Sunday, August 4, 2024

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 16:2-15
Psalm 145:10-21
Ephesians 4:1-16
John 6:22-35

My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh. Let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

I have made huge changes to my lifestyle that have led to a healthier life. I’ve taken care of a few issues, some with the help of medicine, but I’m also eating better and exercising more. I am, in many ways, a new woman. I’m also sixty-years-old, and there are still lots of aches and pains that are typical of old age. My next blood tests are next week and there are issues that are hereditary that will probably not look any different this time. I’ve tried meds to deal with them, but the side effects are unbearable, so I have decided to try other options. I know it is a risk. The medicine did what it was supposed to do, but what good is a “good number” when I can’t live a good life?

I’ve said (a lot recently) that we are all dying. We are all dying. For most of us, that day will not come for many, many years. For others, that day is right around the corner. We don’t know when it will come, and it won’t always come from poor health or old age. We’ve heard too many stories of people who have died in car accidents or from violence. We are shocked in the summer months that children die from drowning or from being left in a hot car. Natural disasters and fires take lives every day. It may seem morbid to discuss death, but it is a reality of life in this broken and fallen world. Sin brought death, and we are all sinners. We all will die.

I think most of us would prefer to die peacefully in our sleep in old age after a long and fruitful life, but we can’t make that choice. We can do good things for our health, make lifestyle changes that can add to our days, but we sometimes try to control the circumstances of our lives in ways that aren’t ours to control.

Take, for example, the story of the Israelites. They were oppressed by the Egyptians, held captive as slaves. Slavery was never a pleasant life. Slaves died at the hands of their masters. They suffered horrific accidents. Who knows how many slaves died under the rolling stones that built the cities of the ancient world? The mortar of the buildings was mixed with the blood of people unable to stand against greater powers. It appears, however, that those Hebrew slaves at least had food, shelter, and the certainty of tomorrow. At least that’s what they remembered when they faced fear, frustration, exhaustion, thirst and hunger in the wilderness.

Israel was led by God’s chosen deliverer Moses into a wilderness of uncertainty. The wilderness was literal, but it was also spiritual. Spiritually, they were following a man chosen by a God they did not really know. They remembered their forefathers and believed in their God, but they had lost touch with Him after four hundred years in Egypt. Despite all the miracles that took them to the foot of Mt. Sinai, they quickly reverted to the gods they had come to know. Everything about the journey to the Promised Land was outside their comfort zone. They might not have been happy or prosperous in Egypt, but at least they had roofs over their heads and food for their bellies.

They started grumbling. They had more hope that they’d be saved when they were living as slaves under the whips of the Egyptians than they did as they wandered in the wilderness under God’s care. They grumbled against the enemy they could see: Moses and Aaron. They were the men who led them out of security into insecurity. The people saw only death in their future; they could not foresee the fulfillment of God’s promises to their patriarchs or the blessings that would come with obedience.

We forget our need for salvation when we are hungry. We forget that we are sinners in need of a Savior when our circumstances are not comfortable. Our tummies grumble and then our mouths grumble. We look for someone to blame: our leaders, the government, or the rich. They grumbled against Moses, but the bible reminds us that when we grumble against God’s chosen, we grumble against God. Moses was the person God sent to lead Israel out of Egypt, but he was not their Savior. God was their Savior, so if they were unhappy being away from Egypt, it was Him they had to blame.

It is a lot easier to blame some guy or worldly institution than to blame God. The irony is that it did not take long for them to put Moses on a pedestal. Once they found the Promised Land, Moses became more than a man. He became a legend. He became their deliverer. He became their savior. He did not enter into the Promised Land, but he was the one they turned to in times of stress and distress through the Law that he gave them. The Law was their god at times, even when they were not faithful or obedient. That was still true in Jesus’ day.

When the people started grumbling, God sent them food. He sent them so much quail that they became sick of meat, and then He sent them manna. Manna is beyond explanation. We know from the scriptures that it was “a small round thing, small as the hoar-frost on the ground.” Other translations describe it as something like coriander seed.

