Bread substitutes or the real thing?
I was browsing various websites recently, researching the subject of bread,
and came across one with the appealing title of Endless Agony .Com. (!)
It turned out to be a dieters’ website so the title is probably very appropriate!
People were sharing the ups and downs of their various diets but one that
caught my eye was a question about bread substitutes. The person said this :
”I started a diet a couple of weeks ago and its going pretty well but I eat too much bread. What can I eat that will fill me up and taste as good?” And I thought: Maybe I should refer her to John 6!
Her problem was that she needed to find bread substitutes but she knew they
would be nothing like as good as the real thing.
The Jews’ problem, when Jesus spoke to them about bread, was perhaps the
opposite. They were being offered the real thing but for various reasons, didn’t want it, or couldn’t cope with it. They were more interested in substitutes than the real, living bread of Jesus himself. And that’s certainly true for many people today.
What is real life?
What motivates us? What is real life all about? I think our gospel reading from John 6 asks these sort of questions. It makes uncomfortable reading. Real life, according to Jesus, can only be found in “eating his flesh and drinking his blood”. Even Christians, who are familiar with the account of the Last Supper, and take Holy Communion regularly, find it difficult to understand or express exactly what Jesus means.
No wonder, his listeners, first century Jews, were shocked by his words. First
he has performed the miracle of the Feeding of the 5000. When they want a repeat performance he reproves them for only being interested in physical, rather than spiritual food. When they start to make comparisons between Moses and Jesus, he goes much further and makes the ultimate shocking statement that he is the Bread of Life.
Understandably, they struggle to understand how he can make such claims
about himself, when many know him as “Jesus, the son of Joseph”. But what
follows becomes even more shocking. Not only is Jesus the Bread from
heaven, the living bread, but it is necessary feed on him to experience real
life, eternal life. “Unless you can eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you….my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink”.
No wonder they are horrified. We’re told that they argued about how he could
give his flesh to eat. Some probably thought he was talking about
cannibalism. Certainly it was an accusation that was brought against
Christians in the days of the early church, as they broke bread and shared
wine together, following Jesus’ example.
We’re told that following his words, his disciples complained that it was a hard
teaching and many turned back and left him. And it is a hard teaching. Even
today, when perhaps many of us have been Christians for a long time, when
we allow these words to really sink in, and wrestle with their implications, they
are tremendously challenging.
What is real life? What does it mean to feed on Jesus? Is it knowing about Jesus or knowing Jesus?
Charles Finney, the 19th century evangelist and preacher, said that faith in
Christ is not about saying or mentally affirming the Creed and key doctrines of
the Church, but its:
“the heart’s trust in the person of Christ. This act of trust unites our spirits to him in a union so close that we directly receive from him
a current of eternal life”.
“What are we to make of Jesus Christ?” asked C.S Lewis. ”There is no question of what we can make of Him. It is entirely a question of what He intends to make of us”
And a more up to date response to the question of Jesus is offered by Bear
Grylls, the TV adventurer. He says this:
“I always thought Christianity was about being very sensible, and acting all smart and religious. But the more I discovered about the person of Jesus Christ himself, the more I found a man who was as unreligious as you can imagine. It seemed that the very heart of the Christian faith, in truth, was neither about church or pulpits, sermons, latin verse or behaving! Its about a relationship with this Jesus who promised us life in abundance, joy within, peace without and freedom in our soul”.
Notice the common theme. Real life, eternal life is about a relationship with Jesus, a union between our spirits and his.
And notice all through this long discouse in John 6 how often the words “believe” and “life” are used. To enter into this union with Christ we need to believe and put out trust in him. He is the bread that will be given for the life of the world, pointing to his forthcoming sacrificial death. To enter into real life, eternal life, we need to accept his sacrificial death for ourselves, individually, and allow our spirits to be nourished by that living bread , that will never go stale and past its sell by date.
When we receive Holy Communion, we’re remembering Jesus’ words at the
Last Supper, and feeding on him spiritually. It is one of the ways by which we
participate in his life.
Do we know that life for ourselves?
Jesus’ word to us is that the bread he gives is the only food that will truly satisfy us, the only food that can give us real life. Life in all its fullness, as he says further on in John’s gospel. Are we feeding on him, allowing his life to flow through us, or are we looking for substitutes instead to bring us fulfilment?
There’s a hungry world out there!
There’s a world out there that’s desperately hungry, and there are many kinds
of substitutes for the food Jesus offers. Money, power, sex, status,
consumerism, the list is endless. They may bring temporary satisfaction but
they don’t fulfil people at the deepest level. Surrey teenagers are apparently
more depressed and stressed than anywhere else in the country, according to
the local Star courier newspaper, despite it being one of the most affluent
parts of the country. More and more children are being diagnosed with
depression and mental health problems. Something’s surely going very wrong
with our society.
Are we offering that living bread to others?
Yet, we, you and I, the church, have that living bread, and each one of us is
called to make a difference in our messed up society. Who are the people
we meet every day, families, friends, neighbours, people in our workplace, at
the school gate? In our leisure activities? Do we take time to build up real
relationships with them, going beyond the superficial? Are we aware, as we
get to know them, that Jesus loves them and longs to come into their lives?
That he sees the pain, the emptiness, the loneliness in people’s lives and
wants to use us to make a difference?
