The Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost | August 4, AD 2024 | John 6:22–35 | Andrew F. Weisner |

Exodus 16:2-15; Psalm 145:10-21; Ephesians 4:1-16

John 6:22-35
²²The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. ²³Then some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. ²⁵When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” ²⁶Jesus 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. ²⁷Do 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.” ²⁸Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” ²⁹Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” ³⁰So 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? ³¹Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ³²Then 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. ³³For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 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.

+++

Homily

“Little things” in our lives matter. This statement need not contradict another short and important adage, that states, “don’t sweat the small stuff.” That statement is true, too. But it is also true that, in some ways, “little things” can really matter.

Years ago, in my first congregation as a pastor, I learned of an important relationship of a father and his daughter. Before I arrived in that parish, the family of three – Mom, Dad, and the 8-year-old daughter – unfortunately had broken up, and Mom and Dad divorced. But the dad said, “Wherever my daughter is, that’s where I will be. It doesn’t matter in what conditions I have to live or what I have to do for a job: wherever she is, that’s where I will be.” Years later, I was invited back to that congregation for an anniversary, and that daughter was all grown up, graduated from college and law school. In the midst of socializing after the worship service, I recalled to the young woman the words that her dad had said many years before, and I asked, “Did he continue with that commitment as you grew up?” To which she replied, “When I was living miles away and in law school, he would drive 3 hours just to come have supper with me, and then turn around a drive back home.” In the grand scheme of things, that’s a “little thing;” it’s not particularly „heroic“ such as the dad putting his life in grave danger or donating an organ; in a sense, his actions were “small.” But such deeds and commitment were not insignificant!

Many of you have likely heard the story of a whole town without power because there was something wrong at the power plant. The power-plant workers and managers looked and looked and investigated the throughout the power-plant and ran all kinds of diagnostics trying to figure out what the problem was, and they couldn’t solve it. Finally, one of the workers remembered that there was a retired, elderly fellow who worked at the plant years before; he had worked there for many years and was part of the team that built the power plant. Someone exclaimed: “Call him to come look at this thing and see if he can figure out what’s wrong!” So, they called him. He came to the power plant and calmly walked around, finally came to a spot, took a screw-driver from the side pocket of his over-all, leaned down, tightened a screw, and everything at the power plant turned back on! It was just one little screw, and just one person, retired, almost forgotten; but both of those relatively “little” things were so very important. (That story, by the way, often concludes with the retired fellow sending the folks at the power plant a bill – for $1,000… $1 for turning the screw, $999 for knowing which screw to turn!)

And there are other “little things” in our lives that matter… a favorite baseball glove; a favorite pair of socks; a favorite spatula for cooking; a favorite drinking glass or coffee mug; a favorite pair of shoes; a car; and especially, a pet: in the great scheme of things, it is one out of a thousand dogs or cats, but that’s your beloved puppy or kitty, who makes a tremendous difference in your quality of life.

At the university where I was campus pastor we had a theology professor who was a „mountain of a man“ – in height, and in character and personal strength. One of the two times during our 40-year friendship that I ever saw him become emotional was when his long-time colleague, a political science professor, had a heart-attack on campus. The theologian and I accompanied the stricken professor to the ambulance and afterward, my theologian friend said to me: „Every morning I call him on my phone as I drive to work and we talk for about 10 minutes. We don’t socialize after work, we don’t have lunches together; it’s just that: every morning, 10 minutes, on the way to work.” That relatively “little thing” – a 10 minute daily conversation – made so much difference in that professor’s life.

A favorite blanket or stuffed animal: I’ve seen 18-year-old college students move into the dorm carrying one. They don’t take them to class or walk around campus with them, but they have them in their room. Is that childish or immature? Some may say so; but maybe it’s something with lots of precious memories attached, similar to a photograph of the family that a military young man or woman wants to have in the pocket even on the battle field.

There are “little things” in our lives that can really matter… they may not be important to anybody else, but they matter to us. Other people don’t see – can’t see – the importance of this “small, little thing” we think, feel, is precious. But, indeed, to the individual who sees that “little thing” in a precious way it is loaded with meaning. The meaning attached is enormous; it really matters.

Among Christians, so it is – can be – with simple bread… especially small,  prepared „wafer-looking“ bread. Just small, simple bread; but to some people, with the eyes of faith, it is loaded with presence and meaning. It is „the bread of life.“

Perhaps some of you know this story about Bishop Oscar Romero, in El Salvador, who was killed by assassins in 1980. During war in El Salvador, military guerrillas had taken over a church and had set-up a military base in it. Bishop Romero showed up at the church to go in to retrieve from the tabernacle the Reserved Sacrament. The soldiers told him he could not go in. Romero responded: „This is a church; I am the bishop; I will go in!“ A soldier blasted the altar area, the candles, art, and the tabernacle, with machine gun fire, and the Reserved Sacrament went flying everywhere around the altar. Romero marched down the center aisle to the chancel, and the soldier opened fire again. Romero got down on his hands and knees and, dodging bullets, gathered up in his hands and arms what some people would call “simple bread,” “wafers,” but to Bishop Romero, to anyone with the eyes of faith, it was something so much, so very much, more: in these little, small things, is the very presence of Christ.

God can be present in very small things. The Bible, and the Church, enable us to say, for sure, particular places where God-in-Christ certainly will be: e.g., in water, bread, and wine. But there are other places where, certainly, God may be, even though the Bible doesn’t say so. In the voice of a nurse or physician, comforting a frightened patient in the hospital; in the voice of a school teacher, offering guidance to a confused student. And certainly in the voices and examples of parents and grandparents guiding their children.

Small, little things in our lives, matter. God works that way; he, himself, can come to us in small, seemingly insignificant moments, through small, seemingly insignificant things. In a short while, through things that appear small and simple, we will receive an enormous, immeasurable gift: the very presence of God in Christ, coming to us in small portions of bread and wine.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Pastor Andrew F. Weisner, Ph.D.
pastorweisner@gmail.com
Pastor, New Covenant Lutheran Church
Morganton, North Carolina, USA
Faculty, North American Lutheran Seminary, Ambridge, PA, USA