Mark 6: Jesus Multiplies What You Give Him

Introduction

Archie Coates, pastor of HTB (Holy Trinity Brompton) in London, continues the "Be Part of a Miracle" series on the church's vision: taking part in the evangelization of the nations, the renewal of the Church, and the transformation of society. Everyone can take part in three ways: pray, serve, and give.

This Sunday is about giving. But the preacher gives a warning: "This is not a fundraising exercise. It is an exercise to grow faith." He opens Mark 6, the feeding of the five thousand, and draws two calls from it: step into the reality of Jesus, and don't miss the opportunity.

The thread of the message is simple: where we subtract, Jesus multiplies.

Outline of the Message

1. Pray, Serve, Give: Everyone Has a Place

The vision begins with prayer. Archie Coates quotes the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14: "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, pray, seek my face … then I will hear from heaven … and will heal their land." The church prays online every Tuesday morning and every Friday evening in its prayer room.
He thanks those who serve, almost all of them volunteers: the welcome team, the parking team, the production teams, the musicians and technicians who leave home at an hour he can't even imagine to tune the instruments, set the lights, and set everything up, the coffee team, and the leaders of the children's and youth groups.
His constant advice: "Find your place. Find the part of the vision that fits you." Part of it is lived inside the walls of the church, part of it outside. A group of members started an Alpha course for their work colleagues, without knowing whether anyone would come. Thirty colleagues came on Monday.
"Everyone prays, everyone serves, everyone gives."

2. The Disciples' Reasonable Plan

The text is Mark 6:30-44. The disciples have just come out of a period of intense ministry: so many people were coming and going that they didn't even have time to eat. Jesus says to them: "Come away into a deserted place, and rest awhile."
But the crowd gets there ahead of them. Jesus is moved with compassion, because they are like sheep without a shepherd, and he teaches them at length. When evening comes, everyone is hungry.
The disciples come with a practical plan: send the crowd away to the villages so they can buy something to eat. Archie Coates insists: the disciples are sometimes portrayed as harsh, driving people away. "Not at all. They want to help them." If you and he formed a working group to feed 5,000 people, you would probably come up with the same plan.
Jesus answers: "You give them something to eat." So they run the numbers again, almost like a spreadsheet: it would take the equivalent of six months' wages.
Many of us resemble the disciples when it comes to giving. We want to help, but when we add up income and expenses, the logical, realistic answer looks like that plan.

3. Step Into the Reality of Jesus

"The uncomfortable truth is that the disciples act as if Jesus were not there. As if the Kingdom of God had not come and not everything were possible."
If HTB's vision were only a fundraising drive, we would do exactly what the disciples did: working groups and spreadsheets. But the church does it in an atmosphere of worship, expectation, encounter, and the power of the Holy Spirit, "because Jesus is here, and that changes reality."
If you have one pound and you give half of it, you have half left. How many people does a meal of five loaves and two fish feed? One. "Wrong: 5,000." How much is left over? Nothing. "Wrong: twelve baskets full."
In the days of Elijah, the jar of oil never runs out: if you pour out half, is half left? "Wrong. It is still full." A widow puts a single coin into the offering box: how much did she give? One coin. "No, Jesus says she gave everything."
The economics of the classroom and the economics of the Bible are different, because one element changes everything: God is present. "While everyone else is subtracting, he is multiplying."

4. From an Earthly Mindset to a Heavenly Mindset

Archie Coates sees these Sundays of giving as stages in his own journey: moving from an earthly mindset, focused on what he can manage, to a heavenly mindset, focused on what God can do.
Years ago, a preacher suggested aiming for the tithe, 10% of income. He was giving nothing. "I thought: that is far too big a challenge, I'll never manage it. But I will give something." Even that small amount already felt like a lot.
Year after year, he added a little. It took a long time, but he eventually reached 10%, then wanted to go beyond it. What matters is not the amount, but the proportion of what you have.
It has not always been easy. When energy bills skyrocketed a few years ago, he had to reduce his monthly gift: "a blow to my pride." Later, he was able to return to his proportion.
It costs something: fewer coffees, fewer takeaways, fewer restaurant meals, fewer subscriptions, cheaper vacations. He knows church members who are delaying buying a home, and one person who is delaying retirement because she chose to give more now.
Does he regret it? "Not at all." He has a much greater trust in God, the unexpected joy of seeing him help in concrete ways, a deeper dependence, the pleasure of contributing to what he believes in, and treasures stored up in heaven.
He used to see giving to the church as one more subscription, a service contract, because he had not connected it to his spiritual life. "Step into the reality of Jesus."

5. Don't Miss the Opportunity

Jesus sends the disciples out as scouts: "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." The preacher imagines the scene: they go through the rows, "Do you have anything to eat? No." Then they come back: "Good news, there is food. Bad news, there is only enough for one person."
Jesus doesn't reply: "Thanks for trying, guys. It was a stupid idea of mine, I knew it wouldn't work." He takes what is brought to him and multiplies it. "That is your life with God today."
It is not about saying: "With the little I have, I can't change anything, others can give much more." It is about saying: "Jesus, here is everything I have. Take it, do something with it, multiply it."
The pastor encourages everyone to bring something, even a simple promise, even less than they would like, even if the bills have forced them to cut back. Children take part too: a mother wrote to him that her son had emptied his piggy bank to put £3.72 in the envelope, and that his sister was tidying her drawers in the hope of being rewarded and having something to give too.
Part of the multiplication will be visible soon: a party for hundreds of children and their school friends, thousands of bags and Christmas gifts for refugees, prisoners, and people experiencing homelessness. But much of it will only be seen years later.

