“Bread Beyond Bread”
John 6:24-35
I have read that in 19th Century China, and perhaps all over Asia, there was a name given for people who came to church for one reason and one reason only—because they were hungry for material food.
They converted to Christianity, were baptized, joined the Church, and were active members as long as their physical needs were met through the generosity of the congregation.
But once their socio-economic situations improved and they and their families no longer needed rice, they drifted away from the Church.
And so, they were called “rice Christians.”
That’s also kind of similar to what happened in East Germany and Romania just before the liberation of Eastern Europe—when the pastors were speaking out against Communist regimes.
The people came to cheer the church on, and to join the congregation.
But after the liberation from the heel of the Soviet boot and local dictators, the crowds went home and the churches started to look as bedraggled and abandoned as they had before.
The crowd in our Gospel Lesson for this morning are, evidently, the same group who had been fed the day before when Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 people from five loaves of bread and two fish.
David preached about this last Sunday.
Apparently, they had eaten their fill and then took a good old snooze.
The next morning, when they woke up, they realized that Jesus and His disciples had quietly left town.
So, “they got into the boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.”
When they finally found Jesus, He said to them, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”
It seems that the crowd was hungry for breakfast.
They were chasing after Jesus, not because they were interested in having a relationship with Jesus; they merely wanted another free meal.
They were after Jesus because they want to fill their tummies, not so they can have the fulfillment of their lives.
And so, we see that what happened in 19th Century China, in East Germany and Romania is nothing new.
It’s as old as the Gospel itself.
As we look at our community and our world today we see that people are either desperate for food…hungry each night and hoping for relief, or they have all the food that they can eat with leftovers, and yet their lives are unfilled, or unfulfilled.
Jesus says to the crowd of people chasing Him across the sea so many years ago and Jesus says to us: “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life which the Son of Man will give you.”
At our house, we sometimes play a board game called “The Game of Life.”
Most of you have probably played it as well.
But the game isn’t about life, really…
…it’s more about life as we are told it ought to be.
In the game, you have choices along the way: go to college or not, buy stocks, have a career (with the highest salary being the best).
There are pitfalls and shortcuts to retirement which is the finish line.
But the goal isn’t to finish first.
Rather, the goal is to finish with the most.
Whoever has the biggest stack of cash at the end is the winner.
But after someone wins the game, the game is put away.
All the money that was made disappears until the next game when the pursuit of “bread” in the form of money is repeated.
One thing the game doesn’t count as part of life is death.
So, the real end in “The Game of Life,” if the truth be told, is always a tie.
The proposed “purpose” in life to gather a large stack of money turns out to be an illusion.
Here in Suburban America, you’d think that with so many people “winning” the world’s game of life we would be a culture that is more satisfied than most, since—as a whole—we have more than most.
And yet, I see so many unhappy people.
I see people who are angry and stressed out.
I see kids who are confused and can’t figure out why they are so unhappy.
So, in order to try and fix themselves, they do all sorts of things that make them even more unhappy.
Again, Jesus says, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life.”
The word translated as “endures” is a word is used throughout the Gospel of John to describe the relationship between Jesus and the person who believes.
In the end, this enduring means nothing less than the Father and the Son dwelling in believers through the presence of the Holy Spirit.
The “bread” which endures to eternal life is a relationship that is made possible by God becoming a human being and walking this earth and dying for our sins.
In fact, the bread itself…the bread that endures is Jesus Christ Himself, Whom the Father gives out of His love for the world—for you and for me—for all who will believe.
Perhaps we should ask ourselves this morning are we simply running after food that perishes?
If so, Jesus invites us to seek “food that endures for eternal life” which is offered by the Son of God in order to satisfy our deepest hungers.
And those hungers are hungers for meaning…
…hungers for relationships…
…hungers for love—to be loved and to love…
…to give our lives for something other than ourselves…
…to help to feed the world, heal the sick, care for the broken hearted...
…to be changed and transformed from the inside out.
The crowd, still missing Jesus’ point asked him: “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
And Jesus answered: “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
But the question they ask is the most natural question to ask.
“Of course, I have to do something to get that eternal blessing.”
“I do my part and God does His, right?”
But they missed the most important part of what Jesus said, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”
In other words, you don’t have to work for it—it’s free.
