THE MIRACLE OF COMMITMENT

By Rev. William Claire Greiner

John 6:8-13 — " One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten."

The Feeding of the 5000 is the only one of Christ’s miracles in all four gospels. It is a story of hands and the miracle of commitment..

I. THE GIVING HANDS OF THE LAD

The boy’s hands could have been keeping hands, which would be characteristic of human heart.

A baby is born with clenched fists. Some go through life that way. Hanging on to everything.

Selfishness is one of the signs of the last days. 

2 Timothy 3:1,2— "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy."

Selfishness ruins homes, relationships, ministries, churches, etc.

A good marriage requires 100 percent commitment in the relationship. Husbands and wives should be 100 percent givers and 100 percent forgivers.

Commitment for the Christian means giving what we are and what we have over to God, palms open and palms down — our person, our praise, our possessions. Then with our palms open we are ready to receive what God has to put back in it.

You can never out give God. He reminds us that it is "more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).

How He Himself proved it. Look at the earth, the sky, the sea. They profoundly declare that God is a giving God. Look at the abundance and variety in snowflakes, grains of sand, flowers and stars. 

God might have used His sunset gold so sparingly,
He might have doled out His blossoms so grudgingly;
He might have put one wee star in the sky,
But since He gave so lavishly, should not I?

In our story we find that the lad gave all that he had. He didn’t give just 50% of his lunch, but 100%.

Oliver Goldsmith said, "Christ touched nothing that He did not adorn." He adorns what He touches with new life, power and blessing.

How different the story of the loaves and fishes becomes when the supplies are transferred from the hands of the lad to the hands of the Lord. Before there was hunger, confusion, questions. Now there is satisfaction, peace, abundance.

In his book, "The Magnetic Master," Thomas Hansen tells the story of a wealthy man who owned a rare violin. When Fritz Kreisler heard of this he offered the owner a large sum of money only to be told that the violin was not for sale at any price. Then he asked the owner for permission to play the violin. This was granted and the owner listened enchanted by the music. When he had finished playing, he placed the violin in the hands of the wealthy owner After a moment, the owner took the violin over to Kreisler and said, "Take it, it’s yours. It belongs in the hands of a master."

The right place for the instrument of our lives is in the hands of our Master, Jesus Christ.

The best way to lose something is to hang on to it.

Back in 1964 a man by the name of Robert Atwood wrote an article for the Daily Times of Anchorage, Alaska, describing the terrible earthquake which occurred on Good Friday of that year. he arrived home from work about 5:30 in the evening as his wife was leaving for the grocery store. he hesitated a moment as he considered going with her, but decided to remain home and practice his trumpet, as the house would be empty.

Now, in Mr. Atwood’s words:

"I began practicing my trumpet when the earthquake started. Minor earthquakes are not uncommon here, but they’ve always taught me to stop what I’m doing and watch what happens. It was quickly obvious that this was no minor earthquake. The chandelier, made from a ship’s wheel, swayed too much. Things were falling that had never fallen before. I headed for the door carrying my trumpet. At the door I saw a wall weaving. On the driveway I turned and watched my house swerve and groan as though in mortal agony. It was though someone had engaged it in a gigantic taffy pull -- stretching it, shrinking and twisting it. I became aware of tall trees falling in our yard, so I moved to a spot that I thought would be safe. As I moved I saw cracks appear in the earth. Pieces of ground in jigsaw shapes moved up and down, tilted at all angles.

"As I started to climb the fence to my neighbor’s yard, the fence disappeared. Trees were falling in crazy patterns. Deep chasms cushioned the impact. I was on the verge of a quick burial i could not pull my right arm fromt he sand. It was buried to the shoulder. Most of the rest of my body was also covered. I had to let go of my trumpet and my arm pulled free easily!"

That story gets to me. Too often our trumpets are the expression of our rights, our egos, our desire for recognition and reward; but when we commit our way, we commit our selves and thus we learn to live without trumpets.

It may take an earthquake upheaval to pry us loose from our trumpets.

Verse 11 -- "And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples."  In Marks account we read that Jesus said to the disciples, "Give ye them to eat" (Mark 6:37).

What we have been given is not for us to hold but to give out and share. We have because someone gave their lives to the Lord (S.S. teacher, pastor, parent, etc.)

Albrecht Durer, the great artist and creator of "Praying hands," sold his work at the Fair in Nurenburg. A Christian said to him one day, "Why don’t you preach the gospel like Martin Luther?" Durer answered, "Brother, the gift God has given me is in my fingers and not my tongue. I do my work to be well pleasing to God. Luther does his work for the same reason. I will meditate upon the sufferings of Christ and I will proclaim them with the one gift that I have."

As believers we are members of one body, with varied gifts.  Often, however, there are too many big time operators and too few servants.

Thousands were waiting for bread. Their outstretched hands spoke of great needs.

Many hands are stretched out to the church today. They, too, speak of great spiritual, physical and moral needs.

In John 6:35 Jesus reminds us that He is the "Bread of life."  If the waiting hands around us are to be filled, we must help fill them with the living Bread.

God is asking us to open our hands and surrender all to His almighty hands. Commit. Let Him multiply your talents and gifts.

Experience the miracle of commitment.

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