Proper 14

Sunday, August 9, 2009

St. David’s Episcopal Church, DeWitt NY

The Rev. James C. Bresnahan, Interim Rector

“Still Hungry”

John 6:35, 41-51
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"

Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.

I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

 

I had a big breakfast this morning.  But I’m still hungry.

 

That’s why I am here. I’m hungry for a meal I can’t find at home.  I’m hungry for bread that’s not in my breadbox.

 

I don’t think you would be here today either, if you were not hungry too.

 

We hunger together for the food that we name the body of Christ. We hunger for the drink that for us is the blood of Christ.

 

“Blessed are those who hunger,” Jesus said. “They will be fed.” That is Jesus’ promise.  And here is its fulfillment.

 

So, welcome to the table! Whatever you have or have not made of your life, welcome to the table! Whether you are feeling high right now or low and down, welcome to the table!  Whether you are certain of what you believe or filled with doubt, welcome to the table!

 

At the Lord’s table, you don’t need to have made a  reservation.  Christ has already reserved a place for you.  You don’t need a menu.  The food is already prepared.  You don’t have to pay.  You can’t anyway.  It has already been paid for through the self-giving love of Jesus Christ.

 

We come to this table as we are – nothing in our hands we bring.  No worry that in our poverty we will be passed by and left hungry.  No concern here to hoard and eat more than we need.  No privilege here for any one race or any one skin color or any one gender or orientation.

 

At this table the body of Christ is food for every hungry heart and hope for every yearning soul.  Here everyone eats the food that gives courage to face life’s worst ordeals. Here everyone drinks from the cup that offers hope in the teeth of death. Here we are joined to others in a fellowship of love.  Here we are drawn into the dying of Christ to this age and to this world’s values, for us to rise to a transformed life.

 

The Body of Christ, the bread of heaven; the body of Christ, the bread of heaven.

 

This bread is, for us, the body of Christ.

 

But, before Christ ever came to us in the food we call his body, Christ was manifested as a human body two thousand years ago.

 

• The once human body, whose arms stretched out to embrace and bless children.
• The human body, whose hands touched the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf.
• The human body, whose fingers wrote in sand to save a condemned woman from the judgment of accusers.
• The human body, whose ears heard the cries of beggars along the roadside.
• The human body, whose eyes looked upon crowds with compassion.
• The human body, whose lips proclaimed favor for the poor, and hungry, and heart-broken.
• The human body, that accepted suffering rather than to cause suffering, and chose sacrifice over violence.
• The human body that in every way made visible the love of God for everyone.

 

Christ who comes to us in the body that is bread first came to the world in a human body that loved inclusively, gave freely, loved unconditionally.

 

We don’t stop there in our naming what is the body of Christ.

 

There is a third way our New Testament speaks about the body of Christ. St. Paul names the church as the body of Christ, Christ’s visible body and presence in the world.

 

This third body, the Church, is brought into being and kept in being through eating and drinking, through remembrance of him and adhering to him who gave himself for the world.

 

In feeding on the bread of his body, we together become his living body. In drinking from the cup of his blood, we carry his self-giving life into the world. We become Christ’s communication with the world and the demonstration of God’s compassionate will to favor and unite everyone. 

 

Christ uses your arms to heal, your hands to feed, your fingers to speak words of peace, your ears to listen with compassion, your lips to stop violence and depravation, and your feet to carry him places. 

 

True, we are not a healthy body. The church is a fractured body – Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist, and more. The church is a hurting body, a confused body, and often a body lacking in vision and courage. Our body limps along, we sag, our knees give out, we stumble, we fall.

 

More than that, we give in to temptation, are corrupted by power, lust after fool’s gold.  We often seek an easy life instead of a good life.  Many times we lose heart, lose hope, lose conviction and determination. And sometimes we lose our way.

 

But Christ loves and needs this broken body that we together are and needs every one in it.  He doesn’t give up on it or any part of it.  

 

I believe that St. David’s is here as an expression of Christ’s body to communicate the mind of Christ by manifesting to the world the welcoming of Christ, Christ’s hospitality, and Christ’s inclusive love. We may do other things, but at the center we are always for that thing, for that grand purpose.

 

So, welcome to the table, where we feed on Christ. Step forward when the meal is served. Take and eat Christ’s body given for you, for you to have the will and heart to be Christ to others.