if that's the case, then it's not at all like I'm all grown up now and so I don't need Jesus to feed the multitude anymore. On the contrary, it is because of my very connection to the Vine that this tip can offer anything at all. But it is the tip after all that sprouts the fruit, not the Vine.

What an honor to feed God's flock.

This song is resonating with me. It's in my heart and has found my voice. I admit to being a Christina Perry fan. I've been known to...