Sermon July 26 2009

Ephesians 3:14-21
John 6:1-21

“Providence?”

“There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” (Mohandas Gandhi)

I think it’s hard to imagine what that is like unless you have lived through a time of scarcity in the general population. Right now, even if you live in poverty, in this country there is food available somewhere. Imagine the places in the world where people are hungry and there is no food anywhere near—and there are places like that in the world.

There have been times in this country of general scarcity, I know—but due to the abundance of nature, the vast amounts of land and the strength and willingness of people to hold together; we have survived those times.

In John 6, the story told reflects Jesus as the bread of life. In the narrative, the crowd gathered because they saw signs in him. The gospel of John reveals Jesus in unique ways from the other three gospels. John calls Jesus’ actions, signs because they pointed to something beyond himself. And often those who misunderstand who Jesus was also misunderstood the signs themselves. They were enthralled by the power and didn’t understand why the power was there and what it would be used for in Jesus’ life.

This story is about those kinds of misunderstandings, too. The crowd followed him around the water—hoping to see the celebrity perform. They weren’t disappointed by the wonders they saw. As the crowd gathered, Jesus knowingly asked one of his disciples how they would handle this group of hungry people. They balked at the cost of feeding these thousands, but Jesus continued by telling them how.

In these actions, if we listen carefully, we may feel a familiar reflection and rhythm.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’ 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’

He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.

10Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all.

11Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff—
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long.

14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’
15When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

“There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.”

Jesus saw the crowds gathered and wanted to reveal God to them again as God had been revealed in this Psalm. I don’t know that Jesus thought, “Ah, this looks like that psalm about God being a shepherd.” But I am sure that the author of John’s gospel heard or read this story in the other gospels and heard exactly that. It doesn’t matter who it was, we read that God provides—God provided centuries before and God provided that day as the crowds gathered around Jesus.

But in each time, the bread that nourished the body was accompanied by the bread of heaven that nourished the soul. Not only did God provide physical food, God provided spirit food—in the word that God offered through the prophets of old, in the word of God incarnate in Jesus Christ and in the word of God that still accompanies us in scripture, in experience and in practice each day.

Jesus’ compassionate response to the hungry men and women and children who gathered on the hillsides near the sea of Galilee was the sign that the people were given that day. But the compassion wasn’t what people saw—they saw the miracle of multiplication and wanted to forcibly crown him king. They missed the point of the miracle—God provides.

“There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.”

Providence, as defined by some, is the wisdom, care and guidance given by God or the perception that the good we receive is God’s will. I worry sometimes that providence is misunderstood to be God’s blessing for the righteous with good things and God’s deprivation of those who have missed the mark.

Yet the biblical witness tells us that God provides for the unknowing as well as the knowing. God provides is a standard for all creation—what we do with that wisdom and knowledge is where the greatest blessing and compassion comes.

If we have been given the bread of life that is Jesus Christ, we are called upon to keep that bread alive. The bread of life that we are given is kept living—as love is kept alive by sharing it with others. The love of God exists as we receive it—through the awareness that God is always with us, in the word of God that is preached and taught in the living Body of Christ the church and in the work we do as we share that love with others.

The kind of love that we have been given is expressed by Paul’s prayer in the letter to the Ephesians. God gives all humanity and creation life, and strengthens the soul of the Christian through the power of the Spirit—by Christ living in the hearts of those who are rooted and grounded in love. The prayer continues asking for the power to understand how it is that we are filled with God through the unsurpassed love of Christ in us all.

Once we know of that life, that love—that wisdom and knowledge we are give the power to accomplish all that we are called to do.

Knowing providence isn’t just passive reception of all that is and all that maintains us life. Providence includes our Christian response to people in places without access to food, water or shelter. Providence is who and what God has called us to be here where we live and worship.

We, too, hunger for something within these walls—we hunger for the purpose that God gives. Are you hungry for life? Are you hungry for strength and energy? Are you hungry for hope?

God provides yet just like in the story we are called to respond in some way—gather and receive, then respond appropriately to the love that we have been given. I hope with Paul that we are given the power to comprehend with all those who are connected to God and what it is that fills the world to know real love, that of Christ. Let us pray that providence is made real within all the choices we make.

To God be the glory for all generations, forever and ever. Amen.