It is no coincidence that the word manna literally means, “What is it?” They did not know what it was. Many scholars have tried to discover a natural explanation for this miraculous event, and there is a plant that produces a sticky, granular honeydew for a short period of time each year. This could not possibly be the explanation because the plants cannot produce enough to feed more than a million people wandering in the desert for forty years. Also, the manna doubled on the day before the Sabbath and was nonexistent on the Sabbath which could not happen with a plant. Manna was miraculous, beyond our human experience and understanding. The Hebrews picked it up off the ground and used it to make bread.

God provided everything they needed. He answered their prayers, and their grumbling. He sent manna from heaven in the morning and quails in the evening. The people were commanded to follow very specific instructions so that they could learn to trust in God’s provision. Those who did not trust God’s Word, who tried to hoard the manna, found only disappointment. Imagine what it must have been like: they had to rely on an unseen God and accept an unidentifiable thing as food to fill their grumbling bellies. Even still, would it be worth returning to a country where the oppressor waits to make life even more difficult for them? Egypt would not welcome them “home.” In all likelihood, the only thing they would find in Egypt is death.

Sometimes God gives us opportunities that seem scary but are truly the way to freedom. I certainly felt that way when I realized I needed to do something about my health. We look at the answers to our prayers and wonder what God was thinking. I would have preferred an easier path, perhaps a miracle that changed everything for me without so much sacrifice and hard work.

We might think that it took a long time for the Hebrews to start grumbling as soon as they crossed the sea and were safe from Pharaoh. Moses healed the bitter water a few days later. Then the people complained about having no meat. The quail fell that night and the manna was on the ground in the morning. They arrived at Mt. Sinai about forty-five days after the Passover. The people turned to the golden calf before the 100th day.

Shouldn’t it have taken much longer for them to turn from the God who saved them from slavery? In today’s passage they had already forgotten the bitterness of their oppression. It took little more than a month for them to desire their old lives because at least their stomachs were full back then. During my health journey, my caregivers have been impressed with my progress, but one asked “Can you sustain this?” I was confident that I would, but I confess that I have had moments of grumbling and the desire to enjoy the lifestyle of old.

We try to control our circumstances in a way that isn’t the best way to go. Returning to the old ways will not take us to a better place, no matter what we think. God guides us through the journeys that seem frightening and He’s faithful to His promises. What lies at the end of the journey is a land of blessing even if the way is difficult. We need only trust that God will be with us through it all.

The trouble is that we often look toward the wrong source to supply our needs. Israel looked to Moses and Aaron. Israel’s trust in them wavered because they were fallible human beings with no special powers. They could not buy bread in the desert. They couldn’t even grow the grain, harvest the wheat, and make the bread for so many. They could not provide for God’s people. But Moses and Aaron weren’t the One who promised to provide for them. They were chosen to lead the people to the Promised Land, with God as guide and provider. The wandering was a time for God to prove Himself to the whole nation. They would have to trust God even more once they got to the Promised Land. That trust would need to be built over time, as they would need Him over and over again throughout their history. They often failed. If only they had trusted Him to give them meat and bread, they might have trusted Him to protect them from the more deadly dangers they faced.

We have trouble trusting the One we can’t see when we are struggling with the visible things in this world. We don’t think about our soul when our bellies are grumbling. We fight for that which is tangible and ignore the things that really matter. That’s what Jesus saw in the crowds on the banks of the Sea of Galilee. After feeding more than five thousand people, Jesus saw that they still did not understand. They recognized that He was the Messiah, but they wanted an earthly king. They wanted someone who would lead them from being an occupied nation into a golden age of sovereign prosperity. They did not know that they had a deeper need, the need for forgiveness and the hope of eternal life.

I’m often mistaken for an employee in retail shops. I have worked in retail, but I don’t think I act like I work at the stores where it happens to me. Sure, I occasionally fold shirts on a table as I’m looking through them, but I do that because it is easier to find a particular size when the shirts are neatly stacked. Besides, that’s not when I get asked for help. I can be walking down an aisle with a shopping cart filled with groceries and my purse tucked into the child seat and someone will ask, “Do you work here?” I don’t know whether they are desperate for help or if they are really confused.

