12th Sunday after Pentecost (August 3, 2008)

“Are You SATISFIED?!?”
Matthew 14:13-21

INI

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

When a person says, “Are you satisfied?” it’s typically not an honest question. It’s a sarcastic question that you and I often hear when someone is upset at another person…and quite often that question is asked in marriages. When Dad lets the kids eat candy before dinner and then their appetites are ruined, Mom says to Dad, “Are you satisfied?” When Dad doesn’t give the kids a bath and they look like ragamuffins, Mom says to Dad, “Are you satisfied?” When Dad doesn’t get the kids down to bed at a decent hour and they’re exhausted the next day, Mom says to Dad, “Are you satisfied?” Come to think of it, it’s moms who seem to ask that question of dads most of the time! Wherever that question is asked, it’s seldom a genuine question. “Are you satisfied?” is a question asked to make a person feel guilty, as though a negative outcome has somehow been desired. Of course Dad doesn’t want the kids appetites spoiled…their hair full of grape jelly…unable to get out of bed the following morning. Dad isn’t satisfied when those things happen. But Mom wants him to feel a little guilty and therefore be sure to get the job done rightly the next time.

Jesus’ disciples in today’s Holy Gospel help to strike the contrast between sarcasm and genuine concern for satisfaction. Jesus spends a good chunk of the day healing the sick from among the crowds…so much so that it’s turning into evening and the day is drawing to the close. The disciples are constantly agitated and irritated by the people who come to Jesus. We read, “Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’” The disciples words have all the air of saying, “Are you satisfied, Jesus? You let these crowds come here and give them what they want…now we’ve got 5000+ people that are going to be hungry and cranky. Get rid of them!”

And yet Jesus comes not to satisfy the demands of the disciples, but the hunger of the people. He satisfies their need for healing…and goes above and beyond by filling their hungry bellies as well. You know, apart from the Easter resurrection, this is the only miracle that all four Gospel writers include. Each of them contributes different aspects of Jesus’ ministry to their Gospel. In fact, if you were to compile an account of Jesus’ life and ministry based on the unique material found in each Gospel, you would have quite an extensive record of Jesus’ earthly life. But obviously when Jesus chose to feed more than 5000 people, it was important to all of the Gospel writers to include this. As the Holy Spirit inspired them to write their accounts, perhaps he was telling them that aside from the resurrection, this is the most important miracle of all of them!

Whether or not that’s the case, we can’t be sure…but this miracle does find its way into our lives quite easily. Every single person on this earth longs for “satisfaction.” Everyone turns to something to give them that satisfaction…even Mick Jagger lamented over his poor state of affairs when he sang, “I can’t get no satisfaction!” If you are asked the question, “Are you satisfied?” that is not the same question as asking, “Are you getting everything you want?” It seems that regularly you and I are guilty of confusing satisfaction with “getting what we want.” There was a study that came out earlier this year about “seeker-sensitive” churches…and this is the model followed by a lot of really big churches who claim to be serious about evangelism. Many of these churches felt that if they gave people what they wanted, they would grow the church. So if people didn’t like liturgy…they didn’t have liturgy. If people didn’t like talk about sin…they didn’t talk about sin. If people wanted rock music on Sunday morning…they got rock music. The problem was that after people joined the church…since they were getting what they wanted…they soon realized that they weren’t being fed, so they left and found a church that focused on teaching God’s Word rather than giving people what they wanted.

Sometimes you and I are satisfied by things that you and I don’t even know that we want. I have that sort of attitude towards exercise. I don’t like to exercise. I can’t stand it. It’s not what I want to do. But I find that when I get into a regular habit of exercise, it satisfies something inside of me. It makes me feel better about myself…I feel healthier…I have more energy…I don’t get tired during the day. Even though it’s not something I want…it’s something that satisfies me in a way that I come to realize that I need. Most people don’t like to talk about sin and guilt. Most people don’t like to hear that they are guilty and need to repent of their wickedness. But does that mean the church should stop talking about sin? That would be like a man with a cholesterol level of 300 going to the doctor…the doctor tells him he needs to exercise and the man says, “I don’t like exercise”…so the doctor says, “Okay, instead of exercise eat a dozen doughnuts every morning.” What kind of doctor would that be? Sin is a sickness within each of us that needs healing. The healing for sin comes in the word of the Law and of the Gospel.

Just as Jesus healed sick people who came to him…he comes to heal you and me. Sometimes you and I forget that we’re sick. Sometimes we don’t want to hear that we’re sick. But neither of those changes the reality that sin is a disease that eats away at our soul. The only cure is the Law which diagnoses our sin…and the Gospel that treats our sin with the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross for each of us. And not only does he heal them, but he fills them and satisfies them with the food he comes to give each of us. And in the Gospels, when Jesus feeds the people of bread, it reminds us of the Word on which you and I feast. After all, it’s not really bread that satisfies us. No one is completely satisfied in life just because they have food in their bellies. Jesus told Satan during his temptation, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

The Word of God is what satisfies each and every one of us. Sometimes you and I don’t know it’s what we’re looking for…but the Word is the bread that gives us life…because the Word is Jesus himself. There was a book that came out around 2002 called, “Surprising Insights from the Unchurched.” This book was a survey that talked to people who had been unchurched people and why they joined the church that they did. You might be surprised to hear that the number one factor that led people to join their church was the doctrine or teaching of that church. Now it wasn’t the number reason people visited a church…people will come into a church looking for all different things. Some people want friendliness…some people want good music…some people want a place where they feel special. But what will satisfy people is the Word of God. What will truly feed people is the pure teaching of Jesus Christ on the cross, sacrificed for sinners.

When Jesus gathered in that desert place to feed a multitude of people…it wasn’t the first time that God had satisfied his people in a unique way. Back in the days of Moses, God sent manna from heaven to those traveling in the wilderness to sustain them as they journeyed to the Promised Land. By feeding the five-thousand, Jesus pointed back to how God had graciously provided for those desert people, and he pointed forward to how you and I...traveling in the desert of this world of sin…would be fed by the Word of God, until the day we reach our Promised Land in heaven. And Jesus feeds us in unexpected ways. The people of Israel under Moses would have gone back to Egypt—but God gave them manna from heaven. Jesus’ disciples would have had the people go into the towns to find food—but Jesus fed them all with five loaves and two fish. How is Jesus doing the unexpected today? He’s pointing people to the cross. He’s showing them that the cross is where salvation is found. He’s feeding them his body and blood through the means of bread and wine. He’s showing people that he is the true source of satisfaction.

Are you satisfied? That’s not a sarcastic question. And that’s not the same as being asked, “Are you getting what you want?” Satisfaction for your weary soul is found in Jesus. The LCMS had a slogan that was sort of its banner in the 1990s…“Tell the Good News About Jesus.” The secret to a satisfying church is really quite simple…tell people about Jesus. Give them the cross. Give them salvation. Give them lots and lots of Jesus. Give them God’s Word that keeps our eyes squarely focused on Jesus and his cross. This is the Word that heals us from the disease of sin. This is the Word that is bread for our hungry souls. This is the Word that satisfies us during our earthly pilgrimage to eternal life. In Jesus’ name…Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.