Bible Text: John 6:1-15 | Preacher: Pastor Christian Preus | Series: Lent 2020 | Right now we’re in a time of testing. There’s no denying that. Our schools have closed, our restaurants have closed, our economy is in shambles, some of you are losing your jobs, your investments have seen historic losses, and instead of coming to church you’re listening to church on the internet. But the church will never close. That’s the test we’re undergoing right now. Do we believe what we confess in the good times? The Church shall never perish, her dear Lord to defend. That’s what we sing. We pray every day, “For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Heaven and earth will pass away, Jesus says, but my words will never pass away. And that is the point. So long as the faithful are listening to Jesus’ Word, the church flourishes. We are the lambs who hear the voice of our Good Shepherd. And His words are far more valuable than our 401ks, far more valuable than our jobs, far more valuable than physical health on this sinful earth. We are anxious now, like Martha, we’re worried about many things, our lives have been disrupted, we’re not in control. But one thing is needful. And you have it. Nothing can take it away. Jesus is still risen. Your God still wears your flesh and blood. Your Savior has still bled and died to wash you clean of all your sin. Your Baptism still has the promise of your dear Father that you are his dear child. And you have still been fed with the body and blood of the God-Man, you’ve tasted the medicine of immortality. We live in a world that changes far more rapidly than we want. Because sin brings change and decay. This last week has proved that. But understand the wisdom of King David, “I have been young and now I am old, and yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor their children begging for bread.” God is faithful. That’s what never changes. Depend on it. Say, “Thy will be done,” and mean it.
That’s what Jesus teaches us today in our Gospel. He teaches us that He tests those He loves. He tests us to pull our hearts away from trusting in things that can’t last and turning our hearts to trust in Him, who gives us everything good, both for our bodies and our souls; He tests us to draw our eyes away from what is fading away and toward what will last forever. So the first thing we need to realize in a time of testing is Who is doing the testing. It’s not us. We can’t test God. He’s perfect. He’s good. He’s merciful and gracious. He’s proved that with His own blood. So Jesus says to the devil, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test!” No, God is the one who tests. Jesus does it. He asks Philip, “Where will we get enough bread to feed so many people?” And Jesus says this, the Holy Spirit stresses this, Jesus says this to test him.
This is the divine perspective, the perspective of faith. God is in control. The God who became a man is in control. The God who knows our needs not only because He’s our Maker, but because He’s our Brother and has shared our human woes. He’s in control. And He tests us because we need it.
We’re suffering through a plague. That’s what Covid19 is. It’s a plague. And when God sent plagues in the Old Testament, He always did so to fight against false gods. He explicitly says this in Exodus. He says He will take vengeance against the gods of Egypt. He’ll show they are pitiful gods, that they’re not worth trusting in, because they’re nothing, they don’t exist, they have no power, they can’t defend you, they’re laughable objects for our trust. And that’s exactly what God did, he sent plague after plague to humiliate the gods of the Egyptians, so that everyone saw they couldn’t do a thing to help the people, they were powerless, they were nothing.
So God allows this plague in our country. It’s an evil, no doubt. But God works good out of evil. That’s what He does. He’ll use this plague to test us, to point out our false gods, the things we trust in so much, the things that we think we can’t live without, and He’ll rip them from our hearts. He’ll show us how fleeting they are. Because that’s what we need. God created us to find our rest in Him. And our souls will be restless as long as they try to find rest in things that fade away in the using. Because as we’ve seen this week, everything in this world is fickle, changing, and we can lose it in an instant.
How many of you have checked your stocks this week, your retirement plans? How many of you have been anxious and despaired at seeing thousands or tens of thousands of dollars disappear overnight? How many of you have been worrying about the economy, about what it might mean for the coming election, about a recession or a depression? Think of that. Even though we have food enough to eat, a house to live in, we worry about the future as if the God who has taken care of us our whole life and is taking care of us now and gave us our wealth and all we have in the past will fail to do it in the future. No! So your money fails you and it hurts. Good, God is turning you to Him. God will provide. See that He provides for your souls, and you won’t doubt that He’ll provide for your body. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. And this is the time to learn in our hearts that it would be better to have no money at all and have God on our side than to have all the money in the world but to lose our soul.
