Bread from Heaven

1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14; Eph 5:15-20; Jn 6:51-58

The scene of our gospel lesson for today has Jesus preaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. And as Jesus is preaching to the people there he is telling them something that seems to be quite startling. He says: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

Anyone purposely mis-hearing what Jesus was saying might suggest that he was advocating some kind of cannibalism, wherein he was going to offer himself for the people to eat. But, of course, we know that this isn't what Jesus was referring to when he said, "I am the living bread." Rather, what he was saying was that if anyone believed in him they would have eternal life. If they fed upon his teachings, upon his word, by believing in him, then they would never die.

But, then, I think that those who heard Jesus' word knew what he was talking about. Those who accused him of advocating cannibalism knew that he wasn't talking about cannibalism, at all. They knew that he was talking about belief in him. But, instead of dealing with what he was saying about how belief in him would bring life, those who ridiculed Jesus deliberately chose to misinterpret his teachings.

In a real sense, this continues to happen in the world, today, even within the Christian faith. Indeed, our Gospel lesson for this morning points out three important lessons: One, it highlights how people often choose to misunderstand and refuse others the benefit of the doubt. And, secondly, our Gospel lesson tells us very clearly who Jesus was. And, finally, our Gospel lesson points out how our faith in Jesus Christ is a prerequisite for salvation and for eternal life.

In fact, purposely misunderstanding people is one of the great sins of our day. When a person is despised and rejected and thought of as evil or an outcaste it is natural for self-righteous people to pick at everything that person says. For instance, for years Protestants have criticized the Roman Catholics for having holy water in a little container at the entrance of their churches. Protestants have insisted that the use of holy water was a superstitious practice. And yet the Catholics have tried to explain that the holy water is simply a reminder of the power of baptism. Thus, when they enter a sanctuary, they touch the holy water with their fingers as a reminder that they are children of God by virtue of their baptisms. And during certain worship services water is sprinkled toward the congregation to remind them that they have been baptized. And, yet, even with this explanation there are those Protestants who continue to insist that the practice is superstition.

Sometimes we choose to believe falsehoods about people because we find it more easy to keep a person as an enemy than to admit that we might have been wrong about them. Sometimes we may feel that it is easier to go on senselessly hating someone than to be reconciled with that person. For anytime we have to admit that we were wrong, anytime we have to seek reconciliation with someone we become vulnerable. And vulnerability is a frightening thing for most of us in this world that is so full of insecurity and anxiety and fear. We want to feel that we have everything under control. And to admit that someone else may have a valid point and that we may have been wrong in a judgment is to relinquish some of the control that we had.

Just ask a husband and a wife who have survived fifty years of a not so perfect marriage if this isn't true. Or, ask a labor negotiator, like those now working with those involved in the GM strike and the UPS strike about how difficult it is for one side to actually hear what the other side is saying. Or, ask a UN soldier in Bosnia how difficult it is to get a Christian to sit down with a Moslem to talk about reconciliation. As human beings we often find it easier to make villains of our neighbors than to make friends of them. And when we vilify others we simply betray our own lack of patience, our own unwillingness to love, and the brokenness of our souls.

So it was with those who heard what Jesus had to say when he said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven." Certainly there were those who heard and accepted what Jesus had to say. And these persons were blessed. Yet, at the same time, there were many others who chose to misunderstand the teachings of Jesus and to condemn him with every word that he had to say.

Certainly, our Gospel lesson tells us plainly who Jesus was. Jesus said that he was the living bread that came down from heaven. In saying this he was making reference to the earlier time in Israel's history when God fed the people with manna in the wilderness. For in that day bread fell down from heaven and the people gathered it up daily to fulfill their nutritional needs. Likewise, our faith in Jesus Christ gives us the opportunity on a daily basis to be filled with what we need to live spiritual lives. For Jesus is the living bread. Jesus is what connects us with the life giving grace of Almighty God. Jesus is the conduit that reveals to us the face of God. Jesus is God made flesh. And when we partake of that Living bread we get what we need for spiritual nourishment.

But, then, I think most of us can agree that there are many out there in the world who are spiritually starved. In fact, many of us sitting here today may admit that we need more spiritual nourishment than what we're getting. But the world isn't starving for spiritual bread because Jesus hasn't provided it. And we who feel spiritual hunger aren't malnourished because Jesus hasn't offered it to us. For, in fact, Jesus has provided for us and for the whole world with a feast of spiritual food that is beyond our comprehension. But, the problem is that the world and many of us sitting here today are spiritually malnourished simply don't partake of what our Savior offers us every day. For many of us it is simply because we don't take the time to partake. And for most of the rest of the world it is simply because they have not heard; or if they have heard they fail to understand.

So, whether we are able to understand it or now, Jesus is our Spiritual bread. And Jesus is the one brings us face to face with a loving and caring God, day by day. But, even more, faith in Jesus Christ is a prerequisite for those of us who will experience eternal life.

For the past forty or fifty years the United Methodist Church has been getting spiritually weaker and weaker because it wavered in this belief. In fact, there are many United Methodists, including many pastors, who no longer believe that Jesus is the only name under heaven by which a person may be saved. They persist in believing that life after death is universal; that if a person was born and lives in the world he or she will surely have life after death, as well.

However, the doctrine of universal salvation contradicts everything the Bible says about faith in Jesus Christ. It contradicts everything that John Wesley believed as he founded the Methodist Movement that became the United Methodist Church, and it weakens our will to tell others about the Christian faith. For if there are, indeed, many road to heaven; if there are valid saviors other than Jesus Christ then what is the point of our own belief? Why should we exist as United Methodists, at all? But, if we believe that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life; that no one comes to the Father but by him, and if we love our neighbors as ourselves, then we will be eager to tell others how important it is for them to believe in Jesus Christ; to have him as the Savior of their souls. And because we are telling others with such eagerness and enthusiasm and urgency about God's how can our fellowship do anything else but grow?

Our salvation is a gift from God. That's what grace is all about. That's what we're singing about when we sing, "Amazing Grace." And that's what gives us power in our ministry. But, if salvation is just something that is just par for the course, a given that goes with existence, then grace, itself, is a sham and our reason for being members of the United Methodist Church, outside of the social benefits, has little meaning at all.

I personally believe that God has called us here for ministry. That ministry must go beyond these walls to the community around us. This was the word of our Lord to his disciples 2,000 years ago, and it is surely the word of our Lord to us, today. And it may be as hard for us to accept as it was for his disciples back then. For even as Jesus spoke these words, there were disciples who said, "This is a hard teaching; who can accept it?" But Jesus responded to them by asking them, "Does this offend you? The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life."

So, how do we choose to live our lives in response to these words? Is there any other viable option than going the way of the spirit and the way of life? Will we hear and understand the message of the Lord? Will we be nourished by the bread that comes from heaven? And will we be eager to share that bread with others?

May God help us in these tasks.

Amen.