Let’s Have a Picnic
Sermon – Let’s Have a Picnic
Scripture John 6: 1-14
August 2, 2026
Jesus miraculously fed over 5,000 people with just five loaves of bread and two fish, demonstrating His compassion, divine provision, and identity as the Messiah.
The story is recorded in all four Gospels: Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, and John 6:1-14. After hearing of John the Baptist’s death, Jesus withdrew to a solitary place, but crowds followed Him on foot. Moved by compassion, He healed the sick and taught them about the Kingdom of God.
Let’s hear an eye-witness account, use your imagination:
Hello – my name is Timothy and I am 8 years old. Most days I get up early and feed and milk our goat.
My mom makes really good goat cheese and we have milk with our porridge as we break our fast from the night’s sleep
Some days I help my mother collect grasses to weave into baskets like this one. I have other chores. Then I go to Torah school at the synagogue. I can read and write and use my teacher’s abacus.
One day recently, we heard the teacher, Jesus, was coming and I asked if I could go to see him. He was at the edge of the water walking along and a big crowd began to follow him.
As evening approached, people began to be restless and hungry. The breeze was blowing off the water so the teacher had the people sit down in groups. I saw him talking with his men. They called themselves his disciples, for they were his students. So I moved closer to try to hear what they were saying.
Oh my, they were talking about feeding all these people. There were so many people – men, women, and children like me. One of his men saw me and asked what I wanted of him.
I said, “It’s not a lot, but you can have my meal,” and held up my basket. He lifted the cloth and there were 5 small loaves and two fish that my mother had sent with me, for she knew I would be hungry before I returned to our home. Just like this meal she gave me today.
The teacher, Jesus, took my basket with only five loaves and two fish and lifted it up to the heaven. Jesus gave thanks, broke the bread, and distributed it through His disciples. And he broke the fish into pieces and gave them to his men.
It was a miracle, for sure. I watched and walked around as they handed out the food. Their baskets were never empty. Everyone ate and was satisfied. Then his men, his disciples, gathered up the left-over food. there were 12 large baskets filled with pieces of bread and fish.
I saw it with my own eyes. I ate the wonderful bread and fish. And I still find it hard to believe.
So today, I heard Jesus might be down by the water again, so I am off to see if I can find him – and maybe share this meal.
The miracle illustrates God’s ability to provide abundantly from limited resources, showing that physical and spiritual needs are met through Jesus’ power.
Jesus’ actions highlight His deep compassion, prioritizing the needs of the crowd even after a long day of ministry, teaching, and healing.
The disciples’ involvement in distributing the food demonstrates the importance of human cooperation with divine action, showing that God can multiply small offerings when they are placed in His hands.
That is the reasoning behind asking to multiply our money gifts, too.
The twelve baskets of leftovers may represent the twelve tribes of Israel, emphasizing the completeness of God’s provision and the abundance of His kingdom.
Or they may represent the 12 disciples.
This event comes early in Jesus’ ministry, way before the Last Supper and Jesus’ sharing the Eucharist at the end of that meal. But we can see that symbolism coming for Jesus to be the Bread of Life, symbolizing Jesus as the source of spiritual nourishment and eternal life.
So what Are our Lessons for Today? I believe there are four:
1. Trust in God’s Provision: Even when resources seem insufficient, faith in God can transform scarcity into abundance.
2. Compassion in Action: Meeting the needs of others reflects God’s care and mirrors Jesus’ example.
3. Participation in God’s Work: Believers are called to be instruments of blessing, using what little they have to serve others.
4. Spiritual Nourishment: Beyond physical sustenance, Jesus provides spiritual life and fulfillment for those who follow Him
The feeding of the 5,000 remains a powerful testament to Jesus’ compassion, divine authority, and the call for believers to trust, serve, and participate in God’s work in the world.
So how is your trust?
The Psalms are filled with messages about trust. Here are a few:
1. Psalm 20:7 -Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
2. Psalm 25:1 - In you, Lord my God, I put my trust.
3. Psalm 31:14 -But I trust in you, Lord; I say, “You are my God.”
4. Psalm 40:3 -He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.
5. Psalm 40:4 -Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.
6. Psalm 52:8 -But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.
7. Psalm 55:23 -But you, God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of decay; the bloodthirsty and deceitful will not live out half their days. But as for me, I trust in you.
8. Psalm 56:4 -In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
9. Psalm 56:11 -in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me?
10.Psalm 62:8 -Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.
11.Psalm 78:7 -Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
12.Psalm 86:2 -Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God;
13.Psalm 91:2 -I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
14.Isaiah 25:9 -In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
15.Daniel 3:28 -Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
16.Daniel 6:23 -The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
17.Matthew 27:43 -He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
18.Romans 15:13 -May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
My mother-in-law had her own version of these scriptures. She said simply,
“If you trust, you do not worry. And if you worry, you do not trust.”
Any one remember Alfred E. Newman?
MAD Magazine is an American humor magazine. It was launched as a comic book and then became a magazine in the 1950’s. It was widely imitated and influential, affecting satirical media, as well as the cultural landscape of the 20th century.
The magazine offers satire on all aspects of life and popular culture, politics, entertainment, and public figures. Its had recurring segments such as TV and movie parodies, as well as freeform articles.
Mad's mascot, Alfred E. Neuman, is typically the focal point of the magazine's cover, with his face often replacing a celebrity or character who is lampooned within the issue.
The skeptical generation of kids it shaped -including me – is the same generation that, in the 1960s, opposed a war and in the 1970s helped turn out an Administration. It was magical, objective proof to kids that they were not alone. there were people who knew that there was something wrong, phony and funny about a world of bomb shelters, political manipulators and toothpaste smiles.
Its impact on three generations of humorists and today’s satire is evidenced in the work of comedians like Jerry Seinfeld, Don Martin, and Steven Colbert, and shows like The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live.
So Alfred E. Newman’s mantra, “what, me worry?” kinda fits in with today’s scripture. Kinda.
In Matthew 5, we read, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Worry leads to fear and anxiety over the things we cannot change or influence.
Jesus also says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
What great words of wisdom for us. We can give God our worries and our anxieties and focus on Jesus instead.
What , Me worry?!!
In the name of the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit.