This is a copy of my talk given at Ayia Kyriaki and Saint Stephen’s in the Anglican Church of Paphos on Sunday 2 August 2026. The Bible Reading was Matthew 14:13-21

Prayer

Heavenly Father,
I thank You for Your word.
By the power of Your Holy Spirit,
May You speak to my heart,
And change my life.
In the precious name of Jesus I pray.
Amen.  

‘The Feeding of the 5000’ is the only miracle of Jesus that is recorded in all four gospels, and it marks the peak of Jesus’ popularity. Thousands are flocking to hear Jesus teach about the Kingdom of God. Many would have been hoping to see a miracle performed. In fact, Jesus was so popular, the people wanted to make Him king.

When evening approaches, the disciples become concerned the crowd haven’t eaten. Their solution is to ask Jesus to send them away so that they won’t have to worry about them.  But Jesus tells his disciples: “You give them something to eat!”

In Luke’s Gospel, Philip (typical treasurer), wants to know: “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? Eight months wages would not buy enough bread to for each one to have a single bite.” Philip saw the issue financially. For Andrew, the issue was even more basic – finding enough food for so many would be pretty much impossible.

This situation, not surprisingly, was more of a problem for the disciples than for Jesus. When problems crop up, it’s very tempting to think that Jesus has been taken by surprise just as much as we have – yet Jesus, even before he spoke, already knew what the solution was going to be.

Andrew found a little boy who’d taken his packed lunch of five loaves and two fish – with only enough to feed himself! It’s amazing isn’t it, that it was a child who had the foresight to take his lunch along with him! Andrew adds: “But how far will they go among so many.” Jesus doesn’t listen to negative comments – and neither should we.

The little boy was willing to share what little he had and five loaves and two fish were enough for Jesus to work with. After giving thanks to God, he shared the loaves and fish with the disciples and begins to feed the 5000. Incidentally, this number of 5000 doesn’t include women and children. In a patriarchal society, it was only the men that were counted – it could be nearer 12-15000.

The combination of the rational, the practical, the visionary, the sacrificial and the spiritual still makes for good teamwork in any task to which the Lord calls us. Five loaves and two fish may have seemed far too little, but for Jesus it wasn’t just a starting point it was the starting point. It took only one person to provide what Jesus needed to make something wonderful happen. And it was a child!

Some churches don’t take seriously the spiritual contribution of children to church life. In my previous churches there were always those who, when they knew there was an All-Age or a Parade Service on a Sunday morning made the decision not to attend. “Oh no, a children’s service. We’ll have to sing an action song. I’m going to give it a miss!”

It becomes a familiar pattern when we replace children with other potential issues of conflict, such as style of music, type of liturgy, who’s leading the service or who’s preaching. I’m going to give it a miss.

But adults don’t have a monopoly on spirituality. And why is that? Maybe it’s because adults are so often rational and slightly cynical with it. We disbelieve whereas children are more accepting of the impossible and the miraculous.

Jesus said if we want to enter into the kingdom of heaven, we must have a child-like trust and faith in Him (Matthew 18:13). As adults, we so often think we have all the right answers but, unlike children, we fail to ask the right questions. My mum always said my favourite, and most irritating, word as a child was: why?

Jesus was pointing out that we must learn from the example of children if we are ever going to develop into the right kind of adults. There are certain things we will never understand as long as we have a hard, critical, cynical, adult heart.

We need to have something of the spontaneity, enthu­siasm and innocence of children. There’s nothing quite like it – it’s special and irreplaceable. Children have an open, trustful and, sometimes, generous nature. They make friends, they accept love and are blissfully unaware of class-distinctions and social barriers. They are not filled with delusions of grandeur or self-sufficiency. A child doesn’t assume intellectual authority, they know they have much to learn, are willing to admit to foolishness, and are always looking for the answers to their questions.

What a contrast we see in adults. We like to rely on our own strengths, intellect and wisdom. We find it hard to admit failure and to recognise that we have fallen short of God’s required standard.

But without genuine humility, we can never enter into a living relationship with the Lord. Our pride comes in the way of everything that Jesus has in store for us. And it is this that Jesus was talking about that makes it difficult, but not impossible, for adults to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Most parents, when they are expecting a child, read lots of books and search the internet for information. They may also attend Parenting classes – often run by health visitors or the NCT. Paula was a midwife when Ben and Annabel were born, so I/we thought we were well prepared for all that being a parent would bring. But, strangely enough, no amount of preparation seemed to have equipped us for how we would feel about having a small baby in our hands who was wholly dependent upon us for life, love and survival.

Yet, this is exactly how Jesus wants us to offer ourselves to him – as insignificant and as vulnerable as children, wholly/totally dependent on him for life, love and survival. We are to have a simplistic, childlike faith. But being childlike is not about suppressing our enthusiasm and enjoyment of life. It is childlike faith, not a childish faith.

A friend of mine, Phil Steer, who I’ve known for over 25 years, has written a book ‘As A Child – God’s Call To Littleness.’ And in the book he includes this poem:

‘As A Child’ – Phil Steer

As a child I found delight in leaf and twig and tree.
Such simple gifts of nature were a source of joy to me.
Birds singing in the tree-tops, the sun against my face,
Splashing through the puddles, as round the woods I’d race.

Taking home a sticky-bud and placing in a jar,
Then watching slowly open the green five-pointed star.
Collecting burnished conkers, lying where they fell,
Amongst the Autumn-tinted leaves and peeping from the shell.

But now it seems much harder to enjoy such simple things;
To receive with open hands and heart the gifts that each day brings.
No longer just accepted with unconsidered pleasure,
But analysed and categorised, I miss the hidden treasure.

O to be a child again! And put off grown up ways.
To know again the myriad gifts with which you fill my days.
To know you as my Father, and to know that I’m your son,
And as a child to trust your ways until my days are done.

But why did Jesus perform this miracle?

Mark, Matthew, and Luke all begin their account of this miracle by saying when Jesus saw the crowd, he had compassion and care for them. Which is quite amazing given that the reason Jesus had retreated in the first place was because he’d heard that his cousin, John the Baptist, had just been beheaded by King Herod.

But what Jesus did, from the time he first saw them, the teaching, the healing, and the feeding, showed that compassion, and showed that care. He never said he was too busy.  He never complained that they had interrupted him, he never said he wasn’t a miracle worker, he loved them and served them.  A great example to us.

Not only was there plenty of food for everyone there were  even 12 baskets left over – more than there was to start with. I often think there is one basket for each doubting disciple!

Jesus needs no more than who we are and what we have. He doesn’t ask us to be what we are not, but he does expect us to offer what we have. There’s no situation beyond his power – so don’t hold back whatever little you have to offer – our equivalents of bread and fish for him to transform.

This miracle shows us that on our own we may not be able to do amazing things, but by giving what we have to Jesus, by doing what we can and by being obedient we can be involved in wonderful things.

The little boy shared what he had, and everyone was fed. The disciples did what Jesus told them to do, and everyone was fed. Jesus prayed to the Father, and everyone was fed.

There was a working together and they achieved so much more together than they could have done on their own. There’s a lesson in there somewhere for all of us, isn’t there?

Prayer
Lord Jesus, we come as children today. We confess we have often trusted our logic more than Your power. Take our small offerings—our lives, our gifts, our needs—and multiply them for Your glory. Give us the simple, trusting heart of a child. Amen.

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER The text contained in this sermon (except where stated) is solely owned by its author, Revd Paul A. Carr. The reproduction, or distribution of this message, or any portion of it, should include the author’s name.