FocusinG on the PossibilitieS!

Sermon Notes:  Saturday, January 31, 2009 & Sunday, February 1, 2009

Rev. Jim O’Neal, Senior Pastor

Sun Lakes United Methodist Church, 9248 E. Riggs Road, Sun Lakes, Arizona 85248 1 (480) 895-8766

Matthew 14:13-21 NRSV

13Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself.  But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.  14When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.  15When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”  16Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”  17They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.”  18And he said, “Bring them here to me.”  19Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.  Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.  20And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.  21And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

 

A.  Introduction

     1.  Calvin and Hobbes

          a.  In the Calvin and Hobbes Comic Strip, Calvin has a conversation with his mother.  It goes like this:  Calvin asks, “Can Hobbes and I go play in the rain, Mom?”  His mother replies, “No.”  He asks, “Why not?”  She says, “You’ll get soaked.”  Calvin responds, “What’s wrong with that?”  Mom says, “You could catch pneumonia, run up a terrible hospital bill, linger a few months, and die.”  A dejected Calvin looks out the window at the rain.  Calvin speaks to Hobbes, “I always forget.  If you ask a mom, you get a worse-case scenario.”  Hobbes responds, “I had no idea these little showers were so dangerous.”

          b.  Sometimes “No” is a good thing.  However, for far too many of us our first response to any new idea or endeavor is that of “No.”  Many of us find all sorts of reasons why we can’t go back to school, why we can’t begin some new hobby, why we can’t seek some new business endeavor, why we can’t make some positive lifestyle change, why we can’t volunteer to help others, why we can’t make amends with a relative, or why our Church can’t grow.

     2.  Today’s Scripture:  Matthew 14:13-21

          a.  As we look at today’s Scripture, my guess is that the disciples thought Jesus was a bit crazy when he asked them to feed the multitude.  “Send them away,” the disciples said.  Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” (Matthew 14:16 NRSV)  The disciples said, “We can’t feed this multitude of some 20,000 people, of which 5,000 of them are hungry men.  We only have 5 small loaves and 2 sardine sized fish!”

          b.  Then Jesus said, “Bring them here to me.” (Matthew 14:18 NRSV)  The Lord had the people sit down, he blessed the food, he had it passed around, and he fed all the people!  Indeed the other three Gospels tell us that after all was said and done they collected 12 baskets of leftovers!  What a miracle!  It reminds us that with Jesus Christ, all things are possible!  Today’s Scripture says something about our cynicism and something about our faith.

 

B.  Don’t be so quick to say it can’t be done!

     1.  Pop Quiz

          a.  A student asked one of his College Professors if they’d ever have a Pop Quiz?  The Professor said, “Let me put it this way.  The day you’ll have a Pop Quiz is the day you see me wearing a yellow rain coat and crawling through one of our classroom’s second story windows!”  All the students laughed, because it sounded so silly and they took it to mean that there would never be any surprise quizzes. 

          b.  Three weeks into the class, as the students waited for the professor to arrive, they heard a rustling noise coming through one of the ivy-covered windows.  Sure enough it was their professor crawling through the window and wearing a yellow raincoat!  That day he gave them a pop quiz!  Sometimes things are not as we think they are!

     2.  Hurricane of 1938

          a.  A man in New England went to an Abercrombie and Fitch store.  He bought a barometer and took it home.  He placed it on the windowsill and took a look to see what the weather would be for the day.  The barometer said, “Hurricane.”

          b.  The man was just positive that something was wrong.  Hurricanes happen in Florida, not New England.  He took the barometer back to the store and demanded a full refund, which they cheerfully gave.  He started to drive back home.  Before he got home the wind picked up.  By the time he got home, his house had been blown away by the hurricane that hit New England in 1938!  Don’t be so quick to say something just can’t happen!

