1 Kings
19:4-8; John 6: 35, 41-51
Who
remembers the 1980s TV show Cheers? It takes place in a Boston bar, with Ted
Danson as bar owner Sam Malone. Diane and Carla are waitresses, and regular
customers are Cliff and Norm.
As the
show begins, there is always a little sketch with one of the lead characters,
then a pause. The bar door opens and a chubby guy walks in and says, “Hi,
everybody.” And everyone in the bar yells, “Norm!”
The show
is about characters who tease, support, cry, and love each other so well that the
show ran for 8 seasons. The show worked because the staff and the regular
customers were a family. They had a relationship with each other. So much in
life is about relationships.
… For 5
weeks, the last week of July and all of August, the gospel readings are from
John 6, the feeding of 5,000 people with bread and fish, and lengthy
reflections on what the bread means. The Old Testament readings each week tell
stories about other miraculous feedings. It is clear in each of these feeding
stories that the source of the food is God, and that it is important to have a
close relationship with God.
In
today’s Old Testament story, Elijah has just fled from Queen Jezebel, who has
sworn to kill him because Elijah defeated her priests in a fire-making contest.
Elijah is tired, depressed, and ready to die. So he curls up under a tree and
prepares himself for death.
But, an
angel sent by God intervenes. The angel wakes Elijah and orders him to eat. The
angel allows Elijah to sleep a while to recover his strength, and then the
angel wakes Elijah again. Eat, the angel says, so you will have strength for
the journey ahead. This time, the food lasts 40 days and nights, until Elijah
reaches Mount Horeb, where he will have an encounter, a conversation, with God.
This
story shows that there is a strong relationship between Elijah and God. Elijah
has trusted God in the past, but he is so depressed he is finding it hard to
trust God right now. God shows Elijah through the angel and the encounter on
the mountain that God knows what Elijah is going through. Their trusting
relationship is restored as God gives Elijah a new assignment.
… Jesus
is talking about relationships in his lengthy commentary on bread. In today’s
reading, he uses the phrase “I AM” for himself for the first time. “I AM” is
the name God used when Moses asked what name he should use for God when he goes
to the people. God replied, “I AM that I AM” or “I AM what I AM.” This name
shows up in English Bibles as Y-H-W-H (YHWH) or Yahweh.
Jesus is
saying that he is God, that he is the Bread of Life, which is provided only by
God. Though the bread the crowd ate the other day was real bread, the bread
that Jesus offers is life, life in relationship with God, through Jesus.
Having a
relationship with God through Jesus gives us eternal life. Many people believe
that eternal life happens after we die. Then we live eternally with God,
wherever God is. People who believe this spend their lives trying to earn
enough goodie points with God to make it to heaven. They constantly wonder if
their sins are too big to be forgiven. They constantly worry about being good
enough for God to love them. They focus on winning heaven as a prize instead of
having a relationship with God.
But
these bread of life passages make it clear that eternal life is not about
getting into heaven. Tasting the goodness of the bread of life doesn’t have to
wait until we die. The bread of life is available to us right now, today. All
we have to do is accept Jesus’ invitation to have a relationship with him. Taste
and see the goodness of God by enjoying the bread of life today.
So, how
do we enjoy the bread of life? We show up! We show up at worship. We show up at
service projects. We show up with our money. We show up at prayer during the
week. We show up when the community gathers for fun. We show up to help each
other.
We enjoy
the bread of life when we show up to the altar and enjoy a taste of the bread each
week in Holy Communion. This, by the way, is why I love to use real bread for
communion instead of wafers. I want us all to have a sizable chunk of Jesus to
chew on.
Mostly,
we enjoy the bread of life by taking time to be with God and God’s people. Norm
showed up at Cheers bar and people greeted him by shouting his name. That is in
a way what I see happening before worship, the way each person is welcomed with
a hug on Sunday mornings.
I
encourage you to try this at home: Each day when you pray, imagine hearing Jesus
saying your own name with joy as you call on God in prayer or praise. This is one
way to enjoy the bread of life each day. God does indeed know your name and is
delighted to spend time with you whenever you wish. It is this relationship
that is the bread of life.
Please
pray with me. Jesus, you are our bread of life. Lead us to taste your goodness
often. Amen
