The Bread of Life
Preacher: The Very Rev. Neal Michell
Passage: John 6:24-35
One of the challenges when you read the gospels that you see in relating to Jesus and dealing with Jesus is that he's always dealing with these darn multi layers of life. There's the surface level and then there's the deeper level. And the apostles are always living on the surface level, and Jesus is always wanting them to go deeper. And they don't get it. The Gospels are really sort of hard on the apostles. It's sort of like they were clueless and dumb more often than not. And that gives us hope, because that's sort of where we are as well.
But what's going on here today in our gospel reading is that there is the surface level of: Jesus has just fed the 5000 people. And he's got a crowd, he's got them in the palm of his hand, and what does he do? He sneaks away. He pulls a "Where's Waldo?" routine, if you know what that is. And they're looking for him. Because, and Jesus tells them, "because I fed you, you want to follow me." See the conflict that goes on throughout the Gospels is that Jesus was living at a time when there was great frustration with the Romans, and the Jews were always sort of like a chicken bone in the throat of the Romans. And the Romans hated the Jews. The Jews hated the Romans. And there were Jews who sided with the Romans because of the power and the prestige and the money that they got And and so they hated each other. And it was just a mess. And the apostles were among those who were looking for something new, something different, something different than the Roman regime that they were suffering under. And he said, you follow me because you want to be the mob that has me to overthrow the Romans. And so Jesus is saying to them, there is a surface level and there is a deeper level. The surface level is you are following me because I've fed you with fish and bread. But there is a deeper level that he wanted them to go. And I think that's why he went to the other side of the lake, is to get them to think about what happened here. And they still think it was about the food. And Jesus is saying, "I am the bread of life, I fed you with food, but I am the bread of life." So let's explore what Jesus- why Jesus said and what he means by "I am the bread of life."
If you look at the Old Testament, the Old Testament is replete with references to bread, metaphorical references to bread. Isaiah says that I've fed you with the bread of privation. They were in exile from their homeland in Jerusalem and Judea. And they were away and they were grieving: "by the waters of Babylon, we laid down and wept for the, O Zion." And they were so grieving and they were fed. Isaiah said, I- God fed you with the bread of privation so that you would learn the joy of fellowship with him. There's another for- one of my most favorite phrases that, in the Psalms, where it says that he has fed us with the bread of tears. Isn't that a wonderful, poignant phrase, the bread of tears. And and and it has become a cup full of tears. We've shed so many tears that you could fill a cup that we've had to drink. The point is that for those early Palestinians, as well as in the Old Testament, bread was a staple in their life, something that they lived with every every day of their lives. Their general meals every day was bread and vegetables and some olives. And so they appreciated, greatly appreciated the reality of bread in their life, it's sort of if you are in the south eastern part of the country, it's like grits. Grits are everywhere, whether you like 'em or not. You know, and so bread was a staple for them.
There were seven different words in Hebrew for bread, kinds of bread. For the Greeks, there were four different words for bread. And in the in the Bible, there are at least four hundred and ninety two references to bread. Bread was a big deal. Everybody ate bread. It's like for the Eskimos, there are forty seven words for different kinds of snow. You know, we got snow, slush, sleet. And then one weather forecaster once said, and and you've got snow mixing with sleet and so there's "sneet." He did really, and... So we really don't have that many words for snow. We don't have that- we have words for kinds of breads. You know, there's whole wheat, there's there's white bread, there's donuts. That's really good bread. And so there are different kinds of bread, but not in the same way that the Jews had. They had this great desire for bread. It was a very staple in their lives. And Jesus is saying to them "I am the bread of life." He's saying "you have sought me for me to feed you, but there is a hunger in your soul that every person has, and I am the bread of life for that hunger." Just as he told the woman, the Samaritan woman at the well, that "I have water that you don't know about." And she said, well, give it to me. And he was giving it to her. But she did not understand the surface level and the deeper level: that we're thirsty for water. That she- Jesus said, when you find me out of your bowels will flow rivers of living water that make life worth living. It gives you not just life, but abundant life. Jesus said, "I came that you'd have life and life more abundant if you receive me." And that's what Jesus is calling us to do.
The invitation he gave to them to receive me the bread of life. How did he- how did he say it? "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry. And whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." We will always be thirsty and hungry. On a surface level, just go on a diet. You'll be hungry 10 minutes after you started. But Jesus is saying there's a deeper level and that is: "In your family relationships, among your friends, with people that you know, even casually, I can make a difference in your life. With people who agree with you, I can make a difference. With people who don't agree with you., I can make a difference in your life. With jerks, I can make a difference in your life, as well, in the way that you deal with them. Because if I am in you, then out of you will flow rivers of living water." Jesus: "If you receive me, if you receive my very self." What St. Paul says to us is that "Christ in you, the hope of glory." And when we give our lives to the Lord, when we surrender our lives to Jesus, when we, as the baptismal promises say, accept him as savior and follow him as Lord, as we take up our cross day after day after day. Then we have life and have can have life more abundant. So that in the encounters that we have with people day in and day out, it's not just us, it's just not me, but it's Christ in me, the hope of glory. And so as we receive Christ, the living bread, then we are able to give to others Christ, the living bread.
So I want to give you a way to respond to this sermon today, and I want to give you two things. The first one is when you receive communion today, as we receive the bread, that is more than bread. And as you get it put, placed it in the palm of your hand. And then as you consume it, say, Jesus, I receive you. Help me to live your life in this world. And then secondly, tomorrow, when you wake up, and every morning, I encourage you to do this every morning, but just try it for a week, just try for one week, for seven days. Martin Luther used to do this every day, and I've taken it on as the practice. As you wake up, make the sign of the cross on your forehead and say, I am a baptized Christian. Lord, help me live as one today. And see what happens, see what changes occur. May not be major changes, but it may be minor changes. Sometimes the minor changes are the better changes in our lives. I ask the Lord to show you whom you might reach out today. When you're talking with someone and you see that they're sad or down or a little discouraged and and explore with them what's going on. Tell me what happened. And then you might say, what could I pray for you and just give a brief prayer for that person? Wonderful.
I was in a restaurant the other day and, in downtown Dallas, and I saw a woman that I thought- some of you know, Carrie Boren Headington, I thought it was Carrie. And so I went over, and she was- her back was to me. But she looked- it looked like it was Carrie. So I went over to her- this is a high end restaurant. So this is a little odd. But so I went over, and I looked. I said I apologize. I said I thought you were a friend of mine, Carrie Headington. And you're obviously not. And the woman said, well, she must be a pretty woman for you to come over like this to. She is actually. And you look a lot like her and. And then I said, you know, I don't think that I would have just come over here on a whim. I'm an Episcopal priest and I'd like to pray for you. I think the Lord may have something for me to pray for you about. Is there anything that's really burdening you that I can pray for? And she told me this story about her daughter and her former husband. And and so I prayed for her. And then I went on back to my seat. And that- that was, that was a God moment.
And that's what the Lord can do through us if we're just bold enough, and sometimes gentle enough, but if we're bold enough to that- to hear that whisper in our ear that God whispers in our... about the people around us. So, as you receive the the bread: "Lord Jesus, I receive you." And then, "I'm a baptized Christian" as you wake up, as you rise out of bed. "Help me to live like one today.' Amen.
