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Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, 08/05/2018
Sermon on Exodus (2. Buch Mose) 16:2-4; 9-16, by Ryan Mills
A Sermon on Exodus 16: 2-4, 9-16 and John 6: 24-35, by The Rev. Dr. Ryan D. Mills
2The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3The 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.” 4Then 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.” 9Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’ ” 10And 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. 11The 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.’ ” 13In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15When 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.” (Exodus 16: 2-4, 9-16, NRSV).
24When 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. 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.” (John 6:24-35, NRSV).
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This week I sat down for lunch one afternoon, hot, tired, and really hungry, and found something squished and unidentifiable on my plate. “What the heck is this?” I thought. And as I picked it up to throw it away, I realized it was a piece of hot dog bun rolled out flat and thin. I asked our son if he knew anything about the gross object on the table, and he looked at me like I was committing blasphemy. He responded, “That’s bread, dad, that’s for Communion!”
Today the Israelites are traveling through the desert, hungry, tired, and cranky. It’s been six weeks since God led them out slavery, rescued them from Pharaoh, but as the old saying goes, “What have you done for me lately?” and the people are cranky and ready to complain. Luckily this all happened thousands of years ago and God’s people have progressed so much that none of us can relate to complaining! It is funny how the more things change the more they stay the same. Indeed, people haven’t changed much since the time of Moses: we are still hungry, still dissatisfied, still ready to complain, still despairing of our future even to the point of wishing we were dead. This is part of what it means to be in bondage to sin, to be curved in on ourselves, we are always trapped in a place of dissatisfaction, with nothing is quite up to our standards. We still cannot see how we will make it or how God will get us through.
So the Lord calls Moses to him, saying, “I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, so tell them this from me”. If you and I with our short tempers were God, what would we say to our children? “Deal with it! Too bad for you! Quit your crying, or I’ll give you something to cry about!” But instead the Lord is slow to anger and generous, saying, “Tell the Israelites at twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have you fill of bread.”
So out the Israelites went, to stuff themselves: quail, Thanksgiving turkeys, every night! And in the morning a dew on the grass, that left behind something flaky and powdery—“What the heck is this,” in Hebrew, “manna?” “What is it?” Manna—the bread the Lord has given you to eat. God is always at work to provide for us, God is at work right now providing for you, more generously than we imagine or deserve, not holding our sins and complaints against us but pouring out, spilling out all he has for us. The hardest part is not to get our read but to recognize what God has given, and is giving, and to see our daily bread in front of our noses and to give thanks for it. God still gives bread that is enough for today, just what we need, just when we need it. We don’t always need more, but rather need better eyes to see what he’s already giving you day after day after day.
Today in our Gospel reading people are looking for Jesus, but like their ancestors of old they are confused, lost, and hungry. What better describes our world today, or this culture we are a part of: confused, lost, hungry, searching for something worth having, starving for truth and beauty and righteousness in a world that numbs us to suffering and confuses us with lies and preys upon the most vulnerable, leaving us scared and hungry and empty!
But Jesus says to those who are looking for him, “I know why you’re here, you’re here to fill your bellies with my ability to multiply loaves and fishes, you’re here for the all-you-can-eat buffet! Don’t work for food that rots, for food that turns to nothing, but work for the food that lasts, the food that endures to eternal life!” So this is a good moment for you and I to ask ourselves—why are you here, what are you looking for? For the endless holy Chinese buffet of blessings? For ‘your way, right away,’ at Trinity now? For that which perishes, for the things we stuff ourselves with and entertain and distract ourselves with--which all in the end return to dust? Or are you looking for that which lasts forever, for the food that endures to eternal life? Are you looking for Christ himself, the good Lord Jesus himself, that living food, that eternal food that will fill you up and stick to your ribs so that you’ll never be hungry again?
The people around Jesus know how this world works: at any restaurant the table is only set if you’ve got the cash to pay for it, so they ask, “What do we have to do to perform the works of God?” What do we have to do? “What must we do to get this bread that endures, Lord, what can we chip in, what can we bring, what can we pay you for this?”
And so Jesus responds to them and to you and me and all who think they can earn or deserve something from God, by saying this, “This is the work of God, to believe in his Son whom he’s sent.” You want to do God’s work? Well God is working for you, bringing you to faith, to trust, his work is that you believe in his Son. That’s what God wants from us: faith! And that’s what God is at work to give you, the ability to trust in him, to see that God has given us everything in his Son, he sent him down from Heaven, he sent him to give himself for you and me on the Cross, to take away our sins, to die our death, and then he raised him up from death and hell on the third day to live and reign forever, and all he wants is faith, is trust in him, a trust that he himself will work in you all by himself! This is the one work of God—to believe in him whom he has sent! All the rest of the Christian life—every way of service, every outreach, every ministry, every good work-- comes from this: faith, trust, to believe in Jesus Christ who died for us, and whom we will live with forever.
“I know you’re hungry,” Jesus says, “but it wasn’t Moses long ago who rained down bread from heaven, but instead it’s my Father, God himself who gives you true bread right now from heaven, and this bread gives eternal life to the whole world.” “Sir,” they say, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
This true bread that comes down for you has a name, it’s a person, Jesus Christ your Lord. This is what God is giving, this is what he rains down for you, this is what God gives you this morning, Jesus Christ who loves you, who is everything you need, who will provide all you need exactly when you need it, he who taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” is our daily bread, he is all we need from day to day. He who died for you, won’t he give you everything else that you need and even more besides?
“I AM the bread of life,” Jesus admits, “I am the bread of life,” he confesses, “whoever comes to be will never be hungry, whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Whoever comes believes, whoever believes comes, what is simpler than to just come, what is easier than to just believe in the one whose work it is to bring you to faith? “Come to me,” he says, “you won’t be hungry.” “Believe in me, and you’ll never be thirsty.” Come and eat, come and believe, you’ll never be hungry, you’ll never be thirsty again.
“For the bread of God comes down from heaven and gives life-- eternal life--to you and to all the world!”
Lord, give us this bread, always.
And the Peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, Amen.