BALD PROPHET: Part 4

CHILDLIKE AWE: Something from Nothing

with Matt Johnson

October 7, 2007

How big is your God? How big is your God? What quantifies God’s size or greatness for you? How do you try and get your arms around it? What is it for you that defines who He is and what he’s capable of?

It’s an important question. One that we’ve got to ask ourselves regularly. How big is your God? I have a feeling that most Christians have a God that is just too small. He’s not big enough or strong enough to face the world which we live in today, not capable of fixing our problems and crises. Sure, he did lots of cool stuff a long time ago, but that was then and this is now and not much is happening so he can’t be that big…

If you’re around me much, you’ll hear me say this. You’ll probably hear this a lot from me when I preach because I want you to get this. Everything you believe about your faith must start with your understanding of who God is. Figure out what you believe about God and you can find answers to all the other issues about faith that you might have. What do you believe about God? Is He Good? Is He Honest? Is He Real? Is He All Knowing? Is He Capable? Is He Compassionate? Is He Judge? Does He Care? Too many times Christians and those seeking come to church and ask questions like “do you have to be baptized to go to heaven?” “Why do bad things happen to good people?” “Is it a sin not to tithe?” And I always respond… “well get to that, but first lets talk about what you believe about God…” See, if we really know what we believe God to be, then a lot of these issues become non issues. What do you believe to be true about God? How big is your God?

Last week Adam talked about how this series is about blowing up the box that you keep God in. Destroying it completely so that there’s no chance of trying to tape it back together in a few weeks. We want to let the cat out of the bag so to speak. It’s about regaining that “Awe” and amazement at God. It’s about realizing that your God is BIG, bigger than you can fathom or ever get your mind around.

There are hundreds of miracles recorded in scripture. Real miracles. Acts of God incapable of being reproduced by humans. The Flood. The ten plagues. The parting of the Red Sea. Rack, Shack, & Benny in the fire. Water into wine. Lazarus raised from the dead. Soldiers ear gets cut off and put back on. The list goes on an on…

What’s the point? There was a purpose for each of these, but one purpose for all is this – God wanted your attention. He wanted your attention. Does he have it? Has he gotten you to stop what you’re doing and look up at him and pay attention? Do you really think he had to part the Red Sea to save the Israelites? Did he really have to make water into wine? Did the Israelites really have to march around the wall seven times before it’d fall? He wants your attention, and he’s willing to go to extravagant and miraculous lengths to get it. Does he have it yet? How big is your God?

We’re going to be looking at miracle passages for the next few weeks; specifically those done in the lives of Elisha and Jesus. Last week we looked at the first miracles that Elisha and Jesus preformed. It’s good to see that Elisha did a lot of the same stuff that Jesus did, and he was just a guy. Not God incarnate, just another Joe Schmoe Israelite that God used for powerful things.

This week we’re going to look at these two guys again, and see how they were able to make something out of nothing. Elisha gives a woman a never ending jar of olive oil, and Jesus feeds a bunch of people with a few crackers and sardines. It’s good stuff.

-Read 2 Kings 4:1-7

The widow is at the end of her rope. He sons are about to be taken into slavery, she is broke and broken. She comes to Elisha for help, begging, crying out, desperate for help. His response is simple – “What do you have that God can use?” Oil? Ok. It could have been anything – sugar, flour, etc… It’s important to see that God can work with what little you have, no matter what it is. The command is simple, get a bunch of jars and keep pouring. She obeys, and sure enough, the oil just keeps coming. God used Elisha to make something out of nothing for this woman.

-Read Mark 6:30-44

I love that line where Jesus says “You give them something to eat…” Jesus is often a sarcastic person, and this line clearly falls in that category. You feed them. C’mon, you just cast out demons and healed the sick, you can’t take care of some food for these people? On the other hand, it’s also a question which sets the disciples up. Jesus wants to know their response – will it be one of faith or practical doubt? They respond with an answer that ignores the possibility of Jesus and his ability to act outside of the norms of life. Jesus, however, sees this as a great time to perform the miraculous for two reasons. One, it’s a teaching moment for his disciples to get their attention and help them understand who he is and what he’s capable of. Two, it’s an opportunity to meet the needs of people, and Jesus is always aware of the needs around him.

He calls for what’s available. The disciples scour the immediate crowd and come back with five pieces of bread known as barley bread and two small fish. The barley bread would more accurately be like small 3-4 inch cracker like pieces – small, thin, and dry. The fish would have been pickled and would have been just large enough to top the small crackers to add a little flavor. Jesus, however, is not worried about the measly portions available. He takes them, and blessing them, has the disciples pass them out to the crowd until everyone is full and then the leftovers are collected. Jesus made something out of nothing.

We’ve got two miracles, similar in nature. God takes the opportunity to multiply crumbs to meet needs. Scripture leaves the details out, but the message is clear – God preformed miracles by making something out of nothing. We could look at these two passages, and see that, and be done. In fact, that seems like how we normally read scripture – we take a glance or two, we pull a couple simple “facts” and we’re done. The problem is, that’s not too awe inspiring and if we leave scripture there, God hasn’t got our attention. He didn’t just do these miracles for us to read and study them on a scholarly level. He wants our attention. He wants us to stop and take notice. He wants our ears, our hearts, our minds to turn towards Him and pay attention.

Why? What’s the point? Why get our attention?

-Read Mark 2:1-12

Maybe, just maybe, if God can do all these miracles, he’s capable of forgiving sins. He wants your attention so that you will understand just how big He is. He wants your attention because he wants to blow up that box you keep him in. He wants your attention because He wants you to get that he is capable of forgiving you. So the question is, How big is your God?

You see, God is big enough that he’s capable of making something from nothing. If he can make a never ending olive oil jar and a fish and cracker buffet, he’s capable of a lot more than that…

He’s capable of making something from nothing in your life too. Maybe it’s making ends meet from a small income that never seemed possible. Maybe it’s putting food on the table when the cupboards are empty. Maybe it’s more than just a physical thing. Maybe if he’s capable of these things, he’s capable of making something from nothing spiritually in your life as well.

When you’re broken and have nothing left, God can do amazing things. He can do more with your humble brokenness before him than you ever imagined. When you are broken, when you are hurting, when you have nothing left, God can make something out of nothing. Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they will inherit the kingdom of heaven.” The results are nothing short of miraculous. Lives changed, sin habits broken, relationships mended, addictions defeated, grace shared. And just like the oil and the bread and fish, there are leftovers. When God acts, he blesses in abundance and it overflows into the lives of others.

One of my good friends, Shane Bertou, knows first hand what it looks like for God to make something out of nothing in life. Shane was spiritually broken and struggling with an addiction to weed when he finally came face to face with God. His life has never been the same, and he now has a huge heart for ministry and caring people. Check out what happened in his life as an example of what it looks like when God does something with nothing and it overflows into the lives of others as he interacts with Vernon.

Read Vernon story (http://shanebertou.wordpress.com/2007/09/14/vernon-came-back/)

When God is all you have, God is enough. Never ending oil, bread and fish buffet, sins forgiven… Does he have your attention now? He should, that is if your God is big enough… So how big is your God?