Being Restored for Christ – It’s Time to take an Inventory (Part II)

Sermon Title: Being Restored for Christ – Taking Inventory of What we Have

Good News Statement: God restores us by showing us what we have and need

Summary: Jesus requests us to do stock taking – the reason, the reaction, the resources, and the result

Preached: Sunday, November 3rd, at Dogwood Prairie and Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSV): Matthew 15:29-39: Today’s scripture reading comes from the Gospel of Matthew. In this section of Matthew’s writing we encounter Jesus feeding four thousand people plus women and children. In this parable we are encouraged to take inventory of our faith. Let’s read from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter Fifteen, and Verses Twenty-nine thru Thirty-nine. May the hearing and reading of this scripture add understanding and meaning to your life.

Jesus Cures Many People

29 After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. 30 Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the maimed, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, 31 so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Feeding the Four Thousand

32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for the crowd because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat, and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” 33 The disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?” 34 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves have you?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 Then ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And all of them ate and were filled, and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 38 Those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 After sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

 

The Word of God, for the People of God; And all God’s People said, “Thanks Be To God.”

 

 

Introduction:

Restoration: the act of returning something to a former owner, place, or condition. The act of restoration involves the process of repairing or renovating a building, work of art, vehicle, furniture, a church, and the list could go on. Restoration also involves reinstating a previous practice, right, custom, or situation. I’m sure many of us here have restored something in our life: whether it be a tractor, an old car, a piece of furniture, something within your house, or maybe you restored a relationship, your faith, your commitment to the church, or even your trust in Christ. Restoration is part of our life; and believe it or not, it’s part of our faith journey as well.

For the next couple of weeks, we are going to think about the concept of restoration through a faithful lens. Through this lens, the restoration upon which we will undergo is not physical, or emotional, nor mental. Rather, it will be a spiritual restoration that urges us to be found amongst the weeds and miry clay, to take inventory of our life and to see what is missing and what is needed to move forward, to remind ourselves that God has provided us a manual to read and study, and lastly the work of restoration is an ongoing process. Like the hundreds of pieces of furniture that I have recovered and restored, and like all the classic cars and tractors that have been restored and appear at car shows and tractor shows, we, too, need to be restored for Christ if we want to follow in his footsteps—preaching his word, saving the lost, comforting the hurting, and being a church mission bound and mission focused. Restoration is part of our faith journey, and today we embark on that journey to be restored for Christ. Do you need to be restored today? Our journey continues by taking inventory of what we have and what we need.

 

Body:

We began our journey of being restored last week by allowing God to find us where we are. To think about the idea of being lost, I briefly reminded you of two popular parables in the Gospels told by Jesus to his disciples. These two parables are found in the Gospel of Luke, specifically Luke 15. The parables of Luke 15 are called “the Gospel within the Gospel”—the good news within the good news—and they talk about “lost and found.”

However, the question is, “Do you want to be found?” Do you want to remain broken with faded paint, missing wheels, and broken windshields like some of my father’s HotWheels, or do you want to be restored and look like some of my HotWheels?

In the first parable, Jesus talked about a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of the shepherd’s sheep strayed away from the flock and became lost. When the shepherd knew one of his sheep was lost, he left the other ninety-nine to find the lost one. We are sometimes like sheep, not necessarily because we are sinners. We get lost even without meaning to get lost. However, if we are like sheep, we know we will be found, not because we know how to come back but because a shepherd will find us—specifically, “THEE SHEPHERD” will find us. Jesus is our Good Shepherd who always comes and finds us when we are lost. When we feel lost, that is our reminder it’s time to be found. The flock isn’t complete without you.

In the second parable, Jesus talked about a widow who had ten silver coins. One those ten coins was worth a day’s wages. That is to say, one coin could feed the whole family for a week. That’s why the widow turned on every light in the house, swept the floor, and searched everywhere until she found it. We get lost just like the coin. The coin in this parable had been in a dark corner. Likewise, life sometimes takes us away into some dark corners. We feel alone and that nobody cares for us. But in this parable, Jesus tells us that God comes to find the lost. God knows us, God knows our hiding place where we slip into from time to time, God searches for us, and He won’t stop until we are found because like the lost coin we have worth and value as well.

