From Generation to Generation

Mark 6:30-44

 May 29, 2022 • Mount Pleasant UMC

My dad will be 84 years old this week, and while he has slowed down a little bit in the last few years, he can still run rings around me most days. They were here a couple of weeks ago for Rachel’s bridal shower, and when they went home on Saturday evening, I sat down and read a book. Dad drove home, washed the car and mowed the grass. A day or two later, he was up working on the roof. Anyway, for quite some time, my parents have been talking about moving to a smaller place, and when they were here, we got to talking about how much stuff you accumulate when you’ve lived in the same place for almost 58 years. Spoiler alert: it’s a lot. Somehow we got to talking about whether there was anything I’d want, and I told them the only thing I think I’d like to have from my boyhood home is an old wind-up clock that, for as long as I can remember, sat on a shelf in the room we spent most of our time. It’s noisy and clangs on the hour, but somehow there’s comfort for me in that. It connects me, not just to my mom and dad, but to all who have gone before. I’m not sure how old the clock is, or how many generations it goes back, though I did see similar clocks at the Henry Ford museum while we were on vacation. To my childhood mind, though, it went back a long, long time. That clock stands large in my memories.

But my parents (and those who came before them) have already passed on to me something more precious and more valuable than an old clock. They passed on to me the importance and the value of faith in Jesus. There will never be anything more important they can give me than to have pointed me toward a relationship with Jesus. Cathy and I, in turn, have planted seeds of faith in our kids, and while I know we haven’t always gotten it right, I pray every day that those seeds will grow and mature because I know there is nothing more valuable a parent or grandparent can give their descendants than faith in Christ.

A few weeks ago, I shared the observation that Christianity is always only one generation away from extinction. In other words, it is the responsibility of every generation to hand down this faith or this faith will not continue. I was sharing about that in a workshop in another community a few years ago, and a dear saint interrupted me, reminding me that Jesus said the gates of hell itself will not prevail against his church (cf. Matthew 16:18). And yes, that’s true. Jesus said it and it’s true, but that doesn’t mean the faith here is guaranteed to prosper or continue. There are places in the world today that were once strongly Christian that today have little to nothing to do with this faith. If the Christian faith is going to continue to be part of our world, it’s up to us. Passing the faith from one generation to the next depends on us.

For the last couple of weeks, we’ve been talking about what revival might look like, what a renewal of the faith could be like if it were to happen today as it has happened repeatedly throughout history. We’ve been looking at some of the markers of historical revivals, characteristics that have been true in each instance—not as a four-step plan for revival, but more as things to look for and qualities to focus on in order to make way for the Spirit of God to do his work. Because I believe God does want to and needs to constantly revive his people, in this age and every age. So far, we’ve talked about how revivals are marked by changed lives and by contagious faith. A revival is also marked by a determination of God’s people to disciple the next generation.

And so we turn to Mark’s Gospel, which is, in many respects, a manual for discipleship the way Jesus did it. As I have shared before, Mark’s Gospel is most likely really the Gospel of Peter (cf. Card, Mark: The Gospel of Passion, pg. 18). Mark, we think, was an associate of Peter’s and listened to him preach these stories over and over again. At some point, Mark decided he needed to write down what he had learned, and so much of this Gospel is what Peter remembered. So we shouldn’t be too surprised that the chief disciple remembered what Biblical scholar William Lane called Jesus’ “cycle of discipleship,” which goes something like this. First, Jesus calls his disciples to spend time with him. He wants them to learn from him, to listen to him, to see how he does things. Second, he sends them out to speak his word and do his work. They are his ambassadors, doing what he would do and saying what he would say. And the third piece is that they come back to him, report in, and rest. Then the cycle begins all over again. In fact, in the passage we read this morning, we’re right in the midst of one of these cycles. Jesus has been teaching the disciples, and then he sent them out, two-by-two and he “gave them authority over impure spirits” (6:7). So “they went out and preached that people should repent” (6:12). After a time (we’re not told how long), they come back to Jesus (6:30) and he invites them to come away and get some rest (6:31). So they head out across the Sea of Galilee toward “a solitary place” (6:32).

