August 2, 2009


 

2009 08 02

Soul Food

Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15

Psalm 78:23-29

John 6:24-35

 

They say that the way to a man's heart...is through his stomach.  This week, my heart was very deeply touched.  Last Sunday, after church, Carrie Binger and her mom dropped off a big basket full of corn, green beans, and potatoes.  One night, we cut the potatoes into slices and threw them on the grill with some hot dogs, while we boiled the corn.  (I know you can cook corn on the grill.  But we haven't had sweet corn in years, and I wasn't about to ruin a batch of corn by experimenting now.) 

 

The hot dogs were good and the potatoes were fine, but it was the sweet corn...oh, blessed sweet corn...that made me the happiest.  It was just one of those blissful moments where you just feel like..."OK, Lord, you can take me now."  I'm just joking, but you know what I'm talking about when the food is just so good.  Friday, Jen baked a birthday cake for Katie's birthday party.  Then yesterday, at the ice cream social...chicken sandwiches and apple dumplings!  I told you this was a good week for food.  Now, you know why I'm trying to get volleyball going...I need the exercise!

 

As much as we love our food, the opposite is also very true.  No one likes to go hungry.  No one likes to be even remotely hungry.  The first time our stomachs growl, off we go!  We go to the fridge.  We go to the store.  We throw some meat and potatoes on the grill, some corn in the pot, and a cake in the oven.  As a people, and as a nation, we do not do hungry. 

 

This is something we have in common with the people in Exodus 16.  The Israelites had left Egypt, escaping Pharaoh's armies.  They left in such a hurry, that they did not have enough food and water to last them very long.  As they travel through the wilderness, there are no supermarkets.  There are no pizza places, McDonald's or  Circle K's.  It is just them, the wilderness, and their hunger.  And a bad situation got a whole lot worse.

 

2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death."

 

Moses and Aaron had led this group where they were.  If you're hungry, you look for food.  If there is no food, you look for someone to blame.  In their hunger, the people had forgotten that it was neither Moses, not Aaron who had led them into the desert, but the LORD himself. 

 

11 The LORD said to Moses, 12 "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.'"13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, "It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat.

 

Each evening, quail would land within the camps.  Each morning, manna would cover the ground.  At the hand of the LORD, the people would neither go hungry nor thirsty.  For forty years, the Lord provided all they would need to eat.  There would be rumblings and grumblings, incidents and insurrections...but the LORD provided each day.  Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.

 

Manna and quail.  This was a major part of Israelite history.  Even thousands of years later, every Jewish man, woman, and child would know this story of how God took care of his people.  So in last week's passage from John, in the feeding of the 5000.  People would start to realize that Jesus was no ordinary teacher or prophet. 

 

Again, the crowds follow him.  The follow Jesus and the disciples to Capernaum.  In Exodus, the people followed Moses and Aaron because they would be fed, and the crowds were now following Jesus for the same reason. 

 

26 Jesus (said), "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

 

Jesus is pointing them to something greater than just food.  Food spoils, and people become hungry again, but Jesus is offering the people something that will satisfy not just for a day or two...but forever.  Food that endures to eternal life.  Jesus has their attention.  They are liking this.  If food is good, food that endures to eternal life...must be better.  Now how can I get me some of this?

 

28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" 29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."  All they have to do...to do...is believe in Jesus.  That's it.  Believe in Jesus. 

 

But now there is a problem.  The people start to backpedal.  They liked the food...the fishes and loaves.  But to believe?  That might be too much for them.  They had heard prophets.  They had seen miracle men.  And every time before, they got burned.  Now, Jesus wanted them to believe in him?  30 So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

 

The people wanted a sign.  Sometimes I wonder what these people were thinking.  He healed the sick., cured the lame, cast out demons.  And as if this wasn't enough, he had just fed a giant crowd with a couple of fish and a few loaves.  Yet, they still want a sign! 

 

32 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

 

Moses and Aaron did not provide the Israelites with manna and quail.  It was the LORD, saving his people, providing for them and helping them to trust in him for their needs.  It had nothing to do with Moses and Aaron.  And what Jesus has come to do has nothing to do with him, and everything to do with the Father who has sent him. 

 

In the time of Moses, God provided the temporal and timely needs of his select group of people.  But in Jesus Christ, God has provided everything needed for eternal life to all... who believe. "What must we do to do the works God requires?"  "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

 

34 "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread." 35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

 

We live in a world where there is plenty of food, but most of the people are starving.  And I'm not talking about sweet corn and potatoes.  They're famished...but the food's not filling.  They're starving, but the snacks don't satisfy.  People are out there with a craving in their hearts that cannot be filled by any food we can grow or buy.  I have known that hunger myself.  I have felt that thirst for something good, and right and satisfying.  We need to stop worrying about how we're going to feed our faces, and start believing that Jesus wants to fill our souls.

 

Maybe there are some people here today like this.  Maybe there are people in this church who have been coming, waiting for a sign and hoping to see a miracle.  I'm not going to multiply fish and bread, and I'm not turning any water into wine.  But I can tell you about the one who did.  Jesus is offering himself to you, right here right now..

 

John 6:51 (Jesus said) I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

We are entering into a time of Holy Communion...a time of confession, repentance, and most importantly...faith.  In this time, you can take the bread and take the juice.  But the most important thing you can do is believe.  Believe that Jesus is the bread of life.  Whoever comes to him will never go hungry, and whoever believes in him will never be thirsty.