About a month ago, on July 19th, some of you may have seen an event on the
national news called “The Big Lunch”. It was organized by the Eden Project in
Cornwall. Their vision was this:
“Imagine a summer’s day on which millions of us , throughout the UK ,sit down to have lunch with our neighbours in the middle of our streets, around our tower blocks and on every patch of common ground….This will be a day to break bread with our neighbours, to put a smile on Britain’s face”.
Interesting, isn’t it, the use of religious language there, “breaking bread with
our neighbours”.. If you saw this on the news you may remember the scenes
of street parties round the country, people setting up tables in their streets and
sharing lunch together. People interviewed were very positive about it, It had
given them a chance to get to know their neighbours and people who live
down their street whom they never speak to normally, or had never met
before. When I saw this on TV my first thought was “Brilliant. This has got to
be a church organized event!”. But when I looked it up on the website I
discovered it was the vision of two men from the Eden Project, supported by a long list of other well known organizations, but sadly no mention of the church.
They called it a “Celebration of life”. Its purpose was to cheer people up, bring
them together, across all divides, classes and cultural differences, recognising
that many people are lonely and have no sense of community. And I thought:
”That could be Christianity. Isn’t that what the church should be doing?”
Christianity is a celebration of life. The life that Jesus brings to each one of us
and that should be overflowing into our communities. The New Testament is
full of pictures and stories of the kingdom of God being like a feast or banquet,
to which all are invited. The Eden Project ,with the “Big Lunch”., seemed to be
far closer to that picture than many people’s perception of the church.
But of course, its not the real thing. We have far more to offer. The “Big
Lunch” was just a one day event. Hopefully some friendships were started
that day, people may continue to chat to their neighbours and feel more part
of a community, and that’s great. But its unlikely that it was a life changing
event for most people. They ate their lunch, had a good time and went home.
Their lives will probably go on just the same. But they missed out on what will
truly feed them, truly bring love, companionship and the best relationship of all
into their lives. That living bread, that you and I have, if we’ve given our lives to Christ.
What may be stopping us from sharing our bread?
Maybe we feel our bread’s gone stale. We’ve lost our first love. Its not the
bread that’s gone stale because the presence of Jesus is still within us but
maybe we’ve stopped feeding on him, allowing him to nourish us. Perhaps
we’re too busy, too stressed, struggling with illness or difficult circumstances. We all go though those times. But we need to find space somewhere to come back to Jesus and open ourselves again to his life and presence. His bread is always there to nourish, restore us and strengthen us.
Have we unintentionally hoarded our bread? Its easy to become part of a
Christian ghetto where we only go to church meetings or events, and socialise
with other Christians. We become comfortable with our church life.
And then we wonder why so many people don’t come to church or recognise
that precious gift that is being offered to them in Christ? Yet they’re searching
for meaning and purpose in so many different ways.
How can we share that living bread?
How are we, the church, going to help people to find that living bread? Do we
wait for them to come to church or do we go out to them? Not necessarily in
big evangelistic missions but just by getting alongside people, building up
relationships, being people of integrity who are willing to get our hands dirty,
getting involved in the mess and pain of people’s lives. Isn’t that what Jesus
did? Its only as we gain people’s trust that they will be receptive to us sharing our faith.
Several years ago I got to know one of the mums at the school gate as we
waited to pick up our children. She had recently moved to Camberley from
Yorkshire and didn’t know anyone. I invited her round for a cup of tea and we
began to meet up fairly regularly over a period of several years . We got to
know each other well over this time. She knew I was a Christian, and went to
church. As a girl, she’d had links with church through her school and had some familiarity with Christianity but didn’t appear interested in coming to church, although she knew several people from the church through a book group she joined.
Sadly, her marriage broke up a few months ago but she was overwhelmed by
the support and friendship she was shown through members of the church.
She’s been coming regularly to church and got involved with helping to run
our Parent and Toddler Group. She’s also found the confidence to start
building a fresh life for herself and has enrolled to go to university as a mature
student. She says that she feels she’s started on a new journey and that it
was the friendship and support of the church that’s made all the difference.
What astounded me more than anything was her words that she didn’t know
that Christianity was like that! How sad that she’s had to get to her stage of
life, with a huge crisis, before she could discover that! But it also shows how
each of us can play a part, in simple ways such as befriending others, offering
that living bread we have, to make a difference in people’s lives.
Summary
So, what is real life to you? Do you know the reality of Jesus, the living bread,
in your own life? Are you allowing him to feed and nourish you, making space
for him in your everyday life? Do you have a heart to share that bread with
those around you? The New Testament reading this morning from Eph. 5
urges Christians to: “be very careful how they live, not as unwise but as wise – making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil”. Our world is at times a very dark place but its shot through with glimpses of God’s grace.
May we be those who make the most of the opportunities we have to be
channels of God’s grace and offer that living bread to a hungry world.
Questions:
1. Were there any points in the sermon or aspects of the passage that have given you any fresh insights?
2. How can we continue to “feed on Jesus” in our everyday lives?
3. How can we help other people find that “living bread” for themselves?
4. If people are filling their lives with substitutes for the “real, living bread”, why is church so often the last place they go to? Is this a problem or an opportunity for the church?
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