For His Sake and Ours- John 6:1-15

INTRO
When I was in college, I used to have this prayer that I would always pray.
“God, I want to reach many, many people for your kingdom. Give me opportunities.”
I didn’t know what that looked like, I just knew that I wanted God to use me greatly to bring people into the kingdom. I just wanted opportunities to share the gospel.
At the time, my dad used to preach monthly at a homeless shelter called the Long Beach Rescue Mission (LBRM)
He always asked me to go with him, but it wasn’t for me.
At the shelter, you have many dirty, smell, scary looking men, who come to eat.
In 2003, my dad was called to go to SF to pastor a church, and so he asked me to go speak for the LBRM.
At once I began to weep.
I am not that Holy! These weren’t tears of happiness.
I was terrified. I’m this 23 year old kid straight out of college. I’m just a little boy to some of these guys.
Who am I to tell men 2 to 3 times older than me how to live and what they need in their life?
What do I have to offer? What do I have to give?
But I realized that this is exactly what I had been asking God for.. Opportunity to reach the multitude.
This morning, we’re looking at a passage where Jesus uses a little boy to reach multitudes by taking what the boy had to offer.

John 6:1-15

God wants to Use You for His Name Sake
God is jealous for His own Name, For his own glory. This is his Mission. To make his name known.
I was asked by a church recently to preach about the boy in the Bible who had 2 fish and 5 loaves, and to prepare a biographical sermon about him.
As I began to study, I started to worry because there’s only one verse in the whole Bible about this boy!
The feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle recorded by all four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
This miracle in Jesus’ ministry is extremely significant.
But the boy is only mentioned in one of the gospel accounts- John’s- and in only one verse of this one account!
Here it is: in V. 9 Andrew says “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish…”
And as I began to read over the passage, I began to wonder “So how in the world do I preach a sermon about a boy who we know so little about?”
Well, as I prayed and read through this passage, it became clear to me how to preach this story.
I think it became clear to the little boy as well.
The little boy probably came to realize that his offering of his 2fish/5loaves was NOT about him.
It purpose wasn’t even just about providing food for thousands of people…
It was for a greater purpose. It was for His NAME sake. For the sake of Jesus’ name. For the sake of His glory.
This story really isn’t about the boy at all, nor is it about the people. It’s about Jesus! The name of Jesus.
V. 14 calls this a feeding of 5000 a “miracle”.
In the Greek the word for miracle is “semeion”, literally, a “sign”.
What is a sign? A sign labels something and marks it as distinct from everything else. It points out something significant about whatever it is assigned to.
EX: Signs. When you first visited this church last year, how did you know that this concrete structure was the place that you were supposed to be?
The sign outside was pointing me to this building as being the place where this church meets!
There is a sign outside that says this is Torrance Church of the Nazarene.
The sign made this church distinct from the other buildings and stores and shops on this street.
The miracles of Jesus were signs, as John called them, to mark him as, Christ, the divine Son of God.
They point to him as the one sent by the Father. He’s the Lamb of God.
In the same way, when God uses us in life and in ministry, do we realize that we are to be sign posts pointing not to us, but to the Savior of the world?
That’s JESUS! Call on his name!
God wants to use us for HIS NAME SAKE. For the glory of his name.

But it’s hard isn’t it. We love to have our own name glorified, don’t we?
“Oh, so and so is such a great bible study leader. He is so wise and has so much insight.”
“Oh, so and so’s testimonies are always so powerful and so touching.”
“So and so is such a wonderful singer, her voice is so angelic!”
EX: Retreat I was speaking at a retreat last year, and during free time we had 3 hours to spend.
I was so touched that one of the youth spent most of his free time with me.
People don’t usually go out of their way to spend time with the speaker, and it can get lonely.
At the end of free time, he said “So do you think maybe you can mention me in your sermon tonight?”
I thought to myself, “What? That’s why you hung out with me?! To get your name mentioned?”

