You've Got to Wait Until It's Over to Find Out - Pastor Stacey Shiflett

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You’ve Got To Wait Until It’s Over to Find Out

John 6:1-14

Intro: Some of you are curious to know what the title of the message is.

You’ve got to wait until it’s over to find out.

This story is found in all four Gospels. (Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9 and here in John 6.)

This story is simple.

We’ve all heard this story preached a thousand times.

But I saw something in this story a few weeks ago that blew my mind.

Let’s built up to the punch line if we can.

I. A Hungry People

In three of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), we find the same phrase:

Give ye them to eat.

The obvious problem that sparked this entire miracle was a bunch of hungry people.

People are hungry:

A. For Life – they are dead in trespasses and sins

B. For Liberty – they are bound by chains of sin and in bondage

C. For Love – they don’t know the great love that God has for them

D. For Listening Ears – they are missing out on the blessings of the throne of grace.

II. A Humble Provision

There are several aspects of this story that I want to point out that I’ve not really paid much attention to before.

A. The Giver was Unknown

This fact is a big deal.

In a world where people are so narcissistic that they demand recognition for their donation, notice:

· Not one of the four Gospels tells us his name.

· Only John even tells us where the 5 loaves and 2 fishes came from.

· And then, it only tells us that it was a lad.

Matthew 14

· 16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.

· 17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.

· 18 He said, Bring them hither to me.

· Mark 6:38 He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.

· Luke 9:13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.

It doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are, how big you are or where you’re from, the principles in this story will apply to you.

He didn’t have to fit any prescribed criteria.

The one doing the giving is not the main part of the story.

B. The Gift was Unsolicited

We do not have a record in any of the four Gospels were Jesus asked anybody to give anything.

This boy saw the need, and out of a heart of compassion, offered what he had to the Lord.

Today, it seems that people have to be begged, and coerced and repeatedly asked to do the smallest thing.

III. A Human Perspective

· Vs. 8 “What are they among so many?”

We can get upset at Andrew in verse 8 for making light of that donation, but we would have done the same thing.

There is not one of us that would have gotten excited about that lad’s lunch.

The need was so much greater than the donation, that we would have thought the same thing.

ILLUSTRATION: We feed the homeless each Thanksgiving. We put out a list of what we need.

None of us would get excited about a sack lunch for such a large crowd of people.

Can I say it – many of God’s people still ask that same question about anything that might be used of God!

· Prayer – what is that among so many?

· A Gospel Tract – what is that among so many?

· A Word of Witness – what is that among so many?

· A simple act of obedience – what is that among so many?

· A word of encouragement – what is that among so many?

· A testimony – what is that among so many?

· An offering – what is that among so many?

We fail to recognize that it is not important WHO is giving, or WHAT they are giving but THAT they are giving!

This boy didn’t offer apologies for what he gave.

He didn’t play it down or play it up.

He didn’t demonstrate pride or false humility.

He just gave what he had because there was a need.

Imagine of every Christian just gave all they had because there was a need and they wanted to do something about it!

IV. A Heavenly Participation

One of the most powerful statements in this story is found in verse 11.

“And Jesus took the loaves…”

I can tell you on the authority of the Word of God – if you will give what you have to God, HE WILL TAKE IT!!

The truth is, what we have is not much.

It’s insignificant and it’s inadequate.

It’s no where good enough or big enough to meet the needs of anybody anywhere.

But once God gets in on it, everything changes.

All the rules goes out the window when God takes it and God blesses it.

The highpoint of this story is not the hungry people.

The highpoint is not the lad.

The highpoint is not the giving of the loaves and fishes.

The highpoint is not the miraculous distribution to the thousands of hungry people.

The miracle is not that there were twelve basketfuls of fragments taken up.

There is one statement that is found in all four Gospels

The miracle of this story is THEY WERE ALL FILLED.

We have gotten so self-centered that we think it all revolves around us.

It revolves around our sacrifice and our giving.

The truth is, we are just a means to an end.

Conclusion: This story is about the unimaginable blessings of giving God everything.

This story is not about giving money. Or bread. Or fish.

But giving Him EVERYTHING.

This boy held back nothing.

NOTE: He could have kept back half of it and STILL GIVEN MORE THAN EVERYONE ELSE THERE COMBINED!

But he didn’t. He gave.

But here’s the kicker – he gave, having no idea what God would do with it.

He didn’t even know if God would take it.

He certainly didn’t know what God would do with it.

But there is one thing for certain. He had no idea what Jesus was going to do with those 5 loaves and 2 fishes.

There is no way he thought that little lunch would feed 5,000+ people.

He just thought maybe it could help one or two.

And he was perfectly fine with that tradeoff.

Here’s the moral of the story, and here’s the title of the message.

YOU’VE GOT TO WAIT UNTIL IT’S OVER TO FIND OUT!!

It was only after he gave it that he saw what God was truly capable of doing with something so little.

Jesus didn’t tell him in advance that He was going to feed the entire crowd.

HE HAD TO WAIT UNTIL IT WAS OVER TO FIND OUT!!

Jesus didn’t bribe him with a promise of a twelve-fold return.

HE HAD TO WAIT UNTIL IT WAS OVER TO FIND OUT!!

The disciples didn’t tell him that God would make it worth his while to sacrificially give.

HE HAD TO WAIT UNTIL IT WAS OVER TO FIND OUT!!

Thirty years ago this coming July 10th, I surrendered to preach.

I surrendered to drop out of college and pursue the call of God in my life.

I had no idea what was going to happen.

Thirty years later, I still do not know what is going to happen.

I’VE GOT TO WAIT UNTIL IT’S OVER TO FIND OUT!!

Some of you are scared to give it all to God because you think He won’t take it.

Some of you think it will be a waste.

Some of you are not sure it will be worth it to give God everything.

Let me tell you something.

If you’re waiting for a written contract with all the details filled in, forget it.

If you’re waiting for personal assurances in writing, forget it.

People all around us are hungry, and we have a humble provision that we can give.

But the truth of the matter is, YOU’VE GOT TO WAIT UNTIL IT’S OVER TO FIND OUT!!

We will only find out at the Judgment Seat just what all God had in store for those that give Him everything!

· WE’VE GOT TO WAIT UNTIL IT’S OVER TO FIND OUT how God can use us.

· WE’VE GOT TO WAIT UNTIL IT’S OVER TO FIND OUT what God can do with us.

· WE’VE GOT TO WAIT UNTIL IT’S OVER TO FIND OUT how many people we can be a blessing to.

· WE’VE GOT TO WAIT UNTIL IT’S OVER TO FIND OUT how many lives we can touch.

· WE’VE GOT TO WAIT UNTIL IT’S OVER TO FIND OUT how much glory we can bring to God.

· WE’VE GOT TO WAIT UNTIL IT’S OVER TO FIND OUT all the many miracles that are in store.

· WE’VE GOT TO WAIT UNTIL IT’S OVER TO FIND OUT to find out how many people got saved through your missions giving.

· WE’VE GOT TO WAIT UNTIL IT’S OVER TO FIND OUT to know how much of a blessing you were to your pastor.

We could go on and on all night long.