The Bethany Bullet - Week of March 26, 2017
Sermon: “The Transformative Power
of a Gift”
Text: John
6:1-14
Outside of
Jesus’ own Resurrection, the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels is the
feeding of the five thousand. Of all the
miracles Jesus worked, it is that miracle that stands out as unique. Jesus, who never did anything
unintentionally, involved others in the miraculous feeding. The disciple who pondered how to feed the
crowd, the child whose lunch was offered, the twelve who helped distribute the
meal; each of these played a role in the event.
True, while ONLY Jesus worked the miracle, He intentionally chose to use
the gifts and service of others to bless the recipients of His miraculous
action.
Our
Renaissance at Bethany recognizes that the Lord works through His people for
the sake of His people, intimate followers, and the crowd alike. In other words, we know that Jesus blesses
through Bethany and that He works through the gifts and talents and service of
the people of Bethany to bring about His blessings to those at Bethany and
those outside of Bethany.
The child in
the account of this miracle, recorded in each Gospel, had two small fish and
five barley loaves. If that boy would
have run away from the disciples and kept his lunch unto himself it would have
remained a fine meal. Only in turning
his lunch over to Jesus did it become a miracle worthy of being recorded in
each Gospel.
Of course,
the details of what happened later in the day are unknown to us. There is a good chance that the boy went home
and had to tell his mom that the disciples of Jesus “stole” his lunch and then
Jesus fed 5000 people with it. There is
also a good chance that mom didn’t immediately believe this report. Perhaps she came to trust her son the
following day at the market or well when a neighbor who was in attendance
confirmed the miracle; maybe when she read the record in a Gospel 40 years
later; maybe when in heaven she struck up a conversation with someone who said
they started following Jesus the day He fed thousands with a little boys lunch
which was freely offered.
Two things
are certain, that offering changed eternities for some and all of us have an
offering we too can freely and sacrificially turn over to Jesus.
Some of us
at Bethany have “small fish” and “barley loaves” so to speak, while others of
us have “King Salmon” and “large French baguettes”. While we the members of Bethany will not all
offer equal gifts, we can each offer an equal sacrifice. We each offer an equal sacrifice when we
offer to our God something that is ours
(which is actually really His – remember our stuff is not our stuff) for
His sacred purpose. The miraculous is at
the heart of the Renaissance as renewal, restoration and revitalization are all
miraculous works of God accomplished in God’s Son even when the means are the
gifts of God’s people.
Equal
sacrifice means that our Renaissance commitment isn’t quite as easy as giving
that which won’t be missed. Some of us
will give up Starbucks other will give stock, some will give-up vacation others
vacation property, some will forsake a monthly evening of entertainment for
three years others will give an investment product that has been growing for
years. While our gifts will vary and not
be equal in amount or size or duration, when these gifts are given in faith and
trust and when that which is offered is something that will be missed we will
know the joy of equal sacrifice.
These
commitments will also be sacrificial gifts because they are gifts given to our
Lord’s Renaissance at Bethany that are over and above regular tithes and offerings. Both gifts, our tithes and our offerings, and
our sacrificial gifts to the Renaissance result in stories we may never know
the details of but we can be confident that the conclusion thereof is an
eternal offering of glory and praise to God in Christ, the author of the
Renaissance of souls and sacred spaces here at Bethany.
If you have
not yet picked up your Renaissance Commitment Card you can get them in the
church office. Return it to the church
office. Please put C/O Renaissance on
the envelope.
-Pastor Kevin
Kritzer
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home