20071118
Title: Thinking Outside the Bun
Text: John 6:25-35
Thesis: Jesus satisfies the spiritual hunger of those who receive him.
Introduction
Sales and management people come up with some catchy phrases. Some time ago, we were introduced to the catchphrase, “Think outside the box.” For people working in office cubicles, the vision of thinking outside the box meant one could also think or be creative in a park, on the golf course, or hiking on a mountain trail.
We came to understand “thinking outside the box” to mean that sometimes we have to attack a problem from another angle or look at things from a new perspective. When we think outside the box, we reconsider what we have always done and generate new and creative ways of doing things.
The nuclear disarmament people are urging us to, “think outside the bomb.” They suggest that, rather than proliferate the production of nuclear weapons around the world, we might imagine other ways of getting along.
The anti-smoking people are urging us to, “think outside the carton.” The American Cancer Society thought outside the box thirty-one years ago when they started the Great American Smoke Out Day.
The Taco Bell people urge us to, “think outside the bun.” They want us to think of fast food in being delivered in forms other than burgers…
In our story today, Jesus is asking the people gathered to hear him teach to, “think outside the bun.”
Jesus wants us to think in terms of bread that meets our spiritual needs, rather than bread that satisfies our physical hunger.
1. People have a difficult time lifting their minds above the physical necessities of life.
Jesus said, “The truth is, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you saw the miraculous sign. You should not be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life I can give you. For God the Father has sent me for that very purpose.” John 6:25-27
American psychologist, Abraham Maslow is most remembered for his Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs… His arranged his perception of human needs as rungs of a ladder or sections of a pyramid. The most basic of needs was on the bottom rung or formed the base of the pyramid. He hierarchy of needs began with physiological, then safety, love and being, esteem, and at the top, self-actualization needs. The very basic needs of a human being are physiological in nature: air to breath, food to eat, water to drink, clothes to wear, a roof over one’s head, sleep. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow)
Other things are also important to us as human beings. We need to feel safe. We need to love and be loved. We need to feel good about ourselves and feel that others respect us. We need to be able to own a moral code, to be spontaneous and creative, solve problems, accept facts, and satisfy the transcendent longings of the spirit.
We readily see Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs at work at the Denver Mission. You cannot expect that a person who is hungry, weary, wet, and cold is going to be thinking very much beyond his basic human needs for food, warmth, and shelter. We understand that we bring the love of God to a person at the level of his greatest felt need.
A hungry man is not much different from a hungry bear. If he is starving, he will rummage through a dumpster or raid someone’s pantry. You can try to save his soul if you want, but he is not interested in having his soul saved until his belly is filled. In the mind of the humanistic thinker, physical needs trump spiritual needs.
The folks to whom Jesus was speaking were looking for a free lunch. But, Jesus attempted to turn their thinking from bread for their stomachs to bread for their souls. They were looking for a free lunch but they were not starving… they also had felt spiritual needs. They were interested in knowing what God wanted them to do.
2. People are interested in knowing what God wants them to do.
They replied, “What does God want us to do?” John 6:28
Usually, matters of faith are thought of in terms of doing.
In the Gospel of Luke, a religious leader asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what should I do to get eternal life?” The man assured Jesus that he had kept all of the Ten Commandments since he was a child. Then Jesus said, “You lack one thing, sell all you have and give it to the poor, and then you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Luke 18:18-22
It would seem that much of scripture infers that the life of faith is a matter of not doing some things and doing other things. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus raised the bar for righteousness above the acts of doing… not only are we not to do murder, we are not to do contempt for another. Not only are we not to do the act of adultery, we are not to do lust. Do not return evil for evil, but rather do the turning of the other cheek and do the going of the second mile. Don’t do good deeds, pray, or fast as public displays… do piety privately. Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.
The story of the Good Samaritan is a good example. A man asked Jesus what he needed to “do” to receive eternal life. Jesus asked him what he thought he needed to “do” and the man quoted the great commandment, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind. And, love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said, “That is absolutely right… “do” this and you will live!” But the man wasn’t satisfied. He wanted Jesus to define the term “neighbor.” So, Jesus told him a story. You know it…
There was a Jewish man who, as the victim, is attacked, robbed, and left for dead beside the road. Three men walk by on their way to Jericho. The first was a Jewish priest who walked over and looked at the man, then proceeded on his journey. The second man was a Jewish temple assistant. He too noticed the victim lying beside the road but continued on his way without helping him. The third was neither Jewish nor thought to be particularly religious, but he stopped and helped the man.
