Divine Service on the Jesus Feeding of the 5,000

Uploaded by Our Savior Lutheran Church Muscatine on 2017-03-27.

Audio Block

Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more

April Newsletter

Sunday Bulletin

Events Calendar

Printed Sermon  on John 6:1-15 Jesus Feeds of the 5,000

Grace and mercy to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me read the text as written in John chapter 6 again: 5Lifting up His eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 Jesus said this to test Philip, for Jesus Himself knew what He would do. 7Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Jesus, 9“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11Jesus then took the loaves, and when Jesus had given thanks, Jesus distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12And when they had eaten their fill, Jesus told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14When the people saw the miracle that Jesus had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

Let us pray: Bread of Heaven, You richly feed all who follow You. This includes not only the pious, but the weak as well. Heighten my awareness of Your concern for me, and for all people, as shown in the miracles You perform and as heard in the message of Your goodness. Sometimes I’m embarrassed I have so little to give to advance Your purposes through the Church. Assure me that nothing I offer is too small or insignificant for You to bless and to increase for the benefit of others. Teach me to put my daily bread to use by not letting Your blessings go to waste. There will always be great needs and yet Your provision is sure; in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The Feeding of the Five Thousand is a text, like all the written Holy Scriptures, shows our ears how to grow in faith toward God and to grow in fervent love toward our neighbors. Faith and Love.

First faith toward God. Jesus teaches you not be overanxious about your daily bread. Do not be overanxious about the size of your paycheck or the size of you monthly bills. Jesus already sees next month. And He is testing you, "Where are we to buy bread so these people may eat?" Jesus already knows what He is going to do. Or, "Where are we to earn enough to pay these bills?" Jesus already know what He is going to do, so don't be lazy or overanxious about the problem, rather repent of you misuse of His daily blessing that got you into this trouble and trust Jesus. Or, "How will I ever be ready for retirement?" Jesus already knows what He is going to do, so don't be either lazy or overanxious about the problem, but repent and look to Jesus. He remains kind and friendly toward you. Jesus is the generous one.

Contentment is the opposite of our anxiety. Trust Jesus to give you contentment according to your new nature while repenting of your anxiety. For in this instance, no trust in Jesus leads to anxiety or a trusting in yourself to get through the daily problems. That anxiety is not just an emotion. That anxiety, caused by a lack of trust in Jesus, is sin. Repent of the anxiety itself. Turn away from yourself and toward Jesus.

Jesus is the generous One. He feeds all the people until all the people had their fill. Some people in the crowd follow Jesus because they heard the Gospel and saw the miracles. The Gospel and the miracles gave them to trust Christ. Others in the crowd follow Jesus not because of the Gospel but because the miracles took away their hunger and they wanted more to eat. They saw publicity and honor in following Jesus too and that was to their benefit. They were part of the "in" crowd while Jesus was still considered the "it" guy. Jesus even fed this group.

Jesus is the generous One. He sees the untrusting nature of His disciples. Philip brings his reason and intelligence to the problem. Well, Jesus, "The cost is so high to feed these people that a rich man could only give each one a little. And they would still be hungry. Andrew speaks like a foolish child even saying, "I found a boy with some bread and fish, but how could that feed so many."

Jesus sees our untrusting nature as well. He see that you worry about monthly bills, you worry about this building, you worry about local evangelism.

And yet, what I see is a faithful God serving you His people. In a few weeks five faithful young men and women will be confirmed in God's Word and receive the miracle Christ's Body and Blood. Every week, I see young and old faithfully receiving the same. Last week, we heard that our own Johnny Fry is expecting a boy in August. And that young man won't be very old when he hears the Gospel and receives the miracle of Holy Baptism. All this just as the 5,000 heard the Gospel and received the miracles Jesus was giving to them.

