Filled

We’re once again in John 6, looking at Jesus’ miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. And, once again, we’re looking at one of the trees of the forest, one word from this text. Let me tell you what I hope to accomplish with this sermon. I want to help you understand yourself a little better, understand your situation a little better, understand the dynamics of your heart a little better. Growing in these things is so important. I am persuaded that your living well as a disciple, your ability to follow Jesus faithfully, your success in advancing his kingdom, depends upon growth in these areas. God willing, we’ll make a little more progress this morning. Please listen as I read the text, John 6.1-14.

Let’s set the stage by asking a question. Why did Jesus do miracles? He turned water into wine, gave sight to the blind, made the lame to walk, fed thousands with just a little and did lots more. Why? Here’s one thought. Jesus wanted to alleviate pain and suffering. I can’t imagine what it would feel like being paralyzed, unable to move. Being freed from that, able again to walk and work is a very good thing. Jesus saw suffering and pain all around him and he did things to change that. He did miracles.

But there’s more than one answer to our question. Here’s another answer that is often given. Jesus did miracles to provide evidence for his seemingly outlandish claims. The miracles are proof that he really is sent from God. And to be sure, miracles can provide some pretty good evidence. Some of the people in our text were also thinking in terms of evidence once they were miraculously fed.

When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

The miracle was proof enough for these folk. And it should have been. Jesus’ miracles are evidence to base a lively faith on.

But there is yet another reason why Jesus did miracles. This is the reason that I want to highlight this morning. Jesus did miracles in order to teach. I’ve mentioned to you before that when John writes there are layers. Remember when Nathanael called Jesus ‘King of Israel’ and ‘Son of God’? There are layers in what he said. Likewise, when Jesus does a miracle there are layers. There’s alleviating suffering, and there’s providing evidence. And then, there is teaching. Teaching is one of the layers. That becomes clear when you see this miracle in its slightly larger context. What does Jesus go on to talk about after this miracle? John tells us that the next day Jesus has a conversation with the same people who ate the bread and fish. And what is the conversation about?

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

And what is that food, the food that endures to eternal life?

Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’

Jesus intended the miracle to make a point. He intended it to teach the people something about himself. He is the true bread, the bread that comes from heaven.

So, feeding those five thousand wasn’t just an act of kindness to needy people, though it was that. And it wasn’t just an act to provide evidence for faith, though it was that, too. Jesus intended to teach by performing that miracle.

Consider some of the details of the miracle: the gathering of all these people in the desert, miraculously providing bread for them to eat. These are not throwaway tidbits, there just to make an interesting story. These details are intended to make connections with what happened to Israel those forty years in the desert. Jesus does that on purpose. And then there is the quaint detail of those twelve baskets of leftovers. Who cares about leftovers? Jesus does. He commanded that they be gathered up. And is it significant that there are twelve? That’s an important number in the Scriptures. All these details are included for a reason. They convey a lesson. Jesus did this miracle in order to teach.

And that gets us to the word that I want to take a look at. And that word is ‘fill’.

And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.’

Jesus fed the people, and it was a full meal. He could have provided a little snack, just enough so that they could make it home where they could cook up a real repast. But that isn’t what he did. He provided enough so that they could eat their fill.

So, is this a throwaway word or is Jesus teaching something by this? I think that it’s helpful to note that when the other Gospels relate this miracle they use a different word.

And they all ate and were satisfied.

That helps us to see the lesson. When Jesus acts, when he rescues someone from their sin and all the mess that goes with it, he doesn’t do a partial job. He provides enough so that we can be filled, satisfied in body and soul.

It is important to remember that we are broken people who live in a broken world. You need to see that clearly if you are going to understand yourself and your situation. It’s just another way of talking about sin and its deadly effects. There are many ways to illustrate that. Here’s one that I think works well here. We all, every person born into this world, are water buckets. But we are not whole water buckets. We leak. And try as we might, we never get to the place where we are filled. Though we work hard at doing that, the water always manages to leak out. We are never filled.

Some folk have just a few holes, most of which are smaller, while others have many holes, and they are large. So, there are those who can get closer to feeling full, feeling satisfied. The water still leaks out, but not so quickly. But there are many, too many, who have so many holes. They can barely hold any water before it leaks out. Feeling full is a faint dream for them. Being born to a poor, single mom who lives in a part of the city that is falling apart will mean a life that has many more leaks than the life of someone born into a complete family, enjoying the opportunities and material comforts of life in the suburbs. We all have leaks, but there are some who have more.

As you know, people try lots of ways to be filled. We’ve encountered two examples in our journey through John already. There was the Samaritan woman whom Jesus met at the well. You remember how Jesus outed her little secret.

Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

Here is someone who thought that she could be filled if she just met the right man. And she went from one marriage to another looking for that man who would make her feel satisfied with her life.

The other example is Nicodemus. While the Samaritan woman’s game plan for satisfaction is foreign to me, the strategy that Nicodemus was following makes total sense to me. A satisfying life will be gained by the pursuit of knowledge, or so I was taught and I believed. And what is more satisfying than a life filled with religious knowledge. That I understand.