And whatever else has us worried, worried about not getting enough groceries, worried about the kids not going to school, worried about getting this virus, worried about getting sick, worried about dying, worried about how long this will last, how long it will be before we can return to our lives of comfort and security, all of these things point to one thing – we want to be in control. This has become the great false god of our time. It’s the Burger King slogan, “Have it your way.” But this isn’t our world. We don’t pray, “My will be done.” We can’t live our lives that way. The idea that we’re in control is a façade. God can change everything in the blink of an eye. And when God does it, when He turns our world upside down, He’s proving to you this very thing. And He does it because He loves you. It’s bad for our souls, for our lives, to think that we’re in control. God’s showing this to us. Let’s pay attention to Him.
We want God in control. We pray, “Thy will be done.” Because we know our God. His love is beyond words. What He has done for us, what He has prepared for us by sending His Son to live our life and die our death, is beyond expression. That he would bless us to call on Him as Father, that He would give us His Spirit, that His Son would become our Brother, that He would teach us the good life of trusting in Him and loving one another, that He would promise us everlasting life through the blood of Jesus, that He would swear never to leave us or forsake us, to be with us even in the valley of the shadow of death, this is the guarantee that He will work out all things, including what you are facing now, for your good.
So that’s the first thing, that it’s our Savior Jesus who tests us, and nothing He does could possibly be bad for us who trust in Him. The second thing is that Jesus tests for a very specific reason. Jesus tested Philip. Jesus asked Philip how they could buy so much bread to take care of so many people. But Jesus knew. And Jesus will test you as He did Philip. He’ll put pain and worry into your life, make you see, as Philip saw, that if left to yourself, there’s no way you could do it, but that you need Him, you depend on Him. He’ll test you to find you true and drive you back to the foundation of your faith and your life, that He has shed his blood for you.
Jesus has you pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” He gave the people who followed him out into the wilderness daily bread. He gave the people of Israel manna in the wilderness. He doesn’t have us pray for monthly bread or yearly bread. He wants us to see that every day He cares for us, every day He provides for us, because this is what our faith depends on, that our God is the constant Giver, the Giver to His children of every good thing, of our forgiveness, of our inheritance, of our identity as His children, and of everything we need to support this body and life. We have nothing to fear.
God hasn’t given you the spirit of fear and bondage, but the Spirit of adoption, by which you cry out, Abba, Father. You don’t need to worry about your life. If you are sick, Jesus will help you to bear it. If you are worried about your job or your money, know that everything you do you do for God anyway, and He will give you more than you need. He will. If you feel like you’re not in control, know that your Father is, and He loves you more than you could know. He sent His Son when you were still sinners, when you were enemies, and He satisfied every drop of His anger by the blood of the Lamb of God. He is your true Father. He won’t stand over you with a rod to punish you as He demands that you do what you need to do. No, He looks over you with kindness and love and joy. “Delight yourself in the Lord,” we confess, “and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act.”
If you feel yourself worrying, pray to your Father in Jesus’ name. Ask Him for the help He wants to give. Tell him everything that worries you. There is only one thing needful. You are worried and anxious about many things, I know, but there is only one thing you really need. To hear the words of everlasting life from your Savior. And that’s exactly what He gives you now.
You don’t need to hoard food and toilet paper, you don’t need to worry about the economy, you don’t need to torture yourself with so many cares, because Jesus cares for you, He has purchased you with things more precious than silver or gold, and won for you a future that this present crisis isn’t worthy to be compared to. He tests you now to bring you closer to Him, to make you call on His Father as your Father and know that He will answer according to His gracious will. And so take these weeks to do just that. Read the words of Jesus every day. Pray your heart out to Him. He loves to hear you. Pray for this nation, for this state and city, for your church, for your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Care for those close to you. Spend time with your family. Wash your hands, stay away from people if you’re feeling sick, obey your government, but do it because of love and not because of fear. Your Lord Jesus will strengthen you through it all by His Word of promise, which unlike everything else on this earth, will never fail. Amen.