Go and Find Out

“How much food do you have – go and find out.”

These are the last words weary, hungry, frustrated men want to be doing. They were all excited to get away with Jesus and share with him all about their adventures. But as they’ve slipped away to a quiet place, hoping to relax in the beauty of Galilee, along the lakeshore with great food and fellowship - once again the throng of desperate men and women overwhelmed them – running ahead of them to meet their boat as it landed on shore. Jesus took time to teach the crowds for he had compassion on them – he saw them as sheep without a shepherd.
The disciples – well, they only seemed – disappointed. The disciples came and politely to Jesus that he dismiss them to go and find food at this late hour. Jesus merely replies: “You feed them.”
As they look around at an endless sea of hungry faces, one of the disciples calculates the potential cost – “But that’d take 8 months wages – a small fortune.”
Translated: impossible! “Uh Jesus, we have no food, no money and more than 5000 hungry mouths!”
“How much food do you have – go and find out.”
Jesus isn’t asking them to go find a fortune or go raise a fortune or even to figure out how to acquire the resources to mass produce the bread needed to feed the crowd. His request is to take inventory. “Go and find out what you have.”
So much of our “going” with Jesus is so much like this: Abram was told – “Go to a land I will show you.” No final X on a map marking the spot. Moses was told – “Go to Pharoah…” knowing full well Moses was not eloquent and liked to make excuses. We are told – “Go and make disciples of all nations” with or without a fortune and resources.

I am so quick with my excuses – “But all these things would take a small fortune and a lot of planning. It’s impossible. Let me build up my resources first, then..."

Jesus merely says, “Start with what you have – take inventory.”

I have a guitar, a pen, a laptop, some training and experience, some puzzle pieces of spiritual retreat weekends... I am so overwhelmed by the future, I often cannot move in the present.

Today I will choose to bring it to the One who can bless it, break it, multiply it and fully satisfy His heart to see the shepherdless connect with the Shepherd.

What do you have? Start today by placing it in the Shepherd's hands - and watch how he will bless and multiply it as you go...

The Herods' Bloody Trail

“Herod was in awe of John –
whenever Herod listened to John,
he was miserable with guilt –
and yet he couldn’t stay away.
Something in John kept pulling him back…”
Mark 6 – The Message

Whenever the name Herod appears in the Bible –a bloody trail of heinous tragedy ensues. This Herod (the one who orders John the Baptist beheaded) was Herod Antipas – son of Herod the Great. You’ll remember Herod the Great as the one who slaughtered all the innocent infant and toddler boys under the age of 2 in Bethlehem. Papa Herod had been known for ruthless killing before. Jewish historian Alfred Edersheim comments, “The murder of a few infants in an insignificant village might appear scarcely worth notice in a reign stained by so much bloodshed.”[Edersheim, 149] Evidently, this irreverent monarch was accustomed to such atrocities. The ancient historian Josephus failed to record Herod’s massacre in Bethlehem. Whether for fear of his own life, or simply because he did not think it worthy, we are only left with what Matthew reports for us in his gospel. And here, in only one verse, the scripture merely alludes to the resulting mayhem: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”[Matthew 2: 18 and Jeremiah 31:15].

Eleven to thirteen years after Herod unleashed his jealous terror, there would be no Bar mitzvahs in Bethlehem. No pre-teen boys would head off to the Yeshiva to prepare for their big coming of age ceremony. There would be a two year hiatus where all of those present on that fearful day – the day of Herod’s massacre – would have to remember. Their minds would relive the horrid echoes of scampering feet through the narrow streets: a scream, steel against bone, and the moan of beloved neighbors. They would remember the taste of the bloody, sweaty air as they bent over the still warm corpse of the boy, who minutes ago had filled their hearts with delight and hope. They would reluctantly open up their grievous wounds and be reminded that their sons “are no more.”

The fury of a fearful despot is devastating. Kathleen Norris, who has a penchant for poetic observation, says this about Herod: “Herod’s fear is like a mighty wind, it cannot be seen, but its effects dominate the landscape.”[Kathleen Norris. Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith. (New York, NY.: Riverhead Books, 1998) 225]. Herod feared that another king, even a mere toddler, might rain on his parade. His power, coupled with his overwhelming desire to maintain his position and reputation at all cost, propelled him into “furtive, pathetic and futile attempts at self-preservation.”[Norris, 225].

