SCRIPTURE: John 6:51-58
TEXT: 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” THEME: INTRODUCTION This is the fourth sermon on the Bread of Heaven. This series began with the feeding of the 5,000 on the hill side. This can be seen as John’s stylized version of the Lord’s Supper at Passover. The bread of heaven, is the bread of the incarnation or Christmas bread. There are some traditions that last during Advent in preparation for celebrating the birth of Christ at Christmas. In my imagination, they break their fast with colorful, sweet, savory, pungent flavorful bread, spiked with brightly colored candied fruits. Representing the coming of Christ into our drab lives. The bread from heaven, adding life abundantly. The bread of a new age that is colored with all of the flavors of God and the tastefulness of Jesus’ dwelling in us. SCRIPTURE Debate was part of synagogue worship, as allegories and metaphors were picked apart to see if their meaning held Godly truth, or just fell apart. As Jesus talks about living bread coming down from heaven, the Jews respond with the literal debate, “Is Jesus suggesting we eat him?” Of course not. But he is talking about entering into an intimate relationship with God, beyond rules and regulations, sacrifices and appeasement through legal compensations. Jesus is talking about living, not flying under the radar of a cosmic judge of moral character, who drives around in a heavenly squad chariot looking for offenders. Jesus is talking about relationship. To eat is to live in relationship with God. God initiates an invitation of intimately. A life together that is so rich, fulfilling, meaningful that it can only be described as ‘eternal’. As the Father is a part of Jesus, Jesus is a part of the Father. And as Jesus is a part of us then we are a part of Jesus. We can live in a way that is consistent with God’s will, God’s design, God’s plans, God’s dream and God’s mission. This passage ends with a curious thought that their ancestors who ate bread from heaven died. Manna was the food that kept the Israelites alive in the wilderness, but ceased to feed them in the promise land. There is no bread that will give us eternal life, but we can have a relationship with God through Jesus that will transform the way we live. Eternal life comes as a by-product of this relationship. APPLICATION It is not what we eat that makes us special to God. God’s creation of us already makes us special. But it is eating with God that changes our lives. Our relationship with God makes Jesus influential in our transformation. What life does Christ’s indwelling in us, cause us to imagine? All this eating stuff is about Christ inhabiting us. It is about Christ being the fuel of our living. Jesus being the source of what we do with our lives. Imagine the different areas of our lives being transformed as we bring Jesus with us into these situations. Imagine if we were a professional athlete at the top of our game and we realized, or experienced the disparity of treatment by law enforcement upon blacks. How might we use our platform as an athlete to speak towards justice? During the Tokyo Olympics the Women of the US Team brought home more gold metals than the men. When awarded a metal would we use this time to publicly bring attention to the fact that the treatment of women in the United States is not equal to men, in pay, promotions, respect, or opportunities? When we walk down the street and a group is protesting their fears about their freedoms being taken away, by vaccination mandates being the gateway for gathering in large groups, participation in varsity sports, continuing to work at their jobs, or hassle-free air travel. Liberal, political philosopher John Stuart Mill says, “people should be free to act however they wish unless their actions cause harm to somebody else”. Knowing about what the COVID-19 Delta virus can do to others, what mandates would 'Christ in us' support? I signed up for the next CTEL class, from PSR, that began yesterday. I didn’t realize it but it is an introductory course on Theology. The professor gave us a one-line definition of Theology; Theology changes the world. Theology is a way God is revealed to us and we are changed. I have often thought that all of the problems in the world stem, from poor theology. Gratitude is theology changing us towards God. The invitation of the incarnation is theology bringing changes that draws us towards God. God is revealed in the relationships that we keep and bring changes to our theology. Theology is a reflection of our relationship with God. Theology is not God, but points towards God. Our relationship, with the indwelling Jesus, changes our lives and actions. CONCLUSION I chose the fruit cake or Christmas bread as an analogy to talk about the incarnation of God through Jesus in our lives and world. A colorful, savory, festive, bread to break us out of fasting lives and feed us for our abundant life with God. If we took a literal approach to Jesus, we would be kind hearted cannibals. But we are not. The Gospel of John is painting a portrait of what Jesus looks like, not a chronological history of Jesus’ Life. We have to see the Gospel of John all at once and not as the story boards that unfolds like a movie, but as a portrait of Jesus’ face with each story painting on a new feature.
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