After sharing these parables, I offered an additional perspective. By referencing the Parable of the Talents (or Parable of the Bag of Gold) found in Matthew 25:14-30, I encouraged you to think about the gifts or talents that God has given you. Whether God has given you five talents or two talents or just a single talent, God gave you something unique that only you can do. He gave you your talent because He has a plan and a purpose for you. God doesn’t want you to “bury” your talent in the ground like one of the servants did in the parable; rather, he wants you to multiply your talents by investing in His plan as the other servants did, so that when Jesus returns he will look at you and say, “Well done good and faithful servant.”

We aren’t meant to remain hidden in the weeds or covered with miry clay or camouflaged in the forest: we are meant to be found so that what God has given us will help us become restored for Jesus Christ in our life. If you want to be restored in Christ and for Christ, then you must allow yourself to be found by Christ. Once you allow that to happen, then the work truly begins. Let yourself be found so that you can be restored through the gifts and talents God has given you.

Once we allow ourselves to be found—not wanting to hide and run from God, as Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:8)—then we are invited to take inventory of our life: what we have, what we need, and what kind of work this restoration project is going to take. Today, be encouraged to examine yourself—your faith—and the state of the church, and ask, “Where are we today? And where do we want to be tomorrow?” If you want to be restored in Christ and for Christ, then you must allow Christ to take inventory of your life. But what does that mean, exactly?

How many of you have ever taken some sort of inventory or stock before? You take notes on what you have and what you need. I’m sure many of you have and still take some sort of inventory today: you take inventory before you go to the grocery store, you take inventory of how many Band-Aids you have, you take inventory of how many cattle you own, how many bales of hay you have stocked up, how many cats are roaming around your house, how many tractors you have, what you need to get a tractor running again, how many fields you own, how well things are working, who offers the cheapest coffee in town, and the list never ends. We all take some sort of inventory every day of our life.

During High School and College, I was involved in several jobs and opportunities that required taking inventory. During the Spring and Summer, I took inventory of how many lawns I had to mow and what each lawn required. While working for my Aunt and Uncle, I helped take inventory of the material they had on hand when it came time to restoring furniture, boat covers, convertible tops, and other items. I took inventory of the evergreen trees I trimmed in the Fall for a Christmas Tree Farm near where I grew up. Before departing for band tours in college (and after each performance and before returning home), I had to take inventory of what percussion equipment we had with us. I have even taken inventory of the HotWheels I have: sorting them by make, model, color, and year. Today, I take inventory of how each church is doing, what each church needs, the ideas each church has, and how many soccer games, basketball games, cow shows and pig shows, and concerts I can attend.

Taking inventory is part of our life. But today, I want to encourage you to make taking an inventory part of your faith journey: something you really consider and work at every day. To help us think about this, we are going to visit a familiar story in the Gospels that concerns the feeding of the four thousand instead of the parable of the feeding the five thousand. And from this parable, we will be reminded that taking an inventory involves a reason, reaction, resource, and a result.

 

Movement One: The Reason – Why take an Inventory?

Now in many circumstances, taking an inventory can be thoroughly boring. But you see taking an inventory is necessary for all sorts of very good reasons. It allows you to see what you have and don’t have, what is working and what is not working, where things are and where things have gone. Examining my father’s HotWheels, I can see that some need wheels, some need windows, some need paint, some need to have glue or tape removed, and some, unfortunately, need to be replaced. Essentially, taking an inventory ensures that you have enough of the right resources for a project, or a development, or a new initiative. So you need to know what it is you’ve got for a reason.

