Transcript
Jesus said, I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. Please be seated.
Last week I talked about my own journey seeking out the bread, the true bread, the bread that only- that not only feeds the stomach, but also the soul, and gives us joy and hope and passion and love and eternal life. I figured it was a good way to introduce myself, to help you all understand a little bit about my background, and also to help you all to begin to imagine a future together. This week we get another “I am the Bread of Life” gospel reading. Don’t worry, we only have one more Bread of Life gospel reading after today. [laughter] Jesus is really trying to hit home this idea that he is the bread of life, the reason for everything, for who we are and why we are called to be God’s people, for loving one another. Because God loves us. For being saved, and consequently for being filled with the joy and passion that is Christian hope.
And I have to say, if we have to hear Jesus say, “I am the bread of life” 3 or 4 times in a row, then I’m going to guess it’s kind of a hard message to handle. Maybe it’s because we’re more consubstantial people and not substantial people or transubstantial people, but that’s Eucharistic theology, and I’ll talk about that next week when we get another Bread of Life gospel. Maybe it’s because we spend so much time trying to figure out our own ways, our own journeys, our own quote, bread of Life options that we need the reminder. The reminder that there is only one way, one truth, one bread that will feed not just our stomachs, but also our souls.
And so I want to ask all of you: where have you gone? What have you done? What have you pursued as your bread of life? What journey have you tried to take and maybe failed, or maybe even succeeded only to find out that that wasn’t the journey to the true bread, which gives us eternal life.
Now, to be clear, I am certain that most everything we do in life has meaning, has reason, and certainly has purpose. Be it your career, your hobby, your family, your friends, and those you support, perhaps the people you are closest to, or even the people you’ve never even met or thought of before. For one reason or another, all of them, all of that has been important to you because otherwise I would imagine you wouldn’t dedicate time and space to it, to them.
And maybe you’ve been lucky enough to find The Thing. The thing that is truly your purpose, truly your calling. The reason God created you.
Maybe you, like me, had a religious experience, heard a voice, or felt a presence or saw a vision. Maybe you regularly have those little glimpses of God, small “yepps” from God, indicating that you’re right, you’re correct. You’re on the right path. Or maybe you haven’t been as blessed or lucky or whatever it might be in God’s universe that gives us those glimpses, or even maybe you haven’t thought to look. You haven’t thought to stop and listen, to be still and silent in prayer, in conversation with God. You know the half of the conversation where you’re not the one talking. Maybe you’ve been too busy going about life, following whatever next step is the one in front of you.
Because let me tell you my quote “next step” some 15 years ago was not towards the altar. At least the next step I thought was going to happen. And so this is my invitation to you all; actually, it’s two invitations. First, I invite you to think about your own story, your own pursuit of God’s bread of life, the bread that comes down from heaven and promises eternal life. The bread that Jesus is for each of us. And think about how maybe, like me, you are or were trying to do it all on your own. In fact, if you get a chance, I’d love to hear your story, your journey, your pursuit of your own bread of life.
And then my second invitation meet with Jesus. Seriously. Make an appointment to sit with God in silence and stillness. Maybe here in your pew at the altar, looking at the cross or the beautiful stained glass windows. Or maybe it’s on a walk by the water, or in that super awesome, unbelievably comfortable favorite chair. You know, the one placed in the corner with all that natural sunlight. Just promise me you won’t fall asleep when you’re sitting in it. And listen.
See if you and God are on the same page, or if maybe you need a little disruption, a little redirection, a little nudge to return you back to the altar, back towards the promise that Jesus gives us in today’s gospel reading. The kind of promise that means we will be fed and never hungry again, living and never facing eternal death. Recentered in Jesus Christ and God the Father, the idea that Jesus Christ is the center of it all. The reason for our salvation, the true bread which comes down from heaven and gives us eternal life.
It was such a foreign idea to those who gathered with him. Hearing him teach, they didn’t understand. They couldn’t figure out what type of bread would feed the soul, as opposed to just feeding the stomach. And so they asked questions, and Jesus did his best to answer them. Although I’ll go ahead and say now, Jesus could probably have worked a little harder and be a bit more succinct in his answers, a bit more clearer in his message. But that’s a different sermon anyway.
When those gathered around Jesus didn’t understand and Jesus tried to explain it again and again, it seems people still struggled with this information. But the idea that Jesus was the source of all goodness, the source of eternal life, the source of bread that will feed our souls. And now we might think, of course it makes sense. After all, combining Jesus with all the other things he is. Maybe you’ve heard of those seven I am statements Jesus makes in John’s Gospel.
Seven different ways to see and better understand Jesus, adding all those seven I am statements, which includes I am the bread of life, adding all those other things we know through study and personal experience and all those other things we know about Jesus. Maybe this gospel reading doesn’t seem so challenging. Maybe the idea that Jesus is the true bread that comes down from heaven and feeds the soul and gives us eternal life. Maybe this is all start to make sense, but the biggest challenge, I think, is figuring out how something that makes sense here also makes sense here and in our souls and the deepest parts of our faith, our relationship with God.
Everyone has pursued their own journeys. Everyone has sought out their own version of the Bread of Life. And now I pray we are all able to come back and look not just for the bread of life, but the true bread of Life, the source of all God in our lives and our hearts and our souls, and especially together in our community.
God’s there calling you, offering you the true bread of life. You just have to listen. And when you hear it all, you have to say is yes, please and thank you. Jesus is the bread of life. Let’s go find it together.
Amen. Amen.