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