Day father gift homemade idea

SERMON HELPS ON THE ECUMENICAL LECTIONARY LESSONS This Issue - August 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, September 7, 2003 - Year B

August 3, 2003

8th Sunday after Pentecost

(Proper 13)

RC/Pres: 18th Sunday in

Ordinary Time

Hymns

"O Bread of Life from Heaven"

"They Cast Their Nets"

"Eat This Bread, Drink This Cup"

Scripture: John 6:24-35

Title: Heavenly Food

I love to eat! One of the things that my mother does really well is cook. I grew up eating wonderful roasts, great fried chicken, homemade bread, and fresh garden vegetables. Mom's desserts were even better: German chocolate cake, melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon rolls, apple and blueberry pies, and rich, heavy pound cake made from farm fresh eggs.

I'm not describing such wonderful food to make you yearn for your Sunday dinner. I describe it because it has something to do with our gospel reading from the sixth chapter of John. Listen to verse 27 from this passage. Jesus says, "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."

The crowd has followed Jesus because they have seen his work. They have literally been fed at the feeding of the 5,000. Their stomachs have been filled with bread and fish and now they would like more. I identify and sympathize with them at this point. I like to eat and I like to leave the table feeling satisfied and nourished.

But there is a danger here. The crowd seems concerned only for their stomachs. Jesus has just become a grocery deliveryman and nothing more. But he is more. True, Jesus can feed the people with bread and fish, but he can give them other food that will strengthen them in both life and death.

"Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures," warns Jesus and the crowd responds, "Well what does that mean we should do?" (v. 28). Jesus answers, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent" (v. 29). This call to believe is not a simple one. In the Gospel of John, believing in God means hearing what God is saying, learning from Jesus, and seeing in Jesus God's most important word to us. Believing means being drawn to Jesus and submitting to all that he is and does.

A clear, neatly defined list of "do's" and "don'ts" from Jesus would have been much easier to fulfill. A list with things like: Number 1, Give "X" number of dollars to the synagogue; Number 2, Attend the synagogue every Sabbath; Number 3, Don't take the name of the Lord in vain. . . . You get the idea. With a list like this you could check things off like you do on a grocery list as you put the items in your shopping cart. Then, when the list is complete, you are done!

But believing in Jesus isn't that simple. It isn't that simple because belief involves all of you: what you say and do; how you spend your money, your time, and creative energy; what you make sacrifices for; and what you love and treasure. Trust in Jesus can't be measured by a checklist, because trust is a relationship. Relationships grow and change, and they are never done.

The crowd that day wanted a simple transaction: "We'll do X, Y and Z and then, Jesus, you give us more bread and fish in return." Jesus tells them and us that what God desires above everything else is a relationship with us. God calls us to listen, learn, and let God shape our lives according to God's way of doing things.

A fine theologian, Rudolph Bultmann, had this to say about our reading for today: our true purpose before God is "found in what, by faith, we allow to happen to ourselves."

I had a clergy friend, who, when he first came out of seminary wanted to work in new mission congregations, but his church body would not let seminarians do this. So he asked to be placed in troubled congregations in need of new direction. Soon he found himself in a declining rural congregation, and he served them well by helping them back on their feet again. His next call was to another rural congregation, split by a nasty fight over social ministry, and again he led a revitalization. Just recently my friend interviewed for another call, hoping to serve in a larger congregation in a suburban or urban setting. To his great dismay he was met with disinterest and even opposition: "Why you've just served country parishes!" "What makes you think you could handle a large congregation?" "Our budget is twice the size of your present congregation, could you really handle this?"

"What have I let happen to myself?" My friend asked in a despairing moment. My answer to him today, in light of this passage from John's Gospel, would be this: "You let Jesus happen to you. In faithfully following Jesus' call to minister where you were most needed, you let this happen. And it is a good thing. You have been a blessing and faithful in your ministry."

Our purpose is found in what, by faith, we allow to happen to ourselves. Not just in ordained ministry, but in a Sunday school room, in leading a Bible study, in serving in the soup kitchen, in being a youth group sponsor, and in all the ways that we take risks in the name of Jesus. Success is not guaranteed. We may not feel that all our own needs are being fulfilled, and we may indeed suffer because we did what was good, loving, and generous.

There are lots of risks, but there is certainty, too. The certainty rests in Jesus' words. God will bless all our faithful risks, our faithful sacrifices, and our honest work in Jesus' name. Our passage closes with these words of promise: "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'" (v. 35).

The pastor friend I told you about continues to serve troubled rural congregations; his ministry is cherished by many. God has blessed him and given him the strength to continue. In Jesus we all have this same blessing: strength and food for our journey. Whether we journey into a new ministry in our congregation or into a new challenge in our community, Jesus will be with us - leading, feeding, and guiding.

At the beginning of this sermon I confessed how much I love good food. But all the food in the world cannot give me hope and purpose in the challenges and struggles of life. I need, we need, a different kind of food for this. We need the bread of life: Jesus Christ. He is the only one who sticks with us forever. He is the only one who leads us through life and then through death to everlasting life.

What heavenly food! What a gift from God!

August 10, 2003

9th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 14)

RC/Pres: 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Hymns

"God of Grace and God of Glory"

"Gracious Spirit, Heed Our Pleading"

"My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less"

Scripture: John 6:35,41-51

Title: A Diet of Grace

"You are what you eat" is an often-heard mantra of the health conscious among us. We live in a time when we are increasingly careful about the kinds of food we eat. Go to any bookstore and you'll find shelf after shelf filled with books about food and diet. Some promote eating organically grown food. Others promote a vegetarian diet. From the bookstore, we can go on to the supermarket. When we shop we carefully inspect the labels on each product. We want to know how much cholesterol something has, how much fiber, how much sugar, and how many calories per serving. We also want to know what additives are present and what chemicals have been used in the growing process.

My sister-in-law is especially careful about this as she prepares meals for her two growing sons and her husband. I admire her conscientiousness as she carefully shops for fresh food and, then at home, washes all the fruits and vegetables she buys for at least 20 minutes prior to their cooking. Her meals are planned ahead and are balanced and healthy.

Whether or not we share all these health concerns and precautions, it has long been known that diet is important to our well-being. What we eat can affect our life in the next 24 hours and in the next 24 years.

Just as our food diet is important to our physical health, so is our spiritual diet important to our spiritual health. What you and I consume spiritually shapes us. In our gospel reading for today, Jesus announces "I am the bread of life" (Jn 6:35). Now here is good food, because, as Jesus promises, he will end our hunger and our thirst. It is Jesus who comes from God to bring us forgiveness and everlasting life - gifts that no one else and no other thing on this earth can deliver. He is good spiritual food for us; his word nourishes us and strengthens us.

But some of Jesus' listeners that day are doubtful. They murmur "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph?" (v. 42). Jesus seems too ordinary to be the bread that comes down from heaven. And, perhaps, it seems too simple and easy to Jesus' listeners that day. The call to believe in this Jesus and receive the gift of eternal life leaves little room for all the laws and religious traditions. What about all the rituals and prescribed routines?