[Jesus said:] I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “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. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
John 6:51-58
My sermon from the 13th Sunday after Pentecost (August 18, 2024) on John 6:51-58.
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So one of the things I try to do whenever I come home from vacation is to empty the suitcases as soon as possible. I drag everything in front of the laundry machines, start a few loads, and then put all the toothpaste, moisturizers, and other magical potions back to where they belong. I try to be very intentional about doing this but after my recent trip to Colorado, one small carry-on suitcase sat in our foyer for over a week. When we, as a family, finally got sick of tripping over it everytime we left the house, Kate and I opened it up and took everything out. While I was busy tossing another load of clothes into the washer, I noticed that Kate had become very quiet. I looked over and noticed that after searching the front pockets of the suitcase, she was staring at something in her hand. It’s then when she confronted me and wondered why I brought back to New Jersey a bunch of acorns she assumed I found in Colorado. Now bringing random things back from a vacation is something I have been known to do. But when I took a closer look at these little nuts, I realized they came from the trees outside my home. My hunch is that, at some point, a squirrel got into my attic which is where we store luggage when we’re not using it. I’m sure that large space felt warm, dry, and cozy in a world that can often feel anything but. This so-called little furry friend figured they could make a home up there and thought this brown rectangle with a few squirrel-sized pouches would be the perfect place to store some sustenance for whatever their future journey might bring. We all need many different things to live the life God calls us to live. And in our reading today from the gospel according to John, Jesus continued to reveal just how far God will go to sustain us in this life – too.
So we are currently in our fourth consecutive week listening to John’s version of the time when Jesus fed 5000 people with a handful of fish and a few loaves of bread. Thecrowd who had gathered around Jesus were folks who were looking for wholeness and hope. They had, through word of mouth, heard how Jesus could offer them the future they longed for. The crowd came to him and Jesus knew they were more than simply a prop to show how amazing and powerful he was. Each one of them was a real person and so engaged with them like he did his disciples – inviting everyone into a deeper experience with their God. The crowd, in a surprising way, actually listened to him – recognizing something different was truly going on. They didn’t, however, really understand what Jesus was up to – and the ensuing conversation was long, drawn out, and appeared a bit repetitive. Jesus, though, was using words to take them on a mental, metaphorical, and spiritual journey. He encouraged them to try and use their own story – especially the story of the Exodus and God’s feeding the people with manna and quail in the wilderness – as a way to interpret what Jesus was doing. But he also wanted everyone to see how God wasn’t only caring for them in that particular moment. Having what we need, such as enough food, shelter, safety, our health, and a community that has our back – is foundational to living any kind of life. God, though, also wanted those around Jesus to discover the place they had in the future God was bringing about. And that future wasn’t only for them as individuals; it was a future meant for all. That kind of future would be a community of people who carry one another through. The ones who care for us when we can’t and who bring a meal when we can’t get out of the house. It’s a community that can offer us grace when we screw up while holding us accountable for the ways we fail to live like we should. This future is full of people who can be completely themselves while growing into who God imagines them to be. God isn’t only interested in our past or our today. God also cares about our tomorrow. And to live into this future that will come, God invites us to be the community that this future needs. It’s a community that resembles what Jesus did – full of healing, feeding, listening, noticing, and giving up our own personal advantages so our neighbors can thrive. But when it’s difficult to be that kind of gift to ourselves and to those around us, we need some kind of sustenance – to fuel us through whatever comes next. Jesus knew that we, the disciples, and the crowd around him 2,000 years ago – needed something more than what we can provide each other. What we need is a more holy sustenance that transforms our present and our tomorrow. So Jesus, in a very Jesusy kind of way, promised them just how far God will go to sustain us for what our tomorrow might be.
Now the sustenance Jesus provides isn’t merely spiritual; it’s also physical and relational. It’s a sustenance manifested in the bread and drink – His body, His blood, His entire being – that we share during Holy Communion. It’s a source of nourishment present whenever we gather in worship to pray, to listen, to admit the ways we fail to be who God has made us to be, and to receive the forgiveness that propels us into God’s unfolding future. And it’s also present in the callings God gives us – callings such as being a parent, a child, a student, a teacher, a plumber, an office worker, a retiree, as well as a follower of Jesus – to discover the gifts God has given us that make us a gift in our world too. This sustenance isn’t only something meant for us to receive because it also instills in us a responsibility to also be what sustains our family, friends, and neighbors. This responsibility is one that we will struggle to embrace. There are times when we will just turn back on the future God wants or find ourselves living through a season when we need others to primarily be what sustains us. Being a kind of sustenance for others seems strange when what they provide us is the only thing bringing us through. But when we accept the help and the care that others can do, we sustain within them the experience, the joy, and the peace that comes knowing they really are the gift God has made them to be. The sustenance we receive and the sustenance we are called to be are like the acorns we stash away to be the fuel for whatever comes next. Jesus knows that this stash will often be emptied by the trials and tribulations life brings. And so that’s why he continues to make himself known and available here – at His table of grace, forgiveness, hope, and love. You are, in baptism, transformed to be His body and blood and presence in the world. And Jesus promises to not only sustain you in this work but to also be the sustenance that transforms your tomorrow in God’s holy forever.
Amen.