Christian Responsibilities
Keith M. McFarren
August 2, 2026
Matthew 14:13-21
    We all have a
tendency to think that bad things always happen to other people but never to
us.  But unfortunately, life doesn’t work
that way and there will come a time when an unsolicited change called death
comes knocking at our door.  
    Rather than
knocking politely, death has the audacity to come into our lives without
permission.  It may barge boldly into our
lives when death comes suddenly and unexpectedly or it can sometimes come
quietly, like someone sneaking in through the back door, when a chronic illness
slowly claims a life a little bit at a time.
    In her book, The
Reluctant Traveler, Diane Dempsey deals with both grief and recovery and goes
on to tell us how to recover from these unwanted changes.  The book helps us to understand what steps
are necessary when life is suddenly ripped away from us, forcing us to become a
“reluctant traveler” in unfamiliar and frightening territory.
    The book also
helps us to understand and deal with the disbelief, the fear, the anxiety and
the confusion that overwhelms us and keeps us from effectively dealing with all
of the sudden changes that have entered into our life.
    Jesus, this morning, has suddenly become the
“reluctant traveler” that I’ve been talking about when he received the news
that John the Baptist was dead.  Dead not
because of some long, lingering illness, but because his head cut off by
Herod’s men.  
    Dead because he preached the truth about the
kingdom of God. Dead because he told the truth about Herod and his morals.  Back in biblical times it was dangerous to
rebuke a tyrant like Herod but that is exactly what John did – he rebuked him
and he paid dearly with his life.
   Jesus had to be
devastated to learn of John’s death.  If
you’ll remember Jesus’ mother, Mary and John’s mother, Elizabeth, were sisters
so Jesus and John were cousins.  He lost
a family member but he lost the one and only person who came along and prepared
the way for his ministry.
    So like us Jesus
needed to grieve at the loss John.  
After all, Jesus was human.  He
had feelings.  He had emotions.  He needed some time to be by himself.  He needed time to be with God.
    So this morning we
find Jesus trying to find a place to go to be by himself and grieve over the
death of John.  He needs the time to be
by himself, to think, to contemplate, to pray and to cry.  “He withdrew from there in a boat, into a
deserted place alone”(Matthew 14:13).
    But in a highly
populated area as Galilee it was hard to find a place to be alone and even as
Jesus tried to sneak off by himself the crowds of people could see him from the
shore and they all took off running and by the time he got to the other side
the people were all there waiting for him.
    We’re told that
even though he needed to grieve, even though he desperately needed time to get
away and be by himself, he had compassion on all of the people and the bible
tells us he was moved to the very depths of his soul.  
    Jesus the servant
put himself second to those in need.
Jesus the servant cared more about the needs of others than he did for
himself.  It was the Psalmist who
wrote,  “The Lord is near to the
brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
    This is Jesus at
his best.  Jesus had come to find some
peace and quiet that he so badly needed for himself and when he pulled up to
the shore he found a huge crowd of people eagerly demanding that he give them
everything he can.
    Did he have a
right to be mad?  I’d say he did.  After all, what right did they have to invade
his privacy with their demands?  Didn’t
Jesus have a right to some peace and quiet?
Didn’t he have a right to be by himself for a while and talk with God
about all that he had been going through?
    But Jesus isn’t
like that.  Instead of looking at them as
a nuisance, he had compassion for them.
He put his own personal feelings aside and took on the responsibility of
serving and taking care of his people.
It was the classic example of the shepherd taking care of his
sheep.  
    But isn’t this
what we would expect from Jesus?  Isn’t
this what he has always done?  Wasn’t it
God who took care of the Israelites wandering around in the wilderness for 40
years even though they refused to follow him and do what he told them?
    No matter what
they did or how bad they were, God loved them and cared for them and not once
did he let them go hungry.  Because of
his overwhelming love and compassion for his people he continually provided
manna, and quail and water as they wandered around in the desert.  When the people hurt, when they were hungry
and thirsty, God was there.  
    As Christians it
is our job take on the responsibility of taking care of others.  It is our responsibility to show the world
our compassion and that our God real and that he loves each and every one of
them.
    It’s our
responsibility to go out into the world and do God’s work.   But the strange thing is -we can’t do it by
ourselves.  We have to rely on God to
help us and our story this morning tells us how he will help us.  Our text tells us that Jesus “took the
five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and asked God’s blessing on
the food. Breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave some of the bread and fish
to each disciple, and the disciples gave them to the people.” (Matthew 14:19)
    Do you see what
happened here?  Jesus gave to the
disciples and the disciples gave to the people.
