Living Bread

By The Rev. Deacon Christine McCloud

In the name of the Living God, our Rock, our Redeemer. Amen.

Maybe you’ve noticed that the Gospel lessons for the past three weeks have come from John. We started out with the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand on the mountainside with five loaves of bread and two fish in verses 24-35. The people who were fed were amazed that not only did they have their stomachs filled but that there was enough left over to fill yet another 12 baskets for a later time. They knew that they had witnessed a miracle from Jesus and readily claimed him to be the prophet who was to come to them. They believed so much in Jesus after seeing and sharing in this miracle that they were ready to come, forcefully take him, and make him King. Their belief and faith in Jesus was ironclad… at least until the next day that is… when their hunger kicked in again and they looked for and to Jesus to feed them again. Their full bellies from the day before gave them their faith and belief -- not Jesus. Their main concern and interest was their physical need, not their spiritual lives or condition. When they finally find Jesus in Capernaum the next day, he tells them directly that they seek him not because they witnessed the miracle of the feeding, but because they had been given an opportunity to eat their fill of the loaves and fish. He goes on to tell them: “Do not work for food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life. Of course, the people not knowing what Jesus is talking about, challenges him. Tell us they say, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you?” “Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus says 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.”

Last week, we heard verse 35 again and then verses 41-51. “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Today, in verses 51- 58, Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

John uses repetition in these Gospel writings to drive his point -- to make it clear to us -- that Jesus IS the only bread for eternal life. Yet, like the people in Jesus time, we don’t really get the point. Oh, we understand the words well enough, but most of the time, our brains disconnect when the message isn’t interesting enough or just doesn’t satisfy our desire for what we WANT -- not what we NEED.

Even the response of the people in the various Gospel passages tells us a lot about what people wanted verses what they needed. They were more interested in following the “soup kitchen” Jesus, Jesus the cult leader and miracle worker. That whole “I am the bread of life” thing and “Whoever eats of this bread will live forever” just wasn’t flying with them at all. And so, because what they wanted clearly wasn’t going to be offered to them again, most of them left, simply stopped following Jesus. But Jesus, being Jesus, remained steadfast and on point. He didn’t adjust his teachings to get the people to continue to follow him. He didn’t beg them to come back. He continued to offer them what they needed - eternal life through spiritual nourishment and renewal. Jesus leaves it to the people to decide for themselves and us: choose eternal life or not.

This is probably one of the biggest challenges we have as Christians. To choose eternal life requires us… really demands from us… that we surrender our whole being to Christ. Not just parts of ourselves on Sunday morning, but every day, every hour, every moment of our lives to live in Christ’s love. The notion of surrendering ourselves to something or someone is challenge enough for most of us. And honestly, our societal norms and culture make it seem almost impossible to give into this idea. The reality though is that many of us have tremendous voids within our lives. It has been said that there exists in each one of us a “God-shaped hole” that can be filled only by a deep and nurturing relationship with Christ. Yet, many of us attempt to fill our voids with things that ultimately don’t satisfy anything in the long run. Since most, if not all, of these things can ever make us permanently happy, they tend to become our obsessions and addictions. We seek more money, food, sex, power, material things, fame, thrill-seeking, alcohol and drugs -- things that generally call for more and more of them all the while they give back less and less for the amount we consume and/or spend for them. And at the end of the day, we still feel empty.

Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Metaphorically, the bread that Jesus offers is not only his flesh and blood, it is love. It is the love of the invisible God made flesh in the incarnation of Jesus who comes into the world to be accessible to us, in our human condition and experiences. Jesus offers us an opportunity for a deeper relationship with God through him. When we embrace this love, bring it into our lives and allow the spirit of Jesus to fill our deepest void and hunger, this love begins to manifest itself and it overflows to others.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta understood this two-dimensional love better than most. As most of us know, she and her Sisters of Charity went around the streets of Calcutta, India searching for those who were destitute and who were left to die in the streets and alleyways of the city. She and her sisters would bring these people back to their mission were they were bathed and cared for. Mother Teresa said: “Every person at least one time before they die needs to know that he or she is loved.” She understood that Jesus, being the bread of life, came into the world to show us that we are loved by God and that when we choose eternal life through Him; His love overflows through us and impels us to love and care for others.

Jesus longs to be a part of us. He tells us, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.” What I hear when Jesus says this: “I am giving myself freely to you. No conditions, no requirements. Come. Come just as you are and take me in. Take me into the deepest part of you and know love as you have never known before. Come.”

In a few minutes we will stand before Christ’s table and celebrate the Eucharist. Come as you are. Come just as you are. No conditions, no requirements. Christ promises to meet us here to give us new life through Him with the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup. Come and be filled with his grace and everlasting love. Come.

Amen.

© 2009 The Rev. Deacon Christine McCloud

"Thou Art the Man"

By The Rev. Bernard W. Poppe, Rector

The old TV melodrama series would sometimes begin with the words, "Last week, as you recall..." to sum up the story so far before the current chapter was about to play. Since we’ve been reading the continuous story from the 2nd Book of Samuel about the rise of King David and his adventures, I thought of that melodramatic beginning. So, last week, as you recall, King David seduced the lovely Bathsheba knowing she was married to Uriah the Hittite. When she became pregnant he invited Uriah to come back from battle, party at the castle so that he would go home, presumably with his wife in a way that would give the impression that Uriah was the father of this pregnancy. The plan didn’t work and David’s solution came to set up Uriah to be killed in battle and take Bathsheba as his own wife. That plan, unfortunately, did work.

