Would you give God your lunch?

John 6:1-13
7/26/2009

I am going to talk about giving this morning. Now don’t get up and walk out, I know a nobody wants to hear the preacher tell the congregation how they need to give more money, so that is not what I am going to do. I am going to talk to some of you about giving more of yourself to the lord, and if there are some who aren’t giving any of yourself, then I am going to talk to you about giving some of yourself to the lord.

Lets look at Mark 10:43-45

Now, look at those lasts words Jesus says here, "not to be served, but to serve."

When you look at that statement you are looking at what the ministry of a church is all about, Ministry is simply using your time, your talents, and your resources to serve others. So, this is what I was talking about when I was talking about giving, I am talking about the giving of yourself to help God’s kingdom grow.

Why are you supposed to do that? First of all because God says that is what we are suppose to do. There are many places in the Bible that say we should use what we have to glorify God.

Secondly, because we have been chosen too.

Just think about this for a second, you have been chosen by God to be apart of his family. God has given each and everyone one of you certain gifts and certain talents that can only be used to do, what only you can do! He placed you in this time, in this community, in this ministry for a reason. What is that reason?

Thirdly, because you have been gifted. Each and every one of us has a special or unique gift that can be used to glorify the kingdom of God. A gift that can be used to help the kingdom of God grow. What is that gift you have?

Now that I have you thinking about what you can do to help this church, I will bet there are some of you sitting there saying, What I have to give can not be used by God to help this church. Can I let you in on a little secret, he can I guarantee?

Let me show you how God can use so little to do so much! How many of you know the only miracle that is recorded in all four gospels, if you do, then good, if not let me share it with you.

There was a little boy who’s friend told about this great man that was hanging out down by the sea, and that there were a lot of people there to see him, because he was teaching them great things, and he was healing the sick, and making the blind to see, and he asked if he wanted to go with him down to the sea side and see what all was going on.

Of course he did, so he ran in and asked his mom if he could go, and she said "sure", but before you leave let me pack your lunch. So the little boy’s mom packed him a lunch to take with him, and since he had a friend going she thought she better pack enough for two, then she put in their lunch sack 2 small fish and 5 small loaves of bread, and gave it to him, and they set off to the seaside to see this great man.

When they got there the place was covered with people, there was at least 5000 people there, they could not believe all the excitement. Then about that time a man came around looking to see who had food, and the little boy said "Mister I have 2 small fish and 5 loaves of bread that you can have." So the man took them and gave them to this great man, and everyone was then told to sit down, that it was time to eat. With that Jesus took the 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish, and broke them and gave thanks. Then the disciples started passing out food, and when everyone was full, they picked up 12 baskets of leftovers.

Now do you think that this little boy would have ever thought that his lunch would feed five thousand, of course not, but when what he had was given to the Lord, it was then used to glorify him.

If God can take 2 fish sandwiches and feed 5 thousand what can he do with what I have to offer? I promise you that he can do a lot, but I bet there of some of you sitting their saying, Yeah but that was then, stuff like that don’t happen anymore.

Well, let me tell you a more modern miracle then: What do you think can be accomplished with a mere .57 cents and the love of God, you say not much, well let me just share with you.

One day there was a sobbing little girl standing near a church from which she had just been turned away because it was suppose to be too crowded.

"I can’t go to Sunday school," she sobbed to the pastor as he walked by. Seeing her shabby, dirty appearance the pastor knew the real reason she had been turned away.

Taking her by the hand, he took her inside and found a place for her in the Sunday school class.

The little girl was so touched by what the pastor had done for her, that when she went to bed that night she could not sleep for thinking about all the kids that had no place to worship God.

Some two years later, the child died and the parents of the little girl called for the pastor who had been so nice to her to conduct her funeral service. While at the house talking to the parents, they gave him an old dirty purse that they had found of the little girls.

He opened it up, and inside he found 57 cents and note scribbled in a child’s handwriting. It read, "This is to go to help build the church a little bigger so more children can go to Sunday school.

For two years she had been saving every penny she could find for this offering of love. When the pastor tearfully got through reading the note, he knew instantly what he would do.

Carrying this note and the dirty, ragged purse to the pulpit with him the next Sunday, he told the story of the little girl’s unselfish love and devotion. He challenged his deacons to get busy and raise enough money for the larger building.

Now, the story does not end there! A local newspaper learned of the story and published it.

It was then read by a local realtor, who was so touched that he offered them a parcel of land worth over a million dollars. When he was told that the church could not pay near that much, he offered to sale it to them for the price of 57 cents.

Church members and people who heard this story were so moved that they started making large donations. Checks came in from far and wide. Within a year the little girl’s gift had increased to $500,000, a huge sum for that time (back near the turn of the century).

Her love of Christ and her unselfishness to give all she had, paid large dividends for the work of God. It helped her church grow larger so that more kids could worship God.

If you are ever in the city of Philadelphia, look up the Temple Baptist Church, which seats around 3,300 people, and the Temple University where thousands of kids go to college and learn about God, all of that was made possible through .57 cents.

See, the point I’m getting at is it doesn’t matter what it is you have to give. It doesn’t matter how much it is that you have to give. It doesn’t matter that you aren’t very talented.

Each and every one of you has something that you could give to the ministry of this church. If you’re a good cook, then help out with the meals we have. If you’re a good organizer, which Lord knows I’m not, then help us organize the Library. If you have a lot of knowledge of the Bible, step out and start a small group Bible study. If you know finances or are good at helping make decisions, make yourself available for committees.

You can’t do anything, sure you can, and I’m sure there are some things around here that can be done to help the church, such as helping clean or straighten up.

The bottom line is this, Worry not about what you have to give. Whatever it is, God will bless and use it to the Glory of God’s Kingdom.

Remember. God took a little shepherd boy named David and made him a great King. Good took an old man with a speech impediment and freed the Israelites from Egypt. Jesus took a bunch of fisherman, and a tax collector and made them into great religious leaders. God took a little boy’s lunch and feed 5000.

So you just provide the bread, and let God take care of the miracles.

I know it is hard to believe that God can use you to do things in his kingdom, but let me end with this personal story. I fought with God for a long time about becoming a minister. I would say, God I can’t become a minister I am not good enough to be one or God I can’t become a minister, I can’t afford it, I don’t have any extra money now, so how can I take a pay cut and make it. But here I am, a minister, because God convinced me he could use me, and I sure am glad that he is.

So here is the simple reality when something is given to God.

One little lunch satisfied many. One little lunch made a difference. One little lunch revealed the power of God. One little lunch changed lives. One little lunch strengthened people’s faith.

What about you? Do you have anything to give God? If Jesus can use one little lunch to feed 5000, what can he do with what you have? Jesus lets nothing go to waste, He will bless whatever you have. So let’s get in there and do what he wants us all to do, go to work in God’s ministry.