Luke 3:10 states, “And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?”
My heart was stirred anew when I received a call from Buzz, a friend of 56 years. I knew that Buzz got saved back when we first met. I knew Donna and I had a part in that, even though we never heard him ask Jesus into his heart. Yesterday he shared what caused him to find the Lord and a new life. It was over a shopping bag full of groceries.
Before leaving for class, I looked in the refrigerator for something to eat—there was only one apple. I ate it. In my first period Journalism class, taught by Helen Wilson, she tested our recall memory. “What was in your refrigerator this morning?” she asked. That was an easy question for me. That evening there was a knock on our door. I opened the door to find a bag of groceries on the step. At the curb I saw Helen Wilson driving away in her car. The groceries were thoughtfully planned. There was cereal, milk, bread, butter, and other things of delight. We told Buzz about this at the time. It made him turn to the Lord. Fifty-six years later he says he still thinks of this often as the thing that changed his life.
In our text, the people asked John the Baptist what they should do. In verse 11 he said, “…He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.” In James 2:14-16 he says, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?”
In Matthew 14:15-21 we find the account of Jesus feeding the five thousand. We see here a hungry multitude. They represent a hungry world. There is spiritual hunger and physical hunger. In verse 14 Jesus “was moved with compassion toward them.” In verse 15 the disciples said, “…send the multitude away.”
We have a great opportunity today to feed a hungry crowd all around us. We are tempted to say, “…We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.” It may appear small, but must be given to Jesus to use it and multiply it. We say, “Our church is small.” Give it to Jesus. Or, “We have too many problems.” Give it to Jesus. In verse 16 Jesus said, “…They need not depart; give ye them to eat.”
My wife and I went to a little church for awhile that was meeting in a food pantry. It was rented only for Sunday. There was an odor to it—musty and stale. There was not a Sunday School. I don’t remember that there was even a bathroom. The congregation of 15 to 20 were crowded into the small room sitting on worn-out metal folding chairs. There was one thing that drew them, and Donna and I—food, spiritual food. Pastor Dan Works preached a powerful, Biblical, compelling message. Within a few years they had built a huge beautiful church with a large parking lot full of cars.
Five loaves and two fishes are enough to feed one person. Therefore turn loose of it. Give it to Jesus. Give all of it. Bless one person. Jesus will see there is more to bless someone else. Maybe God would call you to give a bag full of groceries to a hungry family. Try it. Helen Wilson was a godly woman, professor, Christian. What a difference a bag of groceries made. WHAT SHALL WE DO?
