Bread of Life

Sermon John 6:25-35 November 20, 2016 Thanksgiving theme

Bread of Life

Proclamation of the Day:

In the first year of the presidency of George Washington in 1789, a Day of National Thanksgiving was set side for the last Thursday of November. Since that time, Americans have celebrated this day in remembrance of all the blessings which God has poured down upon this nation and her citizens.

In the presidential proclamation for Thanksgiving Day in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln had this to say:

"It is the duty of nations as well as of citizens to owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord....

"We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

"It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens."

President Lincoln was not a popular president. As a matter of fact, the people at the time thought him inept and had all kinds of names to call him. He was president during a time that this country was torn apart with war. Brothers were fighting brothers. Freedom was for some but not for all. And the meaning of freedom could not be agreed upon by many.  But, Where bread is broken…Healing can begin.

There have been many times in our American history when we can say, “these are troubling times” Some would say that of our history today while others would vehemently disagree. Yet, we are here and we gather together to hear the Word of God for us today.

We come to these words from the gospel of John around the season of Thanksgiving because it talks about bread…and who doesn’t love bread?! I love the commercials about bread. And especially Oprah Winfrey’s commercial for Weight Watchers when she proclaims, “I love bread.” Bread has been a staple for human consumption for as far back as we have history. Bread is what has gathered communities and families. It is only fitting that Jesus uses bread to provide thousands with satisfaction from their hunger.

The crowd followed Jesus around the lake to the other side and wanted more from him. Jesus points out to them that they want more signs because their bellies are full. They just want the earthly feeling of being full. He tells them not to work for this earthly feeling but to seek after that which sustains the heart and the soul for all of life. They remain confused and want to know what kind of work is it they have to do to have that fulfillment. Jesus tells them the ‘work’ to be done is ‘believing’-believing in him who was sent by God. The crowd is still confused and again asks for a sign. They utilize the only reference in their history of faith and ask Jesus if he will send down manna as the sign for them to believe just like God did for their ancestors. Jesus again points out that it is not about bread, it is not about work and it is not about signs-it is about LIFE. What Jesus offers them is life.

 

In him-in Jesus-the embodiment of God himself-is life. It is not in the signs and the wonders, it is not in the works that he has done, it is not in the words that he has said, but the life is in him for those who can believe in him as he has come down from heaven.

Bread is the metaphor. But, Jesus wants the crowd to understand that he is not a metaphor. And so, we find throughout this gospel the desire for Jesus to turn those around who seek after him. To help them see the light of God in him. Jesus is God. Jesus is the feast of joy of God’s love.

As Christians in the church we are often still seeking Jesus like the people in the crowd. We follow after him and wonder and ask the same bewildered question, ‘When did you get here?’

We forget that Jesus is always here.

Jesus is here drawing us together into the one body, the one faith, the one baptism in order to be his people for the world.

“For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

When we gather around the table of Thanksgiving with family and friends this year, let us remember that where bread is broken…healing can begin.

In the words of Abraham Lincoln, we are invited to take time to remember the good and abundant life to which we have been blessed.

We are reminded to take time to ask forgiveness of one another and to bless one another.

Yes, this country has been through the best of times and the worst of times.

It will continue to go through many more growing pains along the way.

Yet, this week on Thursday we pause and remember the One who brought us life and as we break bread together we will remember the words of Jesus, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Amen. 

When Food and Words Matter

Sermon John 6:25-35 November 22, 2015 @NMPC Thanksgiving Sunday Originally preached November 24, 2013 Community Thanksgiving Worship

When Food and Words Matter

This is Thanksgiving week and today we are here to worship. We are hoping to be filled with good words, good feelings and good thoughts so we can make it thru Thursday. Some of us are so excited for this day to come that we can’t contain our joy. Some of us are anticipating reunions, with new babies, grown children, happy couples just engaged or wed, grammas, grampas, colleagues and special friends. 

Whether we are filled with joyful or wary anticipation, we sure know we need strength for when all those people descend upon us.

And so here we are today gathered in as people of God reminded of the One who came to us as the Bread from Heaven. The Word made flesh dwells within us, the feast of heaven sustains us.

In the gospel of John Jesus, walks the seashores reciting to those who would hear about the offer of eternal food.

In this gospel it is clearly written that food and words DO matter!

