Lesson 13: Fish Again?

If you live in Raymond, you don't get a lesson this week, one of the casualties of the boundary adjustments and the creation of a new ward. The rest of you are probably on Lesson 13.

This is my first "civilian" posting, which was an interesting experience. I had a few ideas and insights as I read, but mostly questions.

Jesus and the disciples had gone up to Tyre and Sidon from Capernaum (about 60km away). Matthew and Mark don't mention the reason for the detour, only that while they are there a Greek woman "besought [Jesus] that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter" (Mark 7:26). Matthew records she "cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on my, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil" (Matt 15:22). She was making enough of a scene the disciples "besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us." (Matt 15:23). "Can't you just help her so she'll go away?"

Christ told the woman, "Let the children of the kingdom (JST Mark 7:26) first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs." Ouch, that seems a little harsh. But the Greek word used here means "little dog" or family pet.

The woman, who seems to have understood what Jesus was saying, replied, "Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs." (Mark 7:28).

Jesus, impressed with her faith (see Matt 15:28) tells her she can have what she wants and her daughter was made whole.

So, was this the primary reason Christ came to the region? Nothing else is recorded of the trip. It seems a long way to go to test the faith of a gentile woman. Was this a primer for the apostles, letting them know the time will come when they will take the gospel to the gentiles?

From the coast of Tyre and Sidon, they traveled to Decapolis, ten cities to the south east of the sea of Galiliee, again largely populated by gentiles. The people had followed the Savior for three days as he healed their sick (see Matthew 15:32-39/ Mark 8:1-10). Four thousand men (not counting women and children) were starting to get a little hungry and Jesus had compassion on them. The disciples pointed out they were in the wilderness and couldn't buy bread, and didn't have enough to feed everyone. Christ took the seven loaves and the few small fish, gave thanks, and broke them. The disciples then distributed them among the multitude, and after everyone was full, they collected seven baskets of left-overs.

Some of my questions:
-Why did he wait three days before having compassion on the multitude? The 5,000 were fed after only a single day.
-Why didn't the disciples just ask for a repeat performance? They had seen him feed 5,000 with only five loaves. Were they afraid to ask for something which seemed so far out of reach?
-Why were there only seven baskets left over? For that matter, why were there twelve baskets left over the first time?

A couple of points I'm taking from these two experiences:
-I need to be more like the gentile woman in my prayers. Her faith and persistence resulted in the desired blessing. My prayers could use a bit more faith and persistence.
-Don't be offended or hurt when the Lord tests my faith. In the scriptures, every time faith is tested a great blessing awaits on the other side, "for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." (Ether 12:6)
-The multitude followed Christ for three days without eating. What am I willing to give up to be closer to him? A bad habit or two? Maybe a favorite sin?

Not How I Had Pictured It...

Any calling to serve in the Church comes with an eventual release date (with a very few exceptions). I knew my day would come eventually, although I had imagined it quite differently. I figured in about 4-5 years, despite my best efforts to stay under the radar, someone would realize I was still teaching and move me to some other calling. Sure, I'd accept the new position, but on the inside I would still be missing my favorite calling of all time. That's not how it happened...

Last night there was a meeting for the Raymond stake in which all the ward boundaries were revised and the new Raymond 9th ward was created. Speculation has been running rampant for over a year now, but last night it became official. I thought it was rather amusing they chose "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go" as the opening hymn. The stake went through and released a couple of bishops as well as some other stake callings, so we were all trying to guess where the boundaries would be, based on who was being released. I honestly thought we were safe because they only seemed to be affecting three of the wards. But sadly, we got traded to First ward.

To say we have mixed emotions is somewhat an understatement. Trevor is excited because now his friend and his cousins will all be in the same ward. Rhys is excited because his friend Owen is also in 1st ward (we live two houses away, pretty good odds we were going to be in the same ward). I'm sure 1st ward will be fine, but it's still hard leaving 5th ward.

I'm very grateful to have been given the privilege of teaching Gospel Doctrine for nearly five years. I've had so many great learning experiences and will miss everyone. I take with me all the things they taught me (even though I was supposed to be the teacher). If you've never taught Sunday School, you're missing out on what it's like to see people in the class have "ah-ha!" moments, or to feel guided to take the lesson in a different direction and see it touch someone.

This calling has given me the wonderful opportunity to serve alongside some great men. Two of the most influential:

Brother Terry Tieland, I still remember your Book of Mormon lessons and feeling your testimony as you taught. One of my biggest worries when I was first called was how high you had set the bar.

Bishop Bernie Orr, from being priesthood helpers on Beehive camp, to teaching, to your time as bishop, I've always looked up to you. The hardest part of this whole transition was probably the realization I'm not in your ward any more. I am a better person because of the things I've learned from you.

So, to the 5th ward Gospel Doctrine class, I thank you. I learned far more from you than you did from me.

Now I just wait to see where I get called next. In the meantime, I'll still keep working on the weekly lessons because it's fun for me.

Lesson 12: Never Seems to Work With Ice Cream

The other point I wanted to cover from this week's lesson is the feeding of the 5,000.

A large multitude had been following Jesus because they had seen the great healings he had performed. As the evening drew close, Christ had compassion on the people and asked Philip where they could buy enough bread to feed the people (John 6:5). Philip replied two hundred pennyworth (the equivalent of 200 days wages) wouldn't be enough to feed the crowd, even if they all only had a small portion.

Andrew said there was a boy who had five loaves of bread and two small fish, "...but what are they among so many?" (John 6:9). I wonder if Andrew caught a glimpse of what Jesus had already set out to do. In my limited understanding, he seems to be either using this to show they had no way to feed such a large group, or he was cautiously hoping the Master could miraculously provide for them.