Drawing back to our scripture passage, what was the reason that Jesus asked his disciples to do some inventory taking? Well, let’s look at what has been going on. Jesus has been out of the country. Matthew 15:21 tells us that Jesus had gone out of the country into the area of Tyre and Sidon. And it may be that he had tried to go off into a quiet place in the country for some peace. Matthew 15:29 asserts, “After Jesus left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down.” But everywhere he went, up on the mountain or along the Sea of Galilee, people came to him. Matthew 15:30 asserts, “Great crowds came to him”. Before moving on, take note that Jesus, seeking to get away from the crowds, took inventory of what he needed at that particular moment in his life: he needed peace, he needed rest, he needed a moment to collect and gather himself. The reason for this peace was to refocus on what God was calling him to do and to get some rest before continuing his mission. When was the last time you took an inventory of your life and said, “I need some rest”? More often than not, we tell ourselves that we are too busy, we have too many things to do, and rest is not one of them. If Jesus needed rest, then what makes you think you don’t deserve the same thing?

On this occasion, a huge crowd of four thousand men, as well as women and children, had come to hear him speak, had come to be healed, and had come to bring people for healing. It was such a great event that people had been there for three days. During those three days, we are told Jesus, “cured those at his feet…the mute spoke, the maimed were made whole, the lame walked, and the blind saw…” (Matthew 31). So much for peace and rest! Jesus took inventory of those present and healed each of them, although it took three days.

Speaking of three days, Jesus realized that the picnics that the people had brought with them were depleted—suggesting that they were hungry—and that the people appeared exhausted. Jesus took inventory of the situation; Jesus was concerned that people would faint if they travelled away without being fed. So there was a practical need, very clearly identified by Jesus. The people needed food: they needed to be fed. So Jesus identifying the need for food was not born out of a concern to avoid litigation, or to ensure that no accidents happened on his watch. It wasn’t even just because he felt that he ought to. Jesus’ identification of the need arose out of his compassion. This is very clearly stated in verse 32: “I have compassion for the crowd because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat, and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” The Good News Bible says that Jesus “felt sorry for these people.” This is a bit weak. The Greek word here is one of my favorites—splanchnizomai—and it means gut wrenching compassion. Jesus’ identification of the need arose out of his deep compassion and concern for the people. The reason for his inventory was to rescue and heal the people.

You see, like Jesus, we don’t take an inventory just because. We take an inventory because we see a need, we see something that needs fixing or mending, we see something that catches our attention, and we see something that needs our compassion. We take an inventory because we have a reason to do so. Today, we have a reason to take an inventory of our life because we need to restore our faith. We are hungry for the fruit of the spirit. We are missing parts and need to be made whole again.

I wonder, what are the reasons that Jesus might be asking us about our inventory today? There are needs all around us, but what are the needs today that God is presenting to us, as individuals or as a church? What are the reasons today that God might be asking us about our inventory? Or what are the needs of our community, or our neighbors? They may be spiritual needs, or practical needs. But what are the needs that God is presenting to us today? What is the reason why Jesus is inviting you to take an inventory of your life today? Is it because you need peace? Is it because you have a need? Is it because your faith needs to be fed?

 

Movement Two: The Reaction – What Follows the Reason?

So faced with the need that Jesus had identified, what was the reaction of the people around him? What was the reaction of his disciples, his followers? Matthew 15:33-34 reminds us, “The disciples said to him, ‘Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?’ Jesus asked them, ‘How many loaves have you?’ They said, ‘Seven, and a few small fish.’” Well, I think there are three reactions based upon this text. First, there is a sense in which the disciples are perplexed by the statement Jesus has just made. It is almost as if they don’t really understand. The disciples are saying to Jesus “It’s a nice idea, but you cannot really be serious. Jesus, be real: there are four thousand men plus women and children and we are out in the dessert.” The disciples’ reaction is much like our own at times when we are asked to take inventory: “We don’t have time for that. Can someone else take inventory for us?”

Secondly, there is the reaction that is one of disbelief. Remember what’s been happening. Over the last three days people have been healed, the mute were speaking, the maimed made whole, the lame walked and the blind were able to see. And yet, the disciple’s reaction to Jesus’ identification of a need for food is one of disbelief. There is a lack of belief. It’s almost as if they have seen all these miracles and yet it hasn’t got through to them that God can deal with the practical needs of food just as well. Maybe they think that food is too ordinary for God to be concerned about. Sometimes, in our life, we take inventory and when it’s complete we don’t believe the list that we have made: it’s more than we thought, it’s overwhelming, it’s just too much, or perhaps it’s too ordinary. The same is true for our faith: sometimes what we need to restore our faith or even our church with, we think it’s too much so we don’t believe it, we sweep it on the rug. However, nothing is too much for God. Even the simple things on our inventory list can have a huge impact.

