What is the source of satisfaction in your life?

.Here’s a recent letter that appeared in a column of a popular British magazine:

I am perpetually dissatisfied. I find myself regularly annoyed that strangers or friends are more successful than me, and obsessed with the idea that I might never have the life – the house, the relationship, the job – that I feel I’m working really hard to get. I’m single right now, which is fine, but I’m worried that this might be forever. Same with my job – it’s good and I enjoy it, but I feel worried that I’m not striving to move upwards. What can I do to try and achieve my dreams?

I wonder what you make of that person’s experience. But does it resonate with you? What is the source of satisfaction in your life? We’re in the thick of a series in Luke’s gospel looking at ministry of Jesus Christ. And Luke is painting a stunning and beautiful picture of him. And, tonight, we’ll see that everyone needs to make up their mind about who Jesus is because Jesus is the Christ who offers ultimate satisfaction. That’s where we’re going. But, firstly, let’s pray…So point number one:

1. Everyone needs to make up their mind about who Jesus is…

Reading Luke 9.1-6:

And Jesus called the twelve together [that’s the 12 apostles] and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics. And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.” And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

These verses are primarily about Jesus. Jesus gathered the 12 apostles together. Jesus gave them the power and authority to heal the spiritually and physically sick, who he cared for so much. These miracles were to be visible demonstrations of who Jesus is. Jesus sent the apostles out. To proclaim the kingdom of God. That’s the declaration: that Jesus is God’s long-expected Saviour and King, who will bring all kinds of people into lasting relationship with God forever. Who is this Jesus? What do you make of him? Will you trust him? Those are the big questions Luke is asking in these verses.

Secondly, these verses are about the apostles; the unique, set apart, eye-witnesses of Jesus’ life and ministry. Jesus wanted to use the apostles to go out and spread his gospel message. He wanted to train them up – because following Jesus’ death and resurrection their job would be to teach and witness to him. Their testimony remains the bedrock of true Christianity today. So because the apostles are unique, many of the details here are unique. Like the power Jesus gives the apostles in Luke 9.1. We must believe that God can do miracles. But we mustn’t expect them, or expect to be able to do them. Jesus has not promised us any such power. And many of the details in Luke 9.3-5 are unique to this story too. Which is reassuring because I’m not sure what two tunics equates to, but I need at least two layers to actually make it through a Newcastle winter, let alone share the gospel! But there are lessons here for us because Jesus’ gospel message hasn’t changed, and neither has the urgent need for people to hear it.

So, if you’re a Christian you have a job to do: go and tell people about Jesus, so they have the opportunity to make their mind up about him. For some of us, that might mean leaving this country. The disciples went out to the people who hadn’t heard about Jesus. Is it what you should be doing with your life? For all of us, it means going and telling people about Jesus where we are now. Together, we do that here, through church. And we do that as individuals, out in the world. As the church leader, Rico Tice, puts it:

My neighbours think they’ve chosen to live in a particular street in London…But actually God has put them there, so they can meet me, and I can tell them about Jesus!

And that’s right, isn’t it? God has put you where you are. There’s no accident in that. He wants you to be with the people you know, and he wants you to tell them about Jesus. I wonder, how are you getting on at doing that? If you’re anything like me, you’ll be thinking how hard a task it is. And that’s why the main point of Luke 9.3-4 is so helpful. The apostles are to pack light. Jesus said to them “go as you are, and don’t stay too long in any one house enjoying its comfort”. We don’t know exactly why Jesus said that. But the main lesson seems clear enough. Jesus wanted the apostles to depend on God, not on themselves. God would provide for them and work through them. And that is also true for us. This is a unique, one-off story. The Bible is clear – we do need to plan and prepare well when we do Christian ministry! But make no mistake - we’re to depend on God for absolutely everything when we serve him. Simply put: we cannot change other people’s lives. Only God can. Only his work in people can cause them to trust in Jesus (and only his work can sustain and grow faith in Jesus). So sharing the gospel with that colleague, or friend, or family member or that ministry we’re doing (like teaching the Bible to children, or helping lead CU at school or Uni). We plan, we work, we pray. We help answer our friend’s questions. We open the Bible with them. We work hard at that talk, or Bible study, being as sharp as it could be. But the power behind it all comes from Jesus. It doesn’t come from us, or any of our resources. And that’s why we need to pray – asking God to do what we cannot do. That gives us the right perspective: God changes lives. We simply serve God with all that we have, and depend on him.

God would provide the accommodation, the clothing, the food and the water the apostles need. But he’d provide them through other people. Going out with the gospel costs money. Staying where you are and not doing much costs comparatively little. Let’s be praying God provides what we need here at JPC. And let’s be realistic to the fact that the answer to that prayer is almost certainly us: as we give to the ministry God has given us because our job is to help people make up their minds about who Jesus is. That’s central to this passage: people are beginning to make their mind up about Jesus. Of course, some people will reject him. Jesus himself anticipated that. Luke 9.5 again:

And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.

Jews at the time would dust of their feet when leaving a Gentile (non-Jewish) area. The symbolism was the Gentiles aren’t “clean” and in relationship with God. The apostles dusting off their feet was a way of saying, “you’re just like the Gentiles that you look down on. You’re rejected the good news of God’s saviour and King. That means you’ve rejected God himself. So be warned.”

Some of us here are thinking through what we believe. You’re very welcome here. But can I gently say to you: Don’t reject Christianity without understanding the cost of doing so. To reject the gospel is to reject Jesus. And if we reject God’s saviour and King, how can we expect to be saved and to end up in his kingdom? Now and in the life to come? If we reject Jesus, can we really expect him to accept us? But, as Luke 9.6 shows us, I think implicitly, some people will make up their mind about Jesus – that he really is God’s King worth trusting in and following. And some people, for a while anyway, won’t know what to make of Jesus. So, Luke 9.7-9:

Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he sought to see him.

