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5 When
Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come
unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these
may eat? 6 And this he said to prove him:
for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, Two hundred
pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take
a little. 8 One of his disciples, Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, 9 There is a lad here, which hath
five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? 10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place.
So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves; and
when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to
them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 12 When they were filled, he said
unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain,
that nothing be lost. 13 Therefore they gathered them together,
and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which
remained over and above unto them that had eaten. (John 6:4-13)
Nothing of God’s provision, and no one
of His Elect, shall perish from a lack of saving grace. I see a direct
correlation between the account of the feeding of the five thousand (plus women
and children) and the Syro-Phoenician Woman of Tyre. It is the Gospel text for Second
Sunday in Lent according to the 1928 BoCP Lectionary: 21 Then Jesus went thence, and
departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan
came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O
Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is
grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth
after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped
him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to
dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet
the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said
unto her, O woman, great is thy
faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from
that very hour. (Matt 15:21-28)
We all have crumbs and fragments of
our lives that are most valuable, but are not treasured as gold and silver but
strewn into the dustbin of our moments of struggles and strife. This is
particularly true of the wasted opportunities of youth. In the leading text
from the Gospel of John 6, great multitudes were fed. They were miraculously
fed from a meagre resource of five loaves of bread and two small fish. These,
in themselves, were fragments and no measure of the needed provision for so
many. But the Lord can do much with our smallest offering. The youth who
provided these small fragments of bread and fish put the fragments of his young
life to great purpose. Not very many youth would offer their only meal to so
many, but it was more than enough in the hands of the Lord and, in the end, the
boy received his fill of bread and fish.
It should be noted, too, that the Lord
is pleased to give His disciples a role in serving His blessings of Bread to
others. We have that opportunity today to share the Bread of Heaven to the
multitudes who hunger and thirst. After the feeding on that day, there were
twelve baskets taken up of the fragments alone. These were gathered since the
Lord has untold multitudes more that must be fed from those fragments. Just remember
that a fragment with the Lord is always an endless supply. 16 And other sheep I have, which are
not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and
there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. (John 10:16) Jesus was speaking to the ‘fold’ of
Jerusalem; but He had other sheep that were not of that fold. It was the
unnumbered millions from all over the world which would come to be fed with
those fragments taken up on the mountain.
Now we will examine the Syro-Phoenician
Woman and her desperate plight. She was not of the fold of the Jews – that is
certain. 26
The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he
would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. (Mark 7:26) That woman stands in the stead of each
of us who are in desperate need of a Savior and who the Lord claims as other sheep not of this fold. The Lord, contrary to popular
belief, spoke tenderly to the woman. It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to
dogs. The term our
Lord used for ‘dogs’ was puppies – the pets that lingered below the table for
every fragment and crumb that came down to them. He did not ask out of
rudeness, but out of a compassion that would try her faith as a profound
demonstration to those around Him. It does not matter the size of the serving,
whether a full plate, or only a fragment – it will ALWAYS be sufficient for
those who hunger and thirst after God’s Word.
Now, there are other fragments that do
not measure up to the fragments that Jesus offers, but are valuable
nonetheless. In the rage of youth, consider the hours, days, and longer
fragments of time that are idled away on the poisoned crumbs of the world.
These fragments of our youth are so valuable that they cannot be reconstituted
even at the greatest efforts in the waning days of our lives. They are:
1.
Time
What a rare and valuable resource, but
pitifully uncherished by youth. It seems in the early days of youth that we
shall live forever, and there is no end of time on our full plates of life. We
spend those resources of time as if they were endless on matters that have no
bearing whatsoever on the meaningful issues of life. Consider what a privilege
to come to the Lord in our youth while there is an abundance of time remaining
to serve and prosper in His Kingdom. Though He will accept us in our ancient
days, see what little opportunity for meaningful service remain to the elderly
person whose time is measured in days or weeks instead of the years and decades
of youth. “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my
soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land,
where no water is; 2 To see thy power and thy glory,
so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.” Psalms 63:1-2) In all matters of
life, early is always better than later.
2.
Knowledge and Wisdom
True knowledge and learning results in
wisdom – the ultimate in the knowledge of the Lord. We learn not only the
ancient truths of God and His Creation, but learn wisdom in how to measure and
apply that knowledge in our lives. The young have a plentiful supply of time to
acquire the treasures of knowledge and wisdom that is not available to those of
advancing years and gathering shadows. The Bible verses and stories committed
to memory in our youth become the golden treasures of our latter years. They
provide us with hope, faith, and a glimpse at the opening Gates of Splendor
that lie ahead for all who believe. 2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the
words of understanding; 3 To receive the instruction of
wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; 4 To give subtilty to the simple,
to the young man knowledge and discretion. 5 A wise man will
hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto
wise counsels: (Prov 1:1-5)
Knowledge is cumulative as is wisdom – comprised of fragments here and there
which results in the whole.
3.
Money
My father used to tell me that I must
have the first and last penny if I would own one million dollars. We see from
this that wealth, too, is made up of fragments of pennies that add together to
make a great treasure. It is important to teach youth to begin saving money at
an early age – first the piggy bank; then the savings certificates; then banks
and investments. All should be used for the purpose of doing service in
charitable giving and furthering the work of the church and her missionaries on
foreign fields. Donating money to satisfy the needs of others do them good, but
it does the giver even better service. 35 I have shewed you all things,
how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words
of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to
receive. (Acts 20:35) Which would you prefer to be – the
needy beggar, or the benevolent giver?
4.
Usefulness
Life is based upon habits – either
those motivated by greed, or those motivated by righteousness. We must feed one
or the other of them. The righteous man knows the Word of the Lord and its
necessity as a rule of life. When he first becomes aware of his election and
calling in God, he may suffer from many old and sinful habits. These do not
perish easily. It requires a conscious effort to always put God, and His Holy
Word, first in all that he does. This is not a simple goal to achieve. It at
first seems awkward and even impossible, but the Holy Spirit is hovering over
the deep of our hearts to make the waters smooth. The old fragments of greed
and carnality slowly disappear and are replaced with the fragmentary habits of
righteousness and decency. This is called sanctification, and it draws us ever
closer to the Way, the
Truth and the Life.
Let us forever
settle for the crumbs and fragments of righteousness rather than the whole
cloth of evil and wicked desires. If we fail in our pursuit of righteousness,
let us replace the desire for evil with a love of God and His Creation. It then
will not be a sacrifice but a joy.
