Sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Lance Moore on Sunday, May
4, 2008
John 6:30-35: “So they asked [Jesus], "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: `He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, 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 he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread." Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."”
Psalm 24:1-2: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.”
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From Greek mythology you may remember the story of Tantalus, an evil and indulgent king who was condemned to Hades. He was made to stand forever in a pool of water surrounded by delicious fruits, but whenever he reached for the fruit or tried to drink the water, they would move out of reach. It is from that story that we get our word “tantalizing.”
Sometimes I feel like Tantalus. I am very impatient in restaurants when I see platters of delicacies delivered to the table around me, but my order isn’t ready. Have you ever had the urge to walk over to another table and just snatch a shrimp off their plate as you await your own order? Even when I do receive my food and indulge myself, the satisfaction is temporary. Thin or overweight, most of us love to eat. And our bodily appetites are never fully satisfied. I went to a new restaurant Friday night and ate until I was full, and when the waitress tried to sell me a desert, we turned her away... but even with a full belly, there was a part of me that was staring at that chocolate-laden desert menu and licking my lips.
When we talk about hunger and appetites, it can be more than a longing for food. Have you ever bought a new car, and then days later noticed a more expensive, shinier car on the highway and wished you had THAT car instead? I don’t know what you yearn for, whether it is a bigger house, nicer clothes or jewelry, a better rifle-guitar-golf club, higher status, or just a fudge brownie with a cherry on top. Physical desire and hunger in all its forms is rarely satisfed, and never for long.
Jesus spoke to this situation in our Scripture lesson. He offers us something better: an eternal bread which satisfies forever. The bread of life, Jesus’ Spiritual body, is the only substance which can permanently satisfy us.
Our Gospel lesson speaks of a heavenly bread which gives life to the world. We share a common need with humans around the planet: we all are hungry, we all need physical bread—the fruit of the earth—to live. But we also need spiritual nourishment.
The hardest thing for me, as a preacher, is to convince people that there is something they cannot see or taste, but they need it as much as they need air to breathe. We are so immersed in this physical world, we lose sight of the greater truth. I plan to talk about this more in some sermons later in the month, but please listen: Plato was right, this world is a mere shadow of the greater reality, the spiritual realm. In the movie, “Men in Black,” the alien villain is a giant insect who calls the human hero a “meat sack.” Some scientists see us this way, as just a sack of flesh. But we are far, far more than a bag of chemicals and water walking around on a calcium frame. Beyond our skin and bones is the True Self. When I get in my car and drive, I never make the mistake that the CAR is ME. Yet, as we travel around in the physical vehicle called the human body, we forget that deep inside we’re spiritual beings. Perhaps that is one good thing about attending a funeral: we are reminded that these bodies, what Paul calls a “vessel of clay,“ will one day be buried or burned away... and something far more mysterious, marvelous and majestic will continue on existing. That is the True Self.
And this True Self walks around on Terra Firma but at a deeper, cosmic level, we are floating spirits enveloped in the spirit of God. The Old Testament book of Daniel (5:23) states that God “...holds in his hand your life [your soul] and all your ways.” We just read Psalm 24, that states that the whole world is in God’s hands, that we are immersed in God. Paul said in Acts that it is in God that “we live and breathe and have our being.”
Throughout the gospel of John, Jesus uses the phrase “I am.” I am the bread of life. I am the vine. I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the good shepherd. It is a designation of divinity, taken from the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew “Jehovah, the Great I Am.” Whenever Jesus uses this phrase, it is as if he is saying “God is like this,” or “God is like that.” He is teaching us something basic about the spiritual nature of God, and so whenever we hear the words “I am,” we should listen closely.
“I am the bread of life.” How odd that Jesus uses something as common and everyday as bread as a metaphor for the living presence of God. In modern lingo, He could have said “God is like a yeast roll.” What is he trying to teach us in this almost-silly statement? First of all, God is like bread in that both give us the essence of life. But less obviously, perhaps Jesus is saying that there is something about this mysterious God which is common and everyday, and yes, manifest or made known in the plain, material objects around us, like our daily bread. Jesus is saying, it seems, that God wants to be a part of our daily diet, that God’s presence is as basic to our existence as daily bread.
In today’s Scripture lesson, Jesus was asked, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you?” He answered, in effect, that faith comes not from one amazing miraculous sign but is the product of daily communion with the bread from heaven. Like the manna God sent to Moses, Jesus has come down from heaven as tangible food for the soul. His coming is miraculous, but the message of His Incarnation is that God wishes to be a part of our everyday life. As a child grows not by one or two pieces of bread but by years of constant feeding, so we grow in faith by the everyday, year in and year out, communion with Jesus.
So we should have “communion” with Jesus everyday. Through prayer. Through reading his words in Scripture. Through feeling his presence. The ritual of the Sacrament of Holy Communion is only a sign and symbol, mostly for the sake of our 5 senses, and need NOT be partaken of daily. But when we do come to the altar, it should represent our steady, daily SPIRITUAL communion with Christ.
Just as Jesus was about to be captured and killed, he held a dinner party for his disciples in an upper room at the edge of Jerusalem. As he broke the bread—something which he had done hundreds of times with these 12 men—he told them that what he was doing had greater meaning than it appeared, and that they should remember, and repeat, this ritual. When the Apostle John wrote his gospel, he remembered all the many references Jesus had made which connected to that final ritual called, “the Last Supper.” He remembered how Jesus was calling everyone to be a part of his “Body” of believers, and in order to enable that, his body would be broken just like a loaf of bread, and how that Jesus called himself “the bread of life,” and that Christ’s sacrifice would be the means for our forgiveness, and ultimately, we will all be transformed to a higher state of existence and then we will understand that this eucharistic meal is for the inner self, not the outer self.
This morning, will you come now to the table of life, and remember, and share together the body of Christ, the bread of life, and remember: you are feeding your your spirit. And I can’t speak for you, but my spirit is hungry.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Foley, Alabama