Not A Fan : is Jesus Enough? Part 6
February 11th Psalm 27:4-14 John 6:60-69
Some of the ideas in this sermon came from Kyle Idleman’s series Fan or Follower which we did at our church.
We are coming to the end of our series Not A Fan. We have looked at the topics of 1) Fan or Follower, 2) Open Invitation, 3) Intimacy, 4) Comfortable Cross and 5) More Than Rules .The whole premise of the series has been are you a fan of Jesus or a follower of Jesus. Fans are willing to cheer for you and encourage you but they keep you secondary in their lives. Followers are willing to go, where you go or where you want them to go, and to pray the price to get there. Today we are going to look at, “Is Jesus Enough.”
Have you ever been in a situation in which no matter how much you did, it just wasn’t enough to please somebody. You didn’t clean well enough. You didn’t give as much money as they wanted. You didn’t give them as much time as they wanted. Your grades were not good enough. How did it make you feel ? I think part of our feelings of frustration has more to do with the feeling that in rejecting what we had offered, they were really rejecting us. Not only was our efforts not good enough, we were not good enough for them.
In John chapter six, Jesus is probably the most popular person in the entire country. Huge crowds of people are all around him and traveling wherever he goes. He is undoubtedly the biggest name celebrity that is on the lips of the most people. People knew everywhere of the miracles he had performed. He had turned water into wine. He had healed a man lame for 38 years. He had opened a blind man’s eyes. He had raised a 12 year old girl from the dead. He had messages that you wanted to hear again and again. He was teaching about the love of God in ways that people had never quite understood before. He was even accepting the worst of sinners and telling them, God would welcome them home as well.
Then one day, there was exceptionally large crowd. The Scriptures tell us that there were 5000 men there besides the women and children. So if you count in the women and children, that probably would put the number at about 15,000 people. The average attendance for an NBA game is 17,000. So just as many people showed up to hear Jesus preach as we would be going to see a professional basketball game.
I don’t know what the message was, but the crowd was allowing Jesus to go into overtime with his sermon. They stayed there all day listening to what he had to say. Jesus knew that they were getting hungry. I don’t care how much you like watching the Cavs or Golden State, or whoever your favorite team is, most of you would not be willing to watch them all day long, if they did not have any food at the arena and you hadn’t brought any food with you and the nearest food was miles away and the stores would be closed when you got there. How many of you would have been leaving early.—That’s because you were fans, not followers.
Jesus knew the crowd was getting hungry. Where do you get enough food to feed 15,000 people. The disciples had an answer to that. The disciples told Jesus, “you went kind of long, you need to dismiss the crowd so that they can go to the villages and buy them something to eat. Jesus told them, “there is no need for that, you give them something to eat. Phillip thought Jesus did not understand the size of the problem, so he told him it would take eight months of wages just for everybody to get a bite, and that’s assuming some food was available which it was not.
Now Andrew knew that Jesus could do the impossible, even when it seemed impossible, so he informed Jesus that he had gotten a lunch from a boy that had five loaves of bread and two fish. Too everyone’s astonishment, Jesus said bring them here to me. Jesus then had the disciples organize the crowds into groups of fifties and hundreds and the food and fish multiplied so that not only did everyone eat until they were full, they had twelve basketfuls of broken pieces left over. Can you imagine having been at that basketball game all day long, hungry and then hearing the words, the concession stands are now open, eat anything you want, all you want, and we will pick up the tab. Most of us would have forgotten about the game the Cavs were playing and go home and talk about all the free food we ate until we were full.
Jesus went out of his way to make this some of the best fish and bread the people had ever eaten. In fact it was so good, that most of the crowd knew that Jesus was somebody special. They said, “this must be the Prophet who was to come into the world.” They wanted to rush and grab Jesus and make him their king by force. Jesus had to slip out of the crowd and climb up a mountain to be alone. Later that night he escaped to other side of the lake by walking on se of Galilee and catching a ride with the disciples who had previously left by boat.
