May Nothing Be Lost

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 25th of July, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Last week we studied a passage of scripture from the Gospel account of the Apostle Mark.  In that reading, I skipped a section on purpose simply because it did not pertain to the point of the message.

Do you remember what I said I skipped?  It was Mark’s account of the feeding of the 5000.  This event was recorded by all four of the Gospel writers, so we know it is something very important for us to study and understand and learn from.

We call this the feeding of the 5000, but each of the Gospel writers puts that number at 5000 men, which does not include any women and children that were very likely also present.  The Apostle Matthew in his account even mentions, “Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children”.

But the Apostle John added one little piece of information in his account that the other three failed to include, one short sentence Jesus spoke after all had eaten that I think we need to hear.  Please listen and follow along to how John recorded this event for us in chapter 6 of his Gospel account in verses 1 through 15, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. 3 And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.

4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” 6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.

7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”

8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”

10 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” 13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

--John 6:1-15 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for hearing all prayers, especially those offered up by Your Son Jesus.  He took five loaves of bread and two small fish and thanked You for the feast they would provide.  Thank You, God, for giving Jesus the power and authority to work such mighty signs and miracles, so that the people then and we now would know that He is indeed Your Son.  Please hear our prayers also.  Help us give You thanks for what You are about to do in our lives.  Help us speak to others of Your mighty power and compassionate love.  And Father, please guard us from Satan and those who so gleefully do his bidding.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and purpose in our love and our service to Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this morning.  Show us in our minds and our hearts how we might help save the lost from a horrible fate.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus, your Son and our Redeemer.   Amen.

I apologize that this little story may not be well-suited to the faint of heart, but it is very telling.  In one of his essays, George Orwell describes a wasp that, "was sucking jam on my plate and I cut him in half.  He paid no attention, merely went on with his meal, while a tiny stream of jam trickled out of his severed esophagus.  Only when he tried to fly away did he grasp the dreadful thing that had happened to him."  In his essay, Orwell didn’t mention this, but that wasp and people without Christ have much in common.  Severed from their souls, but greedy and unaware, those people continue to consume life's sweetness.  Only when it's time to fly away will they fully grasp their dreadful condition.

OK, so that was a little gross, but it makes a very interesting comparison.

George Orwell was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, and most widely known for his futuristic novel, 1984.  He was rather radical in his views so maybe we can’t really fault him for detailing so strange an occurrence in his life, nor his actions in cutting the wasp in half to see what would happen.

Just as that wasp kept on sucking up the sweet jam without realizing its doom was at hand, people who have rejected Jesus continue to take in all that this life has to offer without a care of what eternity holds in store.  They are lost, just as that wasp was lost, and the sad thing is that they don’t even know it.

As I mentioned at the start, all four Gospel writers included this miraculous meal in their accounts.  Matthew recorded it in his chapter 14, Mark in his chapter 6, and Luke in his chapter 9.  But only John caught something Jesus said.  Did you notice it?

After everyone finished eating, Jesus sent the disciples back around to gather up in baskets anything that wasn’t eaten.  Jesus told them to “gather up the fragments that remain”, or words to that effect.  But only John heard the Lord add, “so that nothing is lost”.  Go and gather up anything left over so that nothing is lost, nothing is left behind.

Yes, Jesus was speaking of the bits of fish and bread that had not been eaten by the throng.  But do you suppose that’s all Jesus meant?  Could He have also had something else in mind, knowing that we today would be reading of this account that His beloved disciple saved for us?

One more thing that John caught that the others may have missed is contained in the last verse of our passage.  Jesus perceived that the people were about ready to force Him to be their king.  Remember, there were over 5000 of them and He had just fed them all with what amounted to a rather modest lunch.  They were starting to realize this was indeed the promised Messiah, the Savior, the king come to save them all.

Yes, He was the Messiah, but an earthly king is not the role He came to serve.  His purpose here, given Him by our Father God, was much more humble, and far more important than that.

So that nothing is lost…

Jesus often spoke of sheep in His teachings, because the people understood sheep, and shepherd was a common occupation.  Sometimes He commented on people who acted like sheep without a shepherd, or like sheep who had gone astray.  Sheep are relatively dumb, and need someone to guide them or they’ll wander around eating grass without a care in the world.  Sort of like that wasp in Orwell’s essay.  They’ll stray from the flock and get lost.

And Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd at times.  He even told His disciple Peter to tend His sheep, feed His sheep.

Listen to what Matthew recorded Jesus saying to His disciples in chapter 18 of his Gospel account, verses 11 through 14…

11 ... “the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

12 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? 13 And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.”

--Matthew 18:11-14 (NKJV)

Jesus came to save the lost, so that nothing - no one - be lost.  The shepherd would certainly leave the 99 sheep behind to go look for the one that had gone astray.  And he would rejoice more for finding it than for the others who were safe in the fold.

Jesus and all the angels in heaven rejoice whenever one lost sheep, one strayed soul, is found and returns to the flock.  Why?  Because it is not God’s will that even one soul be lost.

Family, if Jesus rejoices over one lost sheep being found and returned to the fold, doesn’t it follow that He must weep over any sheep that go astray?  We should share in heaven’s sorrow when one of us wanders from the flock, taking in the pleasures of this life, content on grazing the meadows of this world with no concern for what lies ahead.  And we should rejoice when one who was lost is found.  After all, it is God’s will that none who have strayed should perish, but that they be found and saved.

Let us continue to pray for the lost, for those who have strayed from the straight and narrow path.  And if and when we get the opportunity to talk with one of them, let’s remind them of how good our Lord is and how much He loves them.  Let’s do all we can to help, so that nothing is lost.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for loving us so much that You want none of us to perish, to be separated from You for all eternity.  You sent Your Son Jesus to save us when we were lost, and He still seeks out the lost.  Thank You for working Your will through Him and through us.  Please, Father, help us carry out Your will.  Help us be better servants.  Sometimes, Father, we let the world get us down and we start to lose hope.  Sometimes we enjoy this life too much and begin to stray.  Please, Father, help us stay on the path to righteousness.  Please keep us strong in our spirit, in our faith, and in our service to You and Jesus.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You from our hearts through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, You came to save the lost and You rejoice when one who was lost is found.  We were all lost in our sin when You came to save us.  Thank You, Jesus, for loving us this much.  Lord Jesus, we ask You to help us as we try to reach out to a disbelieving world with Your word and Your Good News.  Help us as we seek out the lost.  Strengthen our will to do what our Father God wills us to do.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day.  And please help us as we try to show Your love in a world where hatred and distrust seem to grow stronger each day.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.