Don't You Remember? Don't You Understand?
"Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, 'Why are you arguing about having no bread?' ... 'Don't you remember anything at all? When I fed the 5000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?' 'Twelve,' they said. 'And when I fed the 4000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?' 'Seven,' they said. 'Don't you understand yet?' he asked them.'" Mark 8:17-21
It's a familiar scene in our house. The dirty dishes are in the sink and no one seems to notice except my wife. The rest of us are either oblivious to it or willfully ignoring it. After taking care of them for the millionth time, she's rightly more than a little frustrated at her unhelpful family. "What's the matter sweetheart?" I ask. "The dishes? Oh, did you want help with those?" Sometimes, actually often times, I wish I could get a word redo. The next 15 minutes were a passionate plea for me to reflect upon the past 30 years of meals and dirty dishes with which I was invited to help.
In our story for today, we discover the failure to remember and understand is not an unusual malady. The disciples who had picked up baskets filled with leftovers after Jesus fed thousands with just a few loaves and fish began arguing when someone forgot to bring bread. "You have eyes--can't you see? You have ears--can't you hear?" Jesus asked. They were stuck in their worldly thinking. It was time to embrace the impossible, to point to the eternal, and to usher in God's kingdom with Jesus leading the charge. And yet, there they were fussing about who didn't pack the lunch.
Honestly, it's sad how often I find myself in the disciples footprints instead of Jesus'. What about you? Sometimes our minds are so small there's no room to store all the wonderful things God has done, so we forget. Sometimes, they're so distracted by this world they can't discern the spiritual. Instead of turning to God's word for instruction, we feel the need to "correct" it or patronize it from our position of superior understanding. Too often, we simply forget or don't really understand what it means for God to be God and for us not to be. Take courage. He didn't give up on the disciples. He won't give up on us.
It's a familiar scene in our house. The dirty dishes are in the sink and no one seems to notice except my wife. The rest of us are either oblivious to it or willfully ignoring it. After taking care of them for the millionth time, she's rightly more than a little frustrated at her unhelpful family. "What's the matter sweetheart?" I ask. "The dishes? Oh, did you want help with those?" Sometimes, actually often times, I wish I could get a word redo. The next 15 minutes were a passionate plea for me to reflect upon the past 30 years of meals and dirty dishes with which I was invited to help.
In our story for today, we discover the failure to remember and understand is not an unusual malady. The disciples who had picked up baskets filled with leftovers after Jesus fed thousands with just a few loaves and fish began arguing when someone forgot to bring bread. "You have eyes--can't you see? You have ears--can't you hear?" Jesus asked. They were stuck in their worldly thinking. It was time to embrace the impossible, to point to the eternal, and to usher in God's kingdom with Jesus leading the charge. And yet, there they were fussing about who didn't pack the lunch.
Honestly, it's sad how often I find myself in the disciples footprints instead of Jesus'. What about you? Sometimes our minds are so small there's no room to store all the wonderful things God has done, so we forget. Sometimes, they're so distracted by this world they can't discern the spiritual. Instead of turning to God's word for instruction, we feel the need to "correct" it or patronize it from our position of superior understanding. Too often, we simply forget or don't really understand what it means for God to be God and for us not to be. Take courage. He didn't give up on the disciples. He won't give up on us.
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