If the boy in John 6 was anything like us, he must have felt pretty proud of himself, pretty special to have his little lunch be “the” lunch that was able to provide a filling for well over 5000 people.
“It was my lunch that saved the day. It was my sacrifice.”
But I can imagine that as the boy grew up, and as he read some of the reports written by people like Matthew, Mark, or Luke…
It must have been crushing to find out that his name didn’t make the headlines.
Crushed by news that… he didn’t make the news. ☹
There were no stories circulating titled “Boy feeds 5000”.
Why? Because the boy didn’t feed 5000. Jesus did.
History does not remember the name of this boy.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke didn’t find it significant enough to even mention him.
History remembers this incredible miracle as the time when “Jesus fed the 5000”.
It was a sign that pointed to Jesus as the almighty one.
It is his name that remains glorified.

Do we realize that what we have to offer and sacrifice is not to bring glory to ourselves?
That we are not to touch the glory?
Whether it’s serving at church, leading worship or bible studies, or making sacrifices for others… It’s not to advance my name?
Deep down inside, I don’t think we get it.
EX: John 1, John the Baptist impresses me by his understanding of this. He got it.
People from all over are coming to him, and learning from him, and getting baptized by him.
He was gaining so much attention that the Jews and the priests and the leaders wanted to find out more about who this popular guy was.
“Are you the Christ?” The anointed One sent by God?.......... “No.”
“Are you Elijah? The man of God who is to return?”………… “No.”
“Are you The Prophet? The one that Moses prophesied to come?” ……….“No.”
Can you imagine how good it feels when people think you’re really something, even if you’re not?
EX: I sometimes get to speak at Korean churches. I’ve noticed that they hold the speaker in high regard. Even though I am not ordained as a pastor, or even finished with seminary, they always address me as “Pastor”. I don’t think I deserve it, so I ask them to just call me Greg, they say “Ok, Pastor Greg!”
I have to be honest, my flesh loves to hear that title attached to my name.
Recently, I received a phone call, and the person asked if they can speak with the “Reverend” Greg Mah.
And I have to tell you the truth, it felt good.
“Pastor” and “Reverend” are the same things, but “Reverend” carries that meaning of “one worthy of respect, or reverence”.
I was flattered, and tempted to let the person continue thinking that I was worthy of the title “Reverend”.
Finally, I had to come forth and struggled to say to her, “Please, just call me Greg.”
It felt good while it lasted.

But John the Baptist did not hesitate to point these guys in the RIGHT direction.
He says, “NO! not me!”
“There is one who comes of whose thongs of his sandals I am not worthy of untying!”
I’m not even worthy enough to touch those dirty feet that he walks on!
He tries to convince the people that he himself is not the Christ, but Jesus is.
Then in John 3:30, he says the most incredible thing:
“He must become greater; I must become less.” And goes on pointing people to Jesus the Son of God.
He is exalted, The king is exalted.
What is our cry when God uses us in mighty ways, when he uses our gifts, and when we serve?
When you receive praise from man, is the cry of our heart “He must become greater; I must become less.”
Or is it “He must become greater; and so must I.”

EX: Concert. I went to a Christian concert a few years back
This band is very famous, and they are well known for their music and songs.
I’ve been to concerts before, but it was different because they started to play actual worship songs.
We started singing a simple chorus, “He is exalted, the King is exalted on High, I will Praise Him”
It was clear that the presence of God was in that place, and you knew that everyone was lifting their arms to heaven in sincere worship.
But when the music stopped, we opened our eyes and looked down…the stage was completely empty.
The band had pointed everyone toward Heaven, exalting the King, the Name above all names,
and they slowly, and secretly exited the stage in a way as to not draw any attention, refusing any kind of standing ovation for themselves.
How can we be sign posts pointing people to God, to exalt his name, and then quietly exit the stage so that the glory belongs to God alone?
In Jn 6, We don’t know who this boy who offered his lunch is.
And I don’t know if the boy humbly stepped out of the scene, or if that’s just the way history wrote it.
But for us, that’s how it will be written.
God wants to use you, but for His name sake. Our story is about Jesus.

