“Who’s Doing This?” – MARK 6:36-45

His words must have been chilling.

“You yourselves give them something to eat” (6:37a) was not what they were expecting. The obvious thing to do was to disperse the crowd into different directions for some good ol’ fashioned foraging (6:36). There were so many of them, the cost made it impossible (6:37b) for Jesus and His disciples to foot the bill – even if the food was available. But, Jesus sounded like He was serious.

He wanted the disciples to feed them.

How awesome is it that our Savior – our God – empowers us to do His will? HE is still the miracle worker, make no mistake. Look at the faith building impact, however, of the command for the disciples to feed the masses.

Jesus did it, but used them to carry out the work.

Jesus could cause a case of bottled water to appear on the porch of a home, but He commands us to go and give a cup of cold water instead. There is power and purpose in these actions.

Sometimes there are obvious works in front of us as people struggle through life. The world (and many Christian-minded folks) asks why God does not just do something about it. Surely He could handle it. Absent divine intervention, our next instinct is to tell the needy to go help themselves (“go into the villages”, so to speak). The chilling words of Jesus ring out to us. “You yourselves do it”.

Now is the time to thumb through the Rolodex of excuses!

Jesus can accomplish so much more by working this way. He can accomplish much more in you (and me) as we trust Him and follow His direction even when the tasks seem impossible. Every time we listen and do our faith is deepened and every time we see the results our faith is widened. For those who receive from us, the potential benefits abound. While God may seem distant, people are quite real. While God’s love may seem fleeting or selective, brotherly love is obvious and tangible. Both the giver and the receiver are given a delightful taste of the graciousness of God.

All because Christianity is not a spectator sport!