The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.” But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” And he said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” When they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.
(Mark 6:30-44)
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I want to start by taking a show of hands. How many late night TV hawks do we have with us today who, years ago, watched either Late Night or The Late Show with David Letterman? I used to watch them from time to time, and if you recall the shows one of the nightly features was Letterman’s “Top Ten” list, when he would give us the “Top Ten” on a whole variety of subjects. In fact, I remember that when he moved from NBC’s “Late Night” to CBS’s “The Late Show” NBC at first tried to prevent him from doing a “Top Ten” list on CBS, claiming that the very idea of a Top Ten list was their “intellectual property.” Well, I don’t want to get either NBC, CBS or David Letterman suing me for stealing their intellectual property, but I do remember that last week I said that Christians sometimes had to be willing to live dangerously and take risks. And since today’s passage is a superb teaching passage that tells us at least ten things about the nature of the Christian ministry we’re all called to share in all I can say is: NBC, CBS, David Letterman – bring on the lawsuit! And I trust that the church will pay for a lawyer to help me defend myself against this theft of intellectual property! Because today I’m going to share “The Top Ten Things About Christian Ministry!”
Number 10: Ministry is accountable. “The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught.” As this passage begins, Jesus had just commissioned his disciples to go into the surrounding towns and villages and to engage in ministry – teaching and healing those whom they encountered. But it’s important for us to note that even though for the first time Jesus had sent them out on their own, they weren't free agents who had ablank cheque to do or teach whatever they wanted. They were still accountable to him for what they did. So today’s passage tells us clearly that while the disciples may have been sent out by Jesus, they were still expected to come back to Jesus and to report to him; to tell “him all that they had done and taught.” So today, we are still accountable to both the teaching and example of Jesus that we find in the Gospels, because, after all, it isn’t our ministry that we’re engaged in – it’s his!
Number 9: Ministry is work. It’s tough! And no one – least of all Jesus – ever said it would be easy. It was so tough ministering in Jesus’ name that even after they returned to Jesus so much was happening that “they had no leisure even to eat.” Doing Jesus’ work can be overwhelming, and Jesus certainly understood that. It’s why he said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” Ministry is tough, but it doesn’t mean that we always have to be on the go. Sometimes we can step back and take some time for ourselves. One of the most important things I was ever taught before I was ordained was that if there’s nothing essential that has to be done, it’s OK to spend some time doing nothing because if you’re always doing the things you could be doing even if they don’t have to be done then you’ll always be doing something and you’ll never really be able to do anything well. If you get the point. Sometimes you just need a break, because ministry can be tough to the point of overwhelming if you let it. And that principle applies to every Christian’s ministry – you have to put your heart and soul into it, but you have to take time for yourself too – because if you’re doing Jesus’ ministry, you’ll find it tough and you’ll need to rest from time to time.
Number 8: Ministry is everywhere. The disciples tried to get away but “many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.” So the disciples tried to get to a place where they could have some time to themselves but when they got there, needy people were already waiting for them! Yes, we need time to rest, but then again – ministry has this funny way of finding us. Over the years I've done ministry in places and circumstances where I least expected to be doing ministry - because needs arise, and people with needs appear. It’s often said that opposites attract, and that applies to ministry as much as to anything else. When a person has a need they’re going to be attracted to someone who can meet that need. And if you’re doing Jesus’ ministry, you’re going to find yourself meeting people’s needs – so you always have to be ready.
Number 7: Ministry is anytime. As much as ministry is everywhere, it’s also anytime. The passage tells us that “it grew late.” The disciples had just returned from their journey, and they were tired and they seemed to think that their ministry should take place only at times that were convenient to them. I remember years ago in a different church I served the doorbell of the manse ringing at 2:00 in the morning, interrupting a blissful sleep. “No,” I thought. I didn’t really want to answer until I looked out the window and saw a police car. A young man had got into the church during the day when it was unlocked, fallen asleep and woke up in the middle of the night. He called the police to tell them because he was afraid he’d be accused of breaking in and stealing. At 2 in the morning I had to get dressed and go to the church to make sure nothing had been damaged or stolen. The the officer asked if we could find any place for the man to sleep. Well, we had a deal with a motel down the street, so I went there and made the arrangements. This was all between 2 and 3 in the morning when I would have rather been in bed. But ministry happens anytime – even when you don’t want it to happen. The response of the disciples to this inconvenience was to try to get Jesus to stop. “Send them away,” they said to him. As far as they were concerned this ministry was going on far too long and it was time to put an end to it. But Jesus wouldn’t send the people away. Simply put, opportunities for ministry come up at the most inconvenient times, and we just have to be ready for them.