This is the lesson of faith. You follow Jesus because you trust Him to both save you from your untrusting nature and also give you all your daily bread. The lesson of faith says, 'Do not be overanxiou about daily bread. Rather, turn to Jesus for He already knows what He is going to do.'

That is the lesson of faith.

But what about the lesson of love?

Love is a fruit of faith. Love has to do with how you care for your neighbor and not how you will be saved. God simply expects you to love your neighbor, but, in the saving faith of Jesus, He does not hold your failures against you.

What does love look like this account of the Feeding of the Five Thousand?

In one word. Love looks like generosity. When you are generous, some else receives the benefit. Generosity is love.

Jesus shows generosity to Philip and Andrew first. Holy Scripture does not paint Philip or Andrew in a good light but rather as weak disciples. Philip brings his reason and intellect to the problem of where they will get enough food to feed the five thousand. A year's salary would only afford each to eat a little. Jesus listens but doesn't hold Philip's lack of trust against him. Andrew brings his lack of reason or intellect to the problem. Here's some bread and fish? But that won't be enough, will it? Jesus listens and doesn't hold Andrew's lack of trust against him. But Jesus excels at generosity. Jesus excels at loving His neighbor, even Philip and Andrew.

Looking to Jesus rather than Philip and Andrew, what does Holy Scripture teach us about growing in generosity?

First, receive Jesus' Word and Sacrament more often. You can only give away what you have first received. If unforgiven sin is what you have then all you have to give is sin. So repent and receive the forgiveness of your sins.

Second, Jesus also says this, "But just as you excel in everything- in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us --see that you also excel in this grace of giving...Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

Third, generosity is proportional. You can only give what you have. If you have little you can only give s little. And that is ok. If you have a lot then you can give more. And that is ok, too.

So, here in the Feeding of the Five Thousand we see both faith and love. Therefore, first, I encourage you in the faith of Jesus by not being overly anxious about your daily bread, what you will eat or what you will wear or how you will pay your next bill. Jesus already knows what He is going to do for you. Second, I encourage to love your neighbor a little more. It begins by receiving the grace of God and continues by considering how you might become more generous to those around you. Like, Jesus, who was generous to all the 5,000 of both good and bad folks gathered on that day of the Feeding of the 5,000.

And remember God loves you, His closest neighbor; in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes understanding, guard and keep you in body and soul through Jesus Christ, His Son, our Savior. Amen.

God's Will is For Your Sanctification

God's will is your for your sanctification

Text: Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.

Let us pray: Creator Father, your will is that we grow in sanctification, that is, you desire that we, by Your Holy Spirit, continue to move away from uncleanness of body and soul and toward You, that we may share in You holiness. Deliver to us this treasure;

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Your God has a request of you, His baptized and believing children. And since the apostle Paul extended God's request to the church Thessalonica, I dare extend God's request to you church in Muscatine.

This request is not a new request. Once I say it you will mostly agree and say, "Well, yes of course." When you are asked to do something you already know, it is called an exhortation. An exhortation is like what mom does when she tells everyone to wash their hands because supper is ready. You already know that you should wash your hands, but we don't always do what we know is best. Therefore, an exhoration is ok.

This request is for Godly people like you. It would be unloving of me to assume that most of you are not already concerned about what is about to be asked. So the concern for this sermon is not that you will reject the request. The concern that you may have is more like, "Ok Lord, but how do I do that?"

So, enough teasing. The request is this: Live your daily life – to please God. And I can hear at least one of your response, "Ok Lord, but I'm a sinner, how can I please you day to day?"

Ok. Let's take a step back in order to answer your question.

First, no one is justified before God without Jesus. No Jesus, no faith of Jesus. As it is written in Romans 1:16-17, "For in the Gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from Jesus' faith for your faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by the Lord's faith.” (Hab.2:4) So faith in Jesus is a gift from Jesus that you may now receive His faith; which is now also your faith. But you, my gentle hearers, know that it is not your faith that Jesus is the Christ that saves you; but rather, it is Jesus' faith in His Father that is given to you that saves you. That faith is the perfect saving faith. Jesus' faith can now be called your faith; that is why we say you are saved by faith alone.