Have you ever experienced this? Has someone ever thought you were someone or something that you aren’t? Have they looked to you for advice you aren’t qualified to give or asked you to do something that you don’t think you can do? There might be good reason for them to think as they do. It might appear that I work in the store when I begin folding clothes on the tables and we all might do things that make others think we are an expert. But all too often people want us to fulfill their needs even if that’s not what we are meant to do.

That’s what happened to Jesus. Today’s passage comes shortly after the feeding of the five thousand which we read last week. It was a miraculous event, one that people identified with the Messiah. They saw Jesus as the anointed one, not as He was sent to be but as they expected Him to be. They intended to come to make Him king, which is why He went to the mountain to pray. The crowd found Jesus on the other side of the sea.

They wanted to know His every movement, but they were chasing after Him for all the wrong reasons. They saw His miraculous feeding of the five thousand as proof that they were right: He was the one to meet their needs. Jesus answered that they were seeking Him because He satisfied their flesh, but that He was there to give them something much better. He wanted them to hear the words of hope and grace He was giving to them on that hillside, but all they saw was that their physical hunger was satisfied. He met their needs along with sharing God’s Kingdom. They interpreted the sign as something different than what He intended. He stopped them in their tracks by telling them to stop working for the food that perishes, but to work for the food that endures to eternal life.

Jesus’ teachings seemed to contradict everything that was given to Israel by Moses. They expected Jesus to repeat the Law of Moses and to give them a list of rules to obey. They wanted to receive God’s blessings based on their own actions. They wanted control. That’s how it has always been. If Jesus contradicted Moses, He’d have to prove Himself.

Confused by Jesus’ new teaching, they asked about the work they had to do. Jesus answered, “To believe.” This is an unsatisfactory answer because believing is not active work we can do. They insisted on a sign, as if the things Jesus had done were not enough to prove that He is the One sent by God. They were comparing Him to Moses, under whose leadership they received the manna from heaven. However, Jesus reminded them that the bread they ate in the desert did not come from Moses, it came from God. Not only did the people misunderstand what happened on the hillside when He fed the five thousand, they misunderstood what happened in the wilderness with the Israelites so long ago. They’d lost sight of the real provider of all things good. Just like the Israelites in the wilderness, they wanted a leader who would satisfy their hunger and thirst.

Jesus told the crowd not to work for food that perishes but to work for food that endures. They asked, “What must we do, that we may work the works of God?” They were expecting Jesus to repeat the Law which was given to them by Moses. They expected to hear a list of rules to obey and things they had to do. They wanted to receive God’s blessings based on their own actions. They wanted control. “To believe” did not fit their expectation, especially since He was pointing to Himself as the One in whom they should believe.

Today’s passage from John juxtaposes the manna in the desert to the Bread from heaven which is Jesus. These both come from God. They are gifts from the One who cares for our every need, even the grumbling of our tummies. But as with the Israelites in the desert and the people by the Sea of Galilee, we are reminded that there is something much more important to understand here: these lessons are about trusting that God will provide us what we truly need.

Jesus didn't come to feed the hungry or heal the sick. He did those things to prove to the people that He is who He is. He did it, just like God proved Himself in the desert, to prove Himself to us. He did everything to teach us how to trust Him. And all He wants in return is that we believe. He will provide what we need. And while we do need food for our bellies, the true bread is Jesus. In Him is life; in Him is eternal life.

We fail. We grumble about our blessings when they do not seem to be what we want them to be. We focus too much on our stomachs and too little on our spirits. We forget the great things that God has done and turn again to the gods who promise to fill our bellies and satisfy our physical desires. We turn from God by demanding that He serve as our earthly King and ignore the greater Kingdom that He rules from heaven. We turn from Him when He demands more from us than we are willing to give or that we can understand. We forget to praise Him for our daily bread.

