Reflection -- Living on Half a Loaf?

Today’s lesson continues on in the sixth chapter of John’s gospel.  Last week, we talked about the first part of the chapter, describing the miracle of Jesus feeding more than 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish.  Among other things, we saw how this story shows that Jesus meets our needs (often in totally unexpected ways) no matter where we are on our faith journey and that Jesus’ concern for us extends to our basic “right here, right now” physical needs (food in this case).  Jesus never subdivided flesh and spirit, and said one was good and the other evil.  That questionable “gift” got tacked on later.

In today’s lesson, Jesus is teaching the same crowd he fed earlier.  But this time, he provides food for the human spirit.  Physical food is important, but it satisfies only for the moment.  It is our connection with God through Jesus that permanently satisfies and gives life richer dimensions. 

The crowd had followed Jesus because he met their temporary needs, but Jesus has more to offer.  He offers himself as the “bread of life.”  Physical food and drink will leave our body hungry and thirsty again as time passes.  Jesus gives us the “bread” that will sustain our spirits eternally, both in the here and now and after our bodies have turned to dust.  The crowd was excited because Jesus had given them half a loaf, satisfying their physical hunger.  What they seemed unable to grasp is that Jesus offers a full loaf leading to a full and complete life of both the body and the spirit.

A former pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Washington once preached a sermon on Exodus 8:1-15, a passage that describes the plague of frogs God sent against Egypt in order to convince the Pharaoh to give the Israelites their freedom.  Pharaoh finally gave in and asked Moses to pray that God remove the frogs from the land.  Curiously, when Moses asked when he should pray that this happen, Pharaoh did not say “right now.”  He answered “tomorrow.”  The title of the sermon was one I’ll always remember:  “One More Night With the Frogs.”

Why is it that we always seem to be content with “one more night with the frogs,” hanging on to our painful “stuff” and accepting less than God’s best when there is so much more available to us here and now? 

A commentator on today’s passage from John makes this same point.

We have a tendency to come to Jesus for the wrong reasons, most often to get something from him that is far less than he is prepared and willing to give.  …  Our limited perspective gives us little expectation.  We give our lives to achieving ends that are temporal, ephemeral; perhaps seeking the good, we never come to know the better and the best.  …  Jesus Christ comes to us as the grace of God, calling us beyond our limited perspective and out of our limited patterns of living.*

 Do you want all that God has to offer?  Are you willing to do what’s necessary to achieve it ¾ inviting Jesus in to fill every part of your life, meaning it, and turning over control of your life without reservation?  Or are you content to live on half a loaf, living out life in drab shades of gray and missing out on God’s wondrous grace and provision?

revclay

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John 6:24-35

So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.  When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?"

Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.  Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.  For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal."

Then they said to him, "What must we do to perform the works of God?"

Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."

So they said to him, "What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing?  Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

Then Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always."

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.  [NRSV]