Both of these people had hope for a good life, a full life, a satisfying life. But their hope was not in Jesus. They placed their hope in their idols. For the woman, it was the idol of relationship. For Nicodemus it was the idol of knowledge. My guess is that the woman may have been closer to seeing through the lies of her idol. Five marriage relationships had not worked. She was not yet filled. She was still trying the same idol, but this time there was no marriage. Her current man was not her husband. I wonder if she was on the fringes of hope, almost ready to give up. Once someone sees through her idol one likely response is depression or even despair.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick.

I also wonder if Nicodemus came to Jesus because he too was beginning to see the failures of his idol. Was it because he saw the difference between Jesus and his own sense of emptiness - leakiness - that he sought out Jesus that night? There are, however, many who never see that this thing that they have placed their hope in, this idol, will never come through for them. That is why they will never be full.

Jesus comes to all of us leaky buckets, and he tells us that he can change us. He can fix our lives so that the leaks are gone, completely gone. He can fix our lives so that we can be satisfied, filled with life, and filled to the very brim. No leaks. That’s the Gospel. Jesus has come so that we can be filled, filled even to overflowing.

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Jesus has come to fix leaky buckets so that they (we?) can overflow with life.

It’s here, however, that doubt shows up. There are too many Christians who tell themselves, ‘But I don’t feel like I "overflow with life". There are times, to be sure, when I get much closer, but they are only times, here and there. Too much of my life still feels like a leaky bucket. What am I doing wrong?’

I’ve been reading some Francis Schaeffer lately so a phrase that he wrote came to mind here. The phrase is ‘substantial healing’. This describes what has happened to us. Jesus has come to heal us, to fix our leaky holes. And we have been healed, substantially healed. That means that the healing is real, but it is not complete. That means that the holes are getting smaller and fewer, but we still leak. It’s not as bad as it was, but we still leak. That’s why there are those times when we do feel like we are being filled with this life of eternity. But they are only times, here and there. And it still leaks out. It’s important to understand that the reason why we still leak is not because we have done something wrong - as if there were something that we’ve missed that would have resulted in being completely healed now. No. Jesus’ method of fixing leaky buckets is not a quick one. It is a process of healing. And that process will be completed, but not here. It will be completed at the resurrection.

There are many important questions and issues tied to all of this, but I want to focus on just one. Jesus has come. We have placed our lives into his care. We are Christians, and we are working to follow him as well as we can. We have made progress, and we thank Jesus for that. But we still leak. It’s not as bad as it was, but we still leak. What do we do about that? How do we deal with this troubling fact that we still leak?

We start by acknowledging some things. First, we acknowledge that this is the nature of the salvation that Jesus has provided. It is a process, and so we still leak. We are not yet at the point of overflowing with life. We are not yet filled. But that’s not because we’ve failed to do something. It’s the way it is, by Jesus’ design. And part of acknowledging this includes acknowledging that leaking hurts. We have tasted something of the satisfaction of real life, and it has tasted so good. But it is all too fleeting. And so, there are those times when we especially long for that mere taste to become more, to become a full meal. We yearn for the time when it will no longer be only substantial healing, but complete healing.

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. ​My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord.

Sometimes having a mere taste is so frustrating. But this is how Jesus has set it up. He loves us, and he knows what he is doing with our lives. And so, we trust him.

So, what do we do with this longing for more, this longing to be filled? One thing that we need to stay clear of is idols, those things, even good things, that we put some sort of hope in so that we might deal with this frustrating lack of complete healing. Though we are Christians, we can still fall for the kinds of idols that fooled the Samaritan woman and Nicodemus - or any of the many other idols. There are many good things that can be misused in this way: friendships, food, celebrating, family, a challenging job, even knowledge and marriage. All of those things are good. And when they are pursued in the right way, they are gifts of God to be enjoyed. But when they become idols that are supposed to fill our leaky buckets they are dangerous tools of Satan. And that’s why John ends his first letter this way.

Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

We are all confronted with the temptation of hoping in idols. They lie, and tell us that they will fill us. You need to be on your guard. This is something that needs persistent prayer.

Then there’s another thing that we need to do with this deep longing to be completely filled. We need to learn how to wait.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

          and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord

          more than watchmen for the morning,

          more than watchmen for the morning.

We find ourselves in the middle of things. The process of healing us, of fixing our leaks, has begun. Thanks be to God for that! But it is not yet complete. We know that it will be completed. The day will come when the longing will be completely satisfied. Jesus promised. But we’re not there yet. And so, we wait.

There will be those times, while we wait, when we just need to cry out to our God. We long for more of Jesus, more of this life that he has promised, more healing. And there will be particular times when we will feel the excruciating lack of all of that. And so we let Jesus know about this. Sometimes emoting in Jesus’ direction is the thing to do.

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

We wait patiently for our Savior to complete the good work that he has begun in us. Being patient is not a cultural virtue. It is not something that is being passed from one generation to the next. But we can become patient as we get to know our Savior better. A growing friendship with Jesus will lead to the greater ability to trust him as he continues the process of healing our leaks. And as we learn to trust him we will wait patiently.

And one day, the process of healing will be over. Jesus will return, all the saints raised and we will all be filled, filled to overflowing. No more leaks. Even so, come Lord Jesus.