A Thankful Heart
By G. Craig Lauterbach
As we consider this topic, take a moment to read John 6:1-13. “After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. 3 And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. 4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?’ 6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. 7 Philip answered Him, ‘Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.’ 8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9‘There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?’ 10 Then Jesus said, ‘Make the people 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 them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.’ 13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.” NKJV
Wherever Jesus went, people followed Him. Good things happened to those who were in the presence of the Lord. Sickness was healed, the demon possessed delivered, blind eyes opened, deaf ears made to hear, sins forgiven, and even the dead were brought back to life through His ministry. It’s no wonder He drew a crowd. You never knew what was going to happen next when you were with Jesus. In our text you’ll find after an eventful day, Jesus turns to Philip and comments that the people are hungry and need to be fed. Think about this for a moment. The Bible states there were 5,000 men there and that doesn’t include the women and children. That means there could have been in excess of 15,000 people looking for something to eat. Even a highly skilled catering firm would have difficulty handling a group that large. Not only does Jesus desire to feed them, but also He decides to do this without a moments notice. An undertaking this large would require extensive planning and preparation, not to mention a lot of money. Well, the disciples didn’t have any of this. Without time, money, or planning Jesus is about to teach the disciples a powerful lesson in multiplication. With all of this in mind, let’s look at the following.
The Portion
Jesus asked Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” When Philip heard this, he must have thought Jesus was nuts. He may have been thinking, “Yeah right Jesus! Have you seen how many people there are? Have you looked at the checkbook lately?” Philip was so caught up with the need, that he lost sight of who was able to meet the need. Don’t we get like this at times? The bills mound up, or the doctor’s report wasn’t what we expected. Instead of looking to the Lord, we look at the overwhelming circumstances facing us. When we do this, fear will win every time. Here is a powerful statement I want you to remember. “It’s not about what is, it’s about who HE is.” Let me say it again. “It’s not about what is, it’s about who HE is!” I love what David said in Psalm 121:1,2. “1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.” You see Philip was looking at the circumstances, whereas Jesus was looking at God the Father. Have you ever asked someone, “How’s it going?” Only to have them reply, “Under the circumstances, I guess okay.” Listen to me. Jesus does not live under the circumstances He takes authority over them. He never has and never will allow circumstances to dictate His outcome.
During Philip and Jesus’ conversation, the disciple Andrew makes them aware of a boy with five barley loaves and two small fish. This was the only immediate source of food supply available. No matter how you break it down, that would never be enough to feed so many people. But remember what I said earlier. Jesus does not live under the circumstances He takes authority over them. Which brings me to my next point.
The Praise
When the boy’s lunch was brought to Jesus, He didn’t complain. He didn’t tell the disciples, “Can’t you do any better than this?” He didn’t fall on the ground and cry out to God the Father saying, “Why have you given so little for so many people?” Scripture reads, “Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks . . .” Look at that. It says He gave thanks! Even though it wasn’t much, He was grateful. Instead of pouting, He chose to praise God for what was placed in His hands. There is power in praise. When we exercise thanksgiving, we are acknowledging with gratitude and praise, that God is our source for the portion we have been given. Whether great or small, our portion is the foundation for His provision. In Zechariah 4:10, the New Living Translation reads, “Do not despise these small beginnings . . .” Little is much when you place it in God’s hands. Look at a tiny apple seed. You plant it in the ground and eventually it grows into a beautiful tree providing an abundance of apples to eat. What began as one seed grew into a large tree providing multiple apples with multiple seeds. This is how Jesus viewed the boy’s lunch. The five barley loaves and two small fish were the seed Jesus needed for the miracle of multiplication and when He gave thanks, His praise gave life to the seed and released a miracle.
In September 2000, I was speaking at a leadership conference in Eastern Australia along with Dr. David Yonggi Cho, pastor of the world’s largest church in Seoul, South Korea. During one of his sessions, I remember a story he shared about a financial miracle his church experienced. During a building program, the church had suffered financially and was facing the threat of foreclosure. If they could not raise over a million dollars, the church would have to close its doors. After making the congregation aware of the need, Dr. Cho felt the Holy Spirit’s leading to collect an offering. The response was good, but a far cry from the amount needed. After the collection, an elderly woman from the congregation came forward holding a rice bowl. This woman was very poor and her only possession of worth was a wooden rice bowl used for eating her meals. When she entered the platform, she handed Dr. Cho her bowl and said she wanted to donate it to church. In return, it could be sold and the money then given towards the debt. Knowing this was her only possession and also knowing its value could never pay for the great debt they were facing, he responded, “Dear sister, I could never take your wooden rice bowl. How would you eat your meals? Thank you for your generosity, but please take you bowl and be seated.” When he said this to her, she began to weep. She then replied, “Pastor, please don’t deny me from doing what God instructed me to do?” Seeing the urgency in her eyes, Dr. Cho graciously accepted her gift. Before she even had a chance to be seated, someone from the congregation stood up and said, “Pastor, I would like to buy that wooden rice bowl for ten thousand dollars.” The individual came down, wrote a check for ten thousand dollars, and after handing it to the pastor said, “Now I would like to donate this wooden rice bowl back to the church.” While this gentleman was returning to his seat, someone else rose up and said, “I would like to buy the wooden rice bowl for fifty thousand dollars pastor.” Like the other gentleman, he came down, handed Dr. Cho a check and then said, “I would like to donate this wooden rice bowl back to the church.” One after the other people continued to purchase and donate back to the church this elderly woman’s wooden rice bowl, until all of the money needed for the church debt had been raised. WOW! Do you see what God is saying? Little is much when you place it in God’s hands, which brings me to my final point.
The Provision
In our text we see after Jesus gave thanks, He broke the bread. This shows us His faith. By breaking the bread we see His willingness to use what He had been given, even though from a practical perspective there was not enough. Maybe you feel the gifts you’ve been given are lacking in comparison to others. Remember, it’s not how much you have that counts, it’s what you do with it that matters in God’s eyes. Just like the parable of the talents in the Bible. One individual was given five talents, another two talents, and a third person one talent. The one with the five doubled his talents, as did the man with the two, but the man with one talent buried his. His fear of failure paralyzed his ability to act. When the master returned, both the man with the five and two talents were praised for increasing their gifts, but the man who buried his was rebuked and had what little he had taken away. What does this tell us? Again, it’s not how much we have that counts, it’s what we do with it that matters in God’s eyes. When Jesus broke the bread, this step of obedience impacted His circumstances and impacted those around Him. Faith is contagious! First and foremost, it will always get God’s attention. Hebrews 11:6 states, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Faith excites God. It makes Him look twice and when you get God’s attention, He will gain the attention of others. The way He did this was by multiplying the loaves and the fishes. Thousands were fed from a boy’s lunch basket.
It gets better. Jesus didn’t forget the boy who gave his little portion. Scripture records once the people had finished eating, the remaining scraps were gathered up, which wound up filling twelve baskets. Who got to keep the leftovers? God’s Word says the young boy got to keep all of it. He left his house with one basket and returned home with twelve. Isn’t that just like God? Whatever we put in His hands will always increase. Little becomes much when placed in the Master’s hands.
In closing, let me encourage you to begin thanking God for your portion. Stop looking at what others have and start looking at what God can do with the portion He has entrusted you with. Like Jesus, it’s time to embrace a thankful heart.
