People hunger for all kinds of things. We hunger for food, water, companionship, joy, personal fulfillment, and answers to prayers to name a few examples. We hunger for spiritual connection and spiritual presence. It is probably the most important need we have, and one that we find ourselves seeking at difficult times in our lives. If we don’t fill it with the proper things, we find that we fill it with things of this world, sometimes things that are harmful to us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The hunger is normal to us all; we choose what to fill it with.
In today’s gospel from John, Jesus has just fed the 5000 people the day before with a few fish and loaves of bread. He has satisfied their physical hunger, and many have followed him on boats looking for more. Jesus tells them not to work for food that perishes, but for food that endures.
So, they ask Jesus, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” and he tells them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” They aren’t convinced, and want him to perform a sign, something that will prove that he is the one. They refer to their ancestors who ate manna from heaven in the wilderness and Jesus quickly tells them that it is his Father that gives them the true bread from heaven, not Moses. God gives them his son Jesus Christ. His son who came down from heaven and gives life to the world. Jesus tells them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” No truer words have ever been spoken.
Many of you knew my husband Lee who passed away in May. We journeyed together thru our discernment processes and helped each other feed on God’s word and follow where we were being led. We prayed the Daily Office every day together and talked about what we thought God was saying to us in the readings. Most of the time we agreed completely, sometimes not. But we both grew in our faith by this practice. We fed each other as God was feeding us. Little did we know that part of our journey would be his cancer diagnosis and subsequent death.
I tell you this because I know from experience how important it still is for me to feed on Jesus. I’m sure many of you have had similar experiences in your lives where you drew your strength from God and his holy word. I’m not sure how I would have faired without it, but I do know that everyday during all the ups and downs on that road, and there were many, that I could always see God working in all of it to bring comfort and strength. That doesn’t mean that it wasn’t hard, but his presence was real, and Lee and I both could feel it.
We all have a need to fill our spiritual hunger. When we fill it with the Bread of Life, Jesus, we find peace and comfort. Jesus is telling us that we need to follow him, and he will feed us with food that endures.
So how do we get this food? We follow Jesus. He has given us a perfect example of how to do God’s will. We are called to follow him not only on Sunday mornings, but all the time. We cannot separate one part of Jesus’s life from the next, and we should hold ourselves to the same standard. Everything Jesus did was part of God’s revelation of himself to us. We feed on him by reading and studying his word, and of course by taking part in our communion meal with other believers. It is there for our taking, freely given, we just have to open our hearts and our minds to let him in so that we can be fed.
As followers of Jesus, it is our responsibility to nourish our soul on his word, and there are many ways we can do this. The Book of Common Prayer is full of prayers and meditations, and is one way we can read scripture daily and meditate on the word of God. I talked about the Daily Office earlier, and it suggests special readings for each day. It helps us fill our spiritual hunger with good things, things that build upon each other, and that we then can go out into the world and share with others.
To be in communion with others is another way to fill our spiritual hunger. We feed off each other in our lives and our knowledge and we grow in our love of God and scripture when we have discussions with others about our beliefs and our questions about those beliefs.
We feed each other literally when we help in soup kitchens or some other form of helping with personal needs of others. We too should not separate our lives between Sunday mornings and the rest of our lives.
We come to worship every Sunday morning to be fed. We come to this safe place to put the worries of the world behind us even if for just one hour. We all know that when we leave this place today, we will go back to the real world, and have to face our real problems. Feeding on the word of Jesus gives us the strength to do that. It nourishes us with food that endures, that feeds our souls and our hearts. It doesn’t take our cares away but gives us the strength to get through them because we know Jesus is with us. We are refreshed and fed and nourished spiritually to face the world outside of these walls.
This is real food. This is food that endures. Let us go forth today nourished with God’s love and strength, and may we share his love and strength to all that we encounter. We are sent out from this place to love and serve the Lord. In doing so we share the love of Christ, the food that endures, with others.
AMEN
[Pentecost 10, August 1, 2021, Proper 13 (B)
RCL: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a; Psalm 51:1-13; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35]