Jesus worked through the hands of his disciples to help others.  The disciples became the hands of Jesus.
    And guess
what?  It’s no different now then it was
then.  Jesus gives to us and we are to
give to others.  We are responsible for
using what God gives us, whether it’s our time, our talents or even our
money.  We are to take what God gives us
and go out into the world and share what we have with those who are less
fortunate than we are.
    It’s an even trade
off.  We can’t accomplish much without
God’s help in our lives and God can’t accomplish much in this world without our
help.  If Jesus wants something done he
has to get someone to do it.  He needs
someone like us who can go out into the world and do his work for him and speak
for him and love for him.
    He needs people like us who are willing to
give our lives to him and then, through the work of the Holy Spirit, take his
truth and his love out into the world and show others what a loving God we
have.  We need to show others what God
has done for us and we need to show others what that same God can do for
them.  That’s what it means to be a
disciple – Jesus gives to us so that we can give to others.
    What’s interesting
in all of this is that he doesn’t expect us to pull off big miracles like he performed
this morning.  He doesn’t expect us to
take a few pieces of fish and feed 5,000 people because we don’t have the power
to do that type of thing.  
    Instead, he gives
to us so that we can give to others – and who are “we?” - just the ordinary, everyday,
humble people at Bethel UMC – what you see is what you get!  He says to us: Come to me as you are,
however ill-equipped; bring to me what you have, however little, and I will use
it greatly in my service.” (Gospel of Matthew, volume 2, William Barclay pg.
119)   Bring God what you have in here (heart) and he
will use it.  A little is always a lot in
the eyes of God.  
    In March of 1964
an earthquake measuring 9.2 on the Richter Scale hit the Prince William Sound
region of Alaska.  The second strongest
earthquake ever recorded in the world.  A
four minute earthquake that caused 300-400 million dollars (1964 dollars) in
damage.
    And, as always, it wasn’t long
before people begin to complain because they aren’t getting enough help from
the government to get them up and going again.
People started getting mad and began to write letters to complain that
the State of Alaska wasn’t doing enough and the federal government was dragging
their heals in bringing in help.  
    At one point the governor of
Alaska appeared on television and told of how everything possible was being
done and how proud he was of all Alaskan’s as they pulled together to help one
another out and that more help was on the way.
    One of the letters the
governor read that night on television was a letter from a little boy and along
with this letter came a 3 x 5 postcard with 2 nickels taped to it.  The letter said “Use this wherever it is
needed.  If you need more, let me know.”
(A Bucket Full of Miracles, Jeff Wedge, pg. 134.)  A little is always a lot, in the eyes of God.
    They were out in the middle of
nowhere.  It was getting late and the
disciples were getting tired and grumpy and hungry and because they only cared
about themselves, they told Jesus there wasn’t enough for everyone and that it
was time for the people to go back to where they came from…to suck it up and go
get their own food and take care of themselves.
    None of what the disciples
said was surprising to Jesus because that’s what you say and that’s what you
think when you are part of the world in which you live.  That’s what you say and that’s what you do
when you care more about your own wants and needs than those of other people.
    There are people in this
world, there are people in this town, there are people in this neighborhood who
are lost, people who are stranded out in the middle of nowhere with no place to
turn.          
    There are people all around us
who are spiritually hungry…who are thirsty for a cold drink of water…people who
are spiritually lost.  There are people
all around us who need a little bit of grace, people who would give anything to
feel loved.  There are people out there
who would give anything to feel the presence of God in their lives.  
    If you are going to be a
disciple of Jesus Christ and strive to live for the kingdom of God…you don’t
tell the people to suck it up and go take care of themselves.
    If you are going to be a
disciple of Jesus Christ, the responsibility falls on you.  So Jesus says to you this morning - You feed
them.  Go on, feed them.  He doesn’t say you have to perform huge, mind
boggling miracles – just feed them.  
    Feed them with what you
have.  Feed them with your
compassion.  Feed them with your
kindness.  Feed them with your empathy.  Feed them with the love of God.  Feed them with what you have in here (heart).
    And when you feed them…when
you feed them with what you have in here (heart), those that are weary will
find rest , those who are thirsty will be quenched and those whose souls are
hungry…they will be satisfied.