Then Jesus asked, “Which man would you say was neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits and left to die?” The man answered, “The one who showed mercy.” The scripture says that Jesus said, “Yes, now you go and “do” the same.” Luke 10:30-37
It is not uncommon for Christians to define their faith by what they do and do not do. And, it is not uncommon for Christians to assess the faith of others by standards of does and don’t.
People are do it yourselfers.
Last week I went to SportClips to get my hair cut because at SportClips there are, as the ad says, TVs playing sports, Guy-Smart Stylists and Guys Win. Deborah is my stylist of choice. After I was settled in the chair Deborah commented, “I see you’ve been trimming your own hair again.” After she stopped laughing, she assured me that she thought she could fix it.
Do it yourselfers cut their own hair, repair their own plumbing, rewire their homes, install new fixtures, retile their bathrooms… and then we call in a pro to fix our messes.
Yesterday, in the Rocky Mountain News on the front page of the Rocky Home Front section, there was a compare and contrast piece on the virtues of doing a holiday season party yourself (DIF – Do It Yourself) or hiring some else to do your holiday party for you (DDIF – Don’t Do It Yourself). (Rocky Mountain News, Rocky home front, Saturday, November 17, 2007)
In matters of faith, people tend to think DIF. We assume there are things to do and we are willing to do them if it will please God. However, author Harry Blamires said, “In the Christian life, nothing, nothing at all, can be purchased at the do-it-yourself shop.” (Harry Blamires, The Tyranny of Time: A Defense of Dogmatism (Morehouse-Barlow Company, 1965, P. 98; quoted by Eugene Peterson, Earth and Altar (InterVarsity Press, 1985), P. 68)
The people to whom Jesus was speaking wanted to know just what it was that God wanted them to do. However, the desire to know what God wants us to do is a problem.
3. Jesus found that people want to please God through a formula for performance rather than through faith.
Jesus told them, “This is what God wants you to do: Believe in the one he has sent.” John 6:29
Programming our remote requires following a series of steps. If I press the TV button until a comes on, then press the programming button until the light flashes, then enter a three number code specific for my TV set, say ooo, eee, ooo, ah, ah, ting tang, walla walla bing bang, press the power button, and Walla! The remote works. (JKhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Maslow) Jesus says, DDIY! Don’t do it yourself, just believe in me and let me do it for you.
It seemed that they wanted a prescription or a formula for faith. They wanted to know that if they did this and this and this and then pressed the button… they would have eternal life.
Jesus had a way of cutting to the chase. He said, “This is what God wants you to do: Believe in the one he has sent.”
Jesus did not pull out a copy of the 4 –Spiritual Laws or Steps to Peace with God or explain the Romans Road or draw the Bridge of Life spanning the great chasm between God and man. He said, “Believe in me. What Jesus had in mind was not a performance- based faith, but a faith-based faith.
Interestingly enough, they were still thinking about being fed some bread. They could not make the leap from thinking about sustaining their physical lives by eating bread, to receiving spiritual bread and attaining eternal life.
4. People do not easily make the leap from literal understanding to figurative understanding.
• Their literal or physical understanding of bread was eating a loaf of bread.
They said, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe you. What will you do for us? After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! As the scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” John 6:30-31
• Jesus’ figurative or spiritual understanding of bread was receiving a person.
Jesus said, “My Father… now offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” John 6:32-33
Even with that, they did not understand the intent of Jesus’ words… they still wanted manna or bread they could eat, “every day of our lives.” They were still thinking of an endless supply of freshly baked, broken, and served bread. But for Jesus, it was not bread for the belly, it was a relationship for the soul.
