Order It by Rev. Teja Smith

Order It

Luke 9:10-17

Triumph Baptist Church

1648 W. Hunting Park Ave.

Philadelphia, PA 19140

January 13, 2020

Rev. Teja Smith

A new year brings many familiar sounds. We hear people screaming, “Happy New Year!” There are sounds of both fireworks and gunfire. We listen as people make resolutions, declarations, and affirmations. Seriously, isn’t that what every January brings? Christians dance, shout, and pray the New Year in. We declare the promises of God over our lives. We speak of how the new year will be the year of our breakthrough! It is with confidence and faith, we have passionately proclaimed that 2020 will be the year in which we see the manifestation of the promises of God in our lives.

I’ve heard it said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. So, let me ask you a question. With all due respect, “Are you insane?” Is it possible that with all the celebrations and declarations that the new year brings, you haven’t planned to do one thing differently this year than you did last year? I want to suggest to you that you may need a new plan if you desire to see a new result in this new year. Because of this, I’d appreciate a few minutes of your time to share with you the importance of order.

Do you have something that you are believing God for in this new season? You may need to bring order to it. I think it’s time to get your life in order.

Luke 9:10-17, “¹⁰ When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then He slipped quietly away with them toward the town of Bethsaida. ¹¹ But the crowds found out where He was going, and they followed Him. He welcomed them and taught them about the Kingdom of God, and He healed those who were sick. ¹² Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to Him and said, “Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place.” ¹³ But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?” ¹⁴ For there were about 5,000 men there. Jesus replied, “Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵ So the people all sat down. ¹⁶ Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, He kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. ¹⁷ They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!” (NLT)

I want to explore this familiar passage of Scripture where Jesus feeds 5,000 men with only two fish and five loaves of bread. I believe that there are details in this passage that are regularly overlooked, but they hold the keys for us to be able to see God do the miraculous in our lives in this brand new year. Let’s take a look at the necessity of order within this text.

1.      You must bring order to the situation before the miracle will take place. Take a close look at the latter part of verse 14. Before Jesus blessed the food, before He broke the bread and supernaturally multiplied it – He demanded order. There were 5,000 men, not including women and children, present that day. Many theologians believe that there could have been upwards of 25,000 people that needed to be fed! Consider this – Jesus told the disciples to put the people into groups of 50 before He performed the miracle. Jesus didn’t bring the crowd to order Himself; He made His disciples do it. God isn’t going to bring your life to order; He’s going to make you do it. Basically, what this equates to is, no order = no miracle. How long do you suppose that it took for the 12 disciples to sit 25,000 people in groups of 50? The truth is it doesn’t matter. It takes as long as it takes. Although the people were tired and hungry, there was no miracle until things were in order. Perhaps you are hungry and tired too, tired of waiting on God; tired of today looking just like yesterday. Maybe you are tired of waiting on your miracle. Question – Is the area of your life that you are waiting for God to bless in order?

2.      Order is necessary for the proper distribution of your miracle. What if Jesus had not insisted that His disciples bring order to the mass amounts of people before He performed the miracle? How would they have made sure everyone got fed? How would they have gone up and down rows that did not exist to pass out the food in an organized manner? If God blesses you right now, would He be blessing a mess? If He gave you what you are praying for right now, how would you make sure it smoothly and seamlessly filtered into your life? If you are honest, is it possible that you are not ready for the very thing that you are believing God for because your life is not in order?

3.      Order is necessary to make sure that there is no waste. We serve a God that does not waste anything. You may take what you need, you may eat until you are full, but there must be no greed or waste. The order prevents waste. If God blesses an unorganized messy life, waste is inevitable. Our text today is not the first time we see this. Even in the Old Testament, when God miraculously provided manna for His people, His specific instructions to Moses were to ensure that there would be no waste.

Exodus 16:16-18, “These are the Lord’s instructions: Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two quarts for each person in your tent.” ¹⁷ So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little. ¹⁸ But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.” (NLT)

In our text, there were 12 baskets of food left over, but no waste. There were specific instructions on what to do with the 12 baskets. Each disciple had to collect the leftovers, from what I imagine was designated as “his own section.” Are you wasteful as a result of your life being out of order? Are you hemorrhaging money due to late fees, interest charges, and overdrafts? Could it be possible that you want more from God, while you are wasteful with what He has already blessed you? Are you paying for a gym membership that you never use, cable channels you never watch, and food you wind up throwing away? I challenge you to check your life for areas of waste. This next blessing from God is huge, but God requires order because He is displeased with wastefulness.

4.      Order is necessary to ensure contentment and satisfaction. It is not God’s will that we waste His blessings. Yet, He does desire that we are content and completely satisfied with His provision. John 6:11, “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.” (NLT) John’s account of this narrative lets us know that after the crowd was brought to order, and the miracle was performed, everyone had as much as they desired. Perhaps you have areas of lack in your life. Perhaps you are both hungry and tired. If so, I want to encourage you today that though bringing your life to order may be exhausting and time-consuming, it will be well worth your effort. God will completely satisfy you in every area where you now have lack.

Do you have a bigger spiritual appetite than most? I know that I do! There is no need to apologize for your hunger or pretend that you don’t have a big appetite. You serve a God that completely satisfies and quenches. You may have erroneously been thinking that you don’t have more because you want too much. But, you serve a God that can do exceedingly, and abundantly above all that you ask or even think! Your persistent gnawing hunger is not because your appetite is too big. This issue is the result of your life being out of order. God is not only able to, but He wants to satisfy you completely. The problem is that He’s waiting for you to act.

So, as we are just a couple of weeks into this new year and the new decade, I want to both encourage and challenge you to take a good, hard, prayerful look at your life. I know you are believing God for great things this year, as you should. But, is it possible that as you wait on God, the reality is that God is waiting on you? Is it possible that the hold-up on your blessings is the absence of order in your life? When God created the heavens and the earth, He did so in a very methodical manner. We serve a God of order, and He both desires, and requires, that His children do all things decently and with orderliness.

1 Corinthians 14:40, “Let all things be done decently and in order.” (NKJV)