26^th September 2009

EMBODIED HOPE (or Bread for the World) (Sunday 09 August 2009)

Lessons -- Psalm 34:1-10; 1 Corinthians 10:16,17; John 6:35, 41-51

    Jesus said, 'I am the living bread which came down from heaven;
    whoever eats of this bread will live for ever . . . ' (John 6:51 RSV)
    O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are they who trust in
    him (Psalm 34:1)

For the third week in a row our theme is the 'bread of life'. The crowd has been fed (1-15) and the difference between consumer religion (which gives us what we want) and faith in Christ (who gives us far more than we could have imagined) has been made plain (25-35).

Bread which sustains the body becomes the symbol of the sustaining love of God which has been embodied in Christ 'for the world'. It becomes a symbol of the Incarnation -- a signpost to hope for all! This is indicated by the recurring refrain that Jesus is 'the living bread which came down from heaven' (v51 et al). Already we have learnt that Jesus is 'the bread of life'. Now he is described as the 'living bread' of
God who sustains us not only in 'this life' only but for 'eternal life'.

That he is from God and is not a creation of ours to satisfy our needs is shown by references to 'from heaven' -- not to be confused with space up-there but symbolic of the 'otherness of God'.

Such language could tempt us to spiritualise Jesus (as a vague heavenly being) and to spiritualise our faith (as an unearthly belief preoccupied with what happens after death). John would be horrified if we thought this after reading his Gospel! He is encouraging us to live out a 'this-worldly faith' in God (in heaven) whose goodness and mercy have been embodied in Christ (on earth) as a sign of hope for 'everybody'. 

As portrayed in John, 'eternal life'  is not the length of life after death, but a quality of life which followers of Jesus 'already have' (v47). The love of Christ both nourishes our life in the world and is a
foretaste of our fully personal, eternal communion with God.

The future dimension of eternal life is indicated by the contrast between 'living bread' and bread that 'perishes'. Not only does Christ sustain us in this life but also beyond death. 'Whoever eats of this bread shall not die' (v50) -- 'they shall live forever' (v51).

What is it about this 'living bread' that engenders such confidence? How is hope possible in a world where bread rots and bodies die?

The clue is found in two puzzling and -- to us -- obscure sayings.

* First, Jesus speaks of 'raising up the faithful at the last day' (vv 44;39,40). The reference is to the resurrection of the dead, which is grounded in Christ's own resurrection, mentioned in v39. As God's
incarnate Son has not been defeated by the power of evil and death, then everybody who is called to 'share in his life with the God the Father' will be raised to 'eternal life'.

What is only hinted at in our text (but known by John as he interprets events with the benefit of hindsight) is in fact the single event in history where hope 'for the world' has been embodied. The quality of life
which disciples already know in Christ won't be snuffed out even by the horror of sin and death!

* Second and closely linked to this, Jesus says that whoever eats 'the bread which I shall give for the life of the world -- the bread which is my flesh -- will live forever' (v51). The symbol of bread is deepened so that it now becomes almost identified with the body of Christ -- with the One whose suffering, crucified and risen body embodied the self-giving, reconciling love of God 'for the world' (v51c).

Next week we shall see how symbolic language is stretched to breaking point to say what must be said about the life-giving death of Christ. Today, it is important to note here that the sustaining love of God embodied in Christ is not only for disciples but 'for the world'. What has taken place in his costly and triumphant life is not of private religious significance but a public event which signifies hope for a world where, for so many people, bread is in short supply and bodies are scarred and die.

The real issue in this profound episode is about the nature of faith. Can we believe this incredible claim? As John Marsh puts it, 'the ultimate stumbling-block to human credulity is not on the level of physical marvel, but on the much higher level of the divine-human nature of him who claimed to be the bread of life'. ('The Gospel of St John', p299.)

The crowd tries to dodge the question about Jesus' divine origin and purpose by pointing to his human family. Like many people then and now, they can't fathom the mystery of God's incarnate presence in Christ or  accept that he has come down 'from heaven/God' as 'the Word made flesh'.

In writing his Gospel John knew the obstacles to faith: how hard it is to 'believe' in a person who is so different from any other and in an historical event which is unlike any other. That's why he takes the image
of 'bread' and radically re-moulds it to encourage us 'to believe' in a reality that we can't directly understand. In this way he shows that in Christ, the One who is the resurrection and the life, God both satisfies
our daily hunger and sustains our lives in hope. (John Marsh [paraphrase] p302f.)

The way in which imagery is stretched in John has a parallel in Rabbinic Judaism, where manna becomes symbolic both of the Word of God and of our faith. As God's merciful and righteous Word is the bread which feeds Israel's life and sustains her hope, so her faithfulness consists of eating/digesting the Word of truth. It symbolises the unity of Word and  faith, a point made in AHB 334: 'Break thou the bread of life, dear Lord,  to me . . .  I seek thee Lord, my spirit longs for thee, O living Word'. 

The close connection between the (given) Word of God and faith (received) is splendidly portrayed by the symbolic use of bread (provided and eaten). And it has been profoundly taken up and re-shaped by John in relation to  faith in the 'Word made flesh'.

What a joy and freedom it is to believe that, in the broken and re-made body of Jesus Christ, the Creator of all things has come into the midst of our broken world to feed us, body and soul, with the bread of eternal  life.

When so many in our world hunger and thirst for bread and meaning and where a variety of religious breads are baked to satisfy our material and spiritual needs, it is our particular calling to believe in the One who, as the resurrection and the life, has embodied the costly, victorious love of God 'for the world'.  Other breads may satisfy our taste, but it is our joyful task as members of the Body of Christ to invite others to 'taste  and see' that the Lord who became incarnate for our sake is the God of  mercy and goodness in whom we, and the whole world, can confidently put
our hope.

May we so rejoice in the gift of 'eternal life' that we live a fully 'this  worldly' faith certain that nothing in all creation can thwart God's good and gracious purposes and that, because of Christ's resurrection from the  dead, we may look forward to that day when those who have been called to  believe in him shall be raised to life.

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A Prayer for the Heavenly Food of God’s Word

O God, who hast made us that we live not by bread alone, but by every word of God; and who hast taught us not to spend our labour on that which cannot satisfy; cause us to hunger after the heavenly food of thy Word, and to find in it our daily provision on the way to eternal life: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.           
   
'Prayers for Divine Service', 1923, Church of Scotland  in 'Uniting in Worship' page 230

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Rev Dr Max Champion is minister in the St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia. Dr Champion is Chair of the Assembly of
Confessing Congregations within the UCA.