Matthew 14: 13-21 On Beyond Ourselves

Have you experienced a crisis? Or maybe you have encountered circumstances that overwhelmed you? Perhaps you have looked upon a task and thought, “there is no way I can do that, that is impossible.” “I don’t have the skills.” “I don’t have the talent.”

We all know we have limitations. No matter how hard I flap my arms, I can’t fly. No matter how much I study, I will never know everything. No matter how long I hang upside down hoping to grow a few inches, I will never be 6’5’’. We all know there are things that we simply cannot do.

The disciples confronted something that they simply could not do in our Gospel reading today. No matter how hard they tried they could not feed the thousands of people who had gathered to hear Jesus speak with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. It was impossible. So they went to Jesus with a solution to the crowd’s hunger. They told Jesus that he should send the crowds into the city so that they could purchase their own meals there.

But Jesus said “no” and told them to feed the people. Confused and probably a little frustrated the disciples told Jesus that they only had 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. What part of “you can’t feed thousands of people with a meal for 15, did Jesus not understand? There was no way that they could feed the people. It was impossible.

But Jesus said, “bring them here.” Jesus blessed the 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish and gave it to the disciples to distribute. . . and when they were done, there was 12 baskets of food remaining.

The disciples could not see beyond themselves. They could not see God standing right next to them desiring to do something great with that limited amount of food.

Jesus took the impossible and made it possible. He took something that the disciples believed was hopeless and made it a reality. God took the disciples beyond themselves and accomplished something that no one thought possible. God prompts us to do the same. . . to let him do amazing and miraculous things with our lives. We must be willing to go beyond our perceived limitations, however. We must be willing to believe that God can do amazing things with us. That God can destroy our limitations.

The Dr. Seuss story On Beyond Zebra! urges readers to imagine life beyond the boundaries that others have placed on them or perhaps beyond the boundaries that we have placed on ourselves. Most people confine the English alphabet to 26 letters, with Z almost always standing for “Zebra.” But not the person who was teaching Conrad O’Dell to spell:

Said Conrad Cornelius O’Donald O’Dell,
My very young friend who is learning to spell:
“The A is for Ape. And the B is for Bear.
The C is for Camel. The H is for Hare.
The M is for Mouse. And the R is for Rat.
I know all the 26 letters like that. . . ”
And I said, “You can stop, if you want, with Z
Because most people stop with Z.
But not me!”

Little Conrad’s teacher then goes on to introduce Conrad to a whole new world that he’d never imagined before. The teacher introduces letters such as Glikk and Snee and Thnad, and characters such as Sneedles and Nutches and Floob-Boober-Bab-Boober-Bubs. Conrad’s teacher destroys the boundaries that he had set up and pushes him to explore deeper and to dream bigger.

What happens when we go “on beyond Zebra”. . . or step outside of the boundaries and limitations that we have placed on ourselves. What happens when we do not see Z as the end of the alphabet. We open ourselves up to a whole new world of possibilities through God’s work in our lives. We begin to understand that God is big enough to make our 5 loaves and 2 fish feed thousands of people.

God is capable of taking us to places and heights that we could have never imagined, but we must be willing to go. We must be willing to go beyond ourselves and enter into a limitless world in which God is in control. . . where all things are possible. Where mountains can be moved. Where walls can be toppled by trumpet sounds. Where the blind see and the deaf hear. Where the dead rise again.

We must be willing to let go. To open ourselves up to the possibility that God can take imperfect and broken people like ourselves and use us to accomplish amazing things.

A young, new priest was walking with an older, more seasoned priest in the garden one day. Feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was asking the older priest for some advice. The older priest walked up to a rose bush and handed the young priest a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing any of the petals. The young priest looked in disbelief at the older priest and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the will of God for his life and ministry. But, because of his great respect for the older priest, he proceeded to try and unfold the rosebud while keeping every petal intact.

It wasn't long before he realized how impossible this was to do. Noticing the young priest's inability to unfold the rosebud without tearing it, the older priest began to recite the following poem:
It is only a tiny rosebud
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.
The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so sweetly,
Then, in my hands, they die.
If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
The flower of God's design,
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?
So, I'll trust in Him for leading
Each moment of my day.
I will look to Him for His guidance
Each step of the Pilgrim's way
The pathway that lies before me
Only my Heavenly Father knows.
I'll trust him to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose.

Our lives are like this rose. If we keep control of them and don’t appreciate them for their uniqueness and fragility, we will fail to fully realize their beauty. Our lives will fall apart in our hands. We will limit are ability to do great things.

We must go beyond ourselves and dwell in the limitless and miraculous presence of God. Only God can unlock the amazing nature of this world and our potential. Only in God’s presence will we fully recognize who we are as creatures created in the image of God himself. Only through God will we be able to feed thousands of people with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.