SIMULTANEOUSLY RESTLESS AND AT REST

The Text, St. John 6:1-15 (v. 14-15). Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. O Lord, You have made us in such a way that our hearts will only be restless unless we rest in You. (St. Augustine) Amen.

Dear people loved by God in Christ, who is the Bread of Life: Grace be unto you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The feeding of the 5,000 teaches about trust, godly contentment, and guarding against sins like coveting, greed, and self-absorbed worry. It shows how Jesus brings us to be content, confident, trusting and restful in Him.

It also presents a problem. What’s required is being content and satisfied, to “trust in God above all things,” as the first commandment teaches. But I find that as soon as I feel I am satisfied, what happens? I forget God. My trust is good only if things go well. Especially we tie our contentment to how hard we work at feeling content or being happy with what we have.

This is what the feeding of the 5,000 is about. We’re told, this “great multitude [that] followed Him” did so “because they saw His signs which He performed” – His miracles. Basically, more miracles are all they wanted. This is the dirty secret about the Feeding of the 5,000 that John is relating. This hunger Jesus is not going to be able to satisfy – the hunger for miracles.

Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Outwardly it is a picture of being at rest. Then Philip brings the five loaves of bread and two fish, and Jesus turns it into enough for the whole huge crowd. It says they ate “as much as they wanted,” and “they were filled.” They certainly seem to be at rest, tummies full, no worries. But in the most important sense they are not filled. John writes: “They were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king.” They only want more miracles. Whereas they were looking contented, in reality they were so restless and discontent.

Isn’t it a powerful picture of what we wrestle with every day? A struggle between the old Adam, your sinful self – which is restless, demanding – and the new man, your forgiven self – at peace, full of trust, hopeful, secure.

Really, we don’t lack anything that we need in daily life, in the 21stcentury. Yet as a people aren’t we as anxious, nervous and worried about the future as ever before? The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt currently is #5 among all books on Amazon’s list of best sellers. People are buying this because it highlights how big a thing our struggle with anxiety currently is.

If people knew your thoughts, would they conclude that you are not satisfied with what you have? What about how the average person’s attention span is getting to be lower every day, how distracted everyone is? We’re always looking for something better, unsatisfied with what’s in front of us.

You might say that’s just how life is now. But under the surface, this restlessness or failure to be content or satisfied is a basic 1st commandment sin. “You shall have no other gods,” means “we should love God above all things.” That is to say: be satisfied in God, and what He gives, above all things.

Our failure to obey the 1st commandment leads to sins against others. Our failure to be contented leads to the idea that it’s all about you. Ours is a narcissistic culture. You become self-absorbed, especially with your own worries and wishes. What are you not thinking about? What your neighbor needs. You’re being encouraged to turn inward, to yourself.

The devil loves to keep you restless, unsatisfied, discontent, wanting more. This was his temptation to Adam and Eve, to suggest that God was keeping back all the best stuff and not giving them their due. So the devil takes you – who stand under God’s judgment because of your sins and need your Savior – and he turns it around so you put God under judgment, ask if God has forgotten you, what has He done for you lately. See what the devil did there?

Because we’re Christians who want to be satisfied with what God gives, this discontent bothers you. But now at this point Satan levels it up, convinces you that you must achieve this state of contentedness. You say things such as: “Just be happy with what you have.” “Just decide to be content.” These are Law statements, spoken in command form, to be fulfilled by you.

That is the worst restlessness: to not be satisfied with the message of grace, not happy until you’ve mastered the art of godly living. You know you should be more content. But “should” language is Law talk. We Christians, who want to be trusting children of the heavenly Father, turn into little Buddhists trying to find inner peace. In your desire to be content, you put pressure on yourself to handle this the right way. If you do it right you turn into a Pharisee; if you don’t, you beat yourself up. Will you ever be at peace.

But the Good News – the Gospel – the answer to this is also in the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus knew what they were. And what did He do? He said, “Make the people sit down.” … And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish.

Jesus gave. That’s the answer. He gave, not just barley bread and fish, but Himself, the Bread of life. First, He gave Himself up, He gave up His life, for the life of the world, for your eternal life. Listen to how these verses describe His death on the cross: “Christ also has loved us and given Himself [up] for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God,” and: “Christ loved the Church and gave Himself [up] for her” (Eph 5:2, 25). Jesus’ death on the cross is the first way He gives Himself to you. He gave up His life. He gave up His life for you. But also, because He was without sin, and the blood He shed was holy, innocent, that very innocence and righteousness is something He exchanged for your guilt. Through His death, His righteousness becomes yours. What His death accomplished is His gift to you. In His death He gives Himself to you.

This then applies to the issue of your contentment and peace. Jesus doesn’t wait for you to figure out the contentment thing, or give His gifts to you only if you use them well. Nor does He keep them from you when you are demanding, or ungrateful. Jesus’ gift of Himself comes regardless how you do things, it isn’t conditioned on your good intentions or attitudes. It’s grace!

Jesus even took time to play with this subject of rest and restlessness. With His disciples Jesus pretended that it would take work, going to the market, when He asked Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” But Jesus “knew what He would do.” It wouldn’t come from work, but by gift.

Jesus also played with the crowds the next day, with the “work” language: He said, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you.” He knew their nature (and ours), to fixate on the working part and not even hear the “Son-of-Man-will-give-you” part. So when the crowds respond by asking, “What [work] shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus said – I think with a twinkle in His eye – “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (Jn 6:27-29).

See what did Jesus did there? He put everything into the realm of faith. After giving Himself to you in His death, this is the second way Jesus gives: faith. Faith is not a work. Faith is the gift of God. Faith is receiving.

This is the secret to being contented and at rest. God gives. You receive. When you come to church, it’s to receive. The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper – which the meal in John 6 clearly was a preview of – shows this, where you do nothing but receive. You don’t come to church to offer Him something. Here He offers you something, He gives to you, serves you. He serves you with His forgiveness. He gives you faith. He gives you the peace you lack, He creates it by giving faith. He gives you a quieted conscience.

It doesn’t mean you magically stop feeling restless. We’re simultaneously saints and sinners, so you’re also simultaneously restless and at rest. You don’t wait until you are perfectly content and undistracted to worship Him. You don’t wait till your priorities are all perfect. You’d have to wait forever!

It’s because you are lacking this, because you feel restless and unsatisfied, that you come to the One who gives you rest, a quiet conscience, a calmed heart. God declares that for Jesus’ sake you are His perfectly contented child. That’s how He sees you. That’s His judgment, His verdict, about you. You may not feel it, but He sees you that way for Jesus’ sake. He not only speaks it about you, He speaks it to you, He powerfully speaks this peace and rest into you as He says in the Lord’s Supper:“for you.” He gives you peace not just in general. He gives you peace between yourself and Him, and also: peace with yourself, and with others. This is what He gives you in the Lord’s Supper.

One day you’ll no longer be simultaneously restless and at rest: in heaven. This meal in John 6 reveals what heaven will be like for you. You’ll be part of a multitude, resting, content, Jesus giving as much as you could want. In heaven, it’s impossible to misuse or under-appreciate His gifts. Contrary to sinful human thinking, this won’t be boring. You won’t be restless. You’ll be perfectly satisfied, at peace. As you come here to receive, as contentment and peace is not from your output but what He puts into you, He is preparing you for heaven, where there will finally be rest without restlessness. Amen!