+ 11thSunday after Pentecost – August 5th, 2018 +
Series B: Exodus 16:2-15; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:22-35
Beautiful Savior Lutheran - Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Oh…I know you think you're being generous, but the foundation of gift-giving is reciprocity. You haven't given me a gift, you've given me an obligation… So says Sheldon Cooper on the TV show The Big Bang Theory.
That’s the way of the world: gift-wrapped karma. Give something to get something; it’s all over the marketing at Christmas or Valentine’s Day.
In truth, it’ a bit more complex. Gifts are a part of our life, from baby-showers before we’re born to memorials when we die. The kinds of gifts we give say a lot about what’s important to us. Gift giving can also to bring out the best and the worst in us.
At times, we give begrudgingly, half-heartedly, deceitfully, or selfishly. And yet we also give gifts out of love and thoughtfulness for others, selflessly and cheerfully even. Weddings, birthdays, Christmas, and the like.
In this life, we are sinners and saints, all of us, in everything we say and do. That means, whenever we give gifts, we have the new, baptized man in us who is a cheerful, sacrificial, selfless giver. But we also have the old man within us, our sinful nature, who lurks and lunges like a Jack-in-the box bursting its lid to grab whatever is in front of us with famous toddler words, “Mine!”
Today’s Gospel reading from John 6 is all about giving, and the God who reveals himself in giving. The verb “to give” is used at least 7 times in our reading this morning.
In the feeding of the 5000 Jesus gave food freely. That’s why the crowds got in their boats, went to Cappernaum, and found Jesus. Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.They saw Jesus as their meal-ticket, not their Messiah.
No wonder Jesus declared to the crowds, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.”
According to Jesus, there are two kinds of food in this life. Food for the body. Food for the soul. Physical life. Spiritual life. The food that perishes keeps death at bay, at least for a while. We have refrigerators, to keep food from spoiling, dying. The food Jesus gives, on the other hand, endures to eternal life.
Jesus’ words are a gut-punch warning to us, just as they were to the crowds. This is just as Jesus intended, a death blow to the god of our belly, only not just our belly. But the gluttony of our every thought, word, deed, desire, and hunger that we fear, love, and trust in above God. This is what sin does to us, it curves us inward on ourselves. Navel-gazers Martin Luther called us. And it’s true. We have an insatiable appetite for destruction. We labor for food that perishes because, ultimately, we are perishing. It’s been that way since Adam and Eve ate in the Garden.
Do not labor for the food that perishes. This isn’t Jesus’ Sea of Galilee diet plan. It’s a reminder that Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
A reminder that we hunger and thirst for righteousness, yet stuff our faces with all the rotten, junk-food this world has to offer.
That even though we give with limits, terms, conditions, and strings attached, our Lord Jesus, the Great Giver, does not. His ways are not our ways. Jesus gives himself, his love, forgiveness, and mercy without limit, unconditionally, no strings attached, no terms, no deals, and no givesy backsies. Jesus gives his life for us freely, graciously, and abundantly in both body and soul.
The LORD gave manna and quail to the children of Israel in the wilderness. Jesus gave bread and fish to the crowds on the hillside. Jesus gives us this day, and every day, our daily bread. That applies to our life of mercy to our neighbor: we who have more than we need give to others who don’t. Also to our lives as stewards: we give Thee but his own, whatever the gift may be, all that we have is Thine alone, a trust, O Lord, from Thee.
After all, Jesus is the giver of all gifts, not Moses, not us. Jesus gives us our daily bread on our tables and his. Here Jesus gives us the bread of life in his body and blood.
For the bread which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world is the Bread of God!
Gift. Given. Giving. This is what Jesus does for us. This is who our Lord is. A gracious, superabundant, over-the-top, extravagant Giver.
We see this in the feeding of the 5000. But we see it most clearly on the cross. For God loved the world in this manner, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life.
That’s where Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse in John 6 leads us. To the cross, where we gather like dogs at the table, begging for scraps of blessings from our Master. Yet to our surprise, He gives us afeast instead.
Jesus’ teaching in John 6 is a bread-crumb trail that leads us all the way from Capernaum to Calvary, from the feeding of the 5000 to the Passover with the 12, to the night in which he was betrayed, when he gave thanks and blessed the bread and the wine. Take eat, this is my body given for you. Take drink; this is my blood poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. It’s an appetizer for the main course that Jesus prepares for us in His body and blood.
In this blessed mystery, Jesus is the bread of heaven come down to earth for you. Jesus feeds and nourishes us. God takes the stuff of his creation – wheat and wine – and he adds his Word and Promise to it. He does the same for us in Holy Baptism and Holy Absolution; he combines his word with his creation to give us the best gift of all, Himself.
In a day and age when it’s hard to find something built to last and everything seems to break down or perish, Jesus gives us that which is truly eternal, everlasting, and unending. From birth to death, Jesus gives us his selfless, sacrificial death that washes away all our selfish, sinful giving. Jesus gives us himself. His perfect life lived for us. His perfect death in our place. His resurrection from the dead. His Word and Supper. His promise that he gives us today:
I AM the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to me shall never hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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