Truly Satisfied
John 6:25-34
A Sermon
Preached at Centenary United Methodist Church
Richmond, VA
August 5, 2012
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We are often drawn to Jesus because of what we think
he can do for us, but soon discover that it is Jesus himself through which our
lives are truly satisfied.
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What’s
in it for me? It’s hard to avoid
thinking about that calculation in any endeavor or relationship. Our instinctive sense of fair play makes it
hard for us to put aside completely any thought of the return on our investment
we should expect to receive for the time and effort we invest in
something. Just as we would hesitate to
deposit our money in a bank that offered no interest and charged us monthly
fees to keep our money safe, we often hesitate to invest ourselves in ventures
that do not promise something in return.
We would be slow to admit it, I’m sure.
You go to work every day not only because you want to make some
contribution to the world through the use of your talents and abilities, but
you expect something in return. At the
very least, you expect a fair wage, and hope for some benefits that provide
financial security. And it’s nice if
every now and then someone notices your hard work and thanks you for it. We’re slower to admit it, but we often have
this thinking in the back of our minds in our most intimate relationships. We are often drawn to love people not just
because they need our love, fidelity, and support, but because deep down, we
hope that they can provide something for us—acceptance, affirmation,
fulfillment, joy. We know that as
parents, the direction of love should flow from us to our children. But you have seen more than one parent/child
relationship that is corrupted because a manipulative parent needs so much in
return from the child. And if we are
truly honest, we all are drawn to God, not simply because we want to ground our
lives in the reality of the one who created us, not simply because we want to
give ourselves to some greater cause and purpose that draws us beyond our own
egos, but because we have needs—legitimate needs for forgiveness, for a sense
of self-worth, purpose, and yes, resources to deal with our greatest
fears—abandonment and death. So, we
should not be too surprised or shocked to discover that many of the people who
were drawn to Jesus were interested primarily what they thought he could do for
them.
The Crowds
Search for Jesus
After
feeding the five thousand, Jesus tried to get away. And he did.
The crowds, in awe of the way that so many had been fed with so little,
were ready to make Jesus king. They
found Jesus in Capernaum. Jesus didn’t
offer a very hospitable greeting, “very truly, I tell you,” he said, “you are
looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the
loaves.” He assumed he had their motives
pegged, and he was probably right. They
were chasing after Jesus because they had a long list of things they could use
a miracle worker to do. Oh, he could
keep feeding them when they got hungry, he could perform the miracle they all
thought the Messiah would perform by crushing the Romans and liberating
Israel. He could restore Israel to a
place of prominence on the international scene.
Jesus
went on, “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.”
Yes,
he was genuinely concerned about real human need. He did not want truly hungry people to go
without the bread that fills the stomach and maintains the body. But there was something more to him. He wanted to show people that it was possible
to attain all the physical blessings and rewards this world could offer, but
never be truly satisfied. No, he did not
say that physical well-being was unimportant to God. But he did want this crowd to know that there
was much more to life than bread, much more to life than financial or cultural
superiority, much more to life than political and military supremacy.
What are We
Looking For?
We
make the same mistake, don’t we? We
chase after all kinds of physical, earthly things thinking that they will
satisfy our deepest longings. We often
hear from political leaders, sometimes in subtle and other times in not so
subtle ways, that there is something almost innately superior about people who
have gained more of this world’s wealth and its goods. We assume that those people are happier, if
not more secure than everyone else. We look for forms of spirituality that
promise to give us security, health, prosperity, and position. We are interested in what is in it for us.
An
e-mail circulated not long ago about signs found in real kitchens of real
people. Here are some of those signs:
“A
messy kitchen is a happy kitchen and this kitchen is delirious.”
“A
clean house is a sign of a misspent life.”
“If
we are what we eat, then I’m easy, fast, and cheap.”
“Thou
shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.”
“My
next house will have no kitchen, just vending machines.”
“A
balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.”
They’re
funny. And our obsession with food has a
humorous side—until that obsession turns into obesity and the obesity turns
into diabetes, heart disease, and a host of other problems. Some people don’t have enough daily bread and
some of us have far too much.
And
those of us with far too much are often using food not as a source of nutrition
and energy to meet life’s demands, but as a substance to fill a great void in
our lives.
