August 6, 2006
Rev. Linda Fernandes-Bailey
Food That Sustains Forever
I was thinking this week about my work at Masonic Home in Wallingford. I served as a chaplain for a summer a few years ago. My assignment was with dementia patients and the hospice unit. Need less to say it was a challenging and often stressful summer. How was I to minister to people that made no sense at all when they spoke or who didn’t speak at all? What was I to do or say? It was a pretty intimidating assignment but I was up for the challenge besides I really had no choice in the matter it was part of my training for ministry. One thing that struck me the whole time I was there was how important faith had been to most people there. The thing that amazed me was that you could visit a patient with dementia who seemed to have no grasp on reality but when you started to pray or gave them a blessing they seemed to have a moment of clarity. They would stop talking and take in the blessing and often they could mutter the words of the Lord’s Prayer. They had fed on the bread of life and it appeared to still sustain them. The whole summer I was there I wondered would they be the last of a generation whose faith was so ingrained in them that even when their mind had failed them their faith had not?
The crowd again follows Jesus hoping to get more of that bread he gave them when he fed the five thousand. They’re looking to fill their stomachs, I mean that’s not a bad thing we need nourishment for our bodies for sure. But Jesus tells them… You’re looking for the wrong kind of bread. The bread you want will fill your stomach but it won’t last. I suppose that’s a rather hard message to hear if your stomach is grumbling. But the bread of God is true bread that will give life to the world….I am the bread of life says Jesus. The bread of God is not bread we can work for. The crowd asks “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus replies believe in the one whom God has sent.
It’s about belief and faith.
In John’s world belief didn’t quite have the same meaning we assume. We tend to think of belief as an act of the mind. It is a set of statements we believe to be true. In the ancient world it had more to do with heart. It had more to do with loyalty and commitment. So believing in Jesus as the bread of life is more like saying I give my heart to God who has been revealed to me through Jesus. Or I commit my loyalty to Jesus. Simply put I want to follow in the way of Jesus.
When we believe Jesus as the bread of life…we are given new life. Paul says that whoever is in Christ is a new creation all together…the old self is gone and you are a new creation in Christ. So if you are following Christ and are the same person you’ve always been are you really in Christ? When we accept this new life we will be challenged, changed, transformed, made uncomfortable. We will be called to do things we are uncomfortable doing or say things that we are afraid to say. We will look at the world with new eyes. We will be asked to give up our judgments and prejudices. We will be asked to forgive when forgiving seems impossible. The new life Christ offers means seeing the world as God would see it. The way of Christ is not easy. So if you are looking to be comfortable all the time I just don’t think that’s the kind of new life Christ has to offer. You’re looking for the wrong kind of bread. Perhaps you’re filling yourself with junk food. The bread of life that Jesus offers will sustain you forever.
One writer explained it this way:
As the father of small children I am always mindful of what my wife and I fix for them to eat and the amount of it they actually eat. If it were left up to my eldest child, my son Avery, every meal would consist solely of Oreo cookies. In his view these cookies provide all the sustenance he will ever need. Scientifically speaking, he probably could live for a while on a diet of just Oreo cookies, but with the absence of so many other needed vitamins and minerals, he could surly be in very poor health. Fortunately, we, his parents have an idea of what he needs to maintain a proper and balanced diet. He goes on to say: A lot of Christians are similar in their spiritual lives. They tend to exercise what I refer to as “spiritual pickiness.” That is, they choose only certain portions of the “bread” that Jesus offers and ignore other portions. Usually the portions they choose are those that do not offend them, those that so not urge them to rearrange their selfish priorities, or those that do not require them to forsake too much of their former ways of being. Spiritual pickiness, just like the pickiness that many of our children exercise towards their foods, is not a healthy habit. It can lead to serious malnutrition in our lives and in our souls. Jesus wanted to stress to the crowds that the bread he offers brings about total fulfillment of body, mind, and soul. Those who partake of this bread will never be hungry again.
If you think about it there’s a lot of spiritual pickiness in the church. We often come to church thinking it’s about getting our needs met but it’s not about us. It’s about God…it’s about taking in the bread of life. We come because we like the minister or like the sermons. But it’s not about the minister it’s about God. We come because we like the music and we like the drama ministry here but it’s not about that it’s about God. We come to the church for many different reasons….looking…searching….seeking…Hoping it’ll answer our every need but it’s not about us…it’s about God.
I was really moved at this year’s annual meeting when Ralph Mann stood up and said I’m Ralph Mann I’ve been a member of this church for 63 years…I was so struck by his introduction (63 years in the SAME church that’s a long time) that I don’t even remember what he said after that. So I called Ralph and said tell me a little about that and he said “I grew up in this town and all the schools I went to are no longer here, the farm I worked on is gone, the bank I worked at is gone but the one thing I still have is my church….that has been my rock.” And so I said “Well , Ralph I imagine that the church has changed a lot over 63 years.” “Yes there have been changes…lots of fighting at times… all sorts of things but the purpose of the church is the same. And what do you think that is, I ask? “To love God and love neighbor.” He replies. It’s not about us it’s about God.
Then Ralph called himself a dinosaur because it’s true people that stay in the same church for 63 years are becoming a dying breed. Some of it of course is because we are a more transient society and people tend to relocate for their careers. But a good deal of it is because of our spiritual pickiness. If we don’t like the way a vote goes…we leave. If we don’t like something the minister did or said…we leave. If we don’t find worship exciting enough …we leave. If we still find ourselves lonely, unhappy and discontent…we leave. If we can’t really fit church into our busy schedules we phase it out. Now don’t get me wrong I am not judging anyone…I too have been a church shopper and if I wasn’t I wouldn’t be here today….so it’s not a black and white issue. But still I feel a little sad that my own journey and therefore that of my family’s has been rather transient and I will never be able to say I have been in a church for 63 years. Am I too spiritually picky? Are you?
Because you see it’s not really about you and me…It’s about God. The Christian church exists to witness to Christ crucified, risen and among us now. Our function is to praise and glorify God and do God’s work in the world. It is not about us. It’s not about feeling good or life being easy. It’s not about liking every decision that the church makes or about liking every minister that comes through the door. It’s about living together as a Christian community whose unity is in Christ. It means loving one another even when we disagree and are annoyed. It means keeping our focus on God and serving God in our world. It means believing in the bread of life…being loyal to God and as Christians that means following the way of Christ.
We come to this Holy table today to be fed on the bread of life…to know the spiritual presence of Christ in our lives. When we meet Christ at this table we will be transformed. Christ will rearrange our needs and it may not be at all like we expected. Come to this table and give up your spiritual pickiness. Let Christ fill you and lead you. Amen.