Listen, my brothers, to my instruction
As I bring you lessons from our past
Stories of what we have seen and heard
Truths, hard truths, we will not hide
So that those who come behind have no cause
To be like us, stubborn, rebellious, and ungrateful
Many of our brethren, even some of you
Walked away after the miraculous feast
Not comprehending the Lord’s teaching
And forgetting all that he had done
That he had walked upon the very waves
That he stilled the storm and sea
He made wine flow from jars of water
Offered living water to those who were lost
Yet we kept refusing the rod of our shepherd
Not believing that he is our only bread and wine
Did he not feed the multitude
With just five loaves and two fish?
Did we not eat the food of angels
Even more than 5000 men could consume?
We took our fill, he gave what we craved
And while that taste is yet on our lips
We question him yet again, saying
What can you do now with seven loaves?
Are we destined to failure like our forebears?
How often will we test the Mighty One’s patience?
Can we not recall his signs and wonders
How he healed the sick from afar
How he caused the deaf to hear
How he raised the dead in the city gates
And sent a herd of demons into the sea?
Did he not fill our nets to the point of breaking?
Yes, we are as faithless as our fathers
As undependable as an unpatched sail
And the Lord has sent us a sign
Because he is angry with his chosen ones
Our hearts rejoiced when Jesus named the heathen a dog
But they failed when he gave her scraps from our meat
Yes, this is how the Lord will repay our treason
When we squander the bounty he spreads before us
It is one thing to marvel at a basket of scraps
And make light with a whimsical verse
It is another to hold each morsel as sacred
And jealously guard what the Lord provides
Shall he feed us on sorrow
And shall we drink of our tears?
Shall wild animals feed on our fruit?
Or rouse we from our drunken slumber?
He has called us from our nets
From our tax-rolls and our scheming
And made us caretakers of his word
We shall never abandon him again
Yes, those who deny the Lord
Will cringe before him forever
Let us dine instead on the finest bread
Be filled with wild honey from this rock
Peter reflects upon the feeding of the 4000, and makes connects with Psalm 78.
“Ebenezer Scrooge, the sins of man are huge!” And they are so cyclical. If we think we are exempt from age-old patterns of short-sightedness and denial, we are fools.
But God does not long for “revival” as we do. He desires a “long obedience in the same direction,” as Eugene Peterson describes perseverance. There is hope, but it lies not in men… but in the Spirit.