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November 25, 2007

The Bread of Life

The Bread of Life
November 25, 2007
Jeremiah 23:1-6, Luke 1:68-79
Today ends the Christian year. Next Sunday, Advent begins a new liturgical year for the church. And on this last day of the Christian year, we celebrate the Kingship of Jesus…we celebrate his place as God’s beloved son—the leader of our Church and of our lives. There are numerous images of Jesus throughout scripture, most of them radically different than our image of a worldly, secular king. Today we will look at two of these images. In the Jeremiah passage, God laments the evil, self-serving shepherds who have led the people astray, who have left the people to fend for themselves, who have acted as anything but a shepherd. For the people of Jeremiah’s time a shepherd was a well-known profession, but not so for us.

A shepherd is responsible for the sheep in his care. He leads them to lush, green pastures, takes them to ponds full of cool, clean water, brings them into an enclosure where they will be safe at night and sleeps in the one opening of the enclosure so none of them get out.

The shepherd fends off wide animals and goes out to find the sheep who has wandered off. The shepherd also talks to the sheep because the sheep know the sound of his voice…These are some of the responsibilities of a shepherd.

King Jesus is our shepherd. If we are a sheep in his fold, he will provide for our every need. We shall not want for anything. In fact, as Psalm 23 tells us, the Good Shepherd will do more than care for every physical need we might have. He will also nourish our souls. In order for that to happen, we need to make sure we are in the sheep fold, not off wandering around on our own. He need to know that the voice we are listening to is that of the Good Shepherd and not some one else is shepherd’s clothing. How well do you know the voice of the Good Shepherd? Would you recognize it if you heard it?

In my mind, there have been two marvelous developments over the past 10 years; two types of businesses that have sprouted up all over the place—high end coffee shops, like Starbucks, and specialty bread shops. I love my coffee and nothing beats a loaf of fresh baked crusty bread.

While I’d be hard pressed to sell the idea that coffee and bread are the staples of life, I think most of you would agree with me on the bread front. Bread is a staple food of European, Middle Eastern and Indian cultures. It is prepared by baking, steaming or frying. The dough consists minimally of flour and water. (One of the reasons it is seen as a staple). Salt is also present in most cases, and usually a leavening agent such as yeast is used.

Bread may also contain some amounts of sugar, spices, fruit (such as raisins, pumpkin, or banana), vegetables (corn, onion, tomato) nuts or seeds (such as caraway, sesame, or poppy). Bread comes in a wide variety forms with preferences differing from region to region. Much like the various Christian denominations you can find around the world…

Not only does bread come in a variety of forms, it fills you up. How often have you gone to a restaurant where they have great bread only to be full when your entrée arrives? This is another reason why bread is a staple—it fills you up. It sticks with you.
Bread is also used as a utensil to soak up or move food from the plate to your mouth. And bread is affordable. When I was a student traveling around Europe, I remember sitting in a small café in Paris. Broke, or almost broke, I could still get a hunk of cheese and a large baguette, and a glass of wine for a couple francs. Note that the wine was cheaper than coffee, tea or soda…

Prior to today’s reading, Jesus performed the miracle of feeding the 5,000 people. You remember the one where he was given the five barley loaves and two fish from the young man. And 5,000 people ate and were satisfied with some left over, 12 baskets according to scriptures. This event was still very much on everyone’s mind.

And even though Jesus had performed this miracle, the people asked more of him. “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you?” they asked. The people where caught up in expecting a messiah who looked and acted a certain way. Not someone who acted like Jesus. And just as he did with the woman at the well, Jesus uses this unexpected opening to invite people into a relationship with him. “You thought that was something…”
“You don’t even realize what it is you seek, but I do.” “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” “Come, follow me, and believe.” Some did, many did not.

As his last act with his disciples, Jesus introduced a ritual that placed this metaphor of himself as the Bread of Life at the center of Christian community. We call this ritual, the sacrament of Holy Communion. As United Methodists, we know it most commonly as The Great Thanksgiving.

Holy Communion is a sacrament that carries with it numerous meanings---
Holy Communion is an act of thanksgiving. When we gather we express joyful thanks for God’s mighty acts throughout history—for creation, covenant, redemption, and sanctification to name a few. Holy Communion is an act of fellowship where the gathered community is both local and universal. You will note the first-person pronouns throughout the sacrament are consistently plural—we, us, our.

Holy Communion is a remembrance, commemoration, and memorial. Not only do we intellectually remember Jesus’ words, “Do this in remembrance of me”, but we take on the embodiment of Christ when we eat the bread and drink from the cup. And we then offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as holy and living sacrifices in our current world, as Jesus was in his time.

Holy Communion is a vehicle of God’s grace through the action of the Holy Spirit.
We seek to be made one with Christ in the Spirit, one with each other, in ministry to all the world…

As United Methodists’ we believe that all people are welcome at Christ’s table—it makes no difference whether they are a UM or not, gay or straight, black, Asian, or white, single, married or divorced, criminal record or not, American citizen or illegal resident, faithful church member, lapsed member, or never walked through a church door before today…
Christ invites anyone to his table who desire a relationship with him.

Jesus took bread and he gave thanks to God…knowing what was coming, his death, a painful and humiliating death—and he gave thanks to God. After having eaten the bread and shared a meal with his disciples, he took the cup, the Holy Grail, and offered up the fruit of the vine to God, and he gave thanks.

His ministry on earth was coming to an end. He wanted to leave his disciples with an image of him that would sustain them, would feed them, would nourish them, and would fill up the dark places in their soul when they stood before their own difficult times. And so he gave thanks to God, for the gathering, the disciples, the food, the place, his path, God’s plan…

Jesus came to give us life, not just hoe, hum life; not a scared, little life, but abundant, grace-filled, purpose-filled life. When we accept him into our lives, when we put God at the center of our lives, then we can begin to embody this bread of life for the world. Jesus modeled for us that we begin by thanking God.

What is going on in your life right now? Maybe you’re out of work or don’t like your job. Can you accept the bread of life and give God thanks? Maybe your life is full of pain and sadness. Can you accept the bread of life and give God thanks? Maybe your life is going great, things are wonderful. Can you accept the bread of life and give God thanks? Maybe you are grieving, angry, or bitter? Can you accept the bread of life and give God thanks?

Jesus asks us to come and follow him. He gives us no guarantees that life will be easy. But he does tell us that if we open ourselves to him, if we will come into community with other believers, if we will give of ourselves for others,
we will be satisfied, nourished, and fulfilled.

On this Thanksgiving weekend, this Christ the King Sunday, let us remember to give God thanks not only for the blessings in our lives but for the kingship of Jesus Christ--a kingship that is based on love, peace, compassion, healing, and service. A kingship that seeks to share the gift of God’s love with all people—the kind of love that feeds the places in our souls that mere food cannot sustain. Jesus Christ—not conqueror, but shepherd. Jesus Christ came into the world that all people might have life, and have it abundantly. That’s more than any Thanksgiving table can hold. Thanks be to God.

Posted by vickie at 10:00 AM