The S Word # 22

THE THEOLOGY OF MONEY # 22

Gospel Directives
By Douglas Hambidge

WHEN YOU LOOK CLOSELY you will discover that so many of the Gospel narratives are about stewardship. In fact, when you look very closely you discover there are some directives that relate to the life of the steward and to the community of stewards that we call the Church.

The Gospel writers must have thought the Feeding of the Five Thousand was of special significance, because it is the only miracle story to be found in all four Gospels. It has special significance because of what it says about mission and ministry, and about stewardship and evangelism.

Read all four accounts as one, and you’ll hear the directives that Jesus gives to his disciples then and to the Church now.

You will need a Bible for these passages about the Feeding of the Five Thousand.

Matthew Chapter 14 Verses 13 to 21
Mark Chapter 6 Verses 30 to 44
Luke Chapter 9 Verses 12 to 17
John Chapter 6 Verses 6 Verses 1 to 14

There was a crowd of people milling around Jesus, and if the Feeding of Four Thousand is another version of this story, then the people have been with Jesus for several days, according to Matthew. They had been listening to him, visiting with one another, simply hanging out or perhaps just curious about this itinerant teacher.

We are told that Jesus looked at them with compassion, I suppose he saw something of their needs, and felt something of their pain. That is what the word compassion means. It was not so with the disciples. They have had enough. While Jesus sees the people as “sheep having no shepherd,” for the disciples they are nothing more than a noisy, exhausted, demanding crowd. I dare-say the disciples felt there were ready to have some time to themselves. They may have felt that they wanted Jesus to themselves for a bit. They make an understandable request. These people need to go home; they need to go to buy food. “Send them away”
they plead. In passing it is interesting to note that it was Jesus’ closest followers
who on three occasions ask Jesus to send someone away:

When mothers brought children to Jesus, the disciples wanted to send them away. (Mark 10; 13-14)

When a foreign woman wanted healing for her daughter, the disciples were embarrassed and wanted her sent away. (Matthew 15; 22-23)

Here they ask Jesus to send the crowd away. (Mark 6 Verse 35)

I know how they felt. People are tiring. People can be tiresome. Have you never longed for the peace and quiet of being alone? You can find this attitude in many a church community. Of course we want people to come to us with their needs; we certainly want them to come and listen to what we have to say. But do they have to stay forever? Are they never satisfied? Will they never stop making their demands on us and our time and our resources and our en energies? “Lord sent them away!” is often a heartfelt cry of the volunteer at the church. We know exactly how the disciples felt.

Surely Jesus understands. Surely enough is enough, even for Jesus.

Next week FIRST GOSPEL DIRECTIVE #23