Gospel:
John 6:24-35
Reading: Exodus
16:2-4, 9-15
Relational
Question: Share a time you were changed by a meal. Who was present? What changed?
In the story of Hansel and
Gretel, a famine has come over the land, and desperate parents go to abandon
their children in the woods. The
children, Hansel and Gretel, leave a trail of white stones leading back home,
having overheard their parents’ plan.
But when they are led out a second time, and Hansel has been prevented
from gathering more stones, he leaves a trail of breadcrumbs. Those crumbs, however, are eaten by the birds
and the children find themselves lost in the woods. Because of the temporary nature of bread,
they find themselves stuck. However they
are looking for something more than food, something deeply nourishing and
fulfilling, and that is family. Bread
and food are an important of health and fulfillment, but they only take us so
far. In this story, though, the
temporary nature of bread, leads the children to not only find nourishment and
more than that every child’s dream of a giant gingerbread house covered in
sweets, but to find and use their own power-strength, intuition and intellect,
and to save their family from starvation.
Jesus says, “Work not for the food that perishers, but for the food that
endures.” Work not for the candies and
sweet treats of the gingerbread house, but for the long-term goal of family and
deeper fulfillment.
You could say the Israelites were following a trail of breadcrumbs. They ate the first Passover meal there in
Egypt, the fatted calf, bitter herbs, wine and unleavened bread, to strengthen
them for the journey. They crossed the
Red Sea. Now they find themselves hungry
in the wilderness. They know God has
brought them out, but they aren’t sure that God is going to do anything else
for them, so they complain. They are not
following God, they are following their stomachs, and who could blame them,
they don’t know God. They haven’t had a
chance to build a relationship of trust.
That’s what the next 40 years is going to be about. God doesn’t chide them for complaining in the
wilderness. Instead, God says to Aaron
and Moses to tell the people to draw near to God, for God “has heard your
complaining.” And not just heard, but
responded. And not just responded to
that immediate need for bread, but the need to become a people and a people who
trust God.
The Israelites were a nomadic tribe.
Like most or all nomadic tribes, they go where the food is. The Israelites see God as a pillar of fire
during the night, and a cloud during the day.
It is no wonder they followed God in the form of a cloud. Where there are clouds, there is rain, and
where there is rain there is vegetation and food. Now, God promises them to give them manna
each day and quail each evening, a kind of breadcrumb trail that they will
follow as they learn that God is their provider, that God is reliable, and as
they let go of their identity as slaves and learn to live in freedom and
community. This trail of breadcrumbs not
only leads to nourishment for the people, but also to a deeper fulfillment, in
relationship with God and each other and this creation.
We, too, follow breadcrumb trails.
Some are left by advertising agencies, telling us that material things
will lead to our fulfillment. Some are
left by movies and television, telling us that problems are solved by violence
and luck. Some are left by family
members trying to get what they want from us.
Some are left by religious authorities trying to dumb down the Gospel and
give us easy answers instead of walking with us on a journey of learning to
trust. Some are left by us, as we try to
leave ourselves hints about how to get back home again, to track down the
fulfillment of our deepest needs, to be authentically ourselves. And some are left by God, not for temporary
quick-fixes, but leading to a vision of abundant life for all.
The crowd in the Gospel was following the breadcrumb trail. They were mostly in it for the
breadcrumbs. It feels pretty good to
have a full stomach, especially when you’ve experienced nothing but hunger for
a long time. It is easy to get led
astray by breadcrumbs. When we’re
hungry, we’re vulnerable. We’d do just
about anything to satisfy that need.
When we go to Jesus with our hungers, we find our brother who cares
about our deeper needs. When we go to
things or violence or movie stars or politicians, we find that they are looking
to fill their needs and will use us to gain power or to destroy or hurt or
divide.
Jesus takes this opportunity
with the crowds to have a conversation and make them think a little deeper. He has just fed the 5000. But they are still following him. They have been fed, but they find themselves
still hungry. Jesus is noticing their
deeper need and pointing it out to them.
He tells them to look past their stomachs and see what is really lasting
in life and work for that. He tells them
that the work they need to do is belief, responding with trust in God. They start to get a little greedy and try to
turn him into a bread machine. But Jesus
responds to their story about the past when God fed the Israelites with manna,
and points out that it is still a reality.
Daily manna is not of the past, but it is still happening, because God is presently still giving the bread
of life, the bread from heaven, who is Jesus.
God not only meets the needs of our stomachs with the food provided, but
God meets deeper needs for safety and challenge and community and love.
Jesus feeds people. He doesn’t
expect us to go hungry. Of course we
have needs to fulfill. It’s ok to
satisfy our need for food, our physical needs.
It is ok to follow the trail of breadcrumbs. But let’s not mistake the breadcrumbs for our
ultimate fulfillment. Don’t stop with
the bread crumbs. Let us open ourselves
to hearing the deepest need within ourselves and our communities, for
belonging, and deep nourishment, and connection not just for us, but for every
creature. When we let ourselves feel
that longing and hear the cries of our neighbors, we can fix our direction
toward the one who walks with us on the path to that reality, that new life. We can remember at all points in the journey
to give thanks to God for each crumb of bread.
Each one is a miracle of soil and light and seed and water and the energy
it gives our bodies. We can notice where
the nourishment we receive comes from, that we rely on many others to grow our
food, harvest it, process it, ship it, and sell it. Even if we eat by ourselves, we are eating
for the most part because of a whole community of people who made it possible
for that food to be there.
Do we live to eat or eat to live?
The Israelites were complaining in the
wilderness. “I miss
my
fleshpot!” A fleshpot is basically a big
pot of soup. This kind of soup was for
hungry people who couldn’t afford to waste any food. That was where they boiled down the bones and
stretched what little they had to feed the whole family. God saw the bigger vision. Jesus said to the tempter, “Is not life more
than bread? One does not live by bread
alone.” Is not life more than the
fleshpots? The Israelites had trouble
seeing past that, and so do we. Our temporary comforts can seem so
important. But when you’re going
somewhere that milk and honey flow and you can live in freedom, a little
discomfort is worth it on the way.
God has a vision in mind and is
leading us there by a breadcrumb path.
We will wander the wilderness as we practice trust and belief. We will be uncomfortable on this journey. But God is with us and knows where we’re
headed. Jesus, the bread of life, is
right here with us, giving us life.
Receive the bread of heaven, see the new life we are being handed, live
in gratefulness. The name manna means “What is it?” Be willing to ask what it is, be open to
whatever gifts come from God, and to share those gifts, for the nourishment of
the whole creation.
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