The crowd of 4000 had been with the Lord Jesus for three days in the wilderness. Yet the crowd may have been following Jesus for days or weeks, as they witnessed Him go from Jerusalem to this point. On this journey, Christ cast out demons and healed a man who was mute and deaf. The crowd may have begun as a group of bystanders, waiting to see something even more miraculous than what they had seen before. This is no longer the case, as Saint Mark does not record anyone leaving during the three days between the man’s healing and now. Certainly, if they were only waiting for another miracle, they would have. Still, the crowd does not leave because they have Jesus and His word that creates faith in them to remain with their Lord, even to the point of starvation.
The 4000 serve as a representation of the Christian Church. Those who desire to hear the word of Christ then turn to Him for earthly blessing. The Lord’s primary and foremost blessing to mankind is not our career, money, shelter, or even our daily bread. Instead, it is that He extends salvation to us in His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. How many Christians and non-Christians alike understand the God of the Bible as someone who is only there when we need more of something? We need more money in our bank account to go on a fancy trip, so that is when they decide that they need to pray. Or they pray after their interview that God would somehow work some magic so that they would get a job, even though they provided insufficient answers and are unqualified. Or only after realizing that life is always shorter than we hope for, do they ask for more time to make up for it?
You see, if we only see God as some faraway cosmic power who just gives us more whenever we ask, we will always end up disappointed and in despair. But to our great surprise, the Lord God gives us what we truly need first, in an overabundance. And the thing that we need first from God, even more than daily bread, is forgiveness, life, and salvation. Because even daily bread only supports us through the number of days that God has granted us on earth. Yet all things that God gives through faith in Christ Jesus endure until life everlasting.
Therefore, we ought to do the same as those in the wilderness with the Lord Jesus and His disciples to seek the kingdom of God first, and everything else will be added unto us. So what does it look like to seek the kingdom of God and Christ’s righteousness first, and only then, after, ask for earthly blessings? It means praying, thanking the Lord for what He has done before we eat our meals. Turning to the Word of God before we turn to the news. Ensure us that when we do miss church, it is the exception and not the rule. For when we seek what God has done for our forgiveness and salvation before we seek anything else from Him, we soon realize there’s nothing we truly lack.
For by faith in Jesus Christ, we don’t see how much more that we need. Instead, we see how much we already have. For daily bread includes all that we need, including a house, a home, a spouse, children, livestock, food, shoes, clothing, shelter, government, neighbors, friends, and the like. These are all things that our heavenly Father has given us to recognize His graciousness and generosity towards sinners. Those who have fallen away due to the disobedience of Adam and Eve. They still receive God’s grace, and by faith in Jesus Christ, we come to recognize our daily bread and receive it with thanksgiving.
Our gracious God works through earthly means. Earthly means are those things that God works through to give daily bread, employment and revenue to supply for our needs, the vocation of farmers and laborers to produce what we need, good weather to grow crops and preserve the livestock for food and clothing, as well as government to promote trade and ensure the integrity of industry and our currency.
And the means by which God works most directly through us to give us daily bread is the vocation of our career and our workplace. Without God’s grace, provision, and providence, we would not have a job, an income, or even the ability to do our work. The Lord has given you skills to work, no less gracious and miraculous than the bread He gave to the people wandering with Christ Jesus. As they received bread with joy, we should also receive this unique means given to us with even greater joy. As Christ provided them with bread for a day, God works in our careers as long as we are able to work.
So how should a Christian think about his or her work? The apostle Paul writes in his second letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 3: “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you who walk in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ, that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.”
Just as the Lord God gave Adam and his wife the garden to till and cultivate, as it was a blessing to them from the Lord, so we should see our work as a blessing to serve Him and to love our neighbor. For those who reject the Lord’s blessings, reject the one who blesses. Those who see work as a burden will soon forget the Lord’s goodness. Therefore, work that comes from the Lord is always a blessing.
For the Lord has looked upon you with compassion, dear Christian, as you are the ones who have followed the Lord out into the wilderness. Out of the civilization that is hostile to Christ and into the fertile soil of the Church. And you have followed Christ where He leads so that you may hear His word, teach, preach, and His sacraments administer. And because you have sought His Word first, you have come to the Lord Jesus and His grace, and you have all you need to support this body and life. It is out of faith that you have no lack because you know God does not give in part. The Lord Jesus is gracious and merciful and gives in an overabundance.
Christ Jesus cares for your eternal salvation in the kingdom of God first and foremost, and still He does not forget the needs of your body and life here on earth. Out of God’s grace, Christ supplies for you salvation on the cross and every earthly blessing. Because of what He has done, the Lord does not let you faint on the way. Jesus gives more than you could ever need in this life, as in the life to come. Amen
St. John's and Grace Evangelical Lutheran Parish 