We are hungry people. We are yearning people. Within all of us is the deepest desire and longing for relationship and love.

It is a human desire whether we believe in God or not. It is a hunger to love, to be loved and to move closer to the Source of love.

That’s what the crowd in this story of Jesus is doing. They chased him around the lake asking for more words to fill them. They wanted Jesus to show them more miracles and tell them, one more time, what they had to DO to be satisfied.

Isn’t that what we do too? If God could just DO another miracle or show us another sign or at least give us a clear directive then we’ll believe enough to be confident in his love for us.

But, Jesus didn’t offer the crowd a metaphor and doesn’t offer us one either. Jesus gives a clear statement of who he is. He uses the ‘I AM’ directive-the holiest of holy names for God, I AM the bread of life. Jesus IS the bread of life.

Where there is no bread, life cannot flourish. Nations upon nations have fought over bread and still do. The Dr Suess’ book ‘The Bread and Butter Wars speaks to the power and value of bread-such that there is no end to the battles of power for the sake of who has control of the food.

Food matters! And Jesus makes it clear that he is the food that not only nourishes, but gives new life AND gives it to the world!

Words matter too!

And this could be our highest stressor on Thanksgiving.

We certainly can look up the list of things NOT to say at the table. Things like, ‘gee, I think gramma’s pie was the best’-ah, not smart when the hostess just used gramma’s recipe.

Thanksgiving is not the time for disguising thanks with thoughtless digs, or airing grievances, or picking fights, giving advice, or making bold announcements.

Thanksgiving is just that. A time to give thanks, to gather, to listen, to sing, to speak and to offer ourselves to one another. It is a time for conversation-the opportunity to better understand one another; a time to create an environment of hospitality where each person feels welcome.

Our conversations matter. Conversations are at the core of who we are as humans.  Someone asked, “Are we human beings so immersed in conversation that, like fish in water, conversation is our medium for survival, and we just don’t see it?

Could this be true? That our words are a matter of survival? Could it be true that our one on ones and our group meetings and our family meal conversations all are part of the creative nature that sustains, and transforms the realities in which we live?

If this is true then we have the opportunity to start with this holiday season to pay attention to our words.

We have the moment open to us to maintain eye contact, listen with an open heart, speak with confidence and seek to understand the other in our life.

There are all kinds of books and websites out there filled ways to communicate effectively. There are books about strengthening relationships and building families. There are books about reconciliation and forgiveness.

The main focus of these resources is that words matter!

Its not time to stress.

It’s time to look to the Word-with a capital W-who really matters-in this Word-with a capital W- we find the core of who we are as humans.

In this Word-with a capital W-this Jesus- we find who we need for survival.

From the very beginning of this gospel we understand how powerful that message of Word is-the Word became flesh and lived among us, the glory as of a father’s son, full of grace and truth…from his fullness we have received grace upon grace.

Let us turn our hearts to what matters the Food and Word of our Life in Jesus Christ.

By God’s Word and Bread we are fed and this is what satisfies our hungry hearts.

The words of the Eucharist hymn come to mind:

You satisfy the hungry heart with gifts of finest wheat; come give to us O saving Lord, the bread of life to eat. With joyful lips we sing to you our praise and gratitude that you should count us worthy Lord to share this heavenly food.

Amen.

“Blessed Are You.”

Sermon Luke 6:20-31 November 6, 2013 All Saints Day service

“Blessed Are You.”

Blessed are you! Blessed are you!

As I walk down the aisle and say to each of you, “Blessed are you! When is the last time you’ve heard that said to you? Or that you’ve said it to someone?”

It is a powerful art and an incredible opportunity to offer someone the promise of God through a blessing.

We are all capable of blessing one another each day and perhaps several times a day if we get really excited. It’s an ancient tradition blessing those who come and go from the home. It’s an Old Testament tradition for a father to bless his children just before he passes from this life to the next.

On this day of celebration of All Saints. We think of those in our congregation and in our family who have died this past year. We lift them up and we remember the blessings they brought us.

We remember the holiness within them.

We remember the goodness of their nature and their gifts.

We rejoice in the remembrance of their lives and their witness.

And we whisper in our heart, “Blessed are you!”

For in our memory we can only draw the finest moments.