Some of the fans that ate, wanted to see what Jesus was going to do for breakfast, so they spent the night in the area they had been fed instead of going back home. They look around for Jesus and can’t find him. A group of boats arrive full of people who heard about the free meal the day before. When they found out Jesus wasn’t there, they headed back across the lake to find Jesus. They wanted to see if this bread and fish was as good as everybody said it was and if it was really free. .Word gets back, he’s on the other side of the lake. They pile into the boats and go in search of Jesus, and sure enough they find him on the other side of the lake. They asked him, “Rabbi or Teacher, when did you get here? It seems as though these people were willing to pay the price necessary to get to Jesus. They camped out all night. They crossed the lake instead of going home. They searched for him on the other side of the lake. It seemed as though the one thing they really desired was Jesus. Now they are really hungry. They missed breakfast to get to Jesus. Now its lunch time, and they have finally found him again.
But Jesus was not impressed with their efforts. He says to them, John 6:26-27 New International Version (NIV)
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
Now somebody was thinking, does this means he’s not giving away any free food today. After all we went through to get here, surely he’s going to give us something to eat. Now the fans are ready to grumble. I came all this way for nothing. Have you ever said that or felt that in your walk with the Lord. God look at all the trouble I went through to get here, and now you’re not going to give me what I expected? Why are we following Jesus? Is it because the he is the One who loved us when we didn’t deserve to be loved, he’s the one who died for us, while we were still sinners, he’s the one who gave us hope in the judgment to come when we had no hope of is it because we heard of something he gave to somebody else and we want it for ourselves. Have you ever thought in your mind, Lord if you will do this for me, then I will follow you? Do you know what you’re really saying. You’re saying, Jesus you are not enough for my allegiance. You have to bribe me to serve you.
Let’s suppose for a moment, you are about to be executed for a crime that you did. The governor sends message that your life is about to be spared and a pardon is going to be given because he feels sorry for the circumstances in your case. Can you imagine how the governor would feel, if you sent back a note to him saying, “I will not accept the pardon unless you first promise to give me a new car.”
And Jesus didn’t disappoint. He took the boy’s sack lunch and he fed the entire crowd. The Bible tells us that even after everyone had their fill there was still plenty of food left over.
These people from the crowd come up to Jesus. They had wanted to make him King. Jesus has told them, we need to sit and have our DTR talk. Do you remember what it stood for. Define the Relationship? What’s the real reason you and all these people here with you are here. Look, I’m not giving away any more free food. You need to learn what it is to eat from Me.
John 6:35-50 New International Version (NIV) 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
The people in the crowd wanted Jesus to give them more free food. Jesus starts talking about himself as the bread that came out of heaven and that they would need to learn what it means to eat from him and drink from him. They understand that Jesus is saying, that he is claiming to be God, in making this statement. Now they could handle him as the prophet, that Moses had said one day would come. They could handle him as king replacing Herod. But this idea of him claiming to be God was more than they could handle.
Jesus says, 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
We make the assumption, if only we had seen the miracles that Jesus did and heard him teach for ourselves, then we could believe that he was the Son of God. Here are people who saw, who experienced, who even ate supernatural food and they would not accept Jesus or his teachings. They were turned off when Jesus tried to define the relationship he wanted with them. They wanted the miracles, they wanted the bread, they wanted the good stories, but they didn’t want Jesus claiming to have any kind of authority over their lives. They reminded him, he grew up in the hood just like they did, and they knew where he was from. His mother and daddy were not any kind of big shots.
The more Jesus talked in this chapter, the more of a claim he was making for his authority over their lives. This did not go over well with the group. Two scriptures summed up what they were feeling.
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” (John 6:60)
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. (John 6:66)
In one day, Jesus lost one of the largest congregations he had had. Why did they leave and what did they choose to follow? What do you think it will be like for them on judgment day to see themselves walking away from the one who wanted to save them. If only Jesus had given them more of that what they were asking for, then maybe they would have hung around a little longer and moved from being fans to true followers. There are a lot of people who have made shipwrecks of their lives, because they didn’t think Jesus alone was enough.
They thought he was asking them to wait to long. They thought his love for them was keeping them from enjoying life. They thought he should have given them what they had asked for. Whatever the reason, just like these people, they turned back and no longer followed him. Only you can choose to make Jesus enough for you.