God wants to use you for Your sake.
Here’s the graciousness of God in glorifying His own name:
He will use us and bless us in the process.
Not for the glory of our name, but for the deepening of our faith. For faith-sake
I hate to break it to you...God can glorify himself without us, no problem. He doesn’t NEED us.
EX: Feeding with Manna. We all remember the feeding of the 5000, but what about the feeding of the 600,000?
Remember the 600,000 men, who Moses led out of Egypt?
(That was just the number of men. People estimate the Exodus to be 2-3 million Israelites. )
God brought bread called from Heaven called Manna, not just for one meal, but for 40 years!!
No offence to the little boy, but Jesus didn’t need his fish and bread to perform a miracle!
GOD DOESN’T NEED US to in order to do miraculous wonders that Glorify Himself.
He doesn’t need us to win souls, or to preach his message, or to feed the needy.
But God graciously CHOOSES to use us. Just like He chose to use the boy’s fish and bread.
It was to glorify Himself, but I think a secondary reason was for the sake of the boy.
To take him, and the disciples, deeper into their faith in who Jesus is.
God’s primary mission in all the earth is to make his name known,
and sometimes He chooses to use you when doing things for His name sake.
Why? For your sake.
So that our knowledge of who he is would grow. So that your faith in His power would grow. So that our love for him will grow.

There’s something powerful about watching a man multiply 2fish/5loaves…
But it’s significantly more powerful for you…when it’s YOUR fish and bread that’s he multiplying!

I’m certain that the thousands of people there, and the disciples, were changed by the experience when they saw Jesus multiply the food.
But I suspect that the boy’s faith was impacted more so than the rest of the 5000 who were fed.
Why? Cuz it was his offering that was used by Jesus and multiplied!
There are many opportunities to witness the power of God at work, it’s all around us.
But it seems most powerful you when he chooses to takes you and uses what you have to offer.
Ex: Taiwan Team
I led a team to Taiwan the past 3 summers, and God was doing amazing things through our past trips.
I want to show you a video clip of what God was doing.
One of our Taiwanese friends named Mona had been helping us for a couple years, but she wasn’t a Christian. We had been praying for her all year to know Christ. There was a lot of pain in her life. She had come home to find her mom had committed suicide.
Another friend we had just met was Foster. He came into the church the Sunday before we were leaving for US. We began to talk, and share the gospel with him.
That night, there was a typhoon, so people came over to our apt. Mona came, and Foster came.
Foster kept asking us to share our “stories” with him. He needed evidence that God was real.
After we talked and prayed, he was crying, saying that this was such a wonderful day.
Later in the hallway, another conversation with Mona started up. Mona finally opened her heart to Jesus Christ.
Show Video
I showed this video last year to the Chinese congregation.
Some people told me they were so touched that they were crying.
I showed it to the English ministry. People were so touched they started crying.
We rejoice together at the power of God to save sinners.
As moved and as joyful as Christians may be when they see and hear of this… I don’t know if anyone is as impacted as the 9 of us who were able to be used by God.
Watching this video probably doesn’t may not change your life.
But we watched God take the investment we made, our time, energy, gifts and testimonies to speak truth into Mona and Foster’s life.
And when we saw God use it to reach others, God’s name was glorified.
And the 9 of us were deeply and personally impacted by it. We were blessed by it, in a way nobody else is.
God was using us in Taiwan for His Name sake,
but chose to use us also for our sake, for the strengthening of our faith.

Closing
When my dad asked me to preach at Long Beach Rescue Mission, and I was at the table in tears, I ran to my room and wept. My dad came after me and we prayed together.
We prayed that God would use us and empower us to preach the gospel.
I went to preach at Long Beach.
But I was so terrified that I had 20 friends come with me. Not to watch me, but to sit and pray for me.
Then came the part I dreaded: the call for commitment.
“Does anyone want to trust in Christ as Lord and Savior? 25-30 hands go up!
“Does anyone want to recommit their life to Christ?”
Another 25 hands or so go up, and one by one people start coming forward for prayer.
God took the little that I had offer, and he used me that night.
He used me, and He was glorified. He used me, primarily for his name sake.
And man, was my faith in the power of God deepened.
He used me, not only for His name sake, but he also chose to use me for my sake.

Closing
We don’t know much about this little boy in John 6.
All we know is this: he gave what he had to offer at the moment.
Offer all that you have to the Lord, whether great or small. It all belongs to him anyways.
Whether it’s your finances or possessions, your gifts and abilities, maybe it’s your time and your energy.
The most selfish thing you can do is to completely surrender all that you have to God.
It is in your best interest. You will be blessed.
1 Tim 3:13 “Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.”
But in being used, you will be blessed. Your faith will be made strong.
And in doing so, God WILL be glorified, He WILL be exalted among the nations.