SMYL
CAMP TALK on Mark 6: 30-44 – with additional items at the bottom for the
script.
I
sometimes think that if I had been alive in Jesus’ day I could have seen him
for myself. I would have liked to seen him heal a blind man. I would have loved
to be in the boat when he stopped that storm raging. I would have liked to have
talked to Jesus’ mother and asked her what he was like when he grew up as a
boy.
What
would you have liked to see Jesus do? Accept responses.
If
we had been alive when Jesus lived on earth we could have seen him for
ourselves! Some people did see him and they wrote down what they saw and we can
read it in the Bible. (Hold up a bible.)
Today
we will hear about something Jesus did. It’s a true story and it comes from the
(Bible.)
(Take out the small table and cloth).
(Place the bread and fish on plates on the table.)
What
have I put out on the table? Accept responses.
Would
you like to have this for lunch today? Accept responses.
Would
anyone like to try some? Allow a couple of children to taste some of
the food. Eat some yourself.
A
boy in the bible had this for lunch. His mum packed it that morning. He was in
a crowd that followed Jesus to see what he would do and to hear what he would
say. Here is the story of what happened
to him.
(two
groups of children needed to help with signs – Mum, I’m hungry. Dad, I’m full.)
Jesus
crossed Lake Galilee. A large crowd had seen him work miracles to heal the
sick, and those people went with him. There were men and women and children in
the crowd. They walked along and followed Jesus.
Mum,
I’m hungry!
They
walked along by the lake then up a small hill. They walked for a long time.
Mum,
I’m hungry!
Jesus
went up on a mountain with his disciples and sat down. But all the people
followed up the mountainside too.
Mum,
I’m hungry!
Jesus
saw the large crowd coming towards him. He knew they had been walking for a
long time. He could hear some of the children saying:
Mum,
I’m hungry!
Jesus
asked one of his helpers, Philip, ‘where will we get enough food to feed all
these people?’ Jesus knew what he was going to do, but he wanted to know what
Philip was thinking.
Philip
(who was also tired and hungry!) said, ‘Jesus, I don’t know what we are going
to do! It would take 8 months of a man’s wages to buy only a little bread for
each of these people!’ at that very moment a little girl said:
Mum,
I’m hungry!
All
the adults started to look around at the child
ren
who were getting tired and a little bit cranky because they need some food.
Then the adults also realised they were hungry. An old man even said, ‘I’m really
hungry!’
Andrew
was one of the disciples. He had been looking around and trying to figure out
what to do. Everyone was starting to
say: I’m really, really hungry!’
Andrew
spoke up and said to Jesus, ‘There is a boy here who has five small loaves of
bread and two fish. But I don’t think that will be any help to us. Just look at
all these people.’
Everyone
was looking at Jesus. What would he do? Would he do anything?
The
ground was covered with grass, and Jesus told his disciples to organise
everyone to sit down. About five thousand men were in the crowd. Jesus took the
bread in his hands and gave thanks to God. Then he passed the bread to the
people, and he did the same with the fish, until everyone had plenty to eat.
That’s
right, he just kept giving out pieces of bread and fish and somehow everyone
had plenty.
Dad,
I’m full.
The
people ate all they wanted.
Dad,
I’m full.
Jesus
told his disciples to gather up the leftovers, so that nothing would be wasted.
Dad,
I’m full.
The
disciples gathered them up and filled twelve large baskets with what was left
over from the five loaves.
One
old man said: I’m really full. One young
woman said: I’m really, really, full! One
little girl said:
Dad,
I’m full.
The
people were so amazed that they wanted to make him their king and leader right
there but Jesus knew God had other plans and he went up on a mountain where he
could be alone.
All
the people there knew Jesus was someone special. Some of them realised he was God’s Son. They
knew he could be trusted and they became his followers. All these years later
here in Britain we can also trust in Jesus and be his followers. We know he is
the powerful Son of God.
Prayer:
Let’s us pray.
Lord
Jesus you are very powerful. You are the Son of God. Thank you that we can
trust and follow you. Amen.
Additional
Bit
All
of us here know this story off by heart – it’s one of the better known miracles
of Jesus. Some of you will remember that half of what the young people raised
from a sponsored event for children in Cambodia was enough to feed 1470 people.