6. The Invisible Givers Behind a Transformed Life

As a teenager, Archie Coates was invited to a Christian camp. A youth pastor prayed for him, he was filled with the Holy Spirit, and his life changed direction. "I don't know who paid for that trip, or who paid that pastor."
As a student, he sometimes held on to his faith "by his fingertips." A student leader from the church would meet with him, with kindness and wisdom. He doesn't know who paid his salary. Years later, when he began working in a church, someone spotted potential in him for pastoral care, communication, and leadership, with still a lot of work to do. Someone paid for his training, his trainers, and his mentors.
After twelve years of marriage, his wife and he attended a course for couples over a weekend. They faced some problems there and reset their relationship. They paid only part of the real cost.
On Sundays, during worship, he is sometimes touched by the Holy Spirit to the point of tears. Who paid the worship leader, the lyrics on the screen, the sound, the heating, the lighting, the chairs? "I stand before you as someone in whom tens of thousands of pounds have been invested." He can't wait to meet these donors in heaven and say to them: "Thank you. I am here because of you."
And he is only one person. Thanks to the £50,000 given by the congregation, a pastor who had been trained at HTB for nine years was sent last month to lead a church. It opened its doors one Sunday two weeks ago: for the first time in decades, it has 23 children under sixteen. A St Mellitus College program is training 43 pastors for children and youth, in a denomination where a third of the churches have no one under sixteen. Next month, hundreds of pastors from around the world will gather at HTB to be encouraged, to hear about Alpha, and to receive prayer before being sent back out. The Marriage Course has been taken by 1.7 million people in more than 120 countries and translated into 26 languages.
In Mark 6, an anonymous person gave his five loaves and two fish. John specifies that it was a young boy. "What he did that day echoes through history. Don't miss the opportunity."

7. Twelve Baskets: Time to Move Forward

Once the crowd is satisfied, Jesus has the leftovers gathered up: twelve baskets full. "You cannot out-give Jesus."
One of the preacher's favorite verses is Romans 8:32: "He who didn't spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things?"
When we see Jesus face to face, it is unlikely that he will say to us: "You gave too much, you went too far counting on my goodness." We will say instead: "I had no idea of your love and your limitless provision. I trusted you, Lord Jesus, but I wish I had trusted you more."
Everything around us pushes us to think in terms of lack, to pull back and protect ourselves. "But it is a new day. Jesus is here. The Kingdom of God has come, and everything is possible." This is not the time for the Church to retreat, it is the time to move forward.
Not now, when hundreds of people were there on Wednesday to explore spiritual questions for the first time, when tens of thousands around the world are discovering life in Jesus through the Alpha course, when the church's network has just founded new churches in Belfast, Epsom, and Stoke, and planted in Brighton, Bristol, Liverpool, Derby, and Birmingham, when tens of thousands of students from around the world have just arrived in London, and when, in an informal survey of students at the LSE and Imperial College, 60.8% say they would try to go to church if they were invited.
The final call: respond with courage and take part in the miracle, in the name of Jesus.

Key Takeaways

The disciples reason as if Jesus were not there. Stepping into his reality means taking his presence into account.
Where we subtract, Jesus multiplies: five loaves and two fish feed 5,000 men, and twelve baskets are left over.
It is not the amount that matters, but the proportion of what you have. Generosity grows step by step.
What you give today will often bear fruit years later, in lives you will never know.
God did not spare his own Son: you can never give more than he does.

Personal Application

In what area do you reason like the disciples, doing your calculations as if Jesus were not present?
Is your giving connected to your spiritual life, or does it look like one more subscription?
What are your "five loaves and two fish" today, and do you dare to place them in Jesus' hands even if they seem like very little?
Who has invested in your faith without you knowing it, and how can you in turn invest in the faith of others?
Facing uncertainty, are you tempted to pull back? What step of trust can you take this week?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "stepping into the reality of Jesus" mean?

For Archie Coates, the disciples in Mark 6 calculate as if Jesus were not there and as if the Kingdom of God had not come. Stepping into the reality of Jesus means taking his presence into account: where everyone else subtracts, he multiplies. Giving then becomes an exercise that grows faith, not just a collection.

Why does Jesus use five loaves and two fish?

Jesus sends the disciples to see what they have. They find only enough to feed one person. Jesus doesn't send them back saying it was a stupid idea: he takes what is brought to him and multiplies it. The preacher sees your life with God in this: not "with my little, I change nothing," but "Jesus, here is everything I have, do something with it."

Do you have to give a lot to take part in the miracle?

No. Archie Coates reminds us that it is not the amount that matters, but the proportion of what you have. He himself began with a small gift before reaching the tithe over the years. He cites the widow who gives a single coin and of whom Jesus says she gave everything, and the anonymous young boy whose five loaves fed a crowd.