Sermon:

"Count Your Blessings"

John 6:1-15

 I saw this scene in an old western/comedy - a prospector goes into a saloon and orders a glass of
milk with a shot of whiskey in it. While the bartender was fixing his drink, the old prospector
wandered over to speak to some friends. Before he came back, a preacher came in and said to the
bartender, "Sir, I'm a poor Methodist circuit rider. I've just made it across the desert and I'm bone
dry. Could you let me have that foamy glass of milk that I see you've just poured? The Lord will
surely bless you."
 The bartender said, "Sure, take the milk - we're glad to have you in our town." The preacher
grabbed the glass of milk and downed it slowly, savoring every drop. Then he looked up toward
the ceiling with a smile on his face and said, "Lord, what a cow."
 This morning I want us to pause just for a few moments and talk about the goodness of God -
the blessings he showers upon us. And, I want us to say, "Lord, what blessings we receive." The
text this morning tells of the feeding of 5,000. It's a marvelous story of God's provisions for all
our human needs. Now, the focus is on bread and fish, but the real lesson is life.
 I'm sure you know the story. There's a large crowd who have come to hear Jesus preach -
something like 5,000. Many have probably come hoping to have a miracle of healing - some
probably came doubting - and maybe some were just curious.
 The scripture tells us that Jesus says to Phillip, trying to test him, "How shall we buy bread for
all of these people?" Jesus knew that, though we cannot live by bread alone, we cannot live
without it. The disciples were able to scrounge up a little money, but it wasn't nearly enough to
buy bread for this mob.
 So Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, comes to the rescue vs. 9 & 10, "There's a boy here who has
five barley loaves and two fish." But what are they among so many people? And Jesus says,
"Make the people sit down."
 And that's the first point that I want us to explore today. WE EXPERIENCE THE BLESSINGS
OF GOD - FIRST OF ALL WHEN WE TAKE THE TIME TO SIT DOWN. In other words,
take time to slow down from this busy world and make time for Jesus. Henry Nowen, in his book,
Making All Things New, speaks of our generation that's so on the go that we can hardly hear God
speak to us. There is so much busyness in our lives and that busyness squeezes out little by little
the amount of time that we set aside for God. But here, the scripture says we can hear Jesus when
we take the time to sit down.
 I will tell you the biggest problem facing the world today if you really want to know. It is not all
the shootings and killings and terrorist all over the world - but the biggest problem is "spiritual
deprivation". Now that is the feeling of emptiness that is associated with feeling separated from
God and from your brothers and sisters because of conflicts and disagreements and evil.
 There are people everywhere who know that kind of emptiness. But, this passage teaches us that
the first thing we must do to get rid of this empty feeling in our life is to sit down - spend a little
time with God.
 But we're so busy caught up in this rat race - we're so pressed for time - that we have cut out
that which gives us the real spiritual vitality we need for a good life – time with God. We are too
bent on accepting credit for ourselves, so we run from one thing to the next as if that is what really
matters.
 So many people today seem to be on the go but on a path that leads to nowhere. Many people
have lost direction - and the first thing we need to do is just stop and sit down in the presence of
Jesus.
 2nd - After Jesus had taken the barley loaves and 2 fish the scripture says, verses 10 & 11 "There
was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about 5,000 in all. Then Jesus took the
loaves; gave thanks and distributed them to everyone; also the fish, as much as they wanted." We
all need to receive what Christ has to offer - just as the multitude received the loaves and the fish.
SO, LET US NOT JUST SIT DOWN -BUT LET US RECEIVE.
 There's a cartoon from Calvin and Hobbes in which his father is getting ready to make
hamburgers on the grill. The father is sitting in an easy chair, has a drink in his hand, just looking
out at the back yard and nature, and enjoying life. Calvin walks up and says, "Can't we cook the
hamburgers yet?"
 His father said, "The coals are not hot enough." Calvin says, "But, I'm hungry and I want to eat
right now." His father says, "You'll just have to wait. You know, Calvin, sometimes the
anticipation of something is more fun than the thing itself once you get to it. Here we are - it's a
beautiful evening. It's so nice to just sit here and look at the trees and the flowers and wait for the
coals to get hot, don't you think?
 Dinner will be over soon and afterwards we'll be distracted with all other things of life, - things
that we must do. But now we have a few minutes to sit and enjoy this evening. You see these
summer days go by so quickly. It's good every now and then to wait for something - it's worth
waiting for." Calvin has this disgusted look on his face and turned to his father and says, "So, does
that mean I should go to McDonald's, or what?"
 Can we be honest? We're just like Calvin. We want what we want and we want it now. Many