We can only recall the times that brought joy and the moments that stir our hearts with good thoughts.

And so the hard times and the difficult experiences melt away.

Yes, the one we have lost was a dear saint.

Perhaps a diamond in the rough, but in the promise of God, a saint.

Our churches’ story is filled with curmudgeons turned saints.

None of us is perfect.

But all of us are perfected in Christ.

And it is often their story that inspires us to continue to be the church for the next generation.

Not only does their story inspire us, but it also convicts us to go on and to do and to live out the gospel message.

We receive a message of hope when we think about the hard work done by those who passed away this year.

And thinking of them brings us to the question we face as we read and listen to these from Jesus-as we hear about the blessed and the woes. What is the kind of living that these beatitudes are saying we should have?

Luke’s beatitudes are described as the sermon on the plain and we find the beatitudes in Matthew as well and there they are known as the Sermon on the Mount. Luke, being a physician and a cut to the chase kind of guy, is much more straight forward than Matthew as he shares the words of Jesus for us. A lot more literal and less ‘spiritualizing’ one might say. He doesn’t beat around the bush about what way of life will be blessed and the kind of life that will be a life of woe.

Jesus makes it clear that the poor, the hungry, the outcast, the sad, and the persecuted are rather special to God. God throughout the Old Testament has been proclaiming the freedom of captives and the blind receiving sight and the lame walking.

So, as we hear these proclamations again from Jesus what does it propel in us?

It is to remember those who God loves and for us to love them too.

The kingdom already belongs to those Jesus has just told us about.

And so we wonder where do we fit in the kingdom?

We fit in the kingdom through the way we live our lives.

The foundation for holy living is to have the blessed relationship with God in Jesus Christ.

Holy living begins when we open ourselves up to the opportunities to be led by God to care for those God has placed in our path. We are freed from selfishness and greed when we are willing to put ourselves at risk for the sake of another.

My son in law had a traumatic experience on his way to work this past week. As he was crossing the prairie swamp in Florida a car flew past him at a very high speed. The speed there is 65 and he is one who obeys the speed and even drives under the speed. So he was not surprised for a car to overtake him. The next thing, however, he saw was the car flipping over into the swamp and quickly engulfed in the water.

He pulled over.

Before he could think clearly he was calling 911 and diving into alligator infested waters to try to save this individual from his submerged vehicle. Officers and rescue crew were on the scene in minutes, however despite their efforts they were not able to save this person.

I share this with you this morning because I’m sure that all of us would also without hesitation jump into deep waters to seek to save a life.

The beatitudes are a foundation of faith and life in which we are to seek to live without hesitation.

We are to be willing to dive in to care for the poor and the downtrodden without judgment. Judgment is God’s job. If we’ve been bamboozled, or played, God will take care of it. But, we can know we’ve done the right thing.

We find all kinds of excuses not to live the foundational living that Jesus calls us to live.

We are busy. We really are busy-too busy. We are taking care of our own bills before we get in debt caring for someone else. We have a few dreams to fulfill before we can offer our time to help others.

Jesus gets it. Jesus gets us. Jesus gets it-he really does!

And so he turns out the woes to remind us of the risks of not living in relationship with God. If you are laughing and making fun of others now-you best look out-because you are the ones who will be suffering next.

These are some pretty harsh words coming from Jesus! Jesus is not meek and mild here-he’s telling it like it is!  

He doesn’t stop there either.

He goes on to put in some tougher rules to live by.

“Love your enemies,” he says!

“Pray for those who abuse you,” he says! Jesus should know better than to ask those who’ve been abused to pray for their abusers-but he does! How can this be possible? These prayers are possible when we are absolutely secure in the love of God for us-because nothing can separate us from God’s love.

And when we live in that security-then even the powerful can’t hurt us and we have the strength to pray for them.

Jesus finally finishes his talk, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

No matter what the risk you face-care for others with the kindness and love you expect to receive.

Which brings us back to the powerful gift of blessing others.

Parents can offer their children as they leave home each day, a blessing to send them off with God alongside.

Coworkers, neighbors, care givers, attendants, service workers, all can be recipients of blessings as we offer God’s peace to them.

You will be amazed at how much strength and nourishment comes to you as you offer and as you receive a blessing.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.

Blessed are you!

Amen.

Resources: Feasting on the Word; NIB