Michael T. Powers. The 5 th Sunday in Lent

Transcription

1 1 What Would Jesus Say to the Hungry? John 6 The 5 th Sunday in Lent First Church ( ) Michael T. Powers If you could travel through time to witness any moment in history, what would you choose? According to Barbara Walters, it is a no brainer: she would choose Moses parting the Red Sea. Some of you might choose a family experience or a sporting event or a moment of historical significance such as Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon. I find it very interesting that the writers of the four Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all agreed on one and only one miracle to include in their accounts of the life of Jesus: the feeding of the Of all the miracles he performed, this is the one these writers wanted their readers to remember. Their accounts are basically the same, yet John went behind the scenes where Jesus explained the why of the miracle. Here is the context: Increasingly large crowds were gathering wherever Jesus went. They were amazed at the signs and wonders he was performing. After the healings of the son of a Roman soldier, a Gentile, and the man who had been lame for 38 years, the people were flocking to wherever Jesus went. On this occasion, he looked out on the multitude and asked his disciples, How are we to buy bread to feed all these people? Of course, they did not have the resources to do that. In the other Gospels, the disciples encourage Jesus to send them away and let them find their own food. But, as you may know the story, with only five loaves of bread and two fish provided by a boy, Jesus fed over 5,000 men, women and children. There were even 12 baskets of food left over which, in my mind, were there for the 12 disciples who first fed the others. None of the Gospel writers explain how this miracle took place. That the miracle actually took place seems evident in that (1) there are other references to this event, and (2) the crowd relentlessly followed Jesus afterwards.at least, for awhile. Listen to these verses from John 6:25-35 (READ). Please note that these were not starving people, but they were hungry people. There is no evidence these people were malnourished and had no ability to feed themselves. In Jesus, they saw the 2 nd coming of Moses by whose hand their ancestors had received manna daily sustenance while homeless and wandering in the wilderness. The miracle they had

2 2 experienced the day before caused them to follow him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Overnight, another miracle Jesus walking on the water had occurred, but that was not a public event. The crowd wondered, when they found Jesus on the other side, Rabbi, how did you get here? (John 6:25). But, Jesus did not answer that question. Instead, he spoke to their REAL need, not their FELT need. The truth is, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you saw a miraculous sign (John 6;26). Their interest was not in trying to understand who he was or what he had come to do; they simply wanted him to keep feeding them. And so, Jesus then said, You should not be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that I, the Son of Man, can give you. For God the Father has sent me for that very purpose (John 6:27). It is very easy for us who have been raised and acculturated by a consumer society to develop a mindset that goes, Well, what have you done for me lately? If we are not pleased with the product or service, we will quickly and easily move on to the next vendor or business or relationship or church. As long as you meet my needs, you have my attention and business. When you no longer satisfy what I want, we are history. I am outta here. I m moving on. This was one of the first tremendously sobering lessons I learned as a full- time minister. I asked a friend why he no longer was attending our young adult group, and he said very matter- of- factly, My needs are not being met. That was honest, and also terribly revealing. What would Jesus say to the hungry this morning? Each of us came here longing for something to satisfy our deepest hungers. We believe God is able to do that, just like the multitudes believed Jesus could satisfy their needs. But, let s make sure we clearly hear what he has to say, and then we must decide if we are willing to listen and respond to what he offers. There are four truths about bread from John 6 I would like us to understand this morning. The first is simply this: We need bread to live. It is a biological fact that we need physical nourishment that sustains our bodies. Bread is a metaphor that represents food that sustains our physical well being. Jesus looked upon the multitudes and realized the people were weak, hungry and in need of food. There is a Kudzu cartoon that shows the preacher reading from the pulpit the Lord s Prayer: Give us this day our daily low- fat, low- cholesterol, salt- free bread.. The last frame of the cartoon has him saying to himself, I hate

3 3 these modern translations. When it comes to satisfying our physical hunger, we do rather well for ourselves. We do not miss many meals. We eat well and are able to choose from a variety of foods. We understand the need for food and need no coaching in satisfying that need in our lives. The second truth is this: All bread is God- given. Maltbie D. Babcock expressed it as: Back of the loaf is the snowy flour, Back of the flour, the mill; Back of the mill are the wheat and the shower And the sun and the Father s will. This is the context of John 6. Most, if not all, the crowd knew the story of their ancestors being fed miraculously by God in the wilderness. Every morning, enough manna would be available to feed them throughout that day. They understood God can and does provide. Experiencing the feeding of the multitudes the day before when Jesus only had 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, they truly sensed that God was doing it again. Yet, whether it comes in an unexpected manner or through the ordinary means of planting, nurturing, harvesting and processing, the hand of God is seen in providing daily bread. Jesus would remind the hungry that all bread is God- given. Third, for all God s children to be fed, we must work together and share our bread. Leslie Weatherhead put it this way: Without God we cannot make a loaf. Without us God will not make a loaf. I grew up thinking that bread is something that comes in a cellophane wrapper in the store. Little did I realize what it takes to make that loaf of bread so convenient: the farmer who tills the soil; the workers who plant the seeds and later harvest the crop; the miller who threshes the wheat; the truck drivers who deliver it to the factory where it is ground into flour; the factory workers that mix the flour with the necessary ingredients to prepare the dough; the other workers who then inspect it, guaranteeing it is worthy of consumption before it is placed in those cellophane wrappers; those who place these loaves on racks, then onto trucks where they are delivered to the store and placed in a location where they are readily available. Little did I know that several hundred people made it possible for me to have my daily peanut butter sandwich.

