Immeasurable Deeds – Sermon 26 July, 2015

Immeasurable Deeds
John 6:1-15
Another word for ‘Immeasurable’ is ‘Incredible’. Webster’s dictionary defines the word ‘incredible’ as “something that is too extraordinary and improbable to be believed, seem difficult or impossible.” Using the word ‘incredible’ doesn’t mean we think something is impossible, it just means that we can’t see how that thing can be possible. When we consider all the approaches and possibilities we just can’t see a way to do something.
This is where Christ comes in. When something is so incredible to us and seems impossible, Jesus makes it possible. He does incredible things. According to Paul “He is able to do immeasurable things more than we can imagine”. Just because something appears to be impossible for us it doesn’t mean it is impossible for the Lord. Jesus gave his disciples an “incredible” task as we see in the Gospel reading today. He posed to them this question: “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”
The word teaches us that nothing is too hard for God and in the hands of Christ the incredible becomes conceivable.
1. Jesus asked an incredible question
Jesus asked this question to test the spiritual depth and the level of the spiritual maturity of His disciples. For some time they have followed Him and have witnessed the miracles He performed, which were sufficient proof for His position of heavenly powers.
How we view the incredible problems that arise in our life is a great test of how much we’ve grown as believers in our faith and how much we really trust Him. This was a great test for the disciples. How would they react? How would we respond if we were suddenly faced with an incredible situation?
2. Philip made an incredible calculation
Philip considered a rough estimate of the number of the people and made his calculation and came up with an impossible answer. A denarius was a man’s expected wage for each working day. Philip concluded that he could work for eight months and still not be able to give each person a bite or mouthful. Since Jesus asked Philip the question, Philip obviously felt it was his responsibility to come up with an answer. And hence his calculation was incredible.
When we are dealing with incredible problems, we cannot restrict ourselves to make human calculations. We will never be able to find solutions for incredible problems. Philip’s human calculation was not the answer Jesus was looking for. Similarly our calculations won’t be the answers that Jesus is looking for.
3. Andrew suggested an incredible solution
Most probably Andrew was standing near them when Philip told the Master that there was no answer for this incredible question and that humanly it was not possible to provide the food needed to feed the multitude. Most probably the food that the little boy had were small pieces of bread, like crackers, and two small pickled fish from the Sea of Galilee. What Andrew found was just enough to be a small boy’s lunch and that it will not be sufficient for the incredible crowd and he said: “But how far will they go among so many?” This was all he found but he offered all.
Sometimes what we have represents an incredible solution for much more needs. But we should be aware that what we have can never be enough, God’s power makes our limited resources to be sufficient for much more needs.
4. Jesus served an incredible meal
What Jesus did that day was incredible; He made a little into a lot. He gave the people more than a bite; He gave them as much as they wanted. The hungry people ate all they wanted from the 5 barley loaves and the 2 fish until they had been completely satisfied. What was considered to be a very small meal of a young boy became a feast for the big crowd who had come to listen to the Lord.
This is a divine picture of what Jesus wants to do for all those who trust in Him. He doesn’t just give us life. He gives us a life that is both satisfying and worth living. Jesus took what the disciples had and made it into something that would be talked about for over two thousand years. If we give Him the little we have, He can change that into something special.
5. The people arrived at an incredible conclusion
After the people saw what Jesus did that day, they came to the conclusion that He is the One they were looking for. They saw with their own eyes what He did and how He performed the incredible miracle. He fed the 5000 with just five small loaves and two fish. No one else could do such a thing. Therefore He should be one they had been waiting.
Based on all the evidence these people certainly arrived at the proper conclusion. How about us? What are we saying about Him? If we give Him all we have, in return He’ll give us all He has. If we give the little we have, He will do great things, incredible things, and immeasurable deeds. We have to let Him to make something incredible out of our life.
The lessons we can learn from this incredible story is:
1. It doesn’t matter how young or old we may be, God can still use us in His service to bless others.
2. We must trust in the Lord, obey Him and do what He says step by step.
3. When we are faced with a humanly impossible situation, we must be thankful for what we have.
When we learn to give our little bit to Jesus, He is able to bless us with over and above. No matter how humanly impossible our situation may be, if we give it to Jesus, Jesus can bless us over and above.
All we need to do is trust Him, believe Him, have faith in Him, rely on Him, obey Him, have confidence in Him, delight in Him, commit to Him, and he will do the rest because in the hands of Jesus there is salvation, there is power, there is deliverance, there is forgiveness, there is love, there is peace, there is joy, there is provision, there is righteousness, there is holiness, there is eternal life, there is abundant life.
Whatever we need, we can find it in the hands of Jesus Christ. Hands that do immeasurable and incredible deeds.

Krikor Youmshajekian