The Bread of Life, Week 1

The next 5 weeks we focus on Jesus, who says to us, “I am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”  (John 6:35)  

Let us begin to explore what that means for each one of us as we come to Christ … again and again, forever and ever ... with all of our hunger and all of our thirst ...

Over the next few weeks we find ourselves walking with the writer of the fourth and last biblical Gospel to be written.  We find hints of historical context as we read through the heightened conflict with Jewish religious officials that reflects a later time period that that of Jesus’ ministry.  John is a more theological (who is God?) writer than the other Gospel writers and could even be considered more Christological (who is Christ?) than theological.  We read the writing of one who has journeyed with Yahweh God for many years and one who seeks to draw us deeper into the mystical presence of God in Christ.  John uses a lot of metaphorical language to drive his writing.  We ask what Jesus means when he says, “I am the Bread of Life.”   And when we hear Jesus say these words, we cry out with the great crowds of people following Jesus, “Give us this Bread!”    

I invite you to spend a few moments to prepare your heart to receive the Word of God as you prayerfully consider the Scripture passage for today.   Breathe deeply and envision Jesus, the bread of life, listening to you, loving you right where you are and “feeding” your soul.  Settle into a sense of abundance within yourself with a simple breath prayer.  Use this one or create your own (six to eight syllables) 

          Breathe in … Bread of Life (pause)

                               Breath out … feed my soul (pause)

and when you are ready to move deeper into the text ...  

Pray: Jesus, you are the bread of my life.  You satisfy my soul when I join you in serving and sharing with others.  Let me always rest in you.  Amen … Amen … Amen

Lectio Divina, or the sacred and prayerful reading of the text, is best practiced with 10 verses, give or take a verse or 2.  Although the Lectionary Reading this week encompasses John 6:1-21 and includes 2 stories which are deeply tied to one another, we will shorten the lection and pray with verses 1-15 as follows … Jesus feeds the five thousand.

Step 1: Lectio … Reading

Read John 6:1-15 silently to yourself twice, slowly and reverently.

Listen for a word or phrase that catches your attention.  

Gently focus on that word or phrase.

Repeat it several times and allow it to be sifted through your heart and mind all the way to your soul.

After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias.  A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’ Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets.  When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’    When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Step 2: Meditatio … Receiving

Continue to focus on your word or phrase.

Pay attention to the thoughts and feelings it evokes.

What images emerge in your imagination?

What memories come to your mind?

Ask God to continue to speak to you through this word.

Listen for God’s reply as you move through your day

Step 3: Oratio … Responding

Consider any desires that have been awakened by your prayer.   

Perhaps you have found an area of your life that needs attention.   

Do not rush ... wait and listen as God forms your prayers and desires

Step 4: Contempatio … Resting

Allow yourself to rest in the silence.  Allow your mind to settle into the silence.  
When you feel the time to move on ...

Pray … Bread of Life, feed my soul … Amen

Cindy’s Sermonic Meditation … I am really delighted to share this particular passage of Scripture with you for several reasons … First of all, it gives me an opportunity to share my ministry with you. You know, I love the United Methodist Church but it is an institution … which means its structure can be really confusing! In the United Methodist Church, there are 2 orders of ordained clergy. I am a Deacon, appointed primarily beyond the local congregation to develop a ministry of spiritual formation that connects the church and the world to one another. I am appointed only secondarily in a local congregation to assist in worship and other areas as I’m asked. An Elder and Deacon are both ordained to Word, preaching/teaching and living the Word of God and to Service, serving the needs of the others in whatever way we are gifted. Elders are further ordained to Order and Sacrament which means they are responsible to order and administrate the life of the Church which includes consecrating the communion elements for distribution in the body of Christ and baptizing persons to initiate their life in the Church Universal and the local congregation. A stole is a sign of the ordained. The Elder wears a stole around the neck … a symbol of being “yoked to God and the Church.” I wear my stole to the side … that is a symbol of the towel that Jesus wrapped around his body as he washed the feet of the disciples. I, as a Deacon, am further ordained to Compassion and Justice which means I am responsible to “suffer with” the people in the church universal AND in the world (compassion) and to “make things right” for the people in the church universal AND in the world (justice). I confess that I find the work of compassion much easier than the work of justice … and THAT is how I want to walk into the Scripture. The second reason I’m delighted to share this passage of Scripture is that I get to talk about compassion and justice.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus is engaged in a powerful “curing/healing” ministry of compassion and because of this, he is being followed by crowds of people. Of course, the crowds don’t really care who Jesus is, they just want Jesus to cure their illnesses and heal their lives. Perhaps they can see no further than their own physical needs and worldly desires. Living on the margins, perhaps they cannot even see their need for justice. They just want out!

At the same time, Jesus is also engaged in a powerful ministry of justice as he confronts unjust and inflexible interpretations of the Law. Because of this, he is followed and threatened by the religious people residing in power. So, on the other hand, the people in power want him to stop curing people because he is drawing power and glory away from them and their way of ordering people’s religious lives. At the same time, they were courting the Roman government in order to secure their power and Jesus was causing trouble for them. Perhaps they are looking no further than their own materialistic greed and their lust for power.

People haven’t changed much have they? I can find myself on either side of this dilemma on any given day. Because we are human beings, we suffer from the human condition and from living out certain circumstances. As a woman, I believe that I suffer from gender discrimination and at times in my life I have found myself residing on the margins of life. On the other hand, as a white person, I believe that I benefit from the power that comes with white privilege.

So, here we are, dropping in on Jesus after he has cured a man on the Sabbath, engaged in a confrontation with Jewish officials, traveled from Jerusalem across the Galilee Sea and gone up a mountain with the disciples for a little peace and quiet. And how long does that last? Not long! “A large crowd kept following [Jesus] because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick”. The crowd arrived, Jesus looked up and he saw the physical need of the people. With compassion, he turns to the disciples and gives them both a challenge and an opportunity. Jesus says, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ He challenges them with an impossible task!

Let’s stop here for a moment and have a time for pondering …

What are the real physical needs that people in your neighborhood have? What do you see? What causes your sense of compassion to rise up within you? So … how are you going to meet that need? Is that an impossible task? So … when the disciples are faced with an impossible task, what was their first reaction? They thought about the monetary cost … it will cost too much. And then … there was a lone disciple who recognizes the generous spirit of a little boy with 5 loaves and 2 fish. That boy probably offered all he had.

Jesus holds out his hands, takes the gift, gives thanks for it, and then gives and gives and gives until all are satisfied and still there are broken pieces and fragments. Jesus says ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ And here is where things begin to shift for me in this passage ... and for the people too! “When the people saw the sign…” The Greek word semeion {say-mi'-on} which is translated “signs” can also be translated “miracles.” In John's Gospel, a “sign” is used to signify who Jesus is. In this miraculous feeding, the people see the sign and it signifies to them that Jesus is "the prophet who is to come into the world." And still, they want more. They want to make him king so that they can continue to be provided for. And what does Jesus do now? He disappears! For Jesus is not simply a prophet or even a king in the human realm. Jesus is “the Bread of Life.”

I hope you’ll come back next week when we study Jesus, the Bread of Life, in the context of the Sacrament of Holy Communion … until then, I invite you to ponder this question:

How is Jesus the Bread of your Life?

Sermon preached at Ashford UMC on Sunday, July 29, 2012