Episode 34: 3/25/09

Readings:

Psalm 119:121-144
Jeremiah 18:1-11
Romans 8:1-11
John 6:27-40

Sermon:

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.
John 6:35

Today’s Gospel reading continues the story of Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the 5000. The witnesses to this miracle correctly connect it to an earlier miracle in Israel’s history, God’s gift of manna to the wanderers in the desert. They mistakenly think, however, that Jesus has come to provide physical bread for them to eat daily, not realizing the spiritual significance behind the miracle.

It’s easy to see why they would be excited by this sign, and long for a Messiah who would never let them go hungry again. Throughout history, and to this day, bread is considered the “staff of life,” and the times of plenty are far outnumbered by the times of want. Whether because of war, or famine, or natural disaster, a majority of the world’s population finds nothing unusual in being hungry.

We, the fortunate ones, have seen the faces of starvation although we probably will never actually know a starving person. The images come at us through television, the internet, in magazines: the gaunt, shriveled children, their faces reflecting the emptiness of their stomachs. Even worse are the ones who show no expression at all, numb and hopeless. The worst are those of skeletal mothers trying in vain to feed their listless infants, too weak to suckle with cracked lips at the dry breasts that can offer no relief for their gnawing pain; the mother’s despair as she watches the fruit of her womb wither and die.

We see these images and instinctively want to help, and indeed, our government and humanitarian organizations spend billions of dollars every year to buy food for these unfortunate people. Aid workers risk kidnapping and murder to deliver it to hostile war zones and areas of incredible desolation and ruin. And yet it is never enough, the job is never done.

We, who have plenty, think we are immune from famine, that we will never hunger or thirst. And in a physical sense, we are probably correct. But there is another hunger, a hunger of the soul, that only the Bread of Life can fill.

We see it in the eyes of children desperate for love, their eyes reflecting the emptiness and longing of their souls. Even worse are those who are resigned to their fate, turning to drugs and violence to numb their hardened hearts. And worse yet are the mothers and fathers who themselves being spiritually starved their whole lives, have no comfort, no hope to offer their children; watching helplessly as their children’s spirits wither and die as surely as their own did.

This is the hunger that Our Lord came to fill, and which only He can fill. The Bread of Life, the Well of Living Water, is available to all who would eat and drink it. But just as aid workers risk their lives to bring comfort to the starving, missionaries often face incredible perils to bring the word of God to a lost and dying world. It seems like it will never be enough, the job will never be done, and indeed, until Christ comes again, whenever that may be, it won’t be.

But for most of us, we don’t have to risk kidnapping and murder to bring food to those in need. As Christians, we remember the days of our own hunger and the sweet relief of God’s grace. We can remember the joy of feeling our dry, hard hearts become tender and loving, maybe for the first time in our lives. And we can remember the comfort of being able to place our hope and trust in a Heavenly Father who will always be able to provide for His children, no matter how difficult the circumstances.

As we remember all this, let it fill our hearts with an overflowing love for a starving world, whether in foreign lands or in our neighborhoods or even in our own families. Let us offer them Jesus, the Living Bread, so they will never hunger and thirst again.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.