4 4 Of course, it is not only about us who are able to go to the store and buy a loaf of bread. There also are those who will not eat unless we make the bread available for them. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, there are three meanings of hunger: the uneasy or painful sensation caused by want of food; craving appetite. Also the exhausted condition caused by want of food the want or scarcity of food in a country a strong desire or craving In round numbers there are 7 billion people in the world. Using the second definition, there is an estimated 925 million hungry people in the world today, which represents 13.1 percent, or almost 1 in 7. Children are the most visible victims of under- nutrition. Poor nutrition plays a role in at least half of the 10.9 million child deaths each year- - five million deaths. Did you know that the world produces enough food to feed everyone? World agriculture produces 17 percent more calories per person today than it did 30 years ago, despite a 70 percent population increase. This is enough to provide everyone in the world with at least 2,720 kilocalories (kcal) per person per day. The principal problem is that many people in the world do not have sufficient land to grow, or income to purchase, enough food. Hearing statistics such as these can overwhelm us. We wonder, literally, what in the world can we do? Let me suggest a few ways to respond. (1) We can serve locally. Many people who come to God s Table would fit into the category of under- nourished. There are other groups here in our community that work tirelessly to help especially the needs of children. (2) We can give generously through our church. The UMC is connected with hunger programs across the nation and around the world, and your generous giving to 1 st Church increases that ministry. (3) We must seek to be like Jesus compassionate. Mark s record of the feeding of the 5000 states that when Jesus saw the crowd gathered, he had compassion for them he felt their need and understood their longings. For all God s children to be fed, we must work together and share our bread. Here is a fourth truth we have heard before: We do not live by physical bread alone. When the devil tempted Jesus to turn the stones into bread, Jesus said, Man shall not live by

5 5 bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). We need to hear this as well as what Jesus was trying to impress upon the people that day (6:32-33, 35): Truly, truly I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven (manna); my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.i am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. The one who comes to me.the one who believes in me. You have heard me say every week in this sermon series that Jesus had at least 27 interviews with individuals or groups in the Gospel of John. Most of these conversations take place in the first 12 chapters of the book. The word believe is found 89 times in John s Gospel, 66 times in the first 12 chapters. Get the point? What Jesus wanted to communicate in these conversations was not wisdom, not miracles, and not even providing daily bread as popular as that had been with Moses. Begin with John 6:47: Truly, truly I say unto you: whoever believes in me has real life, eternal life. I am the Bread of Life. Your ancestors ate manna bread in the desert and died. But now here is Bread that truly comes down from heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will not die, ever. I am the Bread living Bread! who came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever! The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh and blood self. When this offended some people, Jesus just pushed the point further: My flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed. At this point the majority of the hangers- on that day decide that they have had enough. They leave, never to return. Jesus was no longer meeting their needs, or so they thought. You see, it is the presence of Jesus that we need - not His wisdom, not his teachings, not his miracles, not his healings, and not his gifts du jour, but His presence. What we need above all else is Him - his flesh, his blood, his real presence with us. Nicodemus did not understand this when he came to see Jesus. He thought he needed wisdom, insight, and a better understanding of God s law. No, said Jesus, what you need is to be born from above! What you need is to have the Spirit of God within you!

6 6 The Samaritan woman at the well missed it. She knew she needed water to live, but Jesus told her, No, it s not physical water that you need, but the presence of the Spirit of God living within you that you need - the living water that wells up to eternal life! The crowd in John 6 did not understand it either. They came looking for bread, but Jesus told them, It s not ordinary bread that you need. You need more than that. You need the living bread. You need the presence of the living God in your life. You need to move beyond what s in it for me. You need me! Like Nicodemus, like the woman, like the crowd, many people come to church looking for one of two things: answers or a miracle! The problem is, from a pastor s point of view, is that I usually am not able to deliver either. We pray for miracles, and we pray for wisdom, but we know full well that sometimes the miracles just do not happen, and sometimes things just won t make sense. What we can always offer people though, and what we can always guarantee for people who come genuinely searching, is that Christ will give to them what he told us is far more important than either a miracle or an explanation: He will give them His presence if they ask for him. And when enough of us sincerely ask for the presence of Christ, we receive something else: a real community, a fellowship that loves, cares, supports and lives out the life of Christ within us. This is the gift we offer this morning: Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life. I read a story this week about a school that invited the fathers of the children to come to class and tell about their work. Very few Dads could actually show up, but each child in the class was given the opportunity to stand and say something about his/her father. My father is a gynecologist, one boy said, and he is a very important man. My father is a lawyer, another child said, and he makes a lot of money. Another girl said, My father is a salesman and travel everywhere. Finally it came the turn for one young boy whose father was unemployed. "My dad", he said very proudly, "is here!" It s not the wisdom. It s not the miracles. It s not the things about Christ that we need the most. It is Christ who came in our flesh and poured out his blood so we might enjoy his presence now and forever.