But, as often happens, while Jesus and the disciples might want to be done with the crowds for a while, the crowds are not done with them. As I said a couple of weeks ago, the Sea of Galilee is not that big; you can see pretty much the entirety of the lake if you stand at the right spot on the shore. So Mark says that as the disciples are trying to get away, the people on the shore watch their boat and follow them from the shore (cf. Kernaghan, Mark [IVPNTC], pg. 125). It’s like, “Let’s see if we can beat them to wherever they’re going.” And lo and behold, they do. When Jesus’ boat lands, the crowd is already gathering there. Now, I don’t know about you, but if I were a disciple, I’d be really annoyed right now. I’m an introvert and when I’m tired I need some “away from people” time. I’d be pretty aggravated that what was promised as a time of rest has now become swamped with inconsiderate people (cf. Card 88-89). And maybe the disciples were like that; we don’t know. But we do know Jesus wasn’t like that. Mark says Jesus “had compassion on [the people], because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (6:34). “Where we see an annoying mob with a bottomless need, Jesus sees a flock hungry for his Word” (Card 89).

So Jesus begins teaching, and we’re quickly back to the first part of the discipleship cycle. But Jesus is going to move even more quickly to the second part. Not only does he want the disciples to listen, he’s going to have them participate in ministry at his side this time. Literally, they will be his hands and feet. Notice that Mark doesn’t tell us anything Jesus teaches this day because that’s not what we’re supposed to notice. Late in the day, the disciples come to Jesus because, well, they’ve been doing a head count, and there are a whole lot of people here (5,000 men plus women and children), and, Jesus, there’s no McDonald’s out here. There’s no Subway, no barbeque. These people are probably starting to get a little hangry, no matter how good the teaching is, and they’re going to want some food. So, Jesus, we don’t want to tell you what to do, but here’s what you should do: wrap up the sermon and “send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat” (6:36). And I think Jesus has a twinkle in his eye with his next statement. I believe this is the moment he’s been waiting for all day. He says to the disciples, “You give them something to eat” (6:37). It’s time again for you to do my work.

Do you think there was an audible gasp when he said this? Do you think any of their jaws dropped? Who do you think did the math? (I’m guessing Matthew, the tax collector.) Someone complains, “That would take more than half a year’s wages!” (6:37) And in case you’ve forgotten, Jesus, you’re not paying us to be disciples! Our 401Ks are pretty empty! And at that point I think Jesus smiles again, and says, in essence, “I know you don’t have that kind of money. But what do you have? Have you even bothered to look?” (cf. 6:38). What do you have? Now, this is one of the few stories that is in all four of the gospels, but it isn’t until John writes his Gospel near the end of the first century that we learn that the five loaves and two fish came from a single boy who was in the crowd (John 6:9; cf. Card 89). The word John uses indicates a “little boy,” maybe a preschooler or someone we would consider early elementary. And I wonder why he still has food on him. I think everyone brought food with them that day, but they got hungry and ate it all earlier in the day. They really didn’t expect Jesus to go on for so long—I mean, who ever expects preachers to go on as long as they do anyway? And this little boy, for whatever reason, holds onto at least some of his when everyone else eats all of theirs. I don’t know if that’s how it went or not, but it could explain why, in a crowd that probably numbered close to 15,000 or so, only one little boy had any food. Five small barley loaves. Two small dried, bony fish (cf. Kernaghan 126). A meager meal even for one, let alone for a crowd.