I can tell you this, coming to Jesus does not give you an exemption from financial problems, from marital problems, from work problems, from relationship problems, and from physical pain or suffering. Coming to Jesus means understanding, that you are coming without trying to bargain with him for your life. I don’t know what Jesus will do with your situation, and neither do you unless you choose to move from being a fan to a follower of Christ. There are people who are in far worse circumstances than you are, who know the joy of serving Jesus Christ in their lives and they are confident of the future that God has for them.
Scripture tells us that wide is the road that leads to destruction. In the end, whether we like it or not, most people just won’t accept Christ’s invitation. They like the idea of heaven. They like the miracles. They like the bread. They like the free show. They like the chance to be around a lot of people. They like the excitement. But when Jesus wipes all that off the table and offers Himself, they aren’t interested. After we read in John 6 that many of his followers had left, Jesus turns to his twelve disciples and asks in verse 67:
“You do not want to leave too, do you?”
I don’t know how he said that. I don’t know if he was frustrated or angry. My guess is he spoke with a tone of disappointment and sadness as it became clear why so many were following Him. And even though He was God…that must have broken His heart.
So He asks his disciples, the men He’s grown closest to, whether or not they’ll leave. Would His most devoted disciples turn out to be fans who weren’t willing to stick around when the teaching got tough? Was this group more focused on the crowds Jesus attracted than on His message of life? Would they abandon Jesus? In John 6:68-69, we read their response:
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
If you don’t go with Jesus then who are you going with, because you are going to somebody or to something.
Peter’s answer sums it up. “To whom shall we go?” That one question seems to ask
thousands of questions. Who could lead us like you could? Who could teach us with wisdom
like yours? Who could possibly bring us closer to God? Why would we ever want to leave the Messiah? Who else is worth following compared to you? How could we ever find someone
else like you?
See, fans hit the door when Jesus’ teaching gets difficult. When He asks them to sacrifice, when He asks them to take up their cross, when He asks them to die to themselves, fans take off. And I don’t think they do that just because they prefer comfort.
Do you know why we have such a hard time standing firm for God away from the church when we are with our friends, or at work, or in society in general? It is because we do not truly believe that Jesus is, who He said He is. Do you know why we choose to sin. It is because we do not truly believe that God loves as much as God does. Do you know why we live as fans rather than as followers? It is because we believe, we make a better god that God does when it comes to what’s best for our lives. The sad thing is, even with us holding our false assumptions, we still think we will here Jesus say, “well done though good and faithful servant.”
We think if God would just lay out the whole plan in front of us. If God would make everything absolutely clear to us. If God would speak to us in an audible voice, or send an angel, or a dream or vision, to prove to us who Jesus really is, then we could move to become followers instead of fan.
But life’s not like that, is it? And it wasn’t like that for the disciples, either. Sure they were
able to witness the miracles. But eventually, they had to choose to know and believe that Jesus was the Messiah. Choosing to know and believe is a choice we have to make, just like the disciples made. Because if we would believe with the same fire and passion that the disciples had, I think our lives would look completely different.
In the end, it comes down to whether Jesus is enough for you. And it comes down to whether or not you’ll choose to move from being a fan to being a follower.
It’s true, we don’t know the day Christ will return. We don’t know when our health might fail
or finances might hit rock bottom, or we will lose someone we love or when we’ll die. And we never will. But even though we don’t know the day, we know His name. His name is Jesus
I know none of us want to be declared fans on judgment day. And I know we aren’t offered the guarantee that we always want, but Jesus does offer a guarantee. Jesus guarantees that if you put your trust in Him, He will never fail you. He guarantees that if you stake your life on His message of truth, He will stake His life on your eternity in Heaven. Jesus guarantees that if you put your trust and hope in Him, He’ll guide you to an eternity with God the Father. We don’t know the day, but we know His name. And as Scripture tells us, by his name alone, people are saved.
But you have to decide. Are you a fan or are you a follower of Jesus? Because all of
those guarantees are for the followers who refuse to leave His side, the followers who ask, “To whom shall we go. You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you
are the Holy One sent from God.”
