First Reading: Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’ ” 10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 11 The Lord spoke to Moses and said, 12 “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”
13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.”
Psalm: Psalm 78:23-29
God rained down manna from heaven; so mortals ate the bread of angels. (Ps. 78:24, 25)
23 So God commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of heaven,
24 raining down manna upon them to eat and giving them grain from heaven.
25 So mortals ate the bread of angels; God provided for them food enough.
26 The Lord caused the east wind to blow in the heavens and powerfully led out the south wind,
27 raining down flesh upon them like dust and flying birds like the sand of the seas,
28 letting them fall in the midst of the camp and round about the dwellings.
29 So the people ate and were well filled, for God gave them what they craved.
Second Reading: Ephesians 4:1-16
1 I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it is said,
“When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.”
9 (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) 11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. 14 We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
Gospel: John 6:24-35
24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were [beside the sea,] they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” 32 Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave 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 that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
CHILDRENS SERMON. The classic secular childrens’ story about making bread tells of a little red hen. She found some wheat and decided to plant it so she could make bread. She asked her friends, the duck, the dog and the pig to help her. They all refused to help. We remember the question, “Who will help me plant, who will help me harvest, and who will help me cook?” All her friends refused. “Not I” said each in turn. When it was time to eat the bread, all were ready to enjoy! Jesus calls himself “the bread of life” and yet the crowds resist him. Let’s look a bit closer at their reservations.
Let us pray: Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer.
SERMON
For several weeks we have been following Jesus as he traveled near the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. The hungry crowds have followed Jesus from one side to the other of the sea. They want to make him their king. Today the crowds climb into boats to go to Capernaum to find Jesus. Our text shares three questions they still have when they are confronted by Jesus about their motives for looking for him. He tells them that they want to make him king so they can eat the bread but actually they do not want to do the work of being a follower. They want the reward without the relationship.
So why do we come to Jesus? The crowds wanted to make Jesus king after he fed them bread in last Sunday’s text but then Jesus melted out of sight and in today’s text they are looking for him. The crowds return to Capernaum, possibly his command central, to try to find him. It would seem that they are still baffled about who he is and how their relationship with him works. So what are their questions?
1. Rabbi, when did you come here?
2. What must we do to perform the works of God?
3. What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing?
It seems to me these three questions are not that different from questions we ask today? Today we might ask where God is in our political war zone, if he has an opinion, and when he came to be involved. Is there really a right answer for who is to be President or isGod up in the clouds watching us fight it out? Then again we might wonder what we have to do to gain God’s favor and the good life – here or here after. Thirdly, many of us just want God to “show up” and prove that he cares. We want to believe but like Thomas we want to touch and feel. Most of us come today with some version of these three basic questions. Are you here, do you care what I do, and please be real in my life.
“Rabbi, when did you come here?”
This question reminds me of the many people today who want to argue where the Little Red Hen’s wheat came from. Was it her wheat? We put probes on comets hoping to find answers to the creation of the universe. We hypothesize with this theory and that. So, actually the first word, “rabbi”, is significant and makes me realize there are two parts to this question that challenge us today.
The crowd addresses Jesus as “rabbi”, teacher. For many of us Jesus is a great teacher, one of the prophets like Mohammed, as good as Gandhi or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, on the level of Confucius or Buddha but not the only God. Perhaps Christianity is one of many ways to reach some sort of God being or force. We don’t want to be radical and judgmental or exclusive. We come to church today hoping for a great sermon that will engage our minds but we are not necessarily expecting an encounter with the almighty God. The better the preacher, the better the choir, the better the programs for the youth, we think means the better the church. Are we seeking answers for our questions from a great teacher or from God? Why are we here today? Do we believe the Little Red Hen is going to make bread as she says or are we listening but not ready to commit to help?
Jesus reflects back to the crowds that they have come looking for him because their stomachs were filled with bread. We might call it “health, wealth, and prosperity” messages. Touch the TV for healing. The size of your faith determines the answers to your prayers. We only need to believe. We come to Jesus with our list of needs and wants. That is not necessarily wrong except that when we approach Jesus like a bank, then prayer might become the check that draws from the deposits of tithes, good deeds, or faithful life we have lived or deposited in our account. We come with an agenda for God, not to meet and ponder together. Our thinking is somehow off center. We are focused on us and not God and are a bit surprised that he is already ahead of us. Jesus accuses the crowd of selfishness or self-centeredness. Unlike the Little Red Hen, Jesus is waiting to engage with us even before we are willing to be involved with him.
Jesus was a rabbi for sure but he was more. He was a great teacher, he was the Messiah, but he was also the Son of God. To put it a bit crudely, having children is not the same as building a marriage. When we doubt that wheat can truly be turned into bread when we address someone with our list of wants and needs or to direct them as to where they should focus their attention, our understanding of our relationship is off balance. We come to church to meet with God, not just to tick off our spiritual task list for the week or to give him a todo list. We find Jesus waiting for us because we are in his space. Jesus is the wheat that will become the bread of our life. So perhaps the question we need to ask ourselves today is if we came to worship just with our shopping list, or out of habit, or with hungry souls to meet with Jesus, the bread of life?
