Sermon - Trinity VII - Mark 8:1-9

A few weeks ago in Bible Study at St. Paul the ancient motto or proverb was brought up: “God helps those who help themselves.” It’s an old saying, with origins dating back to ancient Greece, but it’s not found anywhere in the Bible. We discussed how the phrase can be understood within a Christian framework, understanding that God has commanded us not to be lazy sluggards, but we are to diligently labor in our life. If we’re unwilling to work, then neither will we eat. 

While that’s a kind interpretation of the phrase which is designed to help people self-motivate and get work done, that’s not really how people commonly understand the phrase. In some Barna surveys done over the past few decades, a majority of Americans actually believe that this phrase is a Bible verse or even one of the ten commandments, they believe that this phrase is the central message of the Bible. 

This message of self-reliance is helpful in terms of motivating a sluggard to activity, however, the phrase is commonly understood to mean that we rely upon ourselves for both our physical and spiritual blessings. What it does is place the individual as the originator of all good things, instead of God. Rather, as we see from our Bible lessons today, it’s Christ who helps us by grace, not by our own motivation. Today we learn that Christ has compassion on His people and feeds them both physically and spiritually.

God cares for us physically. Look to the example of our first father Adam. “The LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.” God didn’t merely drop Adam into a deserted wilderness left to fend for himself; God provided for all of Adam’s needs.

The Lord God formed Adam, fashioning him from the ground, breathing into his lungs breath and life. Adam didn’t have to plant and cultivate the garden, God did all of that. Adam didn’t cause the trees to be fruitful and bear delicious and beautiful food, God did that. It is true that God “put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it,” but this would have been a delightful task! There were no thorns or thistles to pull. No need to get out the watering can, since the Lord sent a mist to come up from the ground and water the garden. Certainly Adam was given a job to do, God desired that Adam would care for this world with Him, but ultimately the Lord provided all of it. 

Likewise in our Gospel lesson from Mark 8; it’s Christ who feeds the four thousand. These people had come from great distances to listen to Jesus teach them, and surely they must have brought some food for the journey, but after three days of being with Jesus, they ran out of food and had nothing to eat. So our Lord had compassion on the crowd. He knew that if he sent them away to their homes,“they would faint on the way.” 

Yet Jesus’ disciples were confused, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” Indeed, this is a valid concern. They only have seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. Moreover they’re in the wilderness, too far from habitation to buy food, no crops growing around them, no good fishing spots or hunting grounds. There’s no helping themselves at this juncture, they’re in a bind. 

So the Lord Jesus commands the crowd to be seated, gives thanks to God the Father for the seven loaves of bread and small fish, and then hands it to the disciples to distribute to the crowds. All four thousand ate, had their bellies satisfied, and they wound up with more leftovers of food than they started with. God had compassion on His people and provided for their physical needs. 

Sure, Jesus put His disciples to work by handing out the food, but we all know well enough that Jesus performed the miracle not the disciples. This is ultimately what all of our work and labor is today; it’s no different than what Adam or the disciples were instructed to do. God is the one providing for all of our needs. God is the one who causes the crops to grow and the animals to fatten. He is the one who feeds our bellies and gives us so many leftovers. While we work so that we might bring home the proverbial or literal bacon, God is the one who provides the bacon and places it in our hands. All of our work is little more than receiving and delivering what God has already blessed us with.

Not only does God provide us with everything that we need physically, but He provides us with everything we need spiritually. Look to the example of the four thousand. We might be tempted to chastise these four thousand people who came to listen to Jesus. Afterall, they went on a long journey and didn’t bring enough food! Surely they must have seen that they were running low and they should have gone home to eat! What kind of irresponsible morons go on a long trip and don’t think to bring enough food! 

These people weren’t irresponsible or morons, they were simply incredibly faithful. They knew that they had a greater need than to have their bellies satisfied, and so they placed their spiritual hunger far ahead of their physical hunger. They were thirsting and hungering for the true bread of life that comes down from heaven: Jesus the Christ, the word made flesh. 

Would that we are humbled by the example of these faithful four thousand who knew that they couldn’t help themselves either physically or spiritually, and that they thus needed to be nourished by their compassionate Savior. The reason the crowd gathered about Jesus was to be filled and satisfied with the Word He taught them. For three days they listened to Him, clinging to every word from His lips, and still they wouldn’t leave and return home until He sent them away… yet we have a hard time paying attention to a Bible reading for more than 30 seconds.

Many today apply the phrase “God helps those who help themselves” not only to their physical needs, but to their spiritual needs. We live in an age of private spirituality, self-help theology, and individual worship. Many today think that they don’t need church to be a Christian, rather they think can do it all just fine on their own. They can do the whole church thing in the shower, in the bed, in the car, at work, at the campground, at the lake, or while doing chores. It is true that you should be a Christian in all facets of your life, but you can’t be nourished spiritually apart from the bread of life that comes down from heaven, apart from the Word of God, apart from Jesus.

We cannot be Christians in isolation. But like the four thousand we need to come together and be fed spiritual nourishment by Jesus Christ. It’s only by the grace of Jesus Christ poured out for sinners such as us that we can persevere through this life to the next. Because you see our spiritual needs are more than just good feelings and being happy. Our spiritual need is all about being forgiven for our sins. You and I can’t offer a thing to God in order to satisfy His divine wrath against our sin. All of our self-help and personal spirituality are not as a much as a single crumb to feed four thousand people.

Only the blood of Christ can atone for what we’ve done and make satisfaction for our debt. Only by God’s grace can we recline at the Lord’s table in heaven. So here today Christ is present for you, just as present as He was with the four thousand. Here today Jesus speaks and we listen to His Word. Here today Jesus declares that your sins are forgiven. Here today Jesus quenches our thirst in the waters of baptism. Here today Jesus invites you to recline at His table and eat His body and blood. Here today, Jesus feeds you not only physically by providing for all of your daily needs, but more importantly He nourishes your souls with the bread of life. 

Dear Christians, you may look around the room and long for a sanctuary filled with four thousand people, wondering where everyone is and why this place isn’t packed to the gills. Good question; so let others know that in this small church Christ is present and offers them something their private Christianity never can: Jesus, the bread of life. 

In the meantime, do know that while we may not look like four thousand, what’s gathered here today is far greater than four hundred thousand. Today our voices, while maybe few in number, join the church immortal and together with angels and archangels and the whole heavenly host laud and magnify God’s glorious name while being entirely satisfied by our compassionate Savior who provides.