Today, the TV or internet preachers would hold up those fish and loaves and shout, “Are you ready for a miracle? Do you believe?” But Jesus does nothing of the sort. In fact, it’s highly doubtful anyone except Jesus really knew there was anything like a miracle going on here. Michael Card calls it an “unmiraculous miracle” because there’s no magic words, no waving of the hands, no drawing attention to what happens (89-90). The disciples must have realized what happened later, when they compared notes, but at this moment, it’s unmiraculous. All Jesus does is pray and ask the disciples to do what he told them to do earlier: give the people something to eat. And every time they reach into the bag, there’s more bread, more fish. Here’s my favorite part: when dinner is over, Jesus tells the disciples to pick up the leftovers. Food was sacred to the Jews in this time; you did not waste anything. In fact, it was considered an insult to waste even crumbs of food. So the disciples fan out, scouring the countryside, looking between blades of grass, picking up every bit of bread and fish they can find. And they come back to Jesus with twelve small lunch pails full of food. One for each of them, for tomorrow’s meal. He has just given them this day their daily bread for tomorrow (cf. Matthew 6:11). In this unmiraculous miracle, Jesus has provided enough for the people to eat (Mark says they were all “satisfied,” 6:42) and just enough for the disciples to have some for tomorrow. Perfect provision (cf. Card 90-91).

And here is the discipleship lesson, the model from Jesus: “Christian faith is more than a theory taught in a classroom or a set of ideas a person affirms; it is something a person practices in everyday life” (Bevins, Marks of a Movement, pg. 115). Jesus could have talked all day about how God will provide for the disciples’ needs; instead, he took them with him and allowed them to experience his perfect provision. They became disciples more and more not as they studied Jesus from a distance but as they hung out with him, as they experienced life with him, as they “rubbed up against” him. Jesus spent time with them, sent them out, and then called them back for rest. And then he started all over again so that by the time the cross and the resurrection came, he had eleven men who were ready to change the world, eleven men who would them carry out the cycle of discipleship with others around the world. If we want to experience revival today, we need to spend time with Jesus, “rub up against” him, watch how he does things and help others do the same thing. It’s not enough to read a book about him or have knowledge about him; we need to know him. Discipleship is all about spending time with Jesus.

Of course, he’s not physically present anymore, but he is present to each and every one of us. He now meets us where we are, in ways that make sense to us. That’s why there’s no one-size-fits all model for discipleship, but there are ingredients that we know have helped people grow their faith from generation to generation. John Wesley called them “means of grace,” things that we not only can practice to grow our faith, but things we can and should also model to the next generation so that they, too, learn how to spend time with Jesus. Wesley talked about several things as “means of grace,” but he highlighted three things as “chief means,” the three practices that, in his experience, helped people the most in growing closer to Jesus. Those three things were prayer (both personal and public), searching the Scriptures (reading, hearing and studying) and receiving the Lord’s supper or communion (cf. Bevins 115).

But at the heart of the Wesleyan revival was a discipleship process rooted in small groups. They didn’t call them that then, but Wesley was a master organizer, so that whenever and wherever he preached, he organized those who came to know Jesus into three different types of overlapping small groups. The largest were called “societies,” and these were designed for learning about the faith. You would find preaching, lecturing, reading of the Scriptures and singing at a society gathering. The Methodist societies were the large group gathering of all those interested in knowing Jesus, sort of like our Sunday worship services are now, a place where everyone is welcome and everyone can be a part.

But those who came to worship were also expected to be part of a class meeting, the next smallest group, sort of like our LifeGroups. Class meetings were a smaller gathering of about twelve (I think Wesley may have copied this from Jesus!), and this group gathered for prayer, instruction and fellowship. Like I said, very much like our LifeGroups are intended to be. This smaller group often stayed together for years, and helped each other grow in the faith. It was the backbone of the Wesleyan movement and the revival that came out of it. Then, for those who wanted to go deeper in their faith, there was the final group, the band, which today we might call a covenant group. These were groups where you shared deeply and intensely, answering the question, “How is it with your soul?” They were not study groups; the band was a place where you would confess your sins, encourage each other and pray for one another. Most people today find such a group intimidating, even intrusive, but those who took this practice seriously found their faith ever-deepening. I think what happens at our Celebrate Recovery groups is very similar to what happened in the bands. They confessed their sins, they prayed for each other, and they became strong disciples of Jesus (cf. Bevins 101-111). It’s that sort of behavior that leads to deep faith, which is the goal. As John Stott has said, “God is not pleased with superficial discipleship” (qtd. in Bevins 118). He calls us to deeper things.

