Sermon Preached on August 1, 2021 at Stockbridge Presbyterian Church
Prayer - Holy God, may the reading of your Word be for us the bread you send from heaven that gives life to the world. Amen.
24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus replied, “I assure you that you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate all the food you wanted. 27 Don’t work for the food that doesn’t last but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Human One will give you. God the Father has confirmed him as his agent to give life.”|
28 They asked, “What must we do in order to accomplish what God requires?”
29 Jesus replied, “This is what God requires, that you believe in him whom God sent.”
30 They asked, “What miraculous sign will you do, that we can see and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
32 Jesus told them, “I assure you, it wasn’t Moses who gave the bread from heaven to you, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 The bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 They said, “Sir, give us this bread all the time!”
35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
THIS IS THE WORD OF THE LORD> THANKS BE TO GOD.
Yesterday a group from Witness went to the Mill to deliver a Pizza Party to the families that reside there. With a pizza, box of capri sun, we intentionally went to a community with the desire to feed. They may be hungry for food, but to know they are supported even by the limited contact due to our current circumstances is a guiding force of love to a community that has needs that are greater than our own.
It was good for me to see the faces of the children who came alone or with parts of their family to pick up the pizza. I loved the interactions of joy from the relationships built with those in our church and those in the community at The Mill. One young man came up to pick up the pizza and was hoping to see the familiar scene of games in the field and the kids playing together. Because of the circumstances of pandemic we kept it to a minimum but the joy hearing about the years of relationships and the smiles of the kids when they received a simple juice box from us was a beautiful work of the spirit.
One thing we wanted to provide was some kind of thing that was unique to our community and the church. I designed a brochure that not only listed what we have at the church to meet their needs but included a coloring section and devotion and prayer for the families to discover a little bit of Christ.
In a small way we were living into this scripture by giving bread and giving the bread of life that is Jesus to these families. We didn’t ask anything of them but a desire to fulfill both physical and spiritual needs.
And when people in our witness committee picked up pizzas there was an incredible abundance of food and drinks to hand out to those who had signed up and even more.
Jesus had just been with the crowds of people and they were filled with bread. They saw a miracle of abundance and they wanted to see more signs of his power. They witnessed an incredible miracle and wanted more.
Jesus then reminded them of their ancestors in the wilderness receiving manna from God to feed their daily needs and then proceeded to talk about how Jesus is the Bread of Life. That Jesus will fulfill the needs of our spiritual life DAILY.
Let me say this again. JESUS, the Bread of Life, will fulfill our spiritual needs daily.
It isn’t about prosperity to follow Jesus, it doesn’t mean all our physical needs are always met just because our faith is in Jesus.
But Jesus gives us relationships with others, smiles of children, and even a box of pizza from time to time from a church that just wants to love their neighbors.
We are able to now be in the presence of the Lord always.
The Bread of Life is a direct link to the way in which Jesus gathered the disciples to let them know that even when he is gone physically from their presence, he is with them.
Bread is a staple of substance and sustenance of life. It feeds and fills our bodies. We understand and can physically see the bread before us. It is hearty, warm, and brings memories through our senses.
This is what Jesus was getting at. HE ALONE IS THE BREAD OF LIFE. Jesus brings us salvation that we may live in the presence of the Lord. We are not blocked by our sins, our forgetfulness, our stubbornness. We may try to forget. We may try to block out but Jesus is with us. Always. When we eat bread and drink the cup we are called to remember what Jesus did. Jesus died so that we might LIVE.
Not live, but have life in Christ. When we believe and live a life that Jesus wants we are living. It is a freedom in Christ. It is filling and fulfilling.
This text asks the people,; asks us. WHAT MATTERS IN LIFE?
What are your priorities? Where do you put your daily, weekly, etc efforts?
Jesus is saying, JESUS is what matters and by following Jesus we rearrange our priorities to live out our faith. By receiving bread, daily bread of life, our souls are filled and we are able to do the work set before us. Stop working yourself to the bone for things that fade away. Give yourself a break to breathe in the work of God.
When we come together for worship, relax in the presence of God and allow your hearts to be open to not only receiving the bread of life but equipping yourself for the work of the kingdom here and now.
Jesus is saying, through all areas of your life. Your work, your home, your play, we are called to be the good news. To share this bread with others. To remember that when we are weary, when we don’t know what to do we are to look to Jesus, be filled with the spirit, the soul food.
From The Serendipity bible study question from this passage asked,
How would you describe your daily spiritual diet? Junk food? Frozen food?baby food? Leftovers? Microwaved? Meat and Potatoes? Pure bread and wine?
If someone asked, “How do you hunger and thirst after God,” what counsel could you offer?
I think about my spiritual diet and it varies just like my physical ways of eating. I sometimes look for the easy way and then sometimes dig into the hearty and healthy ways of eating, living, and living for God.
For me the second question is easier as someone that doesn’t shy away from questions about God but i think about how hard it is to talk about faith to others anymore. We don’t want to step on toes, or hurt relationships we build. But the question has to come from a relationship with someone. When they see our living and our ways of being every day it creates a conversation of why you do that or why you chose to live this way.
We are called to seek out Jesus. To thank God we have Jesus as an example, as our fulfillment, as a relationship to the new covenant that came through sacrifice.
Jesus tells the people that God was the one that provided manna in the wilderness. That God provides salvation through Jesus. This is not something we do on our own. This is the work of God for all humanity. God provides, God PROVIDES today, and God will always provide.
Our joy is to accept that provision and then like Jesus told the people about the feast “and we are to partake of it the invitation he gives is to a banquet. Go out on the byways and highways and tell them they are invited to come in. It is a free meal, by the way, but it happens to be spiritual food.” (Vernon McGee)
Thank you God for Jesus When we see the hurt in the world. We must thank God that Jesus has come and is coming. That scripture reminds us that one day there will be no more weeping, that every tear shall be wiped away.
Thank you God for Jesus that we have a better glimpse of what it looks like to have a deep relationship with God that doesn’t require any particular place or person but is a gift of grace to God.
Thank you God for Jesus, who is the Bread of Life. Present tense, right now. It isn’t something that happened long ago. It isn’t something that happens once in your life. But at the table Jesus told the disciples that when you gather, remember me Jesus used bread to symbolize the broken body given for us. Jesus used the bread as a callback to these verses of the bread of life. The manna from God that sustains us spiritually.
Thank you God for Jesus that has fulfilled the Law and the Prophets so that we might have freedom in Christ. That it is not up to human legalistic ways but that we are to look at the Old and understand the NEW COVENANT in Jesus is not up to us but to God.
Thank you God for Jesus that brings us together, that empowers us to do the work of Jesus in the community, in our homes, in our schools, in our workplaces, in our own lives. For Jesus calls us to glorify God and enjoy God. Jesus calls us to Love God and Love our Neighbor.
Thank you, Lord.
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