Thanksgiving

Deut 26:1-11

Philippians 4:4-9

John 6:25-35

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, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal." Then they 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 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? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" 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." They 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.

A friend sent me an email: “what the world eats.” The pictures are of a family of 4 and their food expenses for a week and the variety of foods laid out on tables…or the floor. Here is a list of the expenses for 1 week of food for a family of four:

Germany: $500.

US family in NC: 341.

Japan, family in Kodaira $317.

Sicily Italy: $260.

UK $253.

Kuwait: 221.

Mexico: 189.

China family in Beijing: 155

Poland 151.

Egypt: 68

Mongolia, 40,

Ecuador: 31

Bhutan $5.

Chad family in a refugee camp $1.23.

I studied the photographs for some time, inspecting the selection of food various families choose around the world. In the last two samples, the limited expense means a limited choice as well. The poor eat simply. If the rich ate more simply, the poor might have more choice. When the crowd followed Jesus, he understood that it was the experience of having been fed fish and bread that motivated them.

The stone soup story I shared with the children is a favorite because it is so typical of the human condition. If we see others sharing, we share too, but we hesitate to be the first to offer. Why is that? We often pray, “Give us today our daily bread.” I suspect that we pray that line only because it is part of a familiar prayer. If that was all we had we would be very dependent. I wonder if having a lot is really a blessing. It makes us self sufficient and independent. It may take so much of our time and effort that we don’t take time out to give thanks or to help another. It may make us feel self righteous and proud…not that self confidence is a bad thing, but that it lets us lose our focus on those around us who are truly in need.

Jesus saw through the superficial requests of the crowd who followed him because he gave them free bread and fish. If the small boy with the lunch had not shared it, would Jesus have manufactured food from thin air? Would he have fed them anyway?

Bread is for most of us simple and abundant and so we may take it for granted. It is so available that we only have to choose which style, flavor, texture. In Jesus’ feeding of the crowd, bread and fish were made abundant by a gesture of generosity by the child and by blessing it and making it abundant, Jesus revealed how generous God is. Jesus often used everyday experiences and in this case his metaphor is bread. In the villages and lives of the people with whom Jesus worked and lived, bread was the most important stable food; no meal was complete without its inclusion. Stones were used to grind wheat and barley into flour. The flour was kneaded with leaven to make it rise, then olive oil, water, or milk were added to make the dough. The dough was stretched thin for easier baking on the hearth, or in crude overns, or upon heated stones. This bread, this nourishment, this substance of life made by the callused, loving hands of women takes on more meaning when we stop to consider the work involved in making it. Just so, in the action of blessing and breaking the bread, Jesus taught us to celebrate our community, family, friends.

Eating fresh baked bread is a pleasant and nourishing experience. The way Jesus used the bread symbolized more than physical nourishment: it was a symbolic sharing of our common humanity – in mutuality with those around us. Jesus asked the people in the crowd to look beyond their desire for food and recognize that the true miracle was God’s spiritual nourishment, freely given, received in abundance.

They responded: “Give us this bread always” and today we say, Give us this day, our daily bread.” Every time we gather here we also share bread, symbolic of our unity in Christ. I am careful to always have more bread on the plate than we have people, so no person receives the “last piece.” There is always more because there is no end to the supply of God’s love.

That there was material to begin the feast with was important. It gave him a hook to draw the crowd together. It led to a deeper spiritual truth: the bread for which we are really hungry, is the bread of life and Jesus is that living bread. It may be that we have failed to feed our neighbors with bread because we have not recognized that we are in need of the true bread. It may be that if we could arrange our time and work and family obligations along the lines of community building and faith generating efforts we would find the inner strength and vision to feed the hungry, not just during the holidays but everyday.

Is your neighborhood filled with cars on Sunday morning leaving for various churches? Do the people you share jobs with share experiences from Sunday morning or some other weekend event? What is important is revealed by where we spend our time. We ought to understand the crowd assembled around Jesus. We too want bread always – we want blessings – peace – prosperity – safety – health – unified families – and thankfully most of us have those things. Do we also really want that bread of life in the person of Jesus? Do we really want to be filled with the grace of God that can change us from within?

Maybe those who are not here tonight are the wise ones – smart enough not to risk being changed by the bread that is living and true. Coming too close to Jesus is risky. It will change us and make us compassionate persons awake and aware of our blessings and open to the opportunity to be a blessing for another. It will cause us to run home to the Father whose love never ceases to amaze and overpower us.

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” This bread of life is meant to be shared, with everyone. As Christians we live in Christ and in doing so we become living bread to a world that is hungry for the bread that endures to eternal life.

I am thankful that each of you came here this evening to share the bread and wine of our Father’s table – the real bread of life. Taste and see, the goodness of the Lord!