SERMON
Thanksgiving Day - 2010
The Bread of Life (John 6:24-35)
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”(John 6:35)
A week or so ago, I left work a bit early with the intention of buying my husband, Devin, a birthday present. As usual, I had waited until the very last moment; time had definitely run out – his birthday was the following day.
All in all, it had been a good day at work. No crises, no bad news, no staff problems – no stress. The weather was beautiful, the store not crowded, and I found exactly what I was looking for. Perfect! Devin would have a happy birthday; complete with the present that I knew he had been hoping for.
I distinctly remember walking out to my car and thinking, “Wow, I feel so good – this has been a really peaceful and productive day.”
I got into my car and started to drive out of the parking lot. On the curb, between the parking lot and the road that I was about to enter, stood a man a – a man who looked as if he might have recently become homeless. His clothes were clearly of a good quality; he was healthy looking; but, it appeared to me that he was now sleeping without a permanent roof over his head.
As I stopped at the curb, before entering the street, he looked directly at me and waved, his eyes conveyed a sense of peace; he had a smile on his face. He was holding a cardboard, hand-painted sign that said, “God Bless You.”
In that one moment, and through that momentary single glance that we shared, I was left with a rush of thoughts and emotions that had nothing to do with Devin’s birthday; nothing to do with a good day at work, or with my own sense of well-being; nothing at all to do with me or my own little, not so important, world.
In that one moment, as I have in several other moments in my life, I saw Christ. I saw Christ, and I felt so very intensely the impact of the message that we hear from Jesus in today’s gospel reading, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
The background of today’s reading is the Feeding of the Five Thousand. The story in which Jesus takes five loaves of bread and two fish and uses them to feed five thousand people – with baskets of food left over – a miracle indeed.
After that miracle, a large crowd began to follow Jesus – and Jesus accused them of following him only because he gave them food to eat. He said to them,
“Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the father has set his seal.”
Instead of seeing the feeding of the five thousand as a sign of Jesus’ power and divinity, the crowds saw this incredible meal only as a way to fill their stomachs. The crowd that was pursuing Jesus was focused, as are so many crowds, and so many people, on satisfaction of their earthly needs; needs of the moment. They were not considering their less tangible needs such as salvation and the peace of eternal life that will be found in God’s Kingdom. They were not considering how these far more important needs would be met.
The crowd on the shores of Capernaum also missed a second significant message from Jesus when they asked him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?”
The works they were referring to were, of course, their lifelong commitment to Jewish Law, and a lifestyle that was based on obeying the Law. Laws brought down by Moses from the mountain; laws outlined in the Torah; laws which could not be broken if one expected to remain in good standing with God.
The crowd asked Jesus to identify what work they must do in order to fulfill these Holy Laws, and Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” In other words, “don’t worry about works or good deeds, just have faith in me. Your faith in me will show you the way.”
Still, the crowd did not “get it.” Completely ignoring the fact that Jesus had just turned a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish into enough food to feed five thousand people, and that he appeared to have walked on water, they asked him,
“What sign are you going to give us…?” Jesus replied, “…The bread of God comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
“I am the Bread of Life.”
What, then, is the lesson for us today, 2000 years later, living in a different world and a different culture?
Are we frequently, not unlike the crowd that followed Jesus to the shores of Capernaum, so focused on our needs of the moment that we have a hard time seeing signs of the spiritual – the Christ in our midst? In our technologically frenzied world do we fail to see wonderful things happen in our presence every day; or, being “too busy” do we choose to ignore these wonderful things – let them pass us by without looking them in the eye; without letting them enter our hearts. How many times a day do we even think about faith – or, Christ – the Bread of Life?
Martin Luther put it well when said,
“God’s wonderful works which happen daily are lightly esteemed, not because they are of no import but because they happen so constantly and without interruption. Man is used to the miracle that God rules the world and upholds all creation, and because things daily run their course, it seems insignificant, and no man thinks it worth his while to meditate upon it and to regard it as God’s wonderful work, and yet it is a greater wonder than that Christ fed five thousand men with five loaves and made wine from water.”
How many of us are guilty of taking notice only when we miss a meal, or when things go wrong? How many of us pray for “signs” that Christ really cares for us, saying, “if only you could help me with this or with that?” How many of us recognize that the bread that we pray for regularly as we recite the Lord’s Prayer is the bread of heaven; the bread that gives eternal life?
The bread of the Lord’s Prayer is not the bread in the basket on the table; it is not tomorrow’s dinner; and, it is not a favor in return for being good. It is the Bread of Life. It is Jesus; it is Christ. It is our salvation.
How many of us, despite hard times, take the time to “stop and smell the roses?” How many of us truly see and feel the many, many gifts that God, not our family, or society, has given us? How many of us are truly content to let those gifts fill our spiritual coffers – like the man who waved to me from the curb - so that when we go “without,” we are still full?
John is the Gospel in which Jesus repeatedly and clearly revealed himself to be the son of God; God incarnate; the Christ, who through his death and resurrection was the Savior of our souls. John is the Gospel of the seven powerful “I am” statements.
1. I AM the bread of life.
o John 6:35: Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
2. I AM the light of the world.
o John 8:12: When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
3. I AM the door.
o John 10:7: Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep."
4. I AM the good shepherd.
o John 10:11-14: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me...."
5. I AM the resurrection and the life.
o John 11:25: Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies."
6. I AM the way, the truth and the life.
o John 14:6: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
7. I AM the true vine.
o John 15:1, 5: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
As we sit around the Thanksgiving dinner table in just a little while, will we be thinking of how good or bad the meal is; how difficult some of those unwelcome but necessary family members who we see only for Thanksgiving dinner are; how much money we have to spend tomorrow at the Black Friday sales; how big our Christmas bonus will be and will it cover all those credit cards bills – or, will be thinking of the bread of the world; the light of the world; the good shepherd; the resurrection and the life; the way the truth and the life; the true vine.
When we walk away from the Thanksgiving dinner table later this afternoon, will we have eaten the Bread of Life; will we be filled with the Holy Spirit?
Let us pray:
O Lord, we thank you for your presence in our lives; for the bread of life. Stay with us always: Give us the strength to see you and live our lives as your humble servants, now and forever. Amen
