BREAD

Dr. Richard J. Henderson August 9, 2009

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Psalm 34:1-8
John 6:35, 41-51

Introduction

There's something about bread. Maybe it's the smell of bread baking in the over or the taste of good, hearty bread, or even the texture of it makes it a great food.

Good bread can make a meal. A hearty, wholesome bread can just about make a meal. A restaurant that serves good bread - I like the Common Grill in Chelsea - makes it worth the trip, just for the bread.

I always wanted to learn how to make bread. I don't mean the kind where you mix some ingredients together and plop them in a machine that churns them around, but making bread the old fashioned way - kneading it by hand, letting it rise, and shaping it yourself. Ruth Sill, a former member of our church, was always going to teach me how to make bread that way, but she moved away before I got my first lesson. There's something about good bread.

I

Jesus said "I am the bread of life." In that image he was saying a lot about himself and why he was here. Good bread nourishes us. It strengthens us and makes us stronger. Bread is satisfying. So much of the food we get today is "junk food;" food that is prepared quickly - sometimes literally thrown together - and loaded with fats and salt. You eat fast food and you're hungry again in a couple of hours. You can eat this food and not even remember what you ate. "What did you have for lunch?" "I don't know. O yea, we drove through a fast food place." But healthy bread stays with you. It is wholesome and satisfying. It fills us up.

Bread is a foundational food. It's basic, and it's a common food item; it's part of our ordinary daily meals. Think of the bread you ate yesterday - was it toast or an English muffin for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, a roll with dinner? Jesus, who was with God, came down to us as an ordinary person, who looked just like the rest of us. And when Jesus talked about himself, he said, "I am the bread of life," referring to bread, an every day part of life. God came to be part of our ordinary lives.

We need bread to stay alive. When we think of the least a person eats, we think of bread and water, the bare essentials of life. "They were locked away in prison with nothing to eat but bread and water." Of those two, bread is the only one with enough nutrition to keep us alive. Bread is essential, basic, and nutritious. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life."

II

Bread will keep a starving person alive. When someone can't afford, or can't get anything else, bread will keep life going. We think of people in devastating circumstances, where starvation is immanent and they are desperate for something to eat. Bread can make the difference between life and death.

How often have we seen pictures of desperately poor people in a rural village in a third world country welcoming a truck full of food? The children chase the truck from the moment it appears. When it stops, people push to get close to it and to get some of the bread that is being distributed. They grab the bread and run for their grass-roofed huts. A truck full of bread can be dispensed in five frantic minutes. Bread feeds the starving.

Maybe our hungers are of another sort. Most of us aren't desperate for food, but lots of us are hungry. Many people are hungry for recognition. Lots of people need to be important. I was in a meeting once where no matter what anyone said they had done; one man had done more, had done it better, and had a more interesting experience. Pretty soon the whole group got quiet, because whatever anyone said, this man could top that experience with something better. Obviously he wanted to impress the group, but the impression he left wasn't the one he had hoped for, I'm afraid.

Perhaps our greatest hunger is for meaning - to feel that what we do in this life has some significance. We want to feel that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. We want our lives to mean something beyond the mundane routine we keep every day. We hunger for something more. We want something that will satisfy our hunger. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life."

III

But the bread that Jesus refers to isn't bread from the local grocery store or even the corner bakery. The bread Jesus is talking about is from God. Jesus said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." That is, this is not bread that you kneaded on the counter at home and put into the oven yourself, this is bread that comes from God. It is nourishment that God sends us. It didn't come from our own hands. It isn't the result of human accomplishments or ingenuity or intellectual brain power. God sent us this bread in Jesus of Nazareth.

It is nourishment, sustenance from the One who created us, who cares about how we live our lives. It is bread from beyond. It nourishes us like no food on earth can. That's why Jesus can say, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry; whoever believes in me will never thirst." This is bread that satisfies for a life time.

Conclusion

As we prepare to gather at the Lord's Table, we are reminded of the symbolism that Jesus used in saying, "I am the bread of life." We come to this bread and cup recognizing the power of the image Jesus used. We sense the many ways in which this bread feeds us.

It represents the body of Christ.

It nourishes our spirits.

It fulfills the most basic hungers of our lives.

It is not of our own making, but a gift from the God who loves us, and whom we love.

This is the bread that stays with us and satisfies.

Amen

© Richard J. Henderson 2009