Tenth Sunday after pentecost 1st August 2021
2 Samuel 11: 26 – 12: 13a
When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she made lamentation for him. When the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. and the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, ‘There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds; but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children; it used to eat of his meagre fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveller to the rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared that for the guest who had come to him.’ Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, ‘As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die; he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.’ Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! Thus says the Lord , the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul; I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added as much more. Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, for you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. Thus says the Lord: I will raise up trouble against you from within your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbour, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this very sun. For you did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’ David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ Nathan said to David, ‘Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die.
Psalm 51: 1-12
Have mercy on me, O God, in your enduring goodness:
according to the fulness of your compassion blot out my offences.
Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness: and cleanse me from my sin.
For I acknowledge my rebellion: and my sin is ever before me.
Against you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your eyes:
so you will be just in your sentence and blameless in your judging.
Surely in wickedness I was brought to birth:
and in sin my mother conceived m: You that desire truth in the inward parts:
O teach me wisdom in the secret places of the heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me hear of joy and gladness:let the bones which you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins: and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God: and renew a right spirit within me.
Do not cast me out from your presence: do not take your holy spirit from me.
O give me the gladness of your help again: and support me with a willing spirit.
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 lake, 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.
Reflection:
As we turn to Gods word, let’s ask him to feed our souls and open our eyes to new insights to strengthen our faith and encourage our hearts. It’s great to be back after some leave from work and into the routine again of purposely reading, researching and reflecting on the word of God each week. I have to admit I missed being at church each week and missed the joy of feeding intently on the word and the feeling of spiritual gladness. Usually when on holiday we travel somewhere and therefore visit different churches along the way of our treks. I love meeting and worshiping with other Christians as part of the broader body of Christ. But our holiday this year took a different form. Staying home with some walks, rest, and gardening, some satisfying cleaning (believe it or not), a few movies and quite a bit of SBS food channel which then resulted in quite a bit of cooking. This was much to my families delight, as I supplied them a few home cooked meals!
All this made me realise that we live as hungry people in a hungry world. Not discounting those who really do not have enough food each day to eat and be satisfied. Everyone is looking for something that will sustain and nourish life, something that will feed and energize, something that will fill and satisfy. Everyone is looking for bread. The problem however, is not that we are hungry, the problem is the kind of bread we eat.
SBS had a fabulous program on bread from Europe. The bread came in many shapes and types. As we know, bread is wholesome and a staple part of the food supply. For those in Asian countries people may perhaps think of a bowl of rice instead but mostly around the world bread has become very much a necessary part of our daily food intake. Many types of bread are now available including gluten free bread which becoming increasingly plentiful.
But take a moment to stop and think about the many varieties of bread being eaten in our lives and in the world today. Last week we heard the story of King David’s demise as he submitted to lust and murder. And again today we hear of his reprimand and God’s forgiveness. Then he cries out in agony of his sins to God in our Psalm. David’s certainly not the only person to ever eat the bread of sin and selfishness. We don’t have to look far to see people around the world eating the bread of sin, violence and war, or sharing the bread of negativity, and name-calling. Many eat the bread of having to be always right and get their way. (We saw that last week with the protests). We may eat the bread of injustice, hurt feelings and resentment. Sometimes we eat the bread of loneliness, fear, and isolation. There are times the bread comes in the form of sorrow or guilt. This is not to mention the bread people fill their lives with - the bread of earthly possessions and material gain. You see, we eat all kinds of bread and the bread we eat reveals something about the nature of our appetites. It discloses something about our priorities and hearts desires.
The world is full of bread and yet far too many live hungry, empty, and searching. This is a sure sign that the bread we have eaten cannot give real life. It is perishable bread that nourishes only a perishable life. It leaves us wanting, hungry and unsatisfied. Not all bread sustains, is nutritious and grows life. To know the nutritional value of the bread you have to look beyond the bread. Where did it originate?
I suggest that’s what Jesus is teaching in today’s gospel. The people have shown up hungry. Only yesterday Jesus fed 5000 of them with five loaves and two fish. Today their first question is, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ These people do not marvel at yesterday’s miracle, give thanks for God’s generosity. That miracle seems to have had fleeting impact on them. That is apart from that fact that it almost seems like they are worried they might have missed the next meal, that Jesus started without them and they are too late. I wonder, did they see no sign, no miracle, in yesterday’s feeding? It seems they were unable to see beyond the fish and bread. They are interested only in their own satisfaction and Jesus knows it.
‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves,’ he says to them. The people are concerned for their needs, while Jesus is concerned for their lives. The people want to feed themselves with bread. Jesus wants to feed them with God. ‘Do not work for the food that perishes,’ he says, ‘but for the food that endures for eternal life.’
It is Jesus himself that is the food that endures. He is the bread that is broken and distributed for the life of the world. He is the bread that is broken and eaten and yet never exhausted, there will always be more than enough- remember all the baskets left over from the feeding? They had all eaten their fill and still there was so much more. Jesus is the bread that consecrates those who believe in him and eat. Jesus is trying to tell the people; this is bread from heaven. This bread is transforming… life giving.
When we believe in Jesus, eating, ingesting, and inviting him into our lives, we live differently:
- We see ourselves and one another as persons created in the image and likeness of God.
- We trust and delight in the silence of prayer.
- We choose love and forgiveness rather than resentment and revenge.
- We relate with understanding and humility rather than pride and argument.
- We listen for God’s voice rather than our own.
- Ultimately, we seek life rather than death.
And to top it off, our lives then have a positive impact on those around us as we feed them also with the bread of heaven.
Jesus longs to have fellowship with us. He longs to give us life in abundance. When we eat with him we share the most intimate moment that we possible could with our Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. We do this when we feed on his word, when we come to the Lord’s table and we pause to spend time with Jesus. Jesus says, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’ He is the imperishable bread that nourishes and sustains everlasting life. He is the one who brings satisfaction and completeness, whatever that looks like, even in the midst of the storm and the pain.
We do not need to fill our lives with worldly stuff, with bread that is empty and meaningless. We do not need to fill our lives with negativity and ungodly behaviours. And perhaps we would do well to remember that this world is not all there is.
I read a little story that said: A tourist who was visiting a small village approached the house of a well-known wise man and he was surprised to see that he lived in a small, humble room filled with books. The only pieces of furniture were a bed, a table and a chair.
‘Where us the rest of your furniture?’ The tourist asked.
‘And where is yours?’ the wise man answered back.
‘Mine? Responded the tourist, surprised. ‘I’m only here for a short time.’
‘Me too,’ said the wise man.
(Mondays with my Old Pastor, Jose Luis Navajo, 2012. p30)
By his grace, Jesus generously feeds us. He offers himself to us in every one of our relationships: family, friends, strangers, those who agree with us, and those who disagree. In every situation, in the midst of pandemic, in the midst of each of our days he allows us to choose the bread we will eat, perishable or imperishable. And at the end of the day, his grace and love never ends.
In our actions, our responses and our desires, we choose the life we want.
So, the question for us then-
Is God, the centre of our desires? Have we recognised where the bread of life really comes from?
If so, then I wonder, what bread will we eat today? Amen.