Sermon for August 5, 2018
Proper 13 B RCL – Track 1
The next
day, when the people who remained after the feeding of the five thousand saw
that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the
boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
When they
found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you
come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, 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. For it is on him that God the Father
has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works
of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him
whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us
then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our
ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them
bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you,
it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who
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.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this
bread always.”
Jesus said
to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and
whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Welcome to the second of five
weeks of the Gospel of John and bread!
Last week we had the miracle of the five barley loves and two fish
feeding the multitude. After which Jesus
– fearing that the crowd would seize him to make him king escaped to the
mountain top and then went to the other side of the lake. And now the people have themselves gathered
an armada of boats – how else would you get five thousand men and an uncounted
number of women and children to the other side of the lake. They came to find
Jesus. They came to find this prophet
who could feed them.
And what do they get? They get a scolding
that they really came to Jesus for another free meal. Another miracle to fill their bellies. And Jesus may well have been right. Some – perhaps most of the crowd – wanted
more food. Jesus then goes on to start
the interpretation of the miracle. That
is the good thing – or sometimes the frustrating thing about the Gospel of
John. In John’s Gospel we hear Jesus
interpreting his signs and miracles just in case their point may be lost for
us.
Jesus tells the crowd an
astonishing thing. That they are to look
for the eternal bread of life. Not
barley loaves and fish but bread that will last eternally and will never
spoil. Bread that comes from God not
from the baker’s oven. Intriguing. The crowd is hooked. They want to know what works they have to
perform for God to give them this bread.
They assume that they must earn this bread through good works.
How many times does that same idea
pop into our own brains? That we have to
do good works to earn favor with God. We
treat God like some ultimate Santa Claus who is keeping a ledger and marking
down the good things we do in one column and the bad things in the other. And in the end God will check the naughty and
nice list to see if we are worthy. But
that is not how God operates. While we
are asked to be God’s hands, heart and feet on this earth to bring about God’s
kingdom we don’t earn entry in the kingdom through works.
The bread of life is a gift. A gift that comes down from the God. Just like the mana in the wilderness came not
from Moses but came from God. If we were
reading the other set of appointed readings for this week we would have read
the story from Exodus of God’s gift of manna instead of the story of David’s
sinful behavior. The Manna was a gift that was not even asked for. The gift of manna came when the people were
complaining that Moses had rescued them from Egypt only to have them starve to
death in the dessert and then God responded. A gift of heavenly food that was
not earned and was not even asked for.
The people – in response to Jesus
claim that he can provide this bread of life want a sign – a miracle - like
the miracle of the Manna in the wilderness to prove that Jesus is not an
imposter. Incredible! The people just witnessed Jesus turning five
barley loaves and two fish into food for the crowd along with 12 baskets of
leftovers. But they want more. They want another sign. Can Jesus ever do enough to convince these
people that they don’t need signs and miracles?
How much does God have to do so
that we believe? When I started down the
road to discern my call to Holy Orders my spiritual director at the time asked
me what sign I needed from God. This
caught me off-guard as I had never thought that I needed to wait for a sign or
miracle from God to discern what God is calling me to do. So I asked what she meant. And she really did mean it like the people is
this story. Did I need some extra thing
from God to go forward into this ministry that I now perform. My answer was I did not need a particular
sign or miracle but just to find a place to put down my foot as I traveled on
the journey. I can tell you that God did
more than that. The Holy Spirit used all
her power of persuasion when I would falter on the path. But that was all a free gift from God and not
something that I requested or required.
When I had doubts about continuing on the path God’s wonderful Spirit
found ways to push me forward – of course sometimes it took a few years for me
to recognize and get her point but I did ultimately find a place to put my foot
down on the path over and over again.
What signs and miracles are we
looking for on this corner of 15th and J
streets? Are we looking for a sudden
influx of people from this gentrifying neighborhood? Are we looking for the next big bequest that
will allow us to build on this corner?
Or are the signs and miracles all around us? The ministry that this place provides the
hungry around us during the week are amazing.
We have people here who feed the body and souls of the lost and the least
in our society. I see people walk into
this place hurting and broken only asking for a morsel of food. Just like the crowds only wanting to have a
physical hunger filled. I witness
amazing acceptance of people and a feeding in both Body and Spirit. Perhaps this is the sign that God is
sending? That our place here is to
spread God’s love. To feed the hungry
and to find food ourselves.
Perhaps the expansion of the
convention center and the disruptive construction that will be happening around
us is a sign. The disruption will cause
us to do things differently. The mess of building demolition and construction
will be impossible to miss. Maybe this
is the time to form a “friends of St. Paul’s” group, as was recommended by the
Partners for Sacred Spaces program, to explore if this is the time to build
here too. Is this the time to add a
sound system and professional lighting to attract more arts groups? Is it time to explore partnering with a
developer to build a small tower behind the church for a mixed use of housing
and a parish hall and office space?
At the end of our Gospel reading
today we have the first of Jesus “I AM” statements in the Gospel of John. After all the back and forth Jesus astonishes
the crown and says , “I Am the bread of
life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will
never be thirsty.”
The importance of this will be
amplified in the next couple of weeks.
This is an astonishing thing for the people because they know their
Hebrew Scriptures. They know that when
Moses asked God who he should tell Pharaoh was sending him God told him to tell
Pharaoh the I AM was sending him. I AM,
the God of all the people. Jesus is
revealing to the people that he is more than just a prophet. He is telling them that he is from and is I
AM.
This is the thrust of much of the
Gospel of John. John’s Gospel is very
forthright about who Jesus is. Jesus is
not another prophet. Jesus is not just a
great teacher but Jesus is from and is God.
As we shall hear in the next few weeks this does not set well with the
people. It is blasphemous to claim to be
God. Luckily for you all I will let the
preachers in the next few weeks struggle with that along with you all… I will
get to struggle with it with the good people of St. Matthew’s.
For now, let us look at
ourselves. How is this gospel reading
feeding us? Jesus is offering more than
food for our journey. Without our asking
for it. Without our earning it Jesus is
offering us eternal life. He is offering
to be with us on this journey. The I AM
is promising an astonishing thing. And
what will be our response? Are we asking
for signs and miracles to prove that God is with us? Do we need a miracle to see the promise that
God’s economy is different than man’s economy?
I tell you that the signs and
miracles happen all around us on this corner.
I see it in the eyes of those who stumble into this place on Wednesday
to discover that they are being fed the bread of life as well as having their
stomachs filled. I see it in the eyes of
the people who get fed a marvelous meal that they have not earned. A meal freely given. I have witnessed healing in people as they
discover that they do not need to hide in the narthex and wait for a sack lunch
but are offered a place at the great banquet table as we celebrate eucharist. I see it in people who come again and again
for the bread of eternal life – the sacrament of communion.
I give thanks that we are able to offer God’s gift to all of God’s beloved children. A gift that is not asked for. A gift that is unearned. A gift that is freely given in the dream that
we will find a way to turn our economy right side up. That we will find ways to partner with God in
welcoming all of God’s children – even the children who we disagree with – all
of God’s beloved children to the table.
To offer them the bread of life – to offer them the grace that God so
abundantly offers all of us.
Amen.
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