God does the work.
God sent His Son into the world to save the world through Him.
God seeks us out, as a shepherd searching for a lost sheep or a woman searching for a lost coin.
God comes to us and whispers in our ear, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
God is the One Who is working on us all of our lives, nudging us, loving on us and trying to get us to accept His love, His forgiveness, the new life He offers through faith in Christ.
It’s God’s work—not ours.
As Paul writes in Ephesians Chapter 2: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.
For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
I meet so many people every day who will just not allow themselves to believe this.
They want concrete proof.
They want some kind of tangible sign.
But, new life in Christ comes by faith and that faith is a free gift from God, that ability to believe—God is offering it to us.
If we make the decision that we will believe, we will come to believe and our lives will be changed forever.
John Wesley, the Founder of Methodism used to tell his preachers: “Preach it until you believe it.”
We all have doubts.
We all go through times of questioning.
And we all must make the decision as to whether or not we will believe.
And what are we making the decision to believe?
That there is love in this world.
That there is hope for this life.
That there is a reason for living.
That all we do is not in vain.
That God loves us, and because of this we can learn to love ourselves, love God and love others.
And this transforms us.
It makes life worth the living.
If you have not done so, won’t you make the decision to believe?
I mean, what do you have to lose?
Why are you holding back?
Whatever the reason, it is not worth it.
The work of God is this…and this is how much God loves you and me…
…The work of God is for us to believe in Jesus Christ.
Jesus tells the crowd this and they ask him, “What sign, then will you give that we may see it and believe you?
What will you do?
Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He (meaning Moses) gave them bread from heaven.’”
These folks who still have bread and fish on their breath from the day before are asking Jesus for “a sign” so they may see it and believe Him.
What more do they need?
What more do we need?
And so, Jesus corrects their misunderstanding: “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
To this they say, “Sir, always give us this bread.”
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty again.”
This is similar to Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus in John Chapter 3 where Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
It’s birth beyond birth.
It’s also similar to the conversation Jesus had with the Samaritan woman He met at the well in John Chapter 4 where He offered her “living water” “welling up to eternal life.”
It’s water beyond water.
Jesus is using metaphors to make His point.
Now, Jesus points to bread beyond bread, to that gift from God which not only comes to the world through Jesus, but actually is JESUS HIMSELF!!!
Jesus is offering us HIMSELF for the salvation of our souls!!!
Jesus is offering us HIMSELF in order to satisfy the hunger, the thirst, the empty void in our life that every single one of us have.
And when we do not fill that empty void with Jesus, we fill it with something else—the pursuit of money, drugs, attention, power—all these things spoil with time.
The only thing that lasts for eternity is JESUS HIMSELF.
Jesus is offering Himself to us as the spiritual food that will fill our deepest needs.
And in accepting Jesus we enter into an intimate relationship with Him.
We are not only to follow Him, we are to consume Him…as the Bread of Life…
…as He becomes part of us, Him in us and us in Him.
Later on in this Chapter 6 of John’s Gospel that we are looking at this morning Jesus, continuing this same conversation with the people who have come across the sea to get more bread and fish, says: “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life…” and… “remains in me, and I in them.”
We are told that after Jesus told the people all this, many of them turned back and no longer followed him.
“You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve.”
And “Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.’”
We may, at times, be tempted to turn away from Jesus and the Church…to turn away with the crowds.
We have so much information shooting at us from so many angles.
We have so many other things that consume our time.
And we have so many other things that offer us what we REALLY NEED to find fulfillment in life, to be happy and so forth.
But, Jesus is the ONLY ONE Who truly has the Words of eternal life.
Have you come to believe this?
Do you know this deep down in your heart no matter what the world may be telling you or no matter what you may be telling yourself or others?
If so, don’t miss out on what God has done and is doing for you.
Don’t miss out on the Bread of Life, the reason you were put on this earth in the first place.
Don’t go for the stack of bills, or the cars or whatever as if you are playing some giant game of life.
Don’t miss out on the joy, the peace, the love that only a relationship with God through faith in Christ can offer.
Don’t just run after the food that spoils.
Trust, believe, consume the Food that endures to eternal life which the Son of Man is offering you.
Amen.