“When did you come here?” God’s presence is in our situations before we realize or acknowledge it. We sometimes seem to be as surprised as the crowds that Jesus has entered a situation before us. How did Jesus get there? Perhaps we think our prayers wake God up and help him focus! Hmmm? We can fall into the trap of thinking that God is organizing everything to go according to our plans or conversely that he will organize to meet his agenda. We are not open to hear the question, “Who will help me?”
Sometimes we look back on events and rationalize that “God knew” such-and-such needed to happen so that such-and-such would happen and so we would learn the lesson God wanted us to learn. I didn’t get that job because God knew this better job was coming. Even though I did not want to move, it worked out for the best because…fill in the blank. That makes God very manipulative and diminishes our free will. King David prayed in Psalm 139:7, “Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? ” God is everywhere and we often forget to factor in his presence. God goes before us, walks with us, and God has our back but we are not drones being programmed by him. We need not be surprised to find him already working in the events of our lives, not just for our good but for all concerned. Jesus admonishes the crowd “27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” Jesus is the bread, is present, but we must walk with him step by step – first we plant, then harvest, then grind, then cook and the final product smells good, tastes good, and satisfies as we walk the journey of faith.
Next the people ask, “What must we do to perform the works of God?”
When the Little Red Hen goes to her friends, she does not speak to them about the final outcome of the process. She invites them to join her in the work she is doing. She is making bread but that is yet to appear. Jesus is inviting the crowds to build the kingdom of God and trusting him and believing him is the bread that will sustain them to do it. When asked what the crowds must do, Jesus responds, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” Jesus is not feeding them for their pleasure but to give them strength for the journey of partnering with him. Faith is an ongoing decision to believe in Jesus
Each Sunday we recite the Apostle’s Creed and remind ourselves what that means. Our creeds and our prayers like the Lord’s Prayer are beacons pointing us to the ground zero of our faith. We build on these foundation stones with the works of our heart, when we believe what God is asking us to do.
Let us review the second article of the creed that unites our confession of what we believe about Jesus.
- We believe Jesus Christ is God’s only Son, our Lord,
- we believe he was conceived by the Holy Spirit—true God
- we believe he was born of the Virgin Mary—true man
- we believe he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried—he understands all aspects of our human existence
- We believe he descended to the dead and on the third day he rose again—he defeated death or death had no power to hold him or you
- We believe he resurrected and ascended into heaven—there is life after death
- We believe he is alive, he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
- and we believe he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I love the explanation of this article in Luther’s Small Catechism.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, (pause and reflect)
who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with his holy, and precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death, (pause and reflect)
that I may be his own and live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting, righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as he is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.
THIS IS MOST CERTAINLY TRUE!
We believe Jesus is my Lord, my redeemer, and we are his.
I should hear a loud AMEN now! What is doing the work of God? What does he want from us? He wants us to believe these truths. Full stop. Period. To believe he is here now and goes before us, goes with us, and has our back. He is actually asking, “Who will help me?”
Third question: “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing?
Sounds to me that the crowds are asking Jesus to prove that he cares and then they’ll believe. When the Israelites traveled from Egypt and slavery to the Promised Land, they encountered problems, lack of food and water. Moses, as their leader, met with God and told the people that God would give food the next day. The Old Testament or First Reading tells the story. God reigns down what the people call “manna”, meaning “what is it.” For forty years God provides, not Moses. The crowds are crediting Moses with the work of God that proved God cared.
Just as we get all tangled up about the identity of Jesus as a member of the Trinity and don’t recognize his presence, we also get all tangled up about our role in our relationship with God, and so we seek proof that this relationship with the unseen is really there. We often have trouble with silence. Admit it. We look for those flowers on anniversaries and all the little “works” that affirm that the other cares. I suspect the Little Red Hen’s friends were not convinced that what she was asking them to do would benefit them. Perhaps they could not envision what bread was any more than we can envision what heaven is like or what a relationship with Jesus might look like. He might ask me to go to Africa as a missionary or he might ask me to share my money or sit next to that odd person in church. We want assurance that the step of. faith will not be too dangerous and will truly benefit us.
The cross has become that symbol of what we call The Covenant between God and humans. I love the picture of a handshake. In that mysterious handshake between God and humans, God holds on to us when we have little strength, when our faith is smaller than a mustard seed, and when our eyes are clouded with tears. God holds on to us. The empty cross shows how far God will go for us. Jesus points the crowd to God and not to bread. We cry like our children, “If you love me, you’ll let me do what I want to do,” and yet we know relationship is not built on giving us what we want, not giving us just bread but faith that is built on the cross.
1. Crowd: Rabbi, when did you come here? Jesus: God fills our past, present, and future, leading and loving us into his kingdom
2. Crowd: What must we do to perform the works of God? Jesus: Believe in Christ.
3. Crowd: What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Jesus: The cross is the reminder that God sees, cares, and has your back.
35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
What a wonderful promise. May we cling to that promise as we help Jesus grow the Kingdom of Heaven this week.
Let the people of God say, “Amen.”
On the Way to Wonder 