Second, no one receives Jesus's justifying faith out of thin air. Not through dreams but through means, specifically the preached Word, absolution, baptism, and Christ's body and blood.

So, faith comes by the Word of God. This is truly is both the starting point and ending point of Christianity; that you are saved by grace through the faith of Jesus, who gives your His faith as a saving gift (Ephesians 2:8-9).

No problems there, but then you hear today's text to the Thessalonians: Live you day to day life – to please God, for the will of God is your sanctification so that as you walk by faith alone you may please God. This is where the gentle reader cries out and asks, “But how can I please God because I'm a sinner?” I can think of other questions you might have but let's address this one and call it a day.

Yes, you are justified by grace through faith alone. But hear this, you are also sanctified by grace through this same faith of Jesus – alone. Let me say that again, “You are sanctified by grace through faith alone.”

St. Paul uses two applications to emphasize his point.   The two examples he brings up are sex and business.  Therefore, I will touch on them, too.

The apostle Paul gathered the Lord's church in Thessalonian. The Thessalonians were firm in their justification by God. They also live is a town that encouraged many unclean behaviors such as the encouragement of all kinds of sexual activity and unclean behaviors such as the encouragement of shading business dealings. How can the Thessalonians live a life pleasing to God in such a town?

We live in a similar town. Walk the halls of the local High School or Jr. High Schools and you might hear a few sexual innuendos or crude encouragements along the same line. Walk the halls of local government or business and you might hear about a few shading deals or questionable legal practices. You can't change all that, but should ask, “How do you live a holy life among an unclean people?”

Dear Christian, you have the Holy Spirit who has given you Jesus' faith. I ask you to review the meaning of the third article of the Apostles' Creed. You cannot by your own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ your Savior or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit has done what? The Holy Spirit has called you – did you hear that – the Holy Spirit has called you by the Gospel.

Dear Christian, you are called by God into His kingdom. You are not like other people. You have a new nature. Your old nature still loves the unclean innuendos and practices, but now, your new nature is a sharing in God's nature.

Because you are called by the Gospel, the Lord now asks and requests of you that you consider anew His Word. In light of the uncleanness that still clings to you after Holy Baptism even while you continue to believe this Gospel, hear again God's good and holy Law.

So, here is the application of sanctification according to the 6th commandment:

“You shall not commit adultery.” But what is the Gospel? You are sanctified, moved away from uncleanness toward the holiness of God, by grace through the faith of Jesus alone. Just as someone else, in this case God, is the only one who can accomplish your justification, so also, someone else, again God, is the only one who can accomplish your sanctification.

“Everyone should control his own body in holiness and honor.” This passage is encouraging you not toward your control of your body or controlling your own sexual urges but this verse is an encouragement toward holy marriage.

This is hard to hear but is good to be repeated from time to time:

Christian husbands, you have the Holy Spirit. You are able to repent of pornography and believe that the Holy Spirit will give you the strength to not act on the uncleanness the resides in you. You are able to treat your wife's body in holiness and honor. You already strive toward this. It may not be perfect. But God will always accept your repentance and give you Jesus' faith again and, although much more difficult, your Christian wife may accept, will probably accept, your repentance and forgive you. The Holy Spirit will continue to help you and it is pleasing to God.

Wives, this is also true for you. Although viewing pornography is less socially acceptable for women, the number of women becoming addicted to it is on the rise. The Holy Spirit will continue to bring you to both repentance and the faith of Jesus. This is the strength needed to treat your husband in holiness and honor.

And very important for both husband and wife. When your body is beginning to burn a little hotter and encouraging your toward uncleanness rather than the Lord's holiness, ask your spouse to use his or her body to bring your body under control. This is what the Scripture means when it says, “Everyone should control his own body in holiness and honor” because the husband's body is his wife AND the wife's body is her husband. The other will put out your fire just as someone else forgives all your uncleanness, who is God. But ask. And think more highly of your spouse's body than your own.