Luke is using these verses as another lens to explore what people are making of Jesus. Some thought he was John the Baptist, or another of God’s prophets, come back to life. Herod had had John the Baptist killed. Because John had called people to turn from their sin because the great saviour from sin was coming. And Herod wouldn’t have it. Herod isn’t neutral. He’ll go on to play his part in Jesus’ death. But Luke wants us to see that even Herod is asking the big question. Luke 9.9 – who is this about who I hear such things? Who is Jesus? He’s trying to decide. You see, a decision is needed.

A few weeks ago I met up with someone who’s exploring the Christian faith. And he had loads of questions! Some questions I couldn’t answer. But in the end, we both agreed the key question was, “who is Jesus?” Because the Christian faith always comes back to the claim that Jesus came to our world fully God and fully man, that he died for our sins on the cross, that he rose again from the dead. And that one day he’ll bring those who are following him into his Kingdom forever. And Luke is saying, we all need to make our mind up about that. Do we believe it’s true? It’s ok not to be sure. But the stakes are so high. You can’t sit on the fence forever. So if you’re not yet a Christian – keep asking yourself ‘who is Jesus? Could he really be my saviour?’ And if we are Christians, we need to keep coming back to who Jesus is. We all have questions and troubles in life. But Luke’s aim is that we have certainty that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God – who has saved us, and loves us. And anchoring our life on that helps us cope with the questions we don’t have the answers to. Well, next we’ll see that that the answer to Herod’s ponderings will be visibly answered in what Jesus is about to do next. So our first point was everyone needs to make up their mind about who Jesus is…Why?

2. Because Jesus is the Christ who offers ultimate satisfaction.

Reading Luke 9.10-17:

On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing. Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” And they did so, and had them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

No doubt tired after their missionary journey, Jesus takes the apostles away but the crowd followed, and Jesus welcomes them. And just like the apostles had done he heals and he preaches. But time marches on. They’re in a desolate place. And the apostles say to Jesus, “surely it’s time you sent these people home! It’s getting late, and they’re starving!”And there’s no phone signal – so Deliveroo is out! Jesus’ reply puts the onus back on them – he says Luke 9.12: “you give them something to eat”. So, they conduct an apostolic whip round. But all they can muster is five loaves of bread and two fish. Not enough to feed 5,000 men, plus presumably women and children. They still don’t get it, do they? Their situation was impossible, and their resources were pitiful. But had they forgotten who it was who was with them, and all that he’d done already? Had they forgotten how Jesus had sent them out? How they’d depended on him for everything? Jesus tells them to get the crowd to sit in groups of 50. He takes the bread and fish, he looks up to heaven and he says, probably, a fairly normal blessing over the small portion of food. But what happens next is far from normal. The 12 are asked to set the food before the crowd. And, Luke 9.17:

And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

The food had been multiplied. 5,000 are fed from five loaves of bread and two fish. It’s a miracle of astonishing scale! And an astonishing number of people witness it! Who could do something so powerful? Luke wants us to realise, “only God could”. Herod asks “who is Jesus?” Luke is saying “he must be who he says he is…The Son of God. The Christ – the saviour from sin”. Who can you depend on for everything? Who ultimately satisfies? Luke is saying, “Jesus”. Jesus provides food. Food for hungry and helpless people. To be a Christian is to eat the spiritual food that he offers – forgiveness and friendship with God.

Hayley and I had a fancy meal a good while ago now and afterwards she turned and looked at me and said “I’m hungry”. And I looked at her and said “So am I. Very.” It would have been mature and wise to say “let’s be content with what we’ve had”. So, naturally, we went and got a McDonalds! It’s not good to feast – and still be starving! Our world is full of perpetually dissatisfied, spiritually hungry people. Is that you? I know so many people… They’ve experienced massive success in work, or sporting triumph, maybe even the euphoria of drink or drugs…Whatever it was, it seemed to promise so much at the time; success, status, security, a thrill. But, in the end, it left them hungry for something else, or something more. Have you ever achieved what you really aspired to in life only to find that when you finally got it, it felt hollow and empty? Why is that? Relationships, sex, friendship, family, study, work, success, fun? None of it ultimately pays off. It will never satisfy. At least, not like Jesus can.

No honest Christian would claim to feel satisfaction all of the time. So much of life is dissatisfying. And at best, satisfaction is only partial in this world. But Jesus does offer very real satisfaction – ultimate satisfaction that will grow and grow in those who follow him. It’s the best satisfaction in the world. And it’s the kind of satisfaction that makes all the difference in the world. Others may come and go in life, but Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. Triumphs may elate us, but Jesus died for the sinful rubbish in our lives. He paid for it, so we can be free from it. That’s permanently good news! Success may give us security, but Jesus says “I love you. Give me your life, and in the end, I’ll bring you into my heavenly kingdom. There, in me, you’ll be totally satisfied as you feast on my goodness forever…You’ll never be hungry again!”

Who else provides for you like that? If all this is true…What else comes close? What other claim to satisfy can really compare? Jesus wanted the apostles to see who he really is. They can depend on him. He provides and satisfies the deepest of needs for the most desperate of people. Spiritually needy people like you, and like me. He involved them the apostles his work then and, he involves us in his work now. So, in a world that is desperate and hungry, if we trust in Jesus we must simply be like beggars showing other beggars where to find food by telling them about the Jesus who satisfies. We have nothing to offer but him. But he can provide because he is God, and the saviour of the sins of the world. So let’s trust in Jesus Christ, and trust that lasting satisfaction can only be found in him.