They followed the example that Jesus set in this story – they had compassion –
decided to do something about it. Yes,
they did it a different way but they showed some of the stuff that Jesus was
made of.
Whilst
at camp we talked about the Olympics which took place a fortnight ago. With the
opening ceremony with Queen Elizabeth and James Bond parachuting in before the
crowd, billions of people around the world have turned their attention to this
challenge of the human spirit. The youngsters learnt how many tons of meat -
400, fruit and veg - 300, seafood - 83, cheese - 21, how many loaves of bread –
25,000 were used in the 14 million meals prepared for the athletes. And that
was as well as the two Macdonald’s
being on site too. We wondered how many loaves and fish would have been
needed to create the 14 million meals for the athletes over the fortnight?
We
all agreed on one thing the Olympics were big and that they tested the body and
spirit of every person involved. One could say the same thing about Jesus
feeding the five thousand – it’s big and it serves to challenge the body and
spirit of every person involved – from those first ones on the mountain side to
all of us as we sit here remembering. When it comes to Jesus’ practical
teachings about living life as a child of God, the illustrations don’t come any
bigger than this one. When it comes to challenging our practical understanding
about life and love, it is hard to find other examples that would touch us more
deeply.
For
in this story the children learnt that Jesus has compassion. Although Jesus
wanted his disciples to rest, compassion moved Him to serve the people who had
gathered to see Him perform healings and to hear him preach. (Mk 6:34) Jesus
put aside His comfort, His time of relaxation for others. Is this something
that is seen in us when we come across people less fortunate than
ourselves? This miracle reveals the wonderful
compassion of our Lord to all people.
The
Children have learnt that Jesus not only has the power to heal the sick and the
possessed; He also can switch from the spiritual (healing and forgiveness) to
the mundane - to feed 5000+ men with five loaves and two fish. Jesus also has
the power to change lives today here in Britain and the rest of the world. The children learnt that even though they are
small in height and young in age – they too, with the help of Jesus, have the
power to change things for the better – they changed the lives of many in
Cambodia. Do we believe that Jesus can change the situations that might be
swamping our lives’ today? This miracle reveals the overwhelming power of our
Lord in all things.
The
Children learnt that Jesus had orderliness – a very big issue – He arranged the
multitude in groups and ranks – he organised His disciples, who organised all
the people. The children moaned when we mentioned about being organised and
being ready to do or go or change plan at a moment notice. Sometimes we need people to help us with this
because it is not in our nature to be organised – that’s why we have people
over us like the Boss at work, Mum and Dad, Teachers, etc. Being organised is a
good thing. We need to be organised inside ourselves by putting God first – praying, reading the
bible and following Jesus’ example, carrying on His work. This miracle reveals
the need to be orderly.
The
contrast is itself huge. How can things as fundamentally different as spiritual
issues and practical, earthly issues become one? How can my spiritual concerns
for faith, prayer, contemplation and study be as important as my grumbling tummy? How are the divine and the human
joined? Jesus made it clear that all we are, all that is within us, has been
declared righteous by God. God alone made it clear by coming to serve this
world in the person of Jesus.
This
story of the feeding of the 5000 is just as big as the Olympics and I wonder if
the 2012 will be remembered as well as this story does in 2700+ year time?
But
there is one thing that sticks in our minds – the boy with the five loaves and
two fish. This story is in all four
Gospels – they all focus some attention on the boy. Why a child and not an adult giving up his
picnic? It is because children seem to drive messages home? And the child in
us, that’s you, me, and everyone else who has ever felt as helpless or
ineffective as a child. It is this child, this unlikely helper, who Jesus
enables in his sharing. What that child did by sharing became a feeding story
like no other – both physically and spiritually. But, it was a bold move.
We
do not know how the disciple came upon him or whether the boy sought the
disciple out once he saw what was taking place. The point is he did not
hesitate. He showed no reluctance to getting involved. Instead he demonstrated discipleship
- the same as that of Jesus’ closest friends. But that is what Jesus does – he
takes the gift of our dinner and makes it a feast. Miracles don’t get any
bigger than that.
Amen.
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