Sermon for Pentecost 10
August 9, 2009
John 6:35-51
Pastor Curt Dwyer, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Lafe AR

Grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear Friends,

  If I were to say “turkey, mashed potatos and pumpkin pie” what do you associate that with?
What about hamburgers on the grill, potato chips and watermelon?
Or the smell of fresh baked cinnamon rolls; ok, that’s mine. Grandma makes the best cinnamon rolls. And sugar cookies.
Food has powerful associations for us. Certain smells, certain tastes, certain foods are connected to specific people or events or holidays, so that it is hard for us to eat that dish without immediately thinking about that other place or time. It isn’t just about the nourishment that we get from that particular food, it isn’t just about satisfying hunger. Those foods fill us with the sense of being in that place again.

  Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst…I am the living bread that came down from heaven. I f anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” As good Lutherans, especially on a second or fourth Sunday, that last little sentence makes us think of one thing: communion. Here in the Lord’s Supper we believe that Jesus is giving to us His true body and blood under the form of bread and wine. That same body that was whipped, stripped, and crucified is given to us, and through it we are also given forgiveness and life. This is bread that brings life.

  But as good and proper as that association is, I don’t think that is all that is going on here. Jesus isn’t only talking about communion here. He is talking about much more than that.

  Christ himself is the thing that brings us life. All that Christ is, and all that He does and all that He says is the bread we eat. His life is that which brings life to all people; the offering of His life is what nourishes those who believe in Him. And even on top of that nourishment, this bread of life is a powerful reminder-ahead-of-time of our true home.

  There’s a story I came across this week that helps make the point: (from Sermon Writer materials, vol. 13# 67, August 9, 2009) At the foot of a great mountain in China lived a father and his three sons. They were a simple and loving family. The father noticed that travelers came from afar eager to climb the dangerous mountain. But not one of them ever returned! The three sons heard stories about the mountain, how it was made all of gold and silver at the top. Despite their father's warnings, they could not resist venturing up the mountain. Along the way, under a tree, sat a beggar, but the sons did not speak to him or give him anything. They ignored him. One by one, the sons disappeared up the mountain, the first to a house of rich food, the second to a house of fine wine, the third to a house of gambling. Each became a slave to his desire and forgot his home. Meanwhile, their father became heartsick. He missed them terribly. "Danger aside," he said, "I must find my sons." Once he scaled the mountain, the father found that indeed the rocks were gold, the streams silver. But he hardly noticed. He only wanted to reach his sons, to help them remember the life of love they once knew. On the way down, having failed to find them, the father noticed the beggar under the tree and asked for his advice. "The mountain will give your sons back," said the beggar, "only if you bring something from home to cause them to remember the love of their family." The father raced home, brought back a bowl full of rice, and gave the beggar some as a thank-you for his wisdom. He then found his sons, one at a time, and carefully placed a grain of rice on the tongue of each of them. At that moment, the sons recognized their foolhardiness. Their real life was now apparent to them. They returned home with their father, and as one loving family lived happily ever after.

  Just as that grain of rice reminded those sons of a life they had forgotten, the bread of life that Christ gives to us reminds us of a life we have now, and a life that we will have. And that bread, that food that Christ gives to us, reminds us of a different time and a different place, just like Grandma’s sugar cookies remind us Christmas at her house.

  Communion, of course, is the obvious connection; food that not only strengthens us for a life of faith but that also brings us together in one fellowship around one table with all of the saints of all times and places. This little meal points ahead, reminding us ahead of time, of the feast we will have in God’s presence eternally.

  But let’s not stop at communion. Christ, the bread of life, certainly gives us more than just this meal.
He gives us prayer. Because of faith in Christ, in prayer we experience for a moment the intimacy with God that will be our ultimate reality on the other side of the grave.
He gives us forgiveness. As we reconcile with God and with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we get a glimpse here and now of the life we have to come that will be free from the petty interpersonal conflicts that we get so wrapped up in. He gives us joy. When we pause for a moment of praise, either on Sunday morning at church or at any other time in any other place when we notice again the overwhelming grace of God, we feel for a moment a fraction of the joy we will feel when we join in praise with all the hosts of heaven.

  He gives us hope. The empty tomb points to the reality of the end of death. We all face the unknown, especially the great unknown of death, but Christ has already been there and conquered that. The Bread of life gives us hope now and always, to face whatever we may most fear, because we know that He has been there already.

Christ, the bread of life, feeds us with these small moments of grace so that we can get a glimpse of home, with him, in eternity. With that little taste, He calls us down from the illusions we so often live with so that we can see what we already have and will have with Him.

  Christ is the bread of life. As we feast on Him today, in communion but also through the word of Scripture and through the shared faith of the church, we receive true and eternal life. And just like grandma’s chicken and noodles reminds us of family dinners at her house, the Bread of Life reminds us of the reality and joy of our true home.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.