The Lord provides food for the soul and body.

Sermon for Trinity 7, August 4, 2019

To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His own blood and made us a kingdom and priests to God His Father—to Him be the glory and the power forever.  Amen.

Mark 8:1–9  In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples and said to them, ²“I feel compassion for the crowd because they have already stayed with me three days and do not have anything to eat.  ³If I send them home hungry, they will faint on the way.  Some of them have come from a long distance.”  ⁴His disciples replied, “Where can anyone get enough bread to feed these people here in this deserted place?”  ⁵He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”  “Seven,” they said.  ⁶He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground.  Then he took the seven loaves, gave thanks, and broke them.  He gave the pieces to his disciples to distribute to the crowd, and they did so.  ⁷They also had a few small fish.  He blessed them and said that these should be distributed as well.  ⁸The people ate and were satisfied.  They picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.  ⁹About four thousand men were there.  Then he sent them away. (EHV)

The Lord provides food for the soul and body.

Dear friends in Christ,

            It is often the case that we learn things best by experience rather than simply by being told.  Too often, instruction goes in one ear and quickly out the other.  Like most pastors, I pray that won’t be the case as I speak with you this morning. 

Now, on the one hand, the Israelite people had a long history of God demonstrating His care and concern for them, but here in our text, we see Jesus demonstrate His loving concern for a crowd that likely consisted primarily of Gentiles, people who didn’t have the background knowledge of Israel’s history.  Therefore, God shows His gracious care for them, and for us, as The Lord provides food for the soul and body.

Jesus was in an area known as the Decapolis, a league of ten cities which had banded together for mutual protection from foreign invaders.  On a previous visit to the area, Jesus had healed a man who suffered horribly from demon possession, but that miraculous healing so terrified the people that they begged Jesus to leave.  Though the healed man had begged to accompany his Savior, Jesus instructed him to stay and tell his neighbors what God had done for him, and here, we see the results.  On Jesus’ return to the area, the people flocked to Him for His healing and His message.  They eagerly listened to Jesus for three days.  They stayed at Jesus’ feet in rapt attention until whatever supplies they may have brought were exhausted, but Jesus showed them His concern.

Jesus told His disciples, “I feel compassion for the crowd because they have already stayed with me three days and do not have anything to eat.  If I send them home hungry, they will faint on the way.  Some of them have come from a long distance.”  Our God and Savior is always conscious of our needs and daily provides everything we need to live, but sometimes we need a reminder of His loving care.  The Israelites had the history of God providing for them miraculously.  For forty years of wandering in the wilderness, God provided bread in the form of manna outside their tents six days every week.  They knew, too, how the Lord had provided for Elijah by having ravens bring bread, and later, keeping the prophet fed through a widow’s meager supply that never ran out.  Now, the gentiles would get that special attention, and that should encourage us, also, never to worry, because our Savior’s loving concern for our welfare is continuous.  This event also reminds us of Jesus’ words to His disciples: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

Now, please notice a few things about this crowd: they weren’t clamoring for a miracle, there is no report of fear on their part, and before it even entered their minds to wonder, Jesus was already feeling compassion for their welfare, even before He was ready to send them back home.  What confidence that gives us, as well.  The Lord sees what we need before we even recognize it.  Remember how Jesus taught His followers not to worry, "So do not worry,…Certainly your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” (Matthew 6:31-32)  Thus, Jesus not only tells us not to worry about our physical needs, but He also demonstrates that He is fully willing and able to provide.

In perhaps an hour or two, Jesus showed the people how well He can take care of them, but let us not forget that Jesus spent the first three days teaching them how much God loved their souls.  To a people who had been harassed and tormented by idol worship, false teachers, and the whims of the demons, Jesus brought the good news of how God was delivering them from sin and death through the gift of His Son.  For three days, Jesus taught them about sin and the redemption God planned.  He taught them what the prophets had long told Israel and how He was the fulfillment of those plans.  This too is what our Savior wants us to focus on—that He has come into the world to save sinners, that He “plans to give you peace, not disaster, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Now, when we examine the response of the disciples to Jesus’ plan, we see that like us, they too sometimes forgot the lessons.  His disciples replied, “Where can anyone get enough bread to feed these people here in this deserted place?”  It seems like a natural reaction to such a daunting task.  How could anyone feed a crowd of thousands out in a wilderness with no supplies or stores close at hand.  The disciples couldn’t imagine how they could feed those people even if they would have had the money, which they didn’t.  How sad that they had already forgotten the miracle Jesus had performed not long earlier when He fed five thousand plus using only the lunch of a young boy.

