Transcript

Does God Have Wants?

Matthew 14:13-21
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Pastor Randy Smith

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Today's text is possibly one of the most well known passages in the entire Bible. Much of its familiarity comes from the reality that Jesus performed an extraordinary and memorable miracle. Its popularity can also be traced back to the fact that this event is found in all four of the Gospels.

The "Feeding of the 5,000" as we call it. When you count the women and children, some have estimated the crowd to be around 20,000 people. From five loaves and two fish Jesus miraculously creates enough to feed everybody with twelve baskets to spare.

Apart from food we die. We want food. We want a lot of things from God. But does this story tell us anything about what God wants from us? Is it always about our wants or does God have wants as well? While we have learned on Wednesday nights that God is fully independent of His creation (meaning He has no needs), we must not interpret that to mean that God has no desires. Throughout the Bible we see examples of God grieving and God rejoicing. So this morning I would like to present to you six wants of God that are revealed to us in our passage.

1. HE WANTS YOU

First of all, God wants you.

So ladies, you have the husband that delivers on the obligatory birthday gifts and sits next to you during the church functions and happens to bring home a bouquet of flowers from time to time. You voice your concerns about your unhappiness in the relationship and he steps it up. More gifts start coming in, but you are still not satisfied because what you want is him. He regretfully cancels plans with buddies and is disappointed to spend less time in the office to spend more time with you. Still you are not satisfied because what you want is him to want you.

Is our relationship with the Lord any different? What is He to think about our financial offerings and church services and Christian bumper stickers if He never has our hearts? Does our morning worship mean anything if we come out of tradition, obligation or simply because there is nothing better happening on a particular Sunday morning? Is God more honored when we serve Him out of duty or when we serve Him out of delight? Listen beloved, what God wants is your heart! He does not need your stuff. What He wants is you, and then the stuff becomes the overflow of a heart passionately in love with Him. God is not impressed with your religion. What He wants is a relationship.

Look with me at verse 13: "Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself."

On a regular basis in the Gospels we see Jesus withdrawing to be alone, specifically to spend time with the Father (see verse 23). We get the impression that Jesus treasured these opportunities for direction and comfort and encouragement and strength. He had a special relationship and that relationship was maintained through these most intimate times together. And if Jesus saw a need to be alone with the Father, what does that say about us? If Jesus prioritized the special union that the two of them shared, what does that say about us?

God wants your heart! We know the Bible teaches this as the greatest commandment (Mt. 22:37-38). But don't take that for granted. Be glad it does! We want the most love from the ones we love the most. Be glad that Almighty God wants a personal relationship with you! And if the Almighty God extends Himself to this degree, what does it say when we offer Him nothing more than our petty tokens of piety? Commune with Him continually. As we learned the past two weeks, you will never be happier than when you are living in the center of His will. And God will never be more glorified than when He is number one in your life.

2. HE WANTS YOU CARED FOR

Second, God wants you to be cared for which shows that He is a compassionate God.

Verse 14, the primary focus of our passage: "When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick."

With an upward of 20,000 in the crowd, all types of people were represented. You most likely had rank sinners and self-righteous legalists. Others may have appeared to be committed followers only to shortly turn their back when the "Jesus show" ended. This account is recorded in John chapter 6. Later in that chapter John tells us that "many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore" (Jn. 6:66). Yet despite their rebelliousness, our verse says that Jesus had "compassion" on them.

The word compassion literally means "to suffer with." Jesus felt their pain, and the majority of these folks were unbelievers. What does that say about you if you are in Christ? Does He not feel your pain even more? Does He not relate to your sufferings in a way that no one else can? Do we not have a high priest who can "sympathize with our weaknesses?" (Heb. 4:15).

So think about this this week. Compassion is an attribute of God. That means you do not have to ask for it. That means there is nothing that can prevent Him from being compassionate to you. It is who He is! Nehemiah called Him a God of "great compassion" (Neh. 9:19). David said God "will not withhold [His] compassion" (Psm. 40:11). Isaiah said God "will have compassion on His afflicted" (Isa. 49:13). God is unfailing in His attributes. To be true to Himself, He must be compassionate to His children.

