Luke 9:12-17

Luke 9:12-17 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.” He replied, “You give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish — unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” (About five thousand men were there.) But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

How often do we say, Send the crowd away so they can fend for themselves? Give them freedom to find their own way out of this predicament. But Jesus says, “You give them something to eat.” Wait a minute we say, they are not our responsibility. They should be able to get their own food; they have two feet. In our humanness, that is pretty much our universal answer to others' needs. As Cain, we bemoan, Am I my brother's keeper? (Genesis 4:9) But in the above scripture, Jesus tells us that we are our brother's keeper. We have obligations to our brother if we are Christ's disciples. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? (1 John 3:17)

Yes, Jesus performed a miracle that day by feeding the five thousand, and no, He did not provide lodging for them, but He did address the people's need at that time. He fed them. He did not just willy nilly provide for them. No, it was a purposeful action, an organized feeding. There was planning in this miracle. “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. Jesus did not say, well, if food somehow comes down from heaven, we will all rush over there and partake of it. No, his plan was well organized. When we desire to do something for the Lord, it usually takes effort; it usually takes planning to accomplish the miracle God intends.

A lot of people go to church expecting to be served. They are not in a planning mode to serve God. Therefore, they are often oblivious to other people's needs. They are at church to be served, not to serve. They are there to be fed, not to feed someone else. They are there expecting a miracle for themselves, but they are not there to be part of a miracle for others. In this story, the apostles in the presence of Jesus were commanded to be part of the miracle that Jesus had planned for the five thousand. They were not observers, watching a performance by God; they became part of his answer to the predicament of so many hungry people.

Almost everything we do for God takes planning. If we are going to feed the people at church, someone has to bring and to prepare the food. If we are going to make people feel welcomed at church, someone has to greet the worshippers. If we are going to make people feel loved, someone must give a hug or an encouraging word. Jesus planned the miracle in the above passage. We must allow him to use us to plan his miracles, to welcome his presence. God came to the people that day in the form of food for them. Out of the apostles' hands, He fed the people. Out of our lives, He'll love people: He'll give them grace if we are obedient to serve them and not ourselves. Today, expect God to show you how to make a miracle happen in your life. Take your eyes off yourself and your needs and look to Jesus. He won't let you send the people in your life away to fend for themselves. He will ask you to sit them down and to serve them in an organized manner, creating a miracle of love for them, for this is your reasonable service and your privilege as a child of God.