Imagine the scene, 15-20,000 hungry men, women, and children in need of something to eat. Many of us struggle with the idea of hosting and feeding 15-20 people with plenty of advance notice and an almost limitless number of places to get food from. In this story Jesus tasks his disciples to figure out how to feed all these people with next to no resources. No grocery stores, no restaurants, and no money, nothing but five loaves and two fishes they get from a small boy who had packed a lunch. But when you have Jesus, it isn’t about the resources you bring to the table. All Jesus needs is for us to be obedient. When we give him whatever we have, he’s able to shatter our pint-sized expectations, overcome our seemingly insurmountable challenges and make the little we have to offer more than enough to accomplish all he wants to do.
Imagine being the Disciple of Jesus who receives the title of “doubting.” Thomas was one of the original 12 Disciples who spent three years with Jesus – learning from him and participating in his ministry. But in one moment of disbelief, when confronted with the impossible news of the resurrection, Thomas has been seen by many as merely “the one who doubted.” But it is important to understand that Thomas’ story is not unique. Many of us experience real doubt, even when we know we shouldn’t. We must learn from this story how to doubt well, and how to journey toward real faith. We also must learn how doubt does not need to define us.
There are few things in life that sting as much as the betrayal of a family member. Families are supposed to be where we find love, support, and connection. Imagine the journey of Joseph. His brothers sold him into slavery and faked his death in order to deceive their father. As a slave, Joseph was falsely accused of sexual assault, thrown in prison, and forgotten there for many years. He would end up in a position of authority during one of the most difficult times in the history of Egypt. The fallout of the betrayal of his brothers would shape most of his life. Yet somehow, he not only finds the ability to forgive his brothers but he also finds the ability to bless them. The story of Joseph is the story of when the raw emotions of human betrayal encounter faith in the sovereignty and goodness of God. Forgiving those who have done serious harm to you is only possible when you can look back and see how God has shown mercy to you.
The story of David and Goliath may be the prototypical Sunday School story. A story that is likely familiar to anyone who grew up in church and one that even many who have never darkened the door of a church have heard of. It’s the story of a shepherd boy who with only sling and five stones took down the giant who had been terrorizing the entire armed forces of Israel. Ultimately though, the story isn’t a call to be like David and face down our giants, it’s a story that reminds us that no matter how big, brutal and scary the giants we face are, if God goes with us we have nothing to fear. In fact, if there’s one thing we need to know is true about all every story we’re going to study this summer, it’s that God is the ultimate hero of every story.
Most of us have no problem taking notice of the things that are broken, that don’t work, the times that life doesn’t go according to our wants, wishes or plans. It takes work however to notice the multitude of blessing God pours out on each one of us daily. As followers of Jesus, we are commanded to put in this work, to discipline ourselves to notice the goodness of God all around us and to develop the heart and habit of gratitude and thankfulness. As we learn to do this not only do we bless the heart of God, but we in turn are also blessed.
In our busy, always on world, forcing ourselves to stop and rest takes effort and work, it takes discipline. Yet, when we discipline ourselves to take time to Sabbath, we quickly find that God’s command to us to stop, is an incredible gift. Yes, the command to Sabbath can be difficult, but the restrictions God puts on us to rest aren’t ultimately meant to shackle us, but to free us by reminding us of our own limitations and our dependence on our limitless God and Saviour.
“Do this in remembrance of me.” This was the command given to the disciples in the Upper Room as they took the bread and the cup together on the night Jesus was betrayed. This command to regularly partake of the bread and the cup through the practice of communion is then repeated and given to the whole church by Paul in 1 Corinthians 11. The taking of these elements functions as a tangible and constant reminder to all followers of Jesus not only of the price that was paid for our forgiveness but also of the reality of the forgiveness we have received, of the extent of the grace that has been poured out us, and of the fact that Jesus will return to finish what he started and complete the work of making all things new. Communion is a time for us to celebrate the incredibly good news of Jesus.
If there is no God to judge the world, then human existence is a pointless litigation that ends in meaningless despair. The teacher who wrote Ecclesiastes would have agreed. From the beginning of his book he has been saying that if there is no God, there is on meaning. Nothing matters. But that is not the conclusion that the teacher comes to. Instead, he concludes that there is a God who will judge, not only the world, but everyone who lives in it, and if that’s the case far from life being “meaningless” every single breath we breath and action we take is filled with eternal meaning and significance.
As the Teacher takes stock of all he has observed he reminds all of us, but particularly the young, to hold two realities in tension. First, we should enjoy the good things in life that God gives us, but as we do so we need to remember that All of life is to be lived in light of the fact that we will each die and stand before God to give an account.
Living in a world filled with uncertainty can end up making us tentative and cautious. It makes us wonder whether the wisest way to live is to play it safe, but the Teacher tells us that in light of the uncertainty of this world, the wise way forward is to live lives of measured risk because ultimately the risks and investments we make in this life not only bear returns in the here and now but for eternity.