3. HE WANTS YOU TO SEE THE NEED

Third, our Lord wants you to see the need. What I mean by this is that God wants you to see the needs that concern Him the most and to understand that the way to meet those specific needs is through His resources.

Look with me beginning in verse 15. "When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, 'This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.' But Jesus said to them, 'They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!'"

Could you imagine receiving that statement! People seated along the hillside - more than the eye can see. The disciples play as if they are more compassionate than Jesus. "We need to let these folks get some food, Jesus!" Jesus turns it on them. "You give them something to eat!" Folks, the phones didn't exist to place the order to the pizza parlor that didn't exist either. And even if fast food did exist, the money necessary to fork the bill for the dinner guests definitely didn't exist. Why would Jesus make such a statement? "You give them something to eat!" Was He trying to be funny? Did He really think the disciples could meet the demand?

Our Grace Quote from earlier in the month by Jonathan Edwards. "When God is about to bestow some great blessing on His church, it is often His manner, in the first place, so to order things in His providence as to show His church their great need of it, and to bring them into distress for want of it, and so put them upon crying earnestly to Him for it."

I hope you have felt this way regarding our building project. Apart from God there is no way this will ever happen. I would rather feed 20,000 than try to build a multi-million dollar church where unbelievers decide our fate, and we need to meet the approval of over 200 adults in this congregation. Has the Lord revealed to us our desperation for Him? And if He has, are we continually crying out to Him? I hope God sees us crying out to Him in prayer both individually and corporately as a church. Are we fasting as I suggested on several accounts to help remind us of our total dependence on Him and our desperation to receive His spiritual food more than our physical food?

Last week I was reading that parable in Luke 18 about the widow who unceasingly cried out to the unrighteous judge. Based on her continual pleas, the judge granted the request. And what was Jesus' conclusion to the story? "Now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?" (Lk. 18:7).

When is the last time you really cried out to God for anything?

Have you cried out to God for the salvation of your children? Are you aware of all the worldly influences in their lives? Are you aware of their rebellious hearts that desire sin over righteousness? Are you aware of your own poor example when you do not prioritize the Lord as you should? When have you really been passionate about the eternal destination of your child's soul?

In our account Jesus wanted to teach His disciples a lesson. As He said in John 15, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing" (Jn. 15:5). There was no way that the disciples that evening could feed all those people. That was the point! There is no way we can do anything meaningful for the Lord apart from Him working through us. It is a lesson we self-sufficient and self-reliant people need to learn. God has work to do. But He does not want us to do the work. Rather, He wants to do the work through us, but only when we want it as much as He does. Remember, He doesn't want the action as much as He wants our hearts!

4. HE WANTS YOU TO BE INVOLVED

Number four: God wants you to be involved.

This point only naturally follows. God wants you to see the work He is about to perform. And once you see the work, God wants you to be involved. God will always accomplish His will. The only question is do we want to be the instruments He uses to accomplish that will? Do we want to be the people He uses to build His eternal kingdom, or do we have others issues that we deem more pressing?

God's greatest blessings rarely come easy. There is often work and involvement on our behalf. Before the Apostles were given the great catch, they would have to venture into "deep water" (Lk. 5:4). Before the Israelites would enter the Promised Land, they would have to travel through the wilderness (Ex. 14:11). Before Jesus would feed the multitude, the disciples would have to (verse 17) produce five loaves and two fish themselves, and (verse 18) "bring them…to [Jesus]."

Recently my wife told me a story she received from a woman in our church. While her son was studying world cultures and religions, he was given an assignment to create a god - the name, its powers and its appearance. The child had a problem with that assignment (and praise God for that) and expressed his concerns to his mother. Now the mother didn't do what I believe many Christian would have done and that is either ignore the situation or bang your Bible over the head of the educator and deride her as a pagan scum. Rather she called with respect and with gentleness explained her concerns about the assignment. She was able to explain her faith and kindly requested an alternative assignment whereby her son could do the assignment by describing the one true God as He is mentioned in the Bible. The request was granted. That is a victory! But that victory came through work; through the need to teach her children accurately, carefully monitor her child's schoolwork, courageously engage the teacher and wisely suggest an alternative project. I would say that's involvement!

