Last Sunday night I attended church at Primeira Igreja Batista de Juazeiro (the First Baptist Church of Juazeiro, a town that literally overlaps Crato). It was the final night of a 5-day conference celebrating the 60th anniversary of the church. Following its name, the church has served as a pioneer in many aspects, including its mark as the first missionary work of BMM in Brazil.
The history of the church and the stories of the men and women who have served in its ministry paralleled the evening’s message perfectly. Pr. Jenuan, a guest speaker from Fortaleza and former pastor of the church, used the story of Christ feeding the five thousand (Matt. 14 and John 6) to challenge the church to imitate the mission-oriented view of her forefathers and continue to reach the lost. Below are the points from his message (although they don’t translate as “prettily” into English):
PERCEPÇÃO - Christ’s perception. Christ saw the multitude, and this was no chance glance. The passage in John says, “He lifted His eyes” (v.5). Christ did not close His eyes to the lost; He looked for them.
Too often, we do the exact opposite. Instead of seeking the lost, we hide from the world. Some hide because they feel they are inadequate for God’s service, that their contribution would be insignificant; but such feelings are self-centered and put the focus on self. God wants the focus to be on Him. It is, in fact, through our inadequacy and insignificance that God’s power is magnified as He accomplishes great things with unworthy vessels. Other times, we hide out of selfishness. We enjoy our life just as it is and don’t want to give up conveniences, comforts, securities, etc. What a change (and challenge!) to hear a Brazilian pastor speak to his own people about becoming too comfortable in life!
People have told me that as an American I am accustomed to living at a certain standard of living; and that it would be very difficult for me to live below that level. On one hand, they’re right. On the other hand, was not Christ accustomed to living in heaven, a pure and holy environment in which He was rightly worshiped, honored and glorified? I have sometimes imagined the shock of that first breath of cold air outside of the womb, but the fact is that He was incarnate for nine long months before then! How very different to be confined to human form; and yet He, “who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God (meaning something to be held on to, to be grasped), but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6,7). The verse preceding these admonishes us as Christians to “let this mind be in [us] which was also in Christ Jesus.” If Christ laid aside His glory out of love for the lost, it is a small thing, a very small thing, for me to lay aside temporary, material comforts of this world.
And should I suffer “tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword,” the marvelous truth is that nothing, “neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rm. 8:35, 38-9). In reality, the solemn truth is “to this [we Christians] were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that [we] should follow His steps” (1 Peter 2:21).
PREOCUPÇÃO – The disciples’ preoccupation (worry). In reality, the disciples did see the multitude, and what they saw terrified them, thousands of men, women and children with empty hands and empty stomachs. Christ looked at the same multitude; however, His heavenly vision saw beyond their physical hunger to see their true need, and “He was moved with compassion for them” (Matt. 14:14). The disciples, as they worried about providing bread for a multitude, failed to recognize the Bread of Life who stood among them.
PROVAÇÃO – Christ’s provocation (test). In the midst of this, Christ turns to Philip and says, “Okay, Philip, what now? What should we do? ‘Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?’ (v.5)” Did you every stop to consider why Christ asked Philip? Why not Peter or Luke or another one of the twelve? The following verse tells us that Christ did this “to test [Philip]; for [Christ] Himself knew what He was intending to do.” Consider Philip’s response. Philip was the mathematician in the group. He was into stats and knew how to crunch numbers. His final analysis? “Look, Christ, I think it’s great what you want to do, but numbers don’t lie. Two hundred denarii isn’t enough to give everyone even just a little piece!” But that was according to man’s calculations; God’s economy functions very differently. His economy – praise the Lord! – is never limited or lacking. Very often, the only thing lacking is our faith and expectation of what God will do, which brings us to the next point.
PRONTIDÃO – The disciples’ readiness. In the midst of the crisis, Andrew appears and says, “There is a lad here, who has five barley loaves, and two small fish; but what are they among so many?” (John 6:9). In other words, what is this little bit of food in comparison to that great multitude?!? Just where have these guys been? Haven’t the disciples seen Christ make the lame to walk, the blind to see, and raise the dead to life? Haven’t they see Christ walk on water and still a raging tempest? Haven’t they seen Christ cast out demons and dominate the supernatural? Yet in one moment, all of this is forgotten. The multitude spread out before them, the one they didn’t want to see, is a harsh reality and presents a problem, a BIG one; but where the disciples saw an unsurpassable difficulty, Christ envisioned a tremendous opportunity. Imagine the difference, the joy the Master would have felt if one of His men had approached Him with expectation instead of reservation. “Lord, there are thousands of men and women here, and their all asking for food! Can You blieve this, Lord? What an opportunity! Andrew found a boy with a small lunch of bread and fish, but I told him we didn’t need it. I mean, you can use if you want to, but I know you don’t need it what great miracle are you going to work today, Lord? And what can I do to be a part of Your plan?”
PROVISÃO – Christ’s provision. Christ took a small lunch of five pieces of bread and two fish, and turned it into an abundance that left twelve baskets extra! “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be the glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Eph. 3:20, 21)