\u00a0<\/em>The 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 gotten into the boat with his disciples but that his disciples had gone away alone. But some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So 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.<\/em><\/p>\n When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, \u201cRabbi, when did you come here?\u201d Jesus answered them, \u201cVery truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 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.\u201d Then they said to him, \u201cWhat must we do to perform the works of God?\u201d Jesus answered them, \u201cThis is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.\u201d So they said to him, \u201cWhat sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, \u2018He gave them bread from heaven to eat.\u2019\u201d Then Jesus said to them, \u201cVery 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. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.\u201d They said to him, \u201cSir, give us this bread always.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n Jesus said to them, \u201cI am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.\u201d <\/em>(John 6.24-35 NRSV<\/em>)<\/p>\n Several years ago, my wife and I attended the wedding celebration of our son and his wife in China. \u201cWhat is a Chinese wedding like?\u201d was a question we often heard in the weeks after our return, and my answer usually included the phrase, \u201cIt\u2019s mostly about food.\u201d Every meal presented an abundance of food\u2014familiar and unfamiliar (at least to me). The evening before the wedding there was a dinner which, if I counted correctly, included ten appetizers and then twelve courses! The evening after the wedding, we were treated to dinner in a restaurant that was a buffet\u2014but what a buffet! The food stretched over three huge rooms, and there was everything you could imagine\u2014Chinese food, of course, but also many other cuisines from hot dogs to pasta to ice cream. It was almost too much to take in\u2014either visually or gastronomically!<\/p>\n We are working our way through John 6, where on the surface the buffet offered is a lot more meager. We heard about it last week: five loaves and two fish. Not much at all. And yet as it turns out, this is grandest feast imaginable. Those five loaves and two fish suddenly lead into the astonishing claim of Jesus: I am the Bread of Life!<\/p>\n Jesus, Bread of Life<\/strong><\/p>\n This sixth chapter of John has been interpreted in different ways, but one of the most common approaches is to say that this is John\u2019s discussion of the Eucharist, Holy Communion. John does not give us the story of the last supper\u2014or to be more precise, he doesn\u2019t include the institution of the Eucharist as part of what happens in the upper room. But as usual, John is more interested in the meaning of things than in simple events. And here, according to the most common Christian tradition, John is explaining the meaning of the sacrament. He is telling us what it means that Jesus is the Bread of Life, the true bread from heaven, the bread that leads those who have witnessed this miracle to say, \u201cGive us this bread always.\u201d<\/p>\n When we prepare the feast each Lord\u2019s Day, the buffet consists of bread of wine\u2014on the surface not much of a meal. But beneath the outward signs, it is a feast of incredible content. Let\u2019s go back to what the catechism says: Here, in this meal, we receive three <\/em>things: forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Let\u2019s take a minute to consider each of those benefits.<\/p>\n Forgiveness<\/strong><\/p>\n First, forgiveness of sins<\/em>. This is for some a difficult place to start. Often I hear it said that the church\u2014and perhaps particularly the Lutheran Church\u2014talks too much about sin, that the emphasis on sin is a downer. Some years ago, I read a memoir by a woman who was formerly a Lutheran pastor, but who later claimed not to be a Christian, not even a believer in God. It was a sad tale, but as she told it, one of the primary things that drove her away from faith was her inability to believe that human beings are in bondage to sin. She had a rather more cheerful view of humanity, and this, she said, was at the foundation of what drove her away from the Christian faith. Too much talk about sin.<\/p>\n And that, of course, is what so many want to believe\u2014really, it\u2019s what we all want<\/em> to believe. We want<\/em> to believe that we are good people, that we love and serve God\u2014if not perfectly, at least adequately. We do not want to think of ourselves as sinners. It is<\/em> a real downer.<\/p>\n And in this we are not so different from any human beings throughout the history of humankind. But the Bible has a different opinion. There\u2019s a great passage in Luther\u2019s Large Catechism<\/em> where he ponders those who do not feel the weight and seriousness of their own sin. \u201cBelieve the Scriptures!\u201d he says. The Scriptures make our sinful nature abundantly clear. \u201cThey will not lie to you, and they know you better than you know yourself.