Believe me, if one of your greatest goals is seeing other believers bear fruit for God (as you should), you will have a passion to be used in the process. And believe me, if you enlist yourself to be a tool that God uses to bless others (as you should), God will call you to give yourself out. But in the end the reward always exceeds the requirement.

The Lord has been teaching us a lot during this building project. I suppose He could have dropped a new facility out of the sky. I suppose He could have sent us a check for millions of dollars to construct a church with little aggravation. This has not been the case. Like He did with the Israelites when they built the tabernacle and temple, He has engaged us, He has stretched us, He has tested us, He has challenged us and He has involved us. Why? Because God wants us and not a facility of bricks and mortar. He wants us to learn as we wander in the wilderness. He wants us to appreciate it more when it comes. He wants us to see the need and depend upon Him for the resources.

5. HE WANTS TO MULTIPLY YOUR OFFERING

Fifth, God wants to multiply your offering.

Verse 19, "Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds."

God is in the business of multiplication. We give ourselves to Him. We then see the true need. He uses us in the process. And then He takes what we can contribute by His grace (verse 18) and multiplies it by His power.

Isn't that the teaching of Ephesians 3:20? "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us." Isn't that the teaching of 2 Corinthians 9:6? "Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully."

So when one of my daughters comes to me and says she wants to give all her savings to the building project what do I say? I know the things she's been saving for months to obtain. I say, "Have you prayed about this. What has God called you to do?" So she gives it. From a personal perspective, I praise the Lord that she has prioritized Him. But from a church perspective, I suppose there are two ways I can look at this. One is that I can say that money will get us about two hours with our attorney. Another is I can say that God will honor her heart and multiply her offering in some form of greater blessings.

The disciples were people like us - slow to forget the working of the Lord. They even witnessed His miracles and still couldn't figure how He would feed such a large crowd with two fish and five loaves. When Jesus was praying in verse 19, I bet more than one of them opened an eye and peeked up to see how the food would arrive.

Let's remember the principle: little when planted in God's hand becomes much.

6. HE WANTS YOU SATISFIED

And lastly, point number six, God wants you satisfied.

Verse 20, "And they all ate and were satisfied."

God is not chincy. He knows our deepest needs better than we do ourselves. And when it comes time for Him to bless, He always blesses to the point of satisfaction. If we understand what matters most, none of God's children will ever walk away unsatisfied. The supply as we just learned is often above the demand.

The past two weeks we have been discussing our joy in God. I mentioned to you that God wants you to pursue your happiness provided you pursue it in Him. God wants you. God wants you to delight in Him and when you delight in Him, you are satisfied and He receives the utmost praise. Everybody wins. Yet our satisfaction from Him must start with our delight in Him. That is theology from the Bible! David put it so well in Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart."

The joy of the Lord is our strength (Neh. 8:10). The joy of the Lord is the motivation of our pursuits.

So when your son asks you, "Dad, why do we always have to go to church, again?" The answer is not always because we have to. A better answer might be to share the motives of your heart and the pursuit of your joy.

"Son, let me tell you how I for the majority of my life rejected God. Let me tell you how I pursued the vain things of this world. Let me tell you about the emptiness and dissatisfaction. I was God's enemy. But God had mercy on me. He opened my eyes. He removed all my sins and allowed His very Son to be punished in my place. And He put a new song in my heart. And He gave me the ability to be used by Him, to be a part of something that will bring true satisfaction. And He gave me a church that allows me to use my gifts to serve others and allows me to fellowship with His children and allows me to hear His Word. Son, I suppose we could come up with a million reasons why we don't need to go to church this morning, but we get to go to church. We get to join in the assembly of His redeemed people and participate in something that most resembles our future home in heaven. Son, today, we get to worship the living God, and there is nothing more that I'd rather do."

Christian, before anything else, God wants you. He wants you to understand His love and compassion. He wants you to think like He does and see what He sees and want what He wants. He then wants you to be involved. He promises to use what He has already given you such as your time and talents and treasures. He multiplies your offerings to bring greater blessings than you ever expected and reminds you that it is His power that makes a difference. And then He satisfies you with the greatest gift of Himself.