2Samuel 11:26-12:13a
Psalm 51:1-12
Ephesians 4:1-16
John 6:24-35
May the words of my mouth and the mediations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
Last week’s sermon “His Vision, Our Mission,” was about how God is faithful even when—especially when we are not. I also said as God is faithful it is our mission to share God’s loving faithfulness with the world. This week, it’s a look at “Our Mission, His Vision.”
Our reading begins the day after Jesus feeds the 5,000 when everyone awakens finding the disciples and Jesus gone. Now, the people remembered Jesus sending the disciples on their way before retreating to the mountain. So the people would have fully expected Jesus to be near by in the morning, wouldn’t they? But if Jesus did not leave with the disciples and he was not near, then where is he?
Keep in mind they had Jesus’ itinerary from the prior evening. They knew when they had last seen him; and when he went away. So once they deduced the only place he could be was across the sea, they took their boats and went looking for him. When they found him, they asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” I’m guessing this question may have been a little insincere. What Jesus sensed from them was they were glad to find him… and their meal ticket.
Jesus senses what’s happening here. He knows they want to know where breakfast is. So Jesus tells them “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.”
This is where we take the first lesson from our reading. To quote Kurt Vonnegut, “Leave it to people to always look at the wrong end of a miracle.”[1] Don’t get me wrong, in any time and day a free meal is a gift, a gift from God. In a time like first century Palestine it was a gift. In our current time it’s a gift. But what’s better, a free meal or the one who provides it?
This gets us to our second lesson, the subtext of the people’s question is “where’s breakfast?” With this the people ask that age old question of song and story, “What have you done for me lately?”[2] Yeah, dinner was great, but we’re hungry again. So Jesus asks them “What’s better, one free meal or the food that endures?” The people get this, sort of.
They ask, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” What they don’t do is finish the question, “What must we do to do the works God requires so we can get us some of that food that endures, the bread that bears the Father’s seal of approval, the food that doesn’t spoil?” It’s as if they’re asking if this bread is a Kroger exclusive or if it is at an artisan baker somewhere in Jerusalem or Shreveport .
Like the Samaritan woman at the well in the fourth chapter of John, the crowd seems to get past their desire to fulfill their earthly needs and asks about the works of God. At the well, Jesus offers the woman the living water and she asks about its source. The people ask about the bread that doesn’t spoil which in a time before refrigeration and vacuum packing is a miracle all by itself.
Jesus tells the crowd that the work they need to do is have faith in God. Jesus’ answer to the woman is in John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to complete his work.” In 6:29, Jesus answers the crowd, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” Yet neither the Samaritan woman nor the people in this story realize Jesus is the living water, the food that lasts. This lesson wasn’t so easy for the disciples either. Then again, this lesson isn’t so easy for us.
Often, the question that lies beside “what will you do?” is “what do I have to do?” We know that we have to have faith in God, believe in the One God has sent, Jesus Christ the Lord. Now, how do we do that?
Now there’s a special little nuance to the word “believe” in Greek and Hebrew that’s different from English. We define believing as knowing and accepting a fact, a concept, or a truth. This is part of what it means to the ancient Greeks and Hebrews too, but to them there is more. Believing with our hearts and our souls and our minds is not enough. To truly believe we have to do something about it. By this aspect of believing we become the hands of God. Only when word and deed come together do we believe.
So here’s the third, and maybe the most difficult realization, God is with us and this relationship all by itself is the miracle, a miracle greater than breakfast. God wants us to accept the invitation join in relationship with the Triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit. This is what God wants us to do.
Genesis tells us that we were created in God’s image. God wants us to join in this relationship not as slaves but as heirs; not as dumb animals but as partners. Jesus teaches us God wants us to join in Christ’s redemptive work in the world.
Let’s face it, if God had wanted simple adoration, creation would have been populated by puppies—and I do mean puppies. Grown and trained dogs work. Some are in the military and others are in police work. Some guard homes and businesses while others help with the hunt to bring home food. A grown dog is a companion; a puppy is not, not yet. If God just wanted his face licked and something to tell “who’s a pretty puppy?” this could have been done without us. Instead God created us, a being who can and must choose to love and choose to respond to love received. That’s why God created us. We were created out of God’s overflowing love to share God’s overflowing love.
God created us not to receive signs and miracles, but to join in being the miracle. Real miracles are not the signs and wonders he is capable of providing. The miracle is that Jesus breaks through our misconceptions and expectations to reveal the new age he ushers in, an age which comes through the miracle of faith in him and relationship with him. Since the beginning this has been God’s vision. It must become our mission.
In the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the central event of the meal in the upper room is the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Today we celebrate this meal, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. But John uses this passage to radically redefine this meal. In our passage today, in 6:35 Jesus tells the world that he is the bread of life.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke seemingly place the gift of this meal in one event, one place in time. John uses this passage to institute the Lord’s Supper in the life of Jesus and his death. The gift of the life of Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, God with us, is the focus of the Lord’s Supper. Jesus, his entire life from before the beginning until after the end, is the bread of life.
Our understanding of the bread of life is called to change too. We begin like the Samaritan woman and the crowd by seeking Jesus for the gifts he gives, gifts we need for survival. And we do receive these gifts of bread and water from our God. But we also are called to a better life, a better relationship. We are called into communion with the Lord our God through the life and ministry of Jesus. We are empowered to this relationship through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is how we fulfill our mission in God’s vision; how we live with God and with the Body of Christ.
There is a lot being said these days about what a Christian is and what it takes to be a Christian. Often these things desired come off as signs and miracles, wonders and phenomena, thoughts and deeds; what God wants is relationship. Our relationship must begin in three places, word, worship, and prayer. It begins in the smallest places and grows into the most wondrous of lives together. It’s a gift of God’s love and it is God’s love we are called to share.
There is something I need to add here, that as we pursue this relationship, from time to time we will get it wrong, dead wrong. We will be like the people who crossed the lake to get breakfast. We’ll think we understand what’s happening when we couldn’t be further from God’s truth.
So as we approach the Lord, we need to come to the Lord as Paul told the Ephesians to come” completely humble and gentle; being patient bearing with one another in love; making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. We need to come seeking a relationship with the Lord and with one another, not looking for what the relationship can do for us.
To carry on God’s reconciling work in the world, we need more than TV news sound bites and facebook posts that tell the world what we believe inviting like minded people to share. The tweet hasn’t been tweeted that has brought the world to the throne of glory.
The proof of this is in an email Harriette sent out last week saying “it’s easier to preach ten sermons than it is to live one.” Let me tell you, preaching ten sermons is not easy, and living one is more difficult.
We need to reach out to all in Christ’s faithful love and reconciling work. We begin this work by breaking bread, sharing the cup and praising God together as the Body of Christ.
Today we mark this relationship celebrating the Lord’s Supper. We share this meal not to remember or commemorate one particular event, but to share in all of Jesus’ life including his death and resurrection. Taking this meal of grace identifies us as those who participate in his life and death until he comes again in power and glory. This is the sign of our relationship with Christ, with one another, and with the Church universal. This is the meal that feeds and strengthens the Church to do the reconciling work God requires. This meal is the most glorious way we can begin celebrating our mission founded in his vision.
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