We hear Jesus’ call to believe and think it is a passive response to God’s grace, but Paul teaches us more. He was in prison when he wrote the letter to the Ephesians. Today’s passage includes a difficult request: to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called. What is that calling? What is the work of God? To believe. This is not a passive faith; it is an active faith that naturally manifests a life that pleases God. It is the faith that leads to maturity, and that maturity leads to love. In love we live in unity and in peace in the body of Christ.

We don’t do this very well. We find it much easier to grumble when we feel our needs are not being met; we demand physical satisfaction when we really need Christ. The bonds of peace are too easily broken. Paul tells us to grow up. We need to stop falling for every idea that comes our way, trusting God as He builds His Church. He has created the perfect machine, but we spend so much time chasing after that which satisfies our flesh that we forget to do the work that will bring glory and honor to our God. It did not take the Israelites very long to turn to the golden calf; we are just as easily swayed by the ways of our world today.

We will continue to study the Bread of Life over the next few weeks, and the lessons will get incredibly difficult for us to understand and accept. It will be so shocking to Jesus' audience that many will stop following Him. Jesus began this lesson with the feeding of the five thousand because He knows that we need to have our flesh satisfied before we can truly learn about our spirits. We can't stay there, however. We have to take the next step to truly believe in Jesus. He did not come to be an earthly king; He came to save the world.

His salvation is enough, even when it doesn’t satisfy our expectations. To believe means praising God’s graciousness and singing thanks to Him for His blessings. When we believe we trust in Him, we will see how He generously helps us deal with everything that makes us grumble. He answers our prayers in miraculous ways, though sometimes they aren’t answered as we expect.

Psalm 145 is a prayer of praise to the lovingkindness of God. It is an acrostic, a poem in which each verse begins with a different letter of the alphabet. It is not obvious in English, and we are only using a few of the verses, but it is interesting to think about the importance of this literary technique. The psalmist found a way to praise God from “A to Z,” literally. How often do we think so much about God’s grace that we will write a poem using every letter of our alphabet?

The key word in today’s psalm is “lovingkindness.” We might want to simplify this word to mean “nice” but that does not describe the depth of the meaning in this passage. Lovingkindness is compassion, mercy: the sympathetic concern for the suffering of another. Lovingkindness is proactive. God answered the grumbling of the Israelites in the desert with His lovingkindness. He gave them everything they needed, to teach them to trust in Him.

The Lord God Almighty, through Jesus Christ our Lord, has shown the most incredible compassion to all. The people in His day didn’t recognize Him for what He is. They wanted a king, but they missed that He is the King. They wanted bread for their bellies, but they missed that He is the Bread that feeds their souls.

His goodness is for all He has made. His love is for everyone. Christ died for sinners even before we knew we were sinners. He died for us even before we were born. God’s lovingkindness is proactive, coming to us long before we even knew we needed it. Even now there are many in our world that do not know that they need the mercy and grace of God. They do not accept the forgiveness that comes from faith because they do not believe they have anything to be forgiven. But God’s Kingdom has come for them, too. By God s grace, we have become the manifestation of His lovingkindness, as we take His Word into the world. God provides all we need when we trust in Him. We are called to join with the psalmist, singing hymns of praise to the LORD who is the Great King of a kingdom that reaches far beyond our expectations.

God saved His people and fed them the quail and manna they needed to satisfy their grumbling. He taught them to trust in Him, and while they failed over and over again, He loved them and remained faithful to all His promises.

The Israelites learned how to trust in God by eating manna in the wilderness. The crowd learned that Jesus wasn’t who they thought He was by chasing after the wrong sort of bread in their wilderness. Paul learned to live in his vocation even when it took him into places that he didn’t want to go. We learn through these lessons that our work is simply to believe. As we believe in God, we are given opportunities to share God’s grace with others. The love of God calls us to share the true bread of heaven with all those who are hungry. We tell the world about the good things God has done, just like the psalmist, so that others will trust God, too, and do His Work of belief in the world.