Number 6: Ministry is from the heart. The passage tells us that “As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them ...” Ministry is always – and must always be – a thing of the heart, and we develop a heart for ministry by keeping our eyes and ears open and making sure that we’re aware of what’s going on around us. There was a three-fold pattern that Jesus demonstrated here. First, he saw the need; then he felt compassion for the needy; then he responded to the needs of the needy. We don't engage in our ministry to score points, or because it's a duty, or because Jesus tells us to or because we think it's the right thing to do. We engage in ministry because our hearts are touched and moved by the needs we see around us. Jesus had compassion on the people who stood before him; he saw their needs. He didn’t judge them for being needy, he didn’t blame them for having needs and he didn’t turn them away. Jesus was confronted by a need – and he responded from the heart with compassion to the need that he saw in front of him.
Number 5: Ministry is personal. After their complaint, Jesus said to the disciples, “You give them something to eat.” The disciples were convinced (or at least they were hoping) that the answer to meeting the needs of the crowd gathered around them was to send them to someone else to look after them, but Jesus placed the responsibility squarely on their shoulders. “You give them something to eat.” If you read those words a certain way you might come to the conclusion that Jesus wasn't too happy that his disciples were trying to pass the buck by sending the needy away. He expected them to act. He expected them to take responsibility. If we start to look to others to do what should be our ministry, then what’s the point of being the church? Jesus tells all of us that we are to minister to those around us and not wait for someone else to do it.
Number 4: Ministry is expensive. Real ministry costs. Jesus’ disciples said to him, “Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?” In the end, of course, they didn’t have to because Jesus provided the food, but the point is that ministry is a valuable thing and we have to be willing to put real resources into it. A lot of churches look at the cost of helping those with needs and they decide to do less because they fear they can't afford to do it. But if we spend all our time counting the cost of doing real ministry – whether the cost is measured in time, money, effort or anything else – then I suspect we’ll never get around to doing real ministry, because doing ministry is an expensive business. I suppose that there will always be those who are going to ask how much it’s going to cost them to be a part of a dynamic and meaningful ministry that actually has an impact on the lives of the people around them, but maybe the real question is how much it's going to cost not to be a part of such ministry. What matters isn't how much ministry is going to cost – what matters is who it’s going to help.
Number 3: Ministry brings people together. Jesus “ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties.” It's interesting that Jesus had to "order" the disciples to do this. It sounds as if they didn't want to do this - and perhaps we need to keep in mind as I said a few moments ago that they really didn't want to do this in the first place. The crowd was too big, and they were strangers anyway. They weren't disciples. They were "others." Maybe they were taking advantage of Jesus. Maybe they had nothing to offer back. And it's true that - at this moment at least - the people who had followed the disciples and were now gathered around them weren't making any commitment to Jesus and didn’t have anything particular in common with the disciples or with each other – except that they believed that Jesus and the disciples could meet their needs. The symbolism of the people sitting “down in groups of hundreds and of fifties” is that this diverse group of people with different experiences were brought together from different places and they were turned into a community – and what better way to celebrate a community than by sharing a meal!
Number 2: Ministry is centred on God. “Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves ...” Jesus didn’t want his disciples to be under any illusions about what was about to happen. I've heard two theories about what happened here. One is that it was a supernatural miracle. There were only five loaves and two fish and somehow that little bit of food fed this huge company of people. The other is that some of the crowd had food and others didn't. As people with very little were moved by God to start putting food into a common pool starting with five loaves and two fish - those with more than they needed were struck by God with compassion and threw more into the common pot and what started as five loaves and two fish grew until it could feed thousands. Either way, the point of the story is that this wasn’t simply some really neat magic trick Jesus was going to perform to dazzle those watching like pulling a rabbit out of a hat. What was about to happen was possible only because of God. Our ministry – while it has to be directed outward to others – is first and foremost centred on God. If our ministry doesn’t in some way glorify God or reveal God, then there’s no real point in doing it.
And the number 1 thing about ministry: when all is said and done, ministry is satisfying! “ And all ate and were filled.” My guess is that it wasn’t just the crowds of people in front of them who “ate and were filled.” I suspect that Jesus and his disciples also shared in the loaves and the fish. The passage does say “all.” So Jesus and his disciples were among those who were satisfied on that day by the ministry they performed. There is satisfaction both for those providing ministry and for those receiving ministry. As we see lives changed, as we see the sick healed, as we see the broken made whole, as we see the grieving comforted, as we see the poor provided for, as we see the oppressed liberated and as we see God glorified by it all, we should feel the greatest satisfaction we’ve ever felt.
I’ll end with some words from one of the best known “ministers” of all time – the Reverend Fred Rogers, better known as Mr. Rogers, who wrote this in a book called “ The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things To Remember”: “A ministry doesn't have to be only through a church, or even through an ordination. And I think we all can minister to others in this world by being compassionate and caring. I hope you will feel good enough about yourselves that you will want to minister to others, and that you will find your own unique ways to do that.”
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