God called upon the prophet Nathan to confront David with his own guilt. Nathan’s ruse in telling the story of the rich man stealing the poor man’s lamb has become well known, but even better known is the punch line, "Thou art the man."

That quote has come to typify our ability to see the wrongs others do far easier than we are able to see our own faults. David had no problem seeing the injustice and abuse of privilege when it came to the actions of someone else. His self righteousness and judgment was turned around to slap him in the face when it was revealed that, not only was his deed found out, but that he had condemned his own actions. His anger at the rich man in the story called for a very strict punishment - David said the man should die for his actions. I’m sure he was very glad that this sentence wasn’t given to him as well.

But then he did something interesting. He confessed it. He admitted his guilt and said he sinned. The evidence was already there for everyone to see, but it was still important for him to admit his guilt. Many times today we have seen overwhelming guilt in the actions of others who still claim innocence, and maintain their innocence until the last possible moment, by which time any attempt to salvage integrity is gone. Former Presidents, governors and senators come to mind quickly. Defiant proclamations of innocence in the face of mounting evidence of guilt look even more foolish when they finally admit guilt. To David’s credit, he didn’t have to be impeached, or exposed on the nightly news or in the tabloids - once confronted he said, "I have sinned before the Lord."

Then came the consequences. The Biblical writers paint God as the judge who sends calamity for actions, but more importantly there is also revealed a spiritual truth. Our actions have consequences. Our good actions create an environment for good to emerge and our bad actions create the environment for more bad to happen. A careful reading of the two books of Samuel show a great deal of political intrigue in the court of the kings of Israel. Even though God is painted as the chess master behind it all, there’s plenty of between the lines evidence of good old fashioned cloak and dagger ambition, greed and lust. Over the course of his life, David was to father some seventy children. His oldest son, Absalom, decides he wants the throne before David’s death and hatches some pretty blood thirsty plots to make that happen. The sword Nathan predicts does indeed split the royal family in David’s generation and further ambition splits the kingdom in the next generation. Biblical scholars usually outline how the writers already knew the outcome of their stories and wove in plenty of foreshadowing. It’s done in a way that explains why things happened the way they did, and also as a warning to future kings and leaders to behave lest the same or worse befall them.

A sad note in Nathan’s prediction is that the child Bathsheba bears will die. In fact, according to the story, despite David’s repentance, the baby does die. It is David and Bathsheba’s second child, Solomon who becomes the next great king after David. But I’m getting ahead of myself in the telling of this story!

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians he talks about the gifts of the Spirit and the different callings to which all of us are called. Some are "Apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers... etc." To expand on this letter, all of us are living out our different callings. Some are business people, some are consultants. Some are in marketing, some are in tech support, some are teachers and others work at home. Some are parents and spouses, some are partners or friends. Each of us lives a life of calling and in that calling each of us has responsibility and opportunity. We have the responsibility to do good and live with integrity and the opportunity to abuse that responsibility and act out of selfish greed or ambition.

Sometimes our mistakes are accidental, sometimes they are intentional and we hope not to get caught. Mistakes are inevitable, but God can and will still work through them for good. David’s actions with Bathsheba and Uriah were horrendous, and yet even out of that and the consequences they brought, King Solomon was born. In the Biblical story, the people who confront and admit their guilt, confess and make changes in their lives as a result, move beyond their failings and find blessings later on. It’s the people who don’t admit their wrong or make changes that end up in continual trouble. It’s not that surprising, but still it’s so difficult for so many to do.

In the Gospel lesson, Jesus tell his disciples that he is the bread of life. He makes the comparison between the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and himself. The bread that was created out of the few loaves came in handy but only lasted a short time. The bread that he is, that is, the teaching and healing that he embodies lasts forever. It is this bread that we eat in communion with each other and this small morsel and questionably tasty wine that inspires in us our desire to do good and resist the opportunities we have in our callings to abuse our authority or positions. It’s further witness that if we do make mistakes, either by accident or by foolish intention, that we can make it right and start again through the admission of wrongdoing, accepting of the embarrassing truth of our actions and moving on with a deeper humility and stronger sense of God’s love and the purpose available to us in our lives.

Our culture comes down hard on those who get caught and often subtly admires those who don’t. The spirit of Nathan comes to us in different forms of people around us, but even deeper allows us to judge our own actions, weigh them and find the strength to admit when we’re wrong and need to make amends. Our actions do and will have consequences that we always will have to face, even if it’s the guilt we live with that others no one else knows. Our task is to do good and create an environment that encourages further good. God’s love will not be stopped by our mistakes or faulty actions but it will certainly be a help to us when we want to stop making them. Nathan really told the story of the rich man and the lamb because he was afraid to confront David directly. We need to be fearless in confronting our own faults and prove to God, ourselves and each other that we are the men and women who choose to live with integrity and honor. Amen.

©2009 St. George's Episcopal Church, Maplewood, NJ