5. People must understand that the satisfaction of spiritual hunger is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
“Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day of our lives.” And Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe in me will never thirst.” John 6:34-35
People are process oriented. We follow steps and formulas. We read assembly instructions. We chart our courses and follow road maps. Recently Bonnie’s brother Don was in town for a convention and staying down at the Adam’s Mark Hotel. We were to pick him up and go out to dinner. So, I went online to see the best way to the Adam’s Mark.
The directions were explicit:
• Sheridan to I-70.
• I-70 to I-25.
• I-25 to the Park Avenue.
• Park Avenue to Broadway.
• Broadway to Cleveland Place.
• Cleveland Place to 15th Street.
• 15th Street to Court Place.
• And then follow the breadcrumb trail back…
Jesus made many “I am” statements. One of the more interesting statements is found in John 14 where Jesus spoke of his going to prepare a place for his disciples. He was speaking of his preparations for their heavenly home. At one point he said, “You know where I am going and how to get there.” The disciples then went into panic mode and Thomas blurted out, “No we don’t Lord. We haven’t any idea where you are going or how to get there.” Then Jesus told them, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus was saying to his disciples, what he was saying to the crowd at Capernaum, and what he says to all of us, “The way to eternal life and heaven is not through following a formula or a road map… it is through a relationship with me. The way is to believe in me, trust me, receive me, and follow me.”
Jesus said, and he was speaking figuratively, “If you receive me you will never be hungry again.” Did he mean you would never want to pop into Panera Bread for a freshly baked Miche loaf of Three Cheese made with Parmesan, Romano and Asiago cheeses? Jesus was not talking about physical bread or physiological hunger. He was talking about figurative bread and spiritual hunger.
Every year we sit down at the Thanksgiving table and devour a feast of foods… by midweek the next week we will be sick of left-overs, but we will still be rummaging through the frig for something to eat, because the felt need to be physically nourished is how we stay alive. However, if you want to live forever… if you want eternal life, Jesus said, “I will give you bread that will satisfy your spiritual hunger forever.”
A person named Michelle wrote in her blog, Searching for Something on May 7, 2006:
I’m stuffing chocolate in mouth, as much as I can take, in. It’s sickening sweet, dripping down my throat, coating my tongue. I can’t take it, I’m not hungry, yet I stuff it in to try to avoid that which cannot be solved by stuffage. When you think about it, hunger is so easy to solve, the action of eating requires only someway of getting food into my mouth. I just downed a bar of Hershey’s chocolate, yet I am still hungry. Hungry for answers to things that cannot be solved through simple arithmetic or logic. Hungry for someone to tell me what I’m living for, for I have no answers. Is life just a series of moments? Or, is there a meaning to the time between conception and death? I stuff chocolate into my mouth, hoping to reach back to that moment of warmth and chocolate, where I let my heart grow. (http://slicesofserendipity.blogspot.com/)
Michelle knows that bread and chocolate do not ultimately satisfy and her blog indicates that she would really like to find that one thing that would meet her inner hunger. Jesus says that he is the answer to that need… a relationship of faith, trust, and following him will settle the gnawing hunger of the spirit.
I am going to try to illustrate what I mean by ending the gnawing need to know what God wants and how we might have spiritual satisfaction.
When Bonnie and I were looking for a home to buy. We connected with a realtor and went in search of a new home. We looked at many homes. They were all within a certain price range and all shared some similarities. Not one of them really satisfied us. We found one that we thought we could live with but it was more about settling than satisfaction. Then, our realtor arrived with a new listing in hand. She drove us to 6885 Xavier Circle #4 and we took a look. Both Bonnie and I felt it… this was the one. We had found our home. There was no need to look any longer.
Faith is like that. When a person decides to believe in Christ and receive Christ into his or her life, there is no longer any need to continue the search for meaning or purpose or contentment or satisfaction or hope or eternal life. Jesus is the bread that satisfies so completely that a person never has to go poking around in search of a satisfying religious system ever again.
Conclusion:
In a few days, we will sit down at the Thanksgiving Table where the breadbasket will be passed. In that breadbasket will be a pile of freshly baked, butter brushed, steaming hot-cross buns. As you receive the basket, lift a light and buttery hot-cross bun, and place it on your bread plate, I urge you to think outside the bun. Think with thanksgiving, of that bread of life that satisfies the hunger of our souls. Jesus said, “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Amen.