Third, there is within this another reaction. And this reaction is the acknowledgement of the total lack of their resources. There are no shops in the desert. The supermarket closed from lack of passing trade. So even acknowledging the need, the disciples acknowledge their total inadequacy to respond to it. There is a lack of resources. When it comes to restoring anything in our life, we often find ourselves hitting a wall: we need something that the store doesn’t have, we can’t find what we need online, if we do find something online it takes two weeks to arrive. When we take inventory of our faith, we will notice things that are easily accessible while other things seem impossible to retrieve. But we must not give up! God has provided us, through Jesus Christ, with the resources that we need in order to have a full restoration. But are we paying attention to what God has given us?

I wonder, what your reaction is to whatever Jesus is telling you today? Do we struggle to understand? Are we overwhelmed, and perhaps suffer from lack of belief that God can deal with these needs? It is certainly difficult to immediately grasp God’s perspective, to immediately grasp God’s big picture of the situation. But we do need to be prepared to open our hearts and our minds to it. We do need to be prepared to try to understand God’s plans for a situation. I don’t know what situations of need God is drawing to your attention today; but I can encourage you to take the time to try to understand. Take the time to seek His direction and his vision for that situation whatever it may be. Because it is only when we do that, it is only when we begin to understand God’s vision for a situation, that we can see our place within it. Our reaction to God’s request to take an inventory in our life tells God a lot about where our faith is at that particular point in time. What sort of reactions do you have when you take inventory of your life?

 

Movement Three: The Resources – What Resources has God given you?

So faced with a clearly identified need, and disciples who were either inadequate in themselves or had inadequate resources, Jesus asked a simple question. “How many loaves have you?” Jesus asked them to take inventory.  Jesus wanted to know what he is working with. This is a positive question, not a negative one. Jesus is not saying “How little have you got?”. He is simply asking what resources are already available. Sometimes, when faced with an overwhelming need, it is easy to be negative. But there is a need to be positive. There is a need to be positive about what you do have. We spend a lot of time taking inventory of what we don’t have and not enough time of what we do have. And this is reflected worldwide.

Studies have shown that we live in a “negative” world. According to Gallup Pulls, “In 2022, about four in 10 adults worldwide said they experienced a lot of worry (41%) or stress (40%), and nearly one in three experienced a lot of physical pain (32%). More than one in four experienced sadness (27%), and slightly fewer experienced anger (23%).”[1] Moreover, Gallup also notes that the world’s negativity experience has increased from a level of 30 in 2018 to a level of 33 in 2022.[2] We live in a world that takes more inventory of the bad stuff than it does of the good stuff. Jesus’ question is not to make the disciples feel bad about what they have to offer the people; rather, it’s meant to make them realize that they do have something to offer the people. Church, we may not have everything; we may not be the biggest; and we certainly may not have access to all the resources. However, what we do have is more than enough for Jesus to perform miracles and reach those in need. Our inventory will involve negative things, but it should also include things that are positive—that remind us that we are willing to do what Christ needs us to do.

The second question of Jesus is implicit. Because once you have established what you have got, once you have taken inventory, the next question is “What are you going to do with your resources?” that God has given you. The implicit question of Jesus is “Will you give it to me?”. Will the disciples let Jesus have the resources? We don’t even know who the loaves belonged to. In the similar story where Jesus fed five thousand people, we are told that the food belonged to a little boy. I wonder how he might have felt? I’m sure the natural tendency in that situation would have been to hang on to the little food you had. But Jesus needed the food to be given to him. After taking inventory of your faith, what portions of your faith are willing to give to Jesus so that others will be fed? What of your resources are you willing to use to fulfill a need?

