Luke 9:1-17
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.
7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on. And he was perplexed because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, 8 others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. 9 But Herod said, “I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?” And he tried to see him.
10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”
13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”
They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14 (About five thousand men were there.)
But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
Have you ever thought you were good at something and then enter the presence of a master at that thing you thought you were good at. There have been some things like that in my life. I thought I was good at tennis until I played a person that returned my first serve so hard (and I thought my first serve was unreturnable) that I never touched it. I don't think I scored a point the whole set. Same thing happened to me in ping pong. I thought I could play the guitar OK until I sat in the presence of a master guitar player. Frankly, these experiences made me want to give up all three endeavors. Some people, it motivates to practice more and get better. Me - I say what's the use, I'll just follow them and watch them and enjoy their expertise.
I'm intrigued by this passage in that Jesus gives the disciples some gifts like healing and casting out demons. We aren't told if He took them back or they were permanent, although Acts seems to say that these gifts persisted. I get the impression though that these gifts may have gone to their heads. Maybe not but it says that they wanted to tell Jesus what they had done. I can just imagine what that would have looked like if it had happened. I think it may have turned into a "can you top this" time of sharing knowing what we know about the disciples. Jesus quickly taught them two things. First of all He taught them servanthood - it's not about them, it's about the people they can help with those gifts. They wanted to sit around and rest, eat, possibly brag, and revel in successes but Jesus says basically that as long as there are people to serve we must keep serving because the gifts we have are not about us but about using them to help others. It appears to me that they were making up excuses to get rid of the people and Jesus won't let them. He turns the disciples into waitors and bus boys and ushers to humble them. In this serving they were able to get a glimpse of how great God is.
Which leads me to the second point which I started this blog out with. They not only learned servanthood and that life and gifts are not about them, but they also learned humility. They saw God take care of their own needs like food when they were out on their own, but they never envisioned taking 5 loaves and 2 fish and feeding 5000 men (probably double that in total numbers) with that food. Suddenly what they had done seemed miniscule. Maybe they even realized that the little that they had done was only by the power of God given to them. Maybe they realized that they were nothing compared to Him. Maybe some of them decided, "You know what, I'm just going to follow Him and carry His bags and watch what He does because I am unworthy. Who am I compared to Him."
Am I, are you, using the spiritual gifts that God has given you, to serve others or my(your)self? Are we using them with all our strength or are we penciling in time where they can be used. Are we taking credit for them and getting a big head because we think we are something? If so, we need to get a glimpse of who God is and how big He is and marvel in His power and glory until we see ourselves in proper perspective.
Lord, thank you for the gifts you've given me. Help me to serve others tirelessly with them and in humility knowing that they come from You and I am nothing compared to You. Amen
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