Action and Reaction
I am not a scientist by any stretch of the imagination but I have, for some unknown reason, always remembered since my school-going days Sir Isaacs Newton’s third law of motion. I know that all of you are thoroughly familiar with it – but just in case you’ve momentarily forgotten! – it reads ‘For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction.’ If you’re not sure what that means in reality let me give you an example, again from my younger and more dissolute past! How many of you have played pool? Well those of you who have played will know that when you aim the white ball at one of the coloured balls at an angle the white ball will change direction after it hits its target – of course assuming it does hit it! This is as a result of its reaction to colliding with force against the other ball which then reacts with equal force.
Now you may ask why has that piece of seemingly useless scientific trivia stuck with me? I think it’s because I believe that same law holds true in many many areas of our lives outside of its purely scientific application. In fact I would be tempted to say that our entire world is made up of opposite and often opposing facts and forces which constantly inter-react.
God himself, at the very beginning of time, created the first pair of opposites – light and darkness, day and night. He then created man and woman and what can be more opposite than that! And they in turn were responsible for unleashing evil into what had been a good world. And we can go on and on identifying these opposing forces that exist around us.
Perhaps one of the most disturbing examples of this phenomenon of opposition is the tendency of many people to react negatively to situations, by finding fault. Even when something apparently good and worthwhile happens they are tempted to look for hidden agenda’s. They react to the good by looking for the evil. And the more good that emanates from the action then often the more suspicious the reaction.
And it was no different in Jesus’ time as we read in this morning’s gospel. No sooner had Jesus performed the miracle of feeding the 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fishes than people began to question his motives. And when he answered them “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry…” what was their reaction? In verse 41 we see they began to grumble about him. Despite seeing for themselves the power that Jesus displayed they still wanted to find fault – to find a reason for disbelieving, for explaining away, in human terms, what had happened.
“Is this not the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?” they ask themselves – “so how could he possibly be for real, how could he be the bread that came down from heaven?”
But what starts out as mere grumbling, over time turns to accusations of ‘troublemaker’ and eventually grows into that final terrible crescendo of “Crucify him!” And it all begins with the willingness to find fault.
At this point most of us may sit back sanctimoniously and say to ourselves that we would never have reacted that way. And of course that’s true with the benefit of hindsight – we have experienced the saving grace of Jesus and seen the way that his teaching has fundamentally changed the world. There is no reason for us to doubt his words.
Which reminds me of the story of the businessman who found himself seated next to a little old lady on the plane. She was reading her Bible. After a while he smugly asked her, "You don’t really believe all that stuff in there do you?"
The lady replied: "Of course I do, it is the Bible." He smiled: "Well what about the guy that was swallowed by that whale?" She replied: "Oh, Jonah. Yes, I believe that -- it is in the Bible.
He asked: "Well, how do you suppose he survived all that time he spent inside the whale?" The lady said: "I don’t really know. I guess when I get to heaven, I will ask him."
"What if he isn’t in heaven?" the man smiled, sarcastically. The little old lady smiled back: "In that case, you will be able to ask him."
That businessman is typical of very many people we encounter today. Their reaction to the things of God tends to be antagonistic and negative – and often the closer they come to him the stronger their reaction.
And let’s not fall into the trap of saying or thinking that it’s a reaction that belongs solely to people back in Jesus’ time or to those people today who are far from God. Sadly finding fault can be a part of our lives too.
Don’t let’s think for a moment that God’s people are immune to the temptation to grumble - because we most certainly are not! Many times it is the children of God, you and me, who grumble against Him the most - the very people who so richly enjoy his blessing, are often the people that turn against Him at the first sign of trouble.
It happened with the children of God in the Sinai Desert after the exodus, it happened with the religious leaders of Jesus’ time, and it assuredly happens today with you and me.
But if you are sitting there and asking yourself, “When did I ever grumble against God?” let’s look at a couple of possibilities.
Have you never grumbled at God when things didn’t go your way? Have you never asked, “Why didn’t you answer my prayers God?” Or, “Where were you when that happened? I really needed you and you seemed so far away!” Or, “Lord, why am I suffering like this? What have I done to deserve it?”
Even if you didn’t have the courage to say some of these things out loud, have no doubt that God heard what was in your heart.
When we see blessings go to others instead of us. When we see other people better-off than we are and we just don’t think that seems to be “fair”- we grumble. When those who we think deserve God’s punishment and anger seem to get away scot-free - we grumble.
Let’s face it, although we hate to admit it, we often react just like the older brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son. We cannot share the joy because we don’t understand or appreciate from our perspective the unconditional grace of God.
But we don’t just aim our grumbling at God; we even turn on each other. When there are disagreements in the church, we grumble and we mutter and we complain. When someone does something with which we don’t agree or that hurts us, rather than taking it up directly with them in love, we go to someone else and have a little behind-the-scenes chat and inevitably start grumbling about our brother or sister in Christ.
The truth is we grumble a lot more than we care to admit.
And what’s worse is that we close our eyes to the consequences of our grumbling. Let’s remind ourselves by recalling the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 9 when he uses the example of the Israelites in the desert to make his point to the members of the Corinthian church. “Do not grumble as some of them did – and were killed by the destroying angel!” That’s pretty much to the point!
In James chapter 5 verse 9, the brother of Jesus writes,”Don’t grumble against each other, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!”
If that is not sufficient to deter us from grumbling then accept the admonishment that comes from Jesus himself in verse 43 of our reading, “Stop grumbling among yourselves.”
God hates grumbling no matter who it is aimed at!
In the context of this gospel reading, I think it’s very significant that we heard the opposite and positive response in the Ephesians’ new testament reading. There we hear Paul say “Speak truthfully… for we are all members of one body.” And later, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs.” And in the final verse of chapter 4, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Quite simply there should be no room for grumbling in the vocabulary of the children of God.
Let us for the final few moments turn our thoughts, using our third law of motion, to the equal and opposite force to this grumbling we’ve looked at.
The Pharisees reacted negatively to Jesus claim that he was the bread of life. They seemed determined to find a hidden agenda, a false motive, while the truth was staring them in the face.
“I am the bread of life.” With these simple words Jesus is painting the fundamental truth of the gospel. Let’s follow through the thought process. Firstly bread has always, down through the ages, been considered essential for life – often referred to as the staff of life. So Jesus is in effect saying he is the most essential component to support life. But he isn’t merely referring to physical life. Here he is talking about a new spiritual life – a life that involves a meaningful relationship with God. Therefore the implication is that Jesus is essential to this new life, this relationship with God. Without Jesus this life can neither start nor be sustained.
To continue the metaphor, only Jesus can satisfy the spiritual hunger that each and every human being finds in his or her heart.
That’s the simple truth. But so often we react negatively to simplicity. We want things to be more complicated – we look for the trick questions in the exam paper! But there are no trick questions, no complicated formulae, no hidden agenda’s. If we are prepared to accept the saving grace of Jesus in dying for our sins and invite him into our lives then our hungry hearts will be satisfied by his bread.
Those equal and opposite forces that seem to be so much part of nature will melt away in the face of his love. And as we continue to feed on his bread and deepen our relationship with him then the more we will be transformed into his image and grumbling will fade into the obscurity to which it belongs.
Amen.