The real question about our resources is not only what inventory we have, but whether or not we are prepared to surrender our inventory, our resources, to God. We live in a society where people derive their value from what they have. We live in a society where people derive their security from their possessions. And by and large, Christians are the same. We have taken on these values. We want to hold on to our possessions and our resources. So the real question about our resources is really whether or not we are prepared to surrender them to God. Whatever our wealth, or sometimes our lack of it, are we prepared to surrender our resources to God? Are we will to give to Jesus what we have instead of worrying about what we don’t have?

 

Movement Four: The Result – What Comes from Taking Inventory?

This leads us to the result. The result of releasing the resources to Jesus was that he was able to use them miraculously to respond to the needs of the people. As we know, the people were fed. The bread and the fish were miraculously shared around for all to have a meal, with baskets of leftovers. The result of releasing the resources to Jesus was that, not only were the people just fed, but also they were ’satisfied’. Matthew 15:37 tells us, “And all of them ate and were filled, and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full.”

And to me this ties in with the earlier part of the passage. Because in the earlier part of that three-day event, Jesus had been healing people in all sorts of ways. I’m sure that he had been teaching them and speaking to them. And we learn that they were amazed by the healing that Jesus was able to bring to people. And we also learn that they glorified God, they praised the God of Israel (Matthew 15:31). But Jesus didn’t only deal with their spiritual needs, he didn’t just heal them and leave them be, but he also dealt with their practical needs. He fed them. Jesus’ response to the needs of the people was complete. And the people were satisfied, they were filled with more than just food. They were filled with his presence.

Once you allow yourself to take inventory of your life and faith, you will begin to see the result of Jesus working in your life. You will begin to feel his presence. You will be satisfied with the food he is offering you. You will begin to notice that your cup runs over. And you will acknowledge that your faith always needs work: it always needs to be maintained through prayer, God’s word, the teachings of Jesus, and power of the Holy Spirit. The result of your inventory will be the result of your restoration in Christ Jesus.

 

Conclusion:

In conclusion, when Jesus chose to heal and feed those present, he was not only performing miracles, but he was inviting us to open our eyes and see how we can do the same thing with those in our life. Jesus was doing what we do when we look at a project in our life: we take inventory of what we have, what the project needs, and where we will be getting our resources from. My father’s HotWheels need wheels, paint, windows, new axels, some cleaning, and probably some much needed rest. They need work before they can be fully restored.

I encourage you, personally, to take inventory of your life. What is working? What is not working? What do you love? What can you live without? What is causing you to feel overwhelmed? Who is there to help you? What makes you feel happy? Now, take inventory of your faith. How strong is your faith? Is your faith weak? Could your faith be improved? What needs to be done to strengthen your faith? Could your faith feed four thousand people?

Church, what does our inventory look like? Are there things that we are doing today that have served their purpose? Are there things that we should be doing but aren’t doing? Are there needs within our church that need to be addressed and planned for? Are their ideas that are simply being said but not acted upon? Are their people in need that we haven’t reached? Are their needs in the community or beyond that we can focus on? What does our inventory look like today? Are we only focused on feeding people with what we think we have or with what we actually have?

Jesus feeding the four thousand is our invite to take inventory of our life and faith so that we can be restored for Christ. As you consider your own inventory list, keep in my mind the reason for that list, your reaction to that list, the resources God gives you, and the possible result of doing what God needs you to do. It is time to take inventory of our life and faith, and trust Jesus that he will give us what we need to be restored. You have been found, now pay attention to what God has given you and what you need to become fully restored for Christ.

Let it be so…

 

Communion Transition:

Closing Prayer:

Dear God, help us to take inventory of our faith today. May we take note of what is and is not working so that we can be become fully restored for you. In your mighty name we pray, Amen.

Benediction:

This week, I encourage you to take inventory of your faith. Ask God to help you with that list so that you can begin to become restored as a disciple and as a church. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; and May the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26). In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, go forth finding ways to be restored for Christ. And all God’s people said, Amen. Amen. Amen.

 

[1] https://news.gallup.com/poll/507725/global-rise-unhappiness-stalls.aspx

[2] Ibid.


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