The 2020 Nobel Peace Prize
I was amazed to learn recently that the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded this year to to the World Food Programme (WFP) for its “efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.”
The Nobel Committee went on to say, “The World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organisation addressing hunger and promoting food security. In 2019, the WFP provided assistance to close to 100 million people in 88 countries who are victims of acute food insecurity and hunger.”
David Beasley, the Executive Director for the World Food Programme, was honored and amazed that they were selected for the Nobel Peace Prize. I want you to hear what he said…
“We’re looking for a vaccine for Covid; we have a vaccine for hunger — it’s called food, and we have the food.”
– David Beasley, WFP Executive Director
Overwhelming Need
He’s right. We have the vaccine for hunger. But I think what happens for so many of us is that sometimes the magnitude of the need just seems overwhelming.
When we hear about the overwhelming needs of people in our own country or around the world… whether we’re talking about hunger, or the homeless, or those who are dying from preventable disease, or those who are in desperate need for clean drinking water, or those who need basic medical care… What happens is that we just feel overwhelmed. How could we possibly begin to meet the need? And how in the world could we even begin to make a difference?
For those of us who follow Jesus, it’s not just about how we can meet the physical needs of people… and those are important… It’s about how we can meet the spiritual needs of people as well. How can the lost be found? How can we help the spiritually blind see Jesus? How can we help those are sick with sin find healing, reconciliation, and redemption?
Compassion for the Hungry
In Matthew 15 Jesus has been healing the blind, the lame, those who were sick, those who couldn’t speak… there’s a large crowd gathered around Jesus because Jesus is healing everyone who needs a healing touch.
People are astounded because, with their very own eyes, they’re seeing things they thought were impossible. In the middle of all this, I want you to hear what Jesus says to his disciples…
Then Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they will faint along the way.” – Matthew 15.32
Jesus, seeing this crowd that has been with him for three days, understanding that they have a journey ahead of them for which they have no provisions, looks at them and “feels sorry” for them.
Another translation says, “I hurt for these people.” – The Message.
But maybe the best way to translate what Jesus is experiencing here is to say, “I have compassion for these people.” – NIV, ESV
Compassion. This word is used over and over again throughout scripture.
Compassion always compels us to loving action.
And here, compassion compelled Jesus into loving action.
More than Enough
Jesus sees their need, and Jesus is moved with compassion.
Then, he tells his disciples that he can’t send them away hungry.
The disciples respond, “Where would we get enough food here in the wilderness for such a huge crowd?”
Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”
They replied, “Seven loaves, and a few small fish.”
– Matthew 15.33-34
I wonder what would have happened that day if the disciples had taken those seven loaves and those few fish, looked at the crowed, realized that there was no way such a small amount of food could make a difference, no way that it could be used to feed more that 4,000 people, and instead just set it aside. Realizing it was not enough to do any good, they could have just eaten it. Or given it to someone else.
What would have happened that day if, when Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?” they said… “Well, we had a little food but it wouldn’t have made a difference.”
If you know how story ends, Jesus takes what little they have to give, what little they have to offer, he blessed it, broke it into pieces, then gave it back to the disciples so they could feed 4,000 people, not counting women and children.
Matthew tells us that everyone ate as much as they wanted. In other words, everyone was completely satisfied. There was a super abundance of food because the disciples took what little food they had and offered it to Jesus.
That miracle happened that day, 4,000 hungry people were fed that day, because they took what they had and they gave it Jesus.
Overwhelming Need Meets Overwhelming Compassion
On July 30, 2015 Fethullah Üzümcüoğlu and Esra Polat were married.
Typically, after a wedding there is a huge reception where the wedding party and all those invited to the wedding gather to eat and celebrate together. But Fethullah and Esra decided to do something different.
There was food and there was celebration… but this wasn’t your typical wedding reception. This Turkish couple decided to use their wedding reception to feed some 4000 Syrain refugees. They were still in their wedding clothes serving in a food line along with many from their wedding party.
They didn’t solve world hunger that day, but their small offering made a huge difference in the lives of some 4000 people.
Jesus isn’t asking you to save the world today. That’s his job! He’s the Savior of the world. Not you. Not me.
He’s just asking you to bring him your loaves, your fish, your offering. And here’s the promise… when you bring your offering to him he will bless it and he will multiply it to do more than you could ever ask or imagine!
Your Offering Can Make a Difference
You see, we have the vaccine for so many of the problems people are facing today. It’s compassion. We may not be able to feed 4000 people, or cure COVID, but when compassionate people trust a compassionate God with whatever they have, big things can happen.
What are you offering God today? What can you bring before him? Don’t be surprised if he takes your gift, blesses it, and gives it back to you to bless others.
And here’s the amazing thing… when you do, when you use what you’ve been given to meet the physical needs of those around you, it opens the door for you to meet their spiritual needs as well!
Never Hungry Again
That day in Galilee, Jesus took care of the physical needs of the people before him. He healed the blind, the lame, the sick. He fed the hungry.
And then, just a short time later, he would take care of their greatest spiritual need as well. On a cross on Calvary not far from where they gathered that day, Jesus would allow his body to be broken to meet the spiritual need of the people of the world.
Jesus once said… “I AM the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again.” – John 6.35. The people who spent 3 days with Jesus in Galilee walked home from that wilderness completely satisfied. They were no longer hungry. And after three days in the grave, Jesus walked out of that tomb so that everyone who comes to him would be completely satisfied and never be hungry again.
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