1 Sunday, August 5, 2012 Pastor Dena Williams Denver, CO The Holy Gospel according to the community of St.

John in the Sixth Chapter Glory to you, O Lord 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. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? 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. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, the food which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal. Then the people said to him, What must we do to perform the works of God? Jesus answered them, This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. So the people 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? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

2 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. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. The people said to him, Sir, give us this bread always. 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. The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, O Christ Clutching Bread Oooo! The children of Israel are whining! When we were in captivity in Egypt, we had plenty to eat. Then you Moses and Aaron, you drug us out to this deserted place and were starving! Maybe we were slaves in Egypt, but at least we had plenty to eat. Oh, that we had died in Egypt rather than starving to death here in this God forsaken wilderness! Guess we could say the Israelites resisted change, couldnt we? Things looked rather bleak. They were afraid. They missed the old ways, the comfortable days of their captivity.

3 They longed, somehow, for their former life of suffering. They reached for, they clutched the bread they ate in Egypt. Remember last week how Jesus fed the 5000 people on the mountainside. A little boy shared bread, Jesus blessed it, and all were satisfied. All were satisfied, and so the people followed him. The people followed him and he knew why. Its because you ate your fill of bread. Thats why you have followed me. The people stumbled upon a good thing. Something that worked for them. You follow the prophet and your bellies are filled. That was all they wanted. They were comfortable with the prospect of daily bread. Guess we could say the 5000 followers of Jesus resisted change, didnt they? They were perfectly content to receive enough to eat. They had no vision, no desire for anything better. They reached for Jesus; they clutched at the bread he had given them. Once there was a congregation of people. They had enough enough money, a nice building, enough people, capable pastors, they had enough. They were comfortable with the enough, comfortable with the bread they received from their congregation.

4 They sought to maintain their ministry. They reached for, they clutched the bread they found in their community. They were satisfied with enough. Guess we could say, that congregation resisted change, didnt they? They were perfectly content to receive enough. They seemed to embrace no vision, no desire for anything more. They reached for continuity, sameness, safety; they clutched at the bread they were given. The bread of Egypt, the 5000 loaves devoured on the mountainside, the bread of a comfortable congregation all earthly bread. All bread that passes away. All bread clutched tightly. All bread that perishes. And hunger returns the hunger of empty bellies, the hunger of lost souls, the hunger of idle spirits. Oh, there is bread, in Egypt, on the mountainside, in the congregation. There is bread, loaves and loaves of bread firmly held, tightly clutched, never shared. It is bread that does not feed the soul, bread that does not nourish the spirit, bread that does not bring love and understanding. It is earthly bread that perishes. It is the bread of self interest, self indulgence, self preoccupation.

5 It is bread that molds and rots in our tightly clenched fists. And then along comes God carrying a basket full of the bread of life, and here we are starving to death on earthly bread, refusing to open our hands, to let go of the bread that perishes, so hungry for the bread of heaven, but afraid, stubborn, resistant, defiant. Here we are daring to call ourselves the very body of Christ while we cling to slavery, seeking nourishment from the bread that does not satisfy, comfortable with having just enough to barely keep us alive. And God speaks Open your hand, let it go, receive the bread of heaven, the bread that endures forever. Jesus said to them, The bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will not thirst. Life giving bread . . . The bread of Gods wilderness. The bread of Gods mountainside. The bread of Gods The bread of Gods The bread of Gods love given to the Israelites in the love given to 5000 needy people on a love given to a congregation of believers. love given for all the world. love given for you!

6 Life giving bread . . . So we stand with our fists clenched, clutching earthly bread. God comes bearing the bread of life, the bread of love. And with the Israelites in the wilderness we cry, What is that?! We fail to recognize the golden loaves, the warm, yeasty fragrance of the bread of love. We resist the bread of love as it comes to us from God in our relationships with one another. We are suspicious, afraid, reluctant to trust Gods love mediated to us by others. And so, God comes to us, as a parent, a friend, a teacher, a partner, a pastor. God comes prying open our closed hand, allowing us to let go of the earthly bread that perishes the bread of our false pride, our selfishness, our fear. We panic for a moment at the feel of our empty hand, and then, suddenly, we feel the warmth of the fresh bread of life, the bread of love as it fills our hand, and there is no smallness here, there is abundance, there is bread of love to fill our hands, our hearts, our spirits, there is bread to give away, loaf after loaf of warm fragrant bread, the bread of life, the bread of Gods love for us and for all people. So we come to the table this day for bread. The bread that comes to us in spite of our resistance, our longing for the old days of slavery,

7 the bread that comes in spite of our clenched and fearful fist. We come . . . and God opens our hands to receive Gods love as it comes to us in this holy supper. May we leave this table clutching Gods love for us, yet willing to open our hands to share Gods love with all people. Amen