Which leads me to ask a question I ask you often: are you in a small group of some sort? It might be a LifeGroup or it might be some other sort of group in which you find life and encouragement to draw closer to Jesus. It might be a Sunday School class; some of you may not know we have class groups that meet during each of the worship services, so no matter which service you attend, you can still be a part of a class. And we have LifeGroups that meet pretty much every night of the week and we would love to start new ones. I hear from people every once in a while that they think they couldn’t possibly lead a group, but let me tell you I think that’s a cop out. Let me tell you how easy it can be. Several groups use the questions that are on the back of the sermon study guide every week. You don’t have to have the answers; you just follow the conversation where it goes and all of us know how to do that. We do it every day in many ways. Our group has been watching “The Chosen” series. We watch an episode each week and then I ask, “What jumped out at you? What impacted you?” And the conversation takes off from there. Then we pray for one another and we eat. We know that one key factor in revival is God’s people growing in faith, and a huge, huge part of that is experienced when we gather together in small groups. It’s part of our Methodist DNA, and I would argue, it’s the example Jesus himself set. So, are you in a small group, if not, why not? If you’re not and want to be, I want to encourage you to contact our new small group coordinator, Hannah Peters. She’ll be available today or via email, or you can go to the church website, click on “Small Groups” and fill out the “Small Group Interest Form.” Hannah will get back with you very soon.

So, that’s a key to discipleship for us, but what about the next generation? How do we pass the faith on from generation to generation? I want you to know how proud I am of our children’s and youth ministries. Ginger and Jess do a phenomenal job of providing consistent discipleship from when your kids and grandkids are babies all the way up to their college years. They work together and use the same curriculum so that there is a consistent message from birth to 18ish. And I’ll throw Sara into that mix, too. If your kids attend preschool here, they get to hear about Jesus then too. I cannot say enough good things about the work those ladies do, but (and you knew there would be a “but,” didn’t you?), they only get your kids and grandkids for a couple of hours a week. (Preschool gets them a bit more, of course.) If we’re going to be pass the faith onto the next generation, that generation needs to see that the faith means something to you and me. What they get here is great, but they’re not here more than they are there. They need to see how the faith shapes your life. I mentioned my dad earlier; one of the most enduring memories I have of growing up in Sedalia was in the evenings, after dinner, when Dad would settle down in his chair and pick up his Bible to read his devotions or his lesson for Sunday School. In fact, that was about the only time I ever saw him still! But that example stuck in my mind and my constant prayer has been that my kids have seen in me something like that which sticks with them, that tells them how important my faith and Jesus is. My faith is everything and my passion is to see it pass from generation to generation.

So in our children and youth ministries, there is a piece of paper that goes home every month called “Parent Cue,” and there’s also a Parent Cue app for your phone that gives lots more connections for families to make during the week from what your kids and grandkids are learning on Sundays and Wednesdays. Because it’s not any one person’s job to pass the faith along; it takes all of us working together, all of us committed to discipling the next generation. That’s what is going to change the world. Remember our mission: making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. That’s not something any one of us can do; it’s a mission for all of us. These twelve men became disciples because they spent time with Jesus. They watched what he did. They listened to what he taught. They did what he did and spoke what he spoke. The plan hasn’t changed. If we want to see revival in our time, we need changed lives. We need contagious faith. And we must be intentional on passing the faith to the next generation. Let’s pray.