Theological Truth: The bread of life come down from heaven offers us a living relationship with God that satisfies all that we hunger for.
Come Holy Spirit and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.
Being from New Orleans, I’m often asked by people who are planning a visit to the city, “Where’s the best place to get red beans and rice?” Unfortunately, the answer is simple, but not helpful: my grandfather’s house.
Grandpa wouldn’t make red beans and rice every Monday, as is the usual custom. He saved them for special occasions. When I would come home during college, for example, often with more people than expected, Grandpa’s red beans were on the stove, ready to feed the masses. He spared no expense, seasoning them with copious amounts of the best ham, sausage and andouille he could find. The pot never ran out, and it had an oft-required healing effect for those who may have overindulged in other ways. My grandfather’s red beans and rice never received a James Beard award, but they are my forever favorite because they fed both my body and my soul.
I’m sure many of you have your family’s version of this. Whether we’re talking about apple pie, potato salad, bbq or mac and cheese, “the best” is the one we received from a loving family member. It’s the food whose most powerful ingredient is Love. It’s the food that’s more than food, because it feeds us at the level of the soul as well as the body.
This is the second Sunday in row that we are hearing from what is referred to as the Bread of Life discourse in John’s Gospel. Jesus has already fed the 5,000 with the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes. All four of the Gospels contain this well-known feeding miracle, but John is the only one to sandwich (see what I did there?) the miraculous feeding around the time of the Passover and this deepening discourse about the bread of life, the bread that has come down from heaven. Why is that?
First, it demonstrates that God is willing, able, and historically proven to give us our daily bread. It is God’s good desire to provide for God’s people. He did it in the Garden; he did it in the desert; he did it for his servant Elijah, and he does it through Jesus. He provides enough for us even when or where it seems unlikely or impossible. He provides despite any lack of faith or wavering of trust. Time and again God provides, not only for our most basic needs, but so much more than we can ask or imagine.
And yet, we struggle …. not only to trust, but to be satisfied. We want more, so we complain. We crave more, so we grumble. We become bored, so we whine and take God for granted. That’s what the Israelites did in the wilderness. The lines from Psalm 78 sum it up well: “So mortals ate the bread of angels; he provided for them food enough …. So they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved. But they did not stop their craving, though the food was still in their mouths.” (Ps.
78:25, 29-30).
In today’s Gospel, the same verb used in the Old Testament is used to describe the reaction from Jesus’ audience. They complain because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They struggle to get past their worldly knowledge of his mother and father. They grumble that what Jesus is offering just isn’t quite enough. They want more. More providence. More proof. More evidence. More.
So do we, if we’re honest. And maybe that’s not our fault. God created us to hunger and thirst. I don’t know about you, but I start thinking about dinner not too long after I finish lunch! The question isn’t so much, will we seek more, but where will we seek more? Not will we be satisfied, but with what shall we be satisfied? Not will we hunger and thirst, but who do we hunger and thirst for?
Thanks be to God, who in Christ Jesus – the bread of life, the bread that comes down from heaven – satisfies all our cravings. Whoever you are and however hungry or thirsty you are, he will satisfy those needs once and for all. And not only the physical needs (which God clearly knows we need!) but also our spiritual needs. God knows we need this too. As my former bishop used to say, “We are wired for transcendence.” And as St. Augustine famously said, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God.” God knows our souls yearn for union every bit as much as our bodies hunger and thirst.
In Jesus, we have this new manna—this bread of life come down from heaven. And like manna, we must collect it every day. And by that, I don’t mean receive Holy Communion every day (although for some people that is exactly why it’s critical to their rule of life), but we must seek this connection every day. Because ultimately what God is drawing us to (all of us and all of the time) in Christ through the Holy Spirit is nothing less than a life united with God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Eternal life is this ongoing, living, never-ending relationship with God. This is what Jesus offers … whoever receives and ingests this—day by day—has eternal life, undying connection.
This life of ongoing interconnectedness is not a one and done thing. It’s nourishment, offered to us in Christ over and over again, because we need it over and over again. It’s a relationship with God that is ever deepening and always welcoming. It’s a medicine that must be continuously taken, rather than a one-time immunization.
It’s as simple as bread, but it’s the best bread ever — made with love, offered daily, meeting all of our needs. And there’s enough … more than enough … more than we can ask or imagine.
Sermon by The Rev. AJ Heine, August 11, 2024 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Staunton, Va.