We
often discover that the things we thought would fulfill and satisfy our deepest
longings don’t really deliver on those promises. We get the job, we get the car, we get the
money, we get the accolades, we get the partner—and still we feel like
something is missing.
What the People
Needed
Jesus
just wasn’t being cantankerous with the crowd who came looking for more signs,
more miracles, more spectacular displays of divine power. He knew there was more to life. “Do not work for the food that perishes, but
for the food that endures for eternal life which is what the Son of Man will
give you.”
In
some ways, Jesus was frustrated not that the people were drawn to him because
he’d filled their stomachs with bread, but that they weren’t bold enough to ask
for more! Yes, enough to eat is
important. And yes, living in a more
just world, free from the arbitrary dictates of tyrants is important. But Jesus had so much more he wanted to give
the people who came looking for him. He
wanted to give them more than bread, more than freedom from oppression. He wanted to give them something else—life.
There
are two different Greek words for life in John’s gospel. The first is psyche and refers to this
present physical life that one day comes to an end. The other is zoe which refers to life that nothing
can ultimately diminish or destroy. When
John talks about eternal life, he’s not just talking about life after death,
but he’s talking about a quality of life that begins here and now—a life that
is worth living, a life that has meaning and purpose, a life that is filled
with joy regardless of whether we are rich or poor, famous or obscure. It is a kind of life that death cannot
destroy or end. Jesus linked two
powerful biblical symbols bread and life.
Bread was the basic component of the diet of most people in his day,
supplemented by fruits and vegetables, and if you were well off maybe meat now
and then—but bread was essential to life.
And then life. Life filled with
joy, purpose, meaning—life that death could not exhaust, end or destroy. And he says something bold and amazing, “I am
the bread of life.”
Do
you hear what he’s offering? He’s
offering himself to us and all the world as the source of life, love and
power. He’s offering to us a constant
and abiding relationship that nothing can steal or end. In Jesus, we find something that will fully
and truly satisfy our deepest longings and desires.
How
do you see God? Do you believe God has
it in for you? Do you sometimes think
that because of some flaw, weakness, or failure, God wants to punish you? Do you sometimes wonder whether God loves and
cares for you? Hear Jesus words, “I am
the bread of life.” Jesus wanted to give
the people who came to him much more than they thought of asking for. He wanted to give them life!
What We Need
And
that’s what Jesus wants to give us—life.
You know every Friday, we offer the physical bread needed to sustain
life to many people who need it. But
every once in awhile, I think we get a glimpse into the possibility that
through the offer of that bread, people find living bread—they find life.
The
other day, I was on one of my walks around downtown. It’s amazing what you see when you get out
and start looking. I found at least 6
restaurants I didn’t know existed. I saw
three new buildings where apartments and condominiums are being built. There is a lot going on right around us. But I ran into one of the guests who have
been coming for lunch on Fridays. His
name is Manuel. He recognized me and
greeted me with a big smile. He
immediately began thanking me for what our church had done for him—offering a
meal every Friday. He went on to tell me
that he was from Mexico and had had a tough time since coming here. But things were looking better. New possibilities for a better life were
coming his way. He’d gotten a job
working on the construction of one of the new apartment complexes in the
Manchester neighborhood. He said he
might not be seeing us much more on Fridays, but he could not stop expressing
his gratitude for what our church had done for him.
I
think he was so happy because he was finding life. And though he didn’t articulate it this way,
I hope that he is finding the bread of life that Jesus can offer.
The
bread of life is being offered to you and to me today. We connect with the life force of Jesus that
heals, forgives, transforms, and empowers in many ways. We do it when we pray, when we read the
scriptures and meditate on them, when we worship, when we reach out in concern
and service to others. And we connect
with that life in a special way this morning, when we come to the table where
Jesus is the host offering us the gift of God’s healing and transforming
presence and grace through these ordinary elements of bread and wine.
Yes,
many of us, like those crowds in Galilee come to Jesus because of what we need
him to do for us. And folks, that’s all
right. Because Jesus wants to give us
more than we could ever ask or imagine.
So, we’re invited to come today, asking God to do what only God can do
for us—to give us life! And if that
happens, then we will become God’s gift to others and to the world around
us.
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