Kinds of Faith
Text: John 6:7-15
Theme: Four different kinds of faith are evident in this story.
Key verses: “Philip replied, ‘Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!’ Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. ‘There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?’ ‘Tell everyone to sit down,’ Jesus said…Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted” (v. 7-11). “When the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, ‘Surely he is the Prophet we have been expecting!” When Jesus say that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away in the hills by himself. (v. 14-15).
What God said to me: Welcome home, son. You were faithful to complete the long mission I sent you on in South Asia. You could see with your own eyes how I prepared the way for you in all the countries and places you went. I’m opening Asia to you and NLWI. And what I open, no one can close. Rest up now. Come back to your quiet meetings with me and your needed time with your family. Rest up, my child. I have much more for you to do, but this week I just want you to rest and rejuvenate your soul. Regarding this passage, notice there are 4 distinctive kinds of faith on display here, and they each build on and result from the ones before it. Philip had no faith. He didn’t even give room for possibilities. His mind was completely closed. He had clearly resolved that nothing could be done to feed that crowd. Andrew showed some faith. He saw possibilities. He opened his eyes to the resources around him. However, he didn’t see how those resources could accomplish the task at hand. He looked through physical eyes but not eyes of faith. He had enough faith to consider options but not enough to carry through with them. Jesus, on the other hand, didn’t just consider what He had to work with, He started with those resources, trusting His Father to provide whatever else was needed. He had true faith. Note that Jesus took the break and fish and thanked God for them, and then distributed them to the people. He didn’t wait until the bread and fish had multiplied. When they first started distributing them, they were still very small and insufficient. Faith doesn’t wait around for everything needed. Real faith starts with what it has and trusts God to provide more as needed. Furthermore, when they had finished eating, Jesus said to gather the scraps so nothing is wasted. Faith knows God provides everything for a purpose–even leftovers. Finally, the crowd showed false faith. They said Jesus was surely the Prophet they had been expecting. Their faith was false because they didn’t proclaim such lofty words until after they saw his miracle happen. Their misplaced faith wasn’t actually in who Jesus was, but in what they thought He could do for them. Which faith do you usually portray, Dwayne? Remember, faith isn’t demonstrated by what you think, but rather by what you do.
What I said to God: Thank You, my Lord, for getting me home safely from my month-long training tour in South Asia. I am so blessed to get to do this ministry You’ve called me to. And thank You for speaking clearly to me about these different kinds of faith. I’ve never seen them laid out like this before. It’s so simple and yet so deeply important and applicable to how we as humans and Christians tend to respond to needs and opportunities around us. I admit I’ve responded in all four of those ways. But I think I most often tend to respond as Philip and Andrew did–either with no faith or with little faith. Please help me see people and needs as You do. Help me thank and trust my heavenly Father to provide what I need to get started helping them and to continue to provide until the job is finished. Thankfully, You meet needs through Your power and not through limited human resources or inadequate human abilities.