\u201d \u201cIn short,\u201d Luther writes, \u201cthe less you feel your sins and infirmities, the more reason you have to go to the sacrament and seek a remedy.\u201d<\/p>\n The problem is that so many of us can\u2019t get past the acknowledgement of sin, and this can sometimes give to the Eucharist a rather somber cast. If you are of a certain age and grew up Lutheran, you remember confessing that you are sinful and unclean. If you grew up Episcopalian or Methodist, you likely remember admitting that you are not worthy to gather up the crumbs under his table. Yes, that can be heard in a burdensome way.<\/p>\n But for Luther, you see, it has just the opposite effect. We acknowledge that we are unworthy, that we are sinful and unclean\u2014and then we come to the Table knowing that here, we are cleansed. Here we are forgiven. I love Brian Wren\u2019s wonderful communion hymn, which begins, \u201cI come with joy to meet my Lord, forgiven, loved and free!\u201d That\u2019s<\/em> the source of our joy, you see, as we come to this table! We come with joy, first and foremost, because we are being forgiven! We are being set free from our bondage to sin! We are being wrapped in God\u2019s merciful love!\u2014a love that welcomes and forgives us, not because we are so good, but because God is so good.<\/p>\n Life<\/strong><\/p>\n And then, the catechism says, here in this feast we receive life! That is an incredible concept! It grows out the image of food, of course. We require food to live. When we go without food, we begin to feel weak. We know the physical signs of that. We know that when we eat, we are strengthened, fortified. We feel better.<\/p>\n When our son Luke was just a little guy, he was prone to tonsillitis, and finally the doctor suggested that even though he was younger than the norm, it would be a good idea to remove his tonsils. So he had the surgery, and we took him home, and followed the usual post-tonsillectomy regimen of liquids and Jello. As the day wore on, he became more and more distressed. Thinking something was wrong, we were about to call the doctor when Luke finally cried out, \u201cI\u2019m so hungry!\u201d We fed him some real food, he didn\u2019t complain one bit about the sore throat, and everything was soon back to normal.<\/p>\n Of course, the life that we receive in the sacrament is not primarily physical, but spiritual. Still the image is a powerful one. We are so often spiritually weak. We waver in our trust, we are tossed by doubts, we struggle with temptation. What the Bible says is that these things are like a longing for food.<\/p>\n We\u2019re so hungry! And that spiritual hunger is one that causes us great distress. Sometimes we can\u2019t quite put our finger on what\u2019s the matter. We just know that what we\u2019re experiencing isn\u2019t really life as it ought to be. But here, at this table, is the promise: Life! The Bread of Life! The food, Jesus says, \u201cthat endures for eternal life!\u201d That\u2019s what we receive here, and it strengthens us.<\/p>\n Salvation<\/strong><\/p>\n And there\u2019s one more thing on this buffet: We receive salvation. Now that\u2019s a word that we often don\u2019t understand very clearly, a churchy-sounding word. We need to understand the root of it. The Biblical concept of salvation is health, wholeness. The English word comes from the same root as \u201csalve\u201d\u2014a soothing balm, in other words, that takes away the pain of an injury, the ache of a muscle. \u201cSalvation\u201d means, in the first place, the soothing of all that grieves us. Luther describes it this way: the Lord\u2019s Supper is a \u201cpure, wholesome, soothing medicine which aids and quickens us in both soul and body.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, salvation has an eternal dimension as well. We believe that salvation means life in heaven with Christ forever. But for the Bible, salvation is not simply something to which we look forward, but it begins now. The peace of heaven, the joy of heaven, begins now. In Christ we already begin\u2014despite our frailty, our failures, our faults, our weakness\u2014we already begin to know this peace. And we know it most profoundly when we come here to receive it. \u201cIf you are heavy-laden and feel your weakness,\u201d Luther writes, \u201cgo joyfully to the sacrament and receive refreshment, comfort and strength.\u201d<\/p>\n And so this buffet turns out to be just about the most lavish feast you can possibly imagine. Merely bread and wine, to be sure, on the surface; but underneath, forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation! And a promise: \u201cI am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty!\u201d<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n \u00a9The Rev. Richard O. Johnson (retired)<\/p>\n Webster, NY<\/p>\n roj@nccn.net<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The 11th Sunday after Pentecost | 4 August 2024 | John 6:22-35 | Richard O. Johnson | \u00a0The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there. 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