have not learned the joy of sitting out in the back yard in the afternoon and watching the breeze
blow the leaves on the trees and watching the flowers grow; just seeing the sun sparkle at sunset or
at the break of day. We're in such a hurry that we don't want to wait for the coals to get hot, but
the truth is, there are some things that we have to wait for.
 Want a good marriage? It's going to take years and years of work. Good marriages don't happen
just because you want them - they happen because you love each other and you work at it and you
place God first! Right?
 Want your children to grow up and be responsible? Then it takes patience and hard work. It
takes spending valuable time with them just doing nothing more than sitting in the back yard and
watching the breeze while you're waiting for the charcoal to get hot.
 God continually comes to guide us in the person of the Holy Spirit. As a loving father, he awaits
the opportunity to meet our needs - but we're so busy often we miss Him. When we don’t spend
time with God how can we recognize Him? Then we starve to death spiritually because we don't
see all the food He has put around us. And we wonder blindly from one problem to another -
questioning why God doesn't solve everything for us.
 'Make the people sit down', Jesus commanded. Then He took the loaves and when He had given
thanks, He distributed the loaves and the fish to all who were seated and they had as much as they
wanted." We also receive God's blessing when we sit down and wait.
 Last – Here is how John concludes this story. Look at verses 12 and 13. Jesus told his
disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over so that nothing may be lost." So they gathered them
up and the fragments left by those who had eaten, filled 12 baskets. And the people saw this and
said, 'This is indeed the prophet who has come into the world.'" God has showered us with many
blessings. And when we sit and wait upon the Lord and receive what he has to offer, then IT
OPENS OUR EYES TO SEE THE NEEDS THAT GOD PROVIDES.
 One of the lessons here that Christ teaches is that God is an extravagant God. He is a God who
provides for us in abundance. As we see in Psalms 23, “he sets before us a table in the midst of
our enemy - he fills our cup to overflowing.”
 In the 2nd chapter of John at the wedding feast in Cana - when the wine runs out, he tells them
to bring the water pots and to fill them to the brim - and they do and it's the best wine they've ever
had. And in the 15th chapter of Luke, we see the parable of the prodigal son - when the prodigal
returns home, the father kills the fatted calf and throws the biggest party he's ever seen.
 Most of the worries that bother us in life would disappear in a moment if we would just lean
back and rest ourselves on the blessings that God gives to us, his children in need. The mistake
we make quite often is - we don't believe God will provide and we are too impatient to wait and
then we are filled with worry - but you see faith and worry are not compatible.
 Did you know that the sun is 93 million miles from earth? Pluto is 2.7 billion miles. Now Light
travels at 186,000 miles a sec. or a little over 16 billion miles in one day. Our Sun is 8 light
minutes away and we could reach Pluto in about 4 hours traveling at the speed of light.
 The closest star or sun besides our own is about 4 light years away - Orion’s Belt is about 1,000
light years away – and to travel across our Milky Way Galaxy would take us 100,000 years
traveling at the speed of light.
o There are billions of such solar systems out there in our Milky Way and not only that, there
are billions of other galaxies. Now, who created them?
 The amazing thing is, most of you will answer and say you firmly believe that God created this
universe and also life on this earth, but for some reason we are unable to say he's capable of
handling our problems - that he will see to our needs - that he will see to the needs of His church.
 God is generous and wonderful and showers us with more blessings than we can count. Not
only that, not only does He bless us in this life, He has also given us eternal life in the life to come.
So let us give thanks.
 Fred Craddock tells the story of a young man who was asked to be Santa Clause at his church –
he said, “Sure, I’ll be Santa Clause.” But as time approached he grew nervous and he fretted
about it at supper every night. His wife said, “Don’t worry, you will make a great Santa Clause!”
But he just could not get passed it.
 The night of the church Christmas party he began to suit up and mumbled, “I just cannot do
this.” His wife told him, “Dear, you are taking all the fun out of this, relax!” He went to the
church and by the end of the party he had given all he had to the poor. His wife said to him later,
“How could you give all our money away? Nobody expected you to actually be Santa Clause, for
God’s sake!”
 St. Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians 2:9, "Our eyes have not seen, nor have our ears heard, nor
can our heart conceive what God has prepared for those who love him." No - God is not Santa
Clause – He is much more! He has poured out His blessings to all of us and He has more to pour
out than we can imagine! You think about that.