Sermon - Pentecost 9

August 2, 2009 

Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15; Psalm 78:23-29; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

 In the city of Capernaum, I was stunned to see row after row of ovens for baking bread. I always assumed people baked it at home. However, it was mass-produced. It was like a mass enterprise. The stone ovens covered the north side if the town. It was then that I saw just how vital bread was to the people of ancient Israel. Along with the fish they caught, it must have been the main, if at times, the only food they had. It is no wonder the people wanted Jesus to stay after he had fed the 5,000.

We meet Jesus in today’s gospel in the city of Capernaum. He has come there after he fed the multitudes, and after the people had their fill of bread. They have had the pleasure of eating enough. They have left the meal Jesus set for them in the wilderness feeling satisfied, because according to the story, there are even leftovers.

They ate until they were satisfied. They had enough. However, just what is “enough”?

The people Jesus had fed wanted a guarantee that they would always have enough. Jesus’ provision of plentiful bread was something they wanted to keep. Therefore, they pursued him. They thought if they could have him, they could have bread – limitless, wonderful, unending bread. There would be no more need for the ovens at Capernaum, and no need to pay for the bread. Jesus could just do the wonderful thing he does, and presto - there would be plenty of bread for everyone.

Jesus fed hungry people. He knew people needed to eat. He told his followers to feed people, real, physical food. However, long before the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus had told Satan, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, like all of Jesus' miracles, points to something beyond the physical miracle.

Jesus was not just a provider of physical bread. He wants to be our bread – our sustenance, our nourishment, our daily strength, our source of satisfaction.

Jesus is bread, but he wants to fill the hunger of our hearts and not just our stomachs. He wants to be the bread that brings us to eternal life. He wants to fill the emptiness that we try to fill with lesser things, with something more, bigger, and life giving. Jesus wants to put an end to the grasping, fretting, and worrying that possesses us, and leads us into the hands of Satan who tempted Jesus with stones turned to bread. Instead, the empty and lifeless bread offered by Satan, Jesus wants us to be fed by the one for whom we were made.

Jesus is daily sustenance. He is bread to be savored. He is bread around which we gather. He is bread to inspire thanksgiving, to remind us of the wonder of life, to strengthen us. We can contemplate him thoughtfully, pondering the mystery of Christ who is the bread of life. However, even more wonderfully, we can come to him as hungry beggars, open to whatever he places in our outstretched hands. We can come to him as imperfect people for he knows who we are. In a world that seeks to judge us, Christ knows us; he knows what is in our hearts. Christ comes not to condemn, but to feed us, nourish us, and uphold us.

Christ was taken, blessed, and broken. He was raised from the grave and ascended into heaven. We have the meal he provides for us. It is the meal of his true Body and Blood. It is not a symbol but the real and true presence of his Body and his Blood.

When we leave here fed by him, we are to share him. The sharing of his life invites us to exercise creativity, compassion, and forgiveness - all of which Christ gives and shares with us as sustenance for our journey for Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,” and for us, that is enough. Amen.