But, lest we be too judgmental, we need to examine ourselves to see how often we forget that Jesus cares.  We live in a world in which so many people are terrified of the future, afraid that every change of weather will somehow spell worldwide disaster in the coming months and years.  We live in a time when people clamor for the government to take the riches God has granted to some and share it with everyone else.  People are afraid that rocks will fall from the sky to snuff out our futures, that everyone of a different skin color must surely hate them regardless of the evidence, and we live in a world that is just as tormented by idol worshippers, false teachers, and demonic temptations as those people of the Decapolis.  So, what hope is there for us who have sinned so often with worry and fear?

            Well, dear friends, “Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 124:8)  Our help is found in Jesus, The Lord who provides food for the soul and body.  Jesus asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”  “Seven,” they said.  He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground.  Then he took the seven loaves, gave thanks, and broke them.  He gave the pieces to his disciples to distribute to the crowd, and they did so.  They also had a few small fish.  He blessed them and said that these should be distributed as well.”  Before they even asked, Jesus took care of their need.  Before they even learned who He is, Jesus had provided a teacher from their midst, a man who once suffered terribly but had been healed by the Savior’s love.  Before any of them really understood the greatness of God’s mercy, God had sent His Son to live and die for them., and that is the Lord you and I have looking out for us, too.

            Now, does that mean we will never have trouble or hardships?  Not at all.  Those thousands who had flocked to Jesus came to Him with all the troubles this world has to offer.  They grew hungry just like everyone else.  And after Jesus sent them home, they still had their difficulties in the world.  However, they could thereafter rejoice confidently with their fellow Judean believers, knowing that “By the mercies of the LORD we are not consumed, for his compassions do not fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

            Are you aware that some studies show that our country is filled with some of the most anxious people on earth.  Here we are in the lap of luxury, where war seldom touches close to home and our stores are stuffed to overflowing with goods, where by and large we live in nice houses, and we drive automobiles that cost many thousands of dollars, and still, so many people are afraid for tomorrow.  They are afraid of losing their stuff.  They are afraid of every imaginable illness that could hurt them.  They suspect that every business and politician is out to get them.  But worst of all, many of them don’t know Jesus.  They don’t know how great God’s love for them has been, and still is.

            The people of the Decapolis learned it firsthand.  You and I have to take the word of those Jesus appointed as witnesses.  Mark reports, “The people ate and were satisfied.  They picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.  About four thousand men were there.  Then he sent them away.”  With seven small loaves of bread and a few small fish, Jesus again demonstrated that He is ready, willing, and able to sustain us in this world.  Therefore, why should we ever worry about any physical need?  Now, that doesn’t mean we should quit our jobs and sit around waiting for a free meal to fall out of the sky.  Instead, we are strengthened with the knowledge that however God plans to use us will turn out for our everlasting good.  Furthermore, it is His care of our souls that really should be our strength.  Remember, The Lord provides food for the soul and body.

            Christ has given us a certain future in the kingdom of heaven, so even if the Lord should see fit to allow us to suffer hunger, poverty, or persecution, why should we be afraid?  We have the Gospel—the Good News that Jesus lived a perfectly holy life in our place, that He then took all of our sins upon Himself, and He paid the due penalty to satisfy Gods just anger for our sins.  Furthermore, we know that Jesus didn’t stay dead but rose from the grave triumphant over every enemy who would seek to keep us away from our God and Creator.  We have the reports of numerous eyewitnesses who were present as Jesus gave up His life on the cross, was buried, then rose on the third day in fulfillment of every promise, so that you and I are completely and permanently reconciled with God.

            Dear friends, go forth today, and every day, having seen through the eyes of the apostles that the Lord Jesus is God’s Son, that He loves you enough to die for you, that He is concerned for your every need and willingly provides for your physical, spiritual, and eternal welfare.  Come and partake often of the bread of life, the Gospel in Word and Sacrament.  Remember that “The eyes of the LORD watch over the righteous.  His ears listen to their cry.…The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears.  From all their distress He delivers them.” (Psalm 34:15 & 17)  Know without a doubt that no matter what trials or hardships might come your way, The Lord provides food for the soul and body.  Amen.

May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our fathers.  May he never leave us or abandon us.  May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways.  Amen.