Teenagers, and to anyone who is not married, hear God's Word again for the purpose of repenting of your inherent uncleanness and moving toward the Lord's holiness, which is pleasing to God. God has not given you a spouse or a body to help control the burning.  However, you can consider your own body as less important than those around you, in honor and holiness.

Young men, consider the young women around you as your biological little sister. You wouldn't do what you are thinking about to your little sister. You are decent Christian young men and in that decency, you would draw the line at dishonoring your little sister that way. Therefore, consider the young women around you as your biological sisters and draw the line. The same goes with older women, treat them as your mother. I know you would draw the line at that. One day that young women may be someone's husband. One day one of those young women may be your wife.  Repent and draw that line. This is pleasing to God. You have the Holy Spirit. You live by the faith of Jesus. God will not forsake you. He will always be ready to bring you to repentance with His good Law and bring you to the faith of Jesus with His good Gospel. There is nothing that you have done or thought that will cause God to give up on you. He Gospel will continue to call you back to His goodness. His Holy Baptism continues to be your cleanness. His Absolution will do what it says week after week.

And yet, your Creator Father, is calling you to a day by day lifestyle in a manner that pleases Him. To this, I ask you and encourage you to do something you already know (an exhortation) and that is this: Live in a manner that pleases the God who sent His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Particularly, in homes and halls where uncleanness resides, treat each other as holy and honorable. This is pleasing to God and there is no uncleanness He is unwilling to forgive, therefore, in His stead and by His command, I forgive you all your uncleanness; in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Divine Service February 26th Quinquagesima

         Our Savior Muscatine - LCMS

Our Savior Lutheran Church - LCMS 2611 Lucas Street Muscatine, IA 52761 www.oursaviormuscatine.org

Divine Service  February 26, 2017  Quinquagesima

Pastor Pautz

Grace and mercy to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Faith is the open and empty hand that receives what Jesus gives. Faith is the hand that begs for Jesus. Faith looks like you at the communion rail with hand open to receive Jesus's very body given into death for you.

And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. 33And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.”

Faith is not knowledge. The demons know that Jesus is going to Jerusalem. The demons know that Jesus is going to do for you. But the demons have to faith. Their knowledge drives them to hate Jesus and His people. Faith is not knowledge but trust that Jesus will do what He says He will do. And Jesus, the trustworthy one, rose on the third day after He died.

38 And the blind beggar cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is faith. Faith comes by hearing. The blind man can hear. Faith is like a beggar who opens his hands when he hears someone approach. The beggar's faith is that Jesus is the promised Messiah; the promised Seed of David. His faith cries out for mercy, that the Christ who is heard approaching will be kind to a lowly blind beggar.

Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”

The blind beggar know the Holy Scriptures. He knows Isaiah 29:18 where it is written:

18 In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.

This is a prophecy concerning the resurrection but since Jesus is bringing the resurrection to Jerusalem in Himself; meaning the resurrection is starting:

The beggar said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” 42And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” 43 And immediately he recovered his sight and followed Jesus.

Jesus is merciful. Jesus is kind.

Faith asks. Faith cries out like a beggar with open hands. And Jesus responds in kindness and mercy.

Faith trusts that Jesus will be kind and merciful to you. Died in your place and rose again on the third day. Faith trusts Jesus. Faith believes that the resurrection has already begun in Jesus, so the rules and norms of this fallen world are already dying away. Faith believes Jesus that in Holy Baptism you have already received a new nature. You still have an old nature that doesn't listen to Jesus, but you also have a new nature that trusts Jesus and holds out empty hands to receive what does and gives for you; in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

Faith Clings to Christ

Uploaded by Jeff Pautz on 2017-01-23.