Christ instructed the disciples to arrange the crowd into groups of fifty (Luke 9:14), took the loaves and fish and blessed them. The disciples were then instructed to distribute the food to the multitude. After everyone had eaten and was full, twelve baskets of left-overs were collected.

Here are a few thoughts I had this week...

-Give Your All
I would love to one day find out how the young boy responded to the request for his food. What did Andrew say to him? "Excuse me, would you mind donating your food to help feed this crowd? Thanks."

How would you even respond to that? "With all due respect sir, you should wear a hat and not spend so much time in the sun. Drink more water too, stay hydrated. Just sayin'..."

By all indications, this boy willingly gave everything he had even though it was clear it wouldn't be enough. When we are asked to do something big (maybe speaking in Church, a calling to the primary, etc) and everything seems to suggest our capacity may not be enough, we need to remember the Lord's math is different than what we normally use. Christ can do more with our mere loaves and fishes than we could, he just asks that we give him everything we have so he can make more of us than we could on our own. Seems like not a bad deal.

-Christ Never Runs Out
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, "...Don't worry about Christ running out of ability to help you. His grace is sufficient. That is the spiritual, eternal lesson of the feeding of the five thousand" (Jeffrey R. Holland, "Come Unto Me", BYU Fireside, 2 March 1997).

No matter what our problem or difficulty, we can be completely confident in Christ's ability not only to understand our situation, but also to provide the needed assistance. We may not understand how he can have more of us left over than what we started with, but fortunately he's not restricted to our understanding.

Along those same lines, have you ever had an experience where one verse or passage of scripture opened up and you learned far more than you ever thought you could? It usually happens to me while I'm preparing for a lesson. A seemingly insignificant passage I may be inclined to gloss over suddenly becomes a rich spiritual feast and I find myself having difficulties trying to catch it all.

-Gather Up the Extra
I wonder if the apostles gathering the remnants of the bread and fish could be symbolic of the gathering of the twelve tribes of Israel. Just sorta thinking aloud there...

I'd be very interested to learn what they did with those twelve baskets. Did they use it to sustain themselves, or did they share it with those in need as they traveled? Either way, nothing was wasted. I wonder how often in my life I have wasted the generous blessings I've been given. Probably more often than I care to admit.

Anyhow, I hope my ramblings make sense. I'd love to hear any thoughts you might have on this...

Lesson 12: Your Focus Needs More Focus

I'm trying not to succumb to the rumors flying all over town of impending ward boundary adjustments (everyone knows someone who knows someone who is related to someone who saw the newly revised map) and the fear that this lesson may be my last as the 5th Ward Gospel Doctrine instructor. This time, the stake actually put an announcement in all the ward bulletins and is having a meeting for the adults on Sunday evening.

Anyhow, the lesson covers a few events I'd like to discuss in a little more detail than what we are normally able to do in class. The first of which is when Christ walked on the water to reach the disciples in the boat.

After Christ had miraculously fed the five thousand, he sent the disciples into a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee and meet him on the other side while he went up to a mountain be alone (Matt 14:22-23).

A storm had come up which slowed their progress. By the fourth watch (3:00am - 6:00am), they had only gone about 25-30 furlongs (John 6:19), or about 5-6km. As they were struggling against the wind and waves, they saw what they thought to be a spirit coming across the sea towards them. Jesus called out to them "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid" (Matt 14:27). Peter said, "If it really is you, tell me to come out to meet you." Jesus invites Peter, who almost made it the whole distance before he started sinking.

For those of us who don't spend a lot of time boating or don't forsee the need to walk on water in the future, what can we apply from this event to our lives today?

-The Lord takes the most direct route
Knowing the severity of the storm and knowing his disciples were struggling, Christ naturally took the most direct route to help them. He didn't wait for them to reach the shore (which they probably would have done in the morning when the winds calmed) and congratulate them for toughing it out. He also didn't calm the storm, as he had done before. This time, he let his presence calm the disciples. We were never promised we wouldn't have storms in our lives, or even to have all our storms calmed. But we do have the promise we can make it through the storms with Christ. He will always take the most effective, the most direct path to succor us.

-Be of good cheer
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, "This scriptural account reminds us that the first step in coming to Christ--or his coming to us--may fill us with something very much like sheer terror. It shouldn't, but it sometimes does. One of the grand ironies of the gospel is that the very source of help and safety being offered us is the thing from which we may, in our mortal shortsightedness, flee." (Jeffrey R. Holland, "Come Unto Me", BYU Fireside, 2 Mar 1997)

-Come
Make the effort to come to Christ. His invitation goes out to all of us, not just a few, and not just when we feel we're ready or worthy. Just as the father ran to meet his prodigal son, Christ will make sure we do not have to walk home alone. We shouldn't be surprised if sometimes it seems we are called to walk on water (or through it, in Moses' case). Just remember God never sets us up to fail, so if he asks us to do something we can be confident he has "prepare[d] a way for [us] that [we] may accomplish the thing which he commandeth [us]" (1 Nephi 3:7).

-Keep your eyes on Christ
Peter jumped out of the boat and walked towards his Master. When he noticed the winds, he got a little nervous and started to sink. He was close enough that all Jesus had to do was "immediately ... [stretch] forth his hand, and [catch] him" (Matt 14:31). I once heard a quote which has stuck with me:

"An obstacle is something you see when you take your eyes off your goal."

While he was walking, Peter's focus remained on Christ. But when he looked at the waves, he started to sink. When things are going rough in our lives, if we see waves there's a good chance we're looking in the wrong direction.