     3.  Unsolvable Math Problems

          a.  George Dantzig was a math major at the University of California at Berkley during the Great Depression.  Everyone desperately wanted a job.  The job of assistant math teacher would go to the student who did the best in a certain class.  George worked hard to be the best he could in that class.  The day of the Final Exam came and George overslept.  He got to class late that Monday morning and hurriedly began to take the test.  There were ten math problems on the board.  Eight of the math problems were together and two of them were off to the side.  George got through the first eight problems without a great deal of difficulty.  The last two were extremely tough.  It was George’s great desire to figure them out.  He was just sure that somebody in the class would solve these problems, and that person would get the math assistant job.  “Why not me?” he thought.  Time ran out and the professor asked for the test papers.  George asked for an extension to finish the last two questions.  The professor gave George and any others who wanted it an extension till Friday afternoon.  George labored all week.  He really wanted that job as Math Assistant.  Finally, after noon on Friday he solved the two problems.  He hurried over to the math department and he turned his test in just before the deadline expired.

          b.  Early Saturday morning there was a pounding on the door that awakened George Dantzig.  Outside was every Professor in the Math Department.  The professors stated that there had only been eight questions on the Math Exam.  The last two problems had just been put up there for fun.  They were two very famous unsolvable math problems.  No mathematician not even Albert Einstein had been able to solve them!  George Dantzig was late to class.  He never heard that these two problems were unsolvable.  If he had heard that Einstein couldn’t figure them out, he would not have tried himself.  But because nobody told him that it couldn’t be done, he had done it!  Don’t be so quick to say it can’t be done!

 

C.  With faith in God the impossible is possible!

     1.  Civil War Story:  Providence Spring

          a.  In the 1920’s Pastor Bert Webb was serving a Church in Minnesota.  The Pastor was called to the bedside of a dying man.  The man was Colonel Trumble a Civil War veteran.  Colonel Trumble told about his experiences in the infamous Andersonville, Georgia Prisoner of War Camp.  Hundreds of Union soldiers perished there because of lack of food and mistreatment.  Food was scarce Colonel Trumble recalled, but perhaps even worse was the scarcity of water.  In desperation he and several men went to the western edge of the camp to pray.  After they had prayed, a huge black cloud came.  A bolt of lightening came out of the cloud and struck a rock and split it in two.  Water began to pour out.

          b.  Pastor Webb thanked the dying man for sharing this story.  He wondered if it were a figment of the old man’s imagination, or a true story.  In 1935 Pastor Webb was preaching in Columbus, Georgia.  He shared the story, and the people told him it was true.  After worship they drove him to see what is now called Providence Spring.  God hears and answers our prayers.

     2.  Easter Bells Defeat Napoleon

          a.  The year was 1799 and the armies of Napoleon were sweeping across Europe.  They entered Austria, and on Easter Day 18,000 troops gathered to the west of the town of Feldkirk.  Hastily, the town council gathered to meet.  The town stood no chance against this mighty enemy force.  Should they bravely fight and die, or surrender?  The old Dean of the Church arose and said, “My brothers, it is Easter Day!  We have been reckoning our own strength, and that fails.  Let us turn to God.  Ring the bells and have the services as usual, and leave the matter in God’s hands.”  They agreed to do so and the bells began to ring out.

          b.  The French heard the joyous peeling of the bells with surprise and alarm, and concluded that the Austrian Army must have arrived to defend the city.  Before the bells stopped the French were already marching away.  God had done what no military force could have ever accomplished.  The city was saved and not a drop of Austrian or French blood was shed.

     3.  Flood Victims

          a.  Billy rang Mr. Smith’s doorbell.  Mr. Smith asked, “What are you doing?”  Billy said, “Raisin’ money for the flood victims in the mid-west.”  Mr. Smith asked, “How much are you trying to raise?”  Billy replied, The TV man said they needed over one million dollars.”  Mr. Smith inquired, “You don’t expect to raise it all by yourself do you?”  Billy responded, “No, my little sister’s helping me.”

          b.  My friends, we don’t face life alone.  We have each other, but even more importantly we  have God to help us.  And with God the impossible is possible.

 

D.  Conclusion:  Recap

          1.  Don’t be so quick to say it can’t be done.

          2.  With faith in God the impossible is possible!

FocusinG on the PossibilitieS!

 

        1.  Don’t be so quick to say it can’t be done.

 

        2.  With faith in God the impossible is possible!

Matthew 14:13-21 NRSV

13Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself.  But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.  14When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.  15When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”  16Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”  17They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.”  18And he said, “Bring them here to me.”  19Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass.  Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.  20And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full.  21And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.