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Sermon - Pentecost 10

August 9, 2009 

1 Kings 19:4-8; Psalm 34:1-8; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; John 6:35, 41-51

"Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

A husband and wife walk through the aisles of a drug store, accompanied by their 4-year-old son. The man stops to examine a new model Gillette razor that claims to provide the closest shave ever. He holds it in his hand and says to his wife, "I need this." To which she replies, "Not now, we can't afford it."

Their young son sights a display of plastic action figures made to represent popular cartoon characters. He reaches out to take one and his mother says, "Not now. Wait until your birthday." However, the child protests loudly, "But I need it!"

There is often a big difference between what we want and what we really need. It has been said that there exists in each of us a "God-shaped hole" that only Christ can fill. However, our problem is that we attempt to fill that deeper, spiritual longing with things that do not ultimately satisfy. Since they cannot ever make us permanently happy, these lesser things become our addictions as we seek more and more and more of them in an increasingly attempt to find satisfaction. Money, materialistic acquisition, food, sex, power, fame, thrill-seeking, the consumption of alcohol and drugs-all call for more and more, as they gradually give back less and less for the amount consumed - and we still feel empty.

Jesus alludes to this in a passage similar to today's Gospel. In John, chapter four, he tells the woman at the well that the water she draws from the well will eventually leave her thirsty again, but the water that he offers will continue to rise up and flow into eternal life. In other words, we have a hunger that cannot be satisfied except by our relationship with the God.

In our Western world, bread is the metaphor for food. If we lived in Asia, the symbol of rice would provide that metaphor. In fact, some modern Asian translations of the Christian scriptures often have Jesus saying, "I am the rice of life." Certainly, we need our daily bread or our daily rice. However, we need more than daily food to find any lasting satisfaction and to live fully. As followers of Jesus, we say that we shall never be content without Jesus, the "Bread of Life." Jesus is the one who, St. John says, "came from God and would return to God". Jesus, the Creator of the universe, came down to dwell in the concrete flesh and blood world of sinful humanity.

What is this "bread" that Jesus offers us? It is the love, forgiveness, and healing that comes from the invisible God made visible in Christ. He offers us an opportunity for a relationship with God through him. When we appropriate that love into our lives and the spirit of Jesus fills our deepest hunger, his love begins to overflow to others.

Someone once described evangelism by saying, "Evangelism is one hungry person telling another hungry person where to find bread." Indeed, that is the mission of the church, to tell the world where love is to be found in Jesus-as well as peace, joy, hope, and all of the fruits of the Spirit. Especially in these troubled times, our Lord shows the world the path to brother- and sisterhood.

Finally, we cannot ignore the obvious reference to the sacramental bread of the Lord's Supper. The Lord's Supper is the presence of Jesus. The bread is the mystery of Christ's true Body in our midst. To receive the sacrament was to receive the love of God in Christ forgiving, accepting and filling our lives with the Bread of Life.

The bread that our Lord offers to the world is himself. We who come to the altar come to be filled with Christ so that our seeking shall end. We come believing that this is the place where the "God-shaped hole" shall be filled. Yes, we are filled when Christ dwells in us and we in him for he is the living bread that comes down from heaven. Amen.