Herod the Great’s son, Herod Antipas, learned his own “furtive, pathetic and futile attempts at self-preservation” from his father. Herod Antipas was a fickle man – one moment hanging on John’s every word and protecting him – the next being disturbed to the core. And at the request of his niece, (acting as the emissary of revenge for Herod’s enraged wife, Herodias), Herod with exceeding sorrow, orders John the Baptist beheaded. He did it in order to save face in front of his distinguished guests. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to be in that room when John’s head arrived on a platter. Did heads turn in disgust? Did anyone cringe? Or were they all bloodthirsty, arrogant and engrossed onlookers?

Herod succumbed to the same fate as Pontius Pilate – caving into the crowd instead of living out a heart conviction. It’s no surprise, then, that Herod and Pilate became friends a few years later at Jesus’ trial.

It’s easy for me to think that I could never be as evil as these wicked, selfish, pathetic men. And yet, each time I yield to my propensity to people please, instead of standing up for what is right, I edge toward the susceptibility for sanctioning (consciously or subconsciously) a greater evil. Fear always devastates the landscape – and apart from God’s help to make me more valiant in conviction and action, I will only remain fickle and floundering – tossed about on the waves from living double-minded.

www.paulagamble.com

Mark 6:6-13 - No special equipment

Jesus Sends Out The 12

“Don’t think you need a lot of extra equipment for this.
YOU are the equipment.
No special appeals for money.
Keep it simple.”
~Mark 6:8-9 The Message


How contrary to most of our ministry efforts – we worry more about our budgets, support goals and packing lists than we do about preparing ourselves holistically (including physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and socially as opposed to just financially).

I remember reading a Japanese Christian’s perspective he wrote after working with American Christians seeking to reach Japanese with the gospel. Most indicting was his observation that when Americans seek God in prayer, they ask most for the resources to accomplish a task. They ask God for money to accomplish the mission (to build a larger building or to fund a super duper outreach) – more than they just ask God to show Himself. The Americans will not move forward without the provision of money – “Lord, bless these plans we’ve made by providing $4 million” rather than “Lord you have told us to go…and we believe you will provide for us and show us what to do as we step out in faith.”

God reminds His people over and over again in the scriptures, money is not necessary for Him to act! A sling and a stone defeat the giant – not the massive, SUV - sized armor; 300 men with torches and glass jars defeat 135,000 with chariots and steel weaponry; others march around the city for 7 days (during post-op circumcision recovery time, no less) – and then blow their trumpets – seeing the wall of Jericho fall; an innocent man dies on a cross between two criminals – deserted by his friends and yea, even his father - and raises from the dead to defeat death. None of these were seemingly strategic. There was not much rationale. They were not “resource” dependant efforts for the Kingdom.

Guilty as charged. The recent strategic planning and integration of business principles into ministries has some merit – but I have sat through way too many meetings where the result was we need more resources (money, infrastructure and people). And as a missionary who “raises” support in an organization that sets strategic plans and support goals – how then, now, shall I live?

The disciples, in this case, were expected to procure resources from the hospitality of others. In Matthew’s account they are told to intentionally search out worthy ones in the city they enter – and accept without hesitation their hospitality – which is their due payment for their work.

My fear is this: Christians are cheap. And yet clearly, the Bible says those who preach the good news are to be supported by those who benefit from it (1 Cor 9:14). Increasingly, fewer Christians are hospitable – no time to open their homes, share a meal, volunteer to rake a neighbor’s yard. They have more debt from spending money on their own houses and have less discretionary time and money to spend it on God’s. Haggai was called to confront a similar mentality in the Israelites – we should take note of the Lord’s response: “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? My house lies in ruins while you are all busy building your own fine houses.” (1:4,9 NLT).

Will I live out this theology?

· That I believe God knows and cares for and will provide my need (matt 6);
· That He is able to provide – at the minimum - daily bread/manna.
· That He is the One who owns the cattle on a 1000 hills (Ps. 50:10) and can even prompt a pagan King (Cyrus) to resource His purposes (Ezra 1)
· That “everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord…everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you have already given us!” (1 Chron 29: 11, 14)
· That I am to search for worthy people who are hospitable…


I am the equipment. You are the equipment.

Though we can employ technology – the internet/telephone and television – “tell a person” is still the most effective means of sharing the good news: 2x2, seeking out worthy one’s who are willing to extend hospitality.