Bread for the Journey
John 6:24–35
University Christian Church, Seattle , WA
August 6, 2006
Rev. Sandy Messick

• Jesus heard them coming before he could see them. “I think he’s that way.” “No, over here, the bread man is over here.” “Does he have any bread with him? Can you see if he’s got the bread?”
• It was the day after the day Jesus fed the 5000. And the people were hungry again. They’d woken up that morning, noticed Jesus was gone, realized they were hungry, and headed off in search of him.
• A line quickly formed in front of Jesus. “I’d like a half dozen bagels please, and a baguette.” “What?” Jesus asked. “Six bagels, plain, and a baguette.” “Oh, and I’d like a small loaf please, and some focaccia bread.” Someone at the back of the line called out, “Does he have any rye bread? I’m looking for some rye bread to go with my corned beef. How about mustard?”
• Jesus just looked at them. And he knew. He knew that they’d missed the point. They’d been party to the miracle of the previous day, they’d been fed with the food of God’s abundance, and they’d missed the point. Because now their bellies were empty, their stomachs were growling, and they’d come looking for another free meal. Instant gratification. Instant satisfaction.
• Jesus answered them, “You’ve set your sights too low. Don’t look for the bread that gets moldy when it sits out too long. Look instead for the bread that lasts.

• “Ah” said the crowd, “We get it now. That whole feeding thing, with the loaves and the fishes and the baskets left over. All of that was a sign!”
• “Right” says Jesus, not a little relieved. Because for a moment it does seem as though they really are getting it. “A sign, from God, a gift.”
• “OK,” says the crowd, “What sign are you going to do today?” Because if yesterday’s was pretty good, today’s must be even better. “Moses gave us bread from heaven, not just one day, but every day. Every day the bread was there. Right there on the ground when we woke up. Moses gave us bread every day. So what are you giving us Jesus? What sign are you doing today to prove who you are and who we are when we’re with you?
• Again, they didn’t get it. The crowd had once again missed the point. They wanted some proof. They wanted instant answers and concrete proof and recurring signs whenever they started to waver. They wanted more miracles, instant answers to all of life’s questions, just add Jesus.
• Jesus tried again. “No, no,” he said, “It wasn’t Moses who gave you that bread. It was God. It is God who gave you life and it is God who continues to give you life. It is God who gives you the true bread from heaven.

• “Ah” said the crowd. “We get it now. The bread comes from God.
• Jesus nodded his head. “Right, that’s right. The bread comes from God.”
• But the crowd wasn’t finished, “That’s even better. Forget the bagels and baguettes, give us that heavenly bread. We want some of that.” And all the people echoed, “Yeah, give us some of that.”
• Jesus’ head was beginning to hurt, because the people still weren’t understanding. They were still looking for something they could buy, something they could look at and hold and examine and send to the lab for testing, and study. Instant gratification, concrete proof, something tangible. They were/they are/we are so hungry and we don’t know how to get the nourishment we need. We’re looking with our heads, and missing it with our hearts.

• So finally, Jesus says it out plain. “I am the bread of life, and whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever comes to me will never thirst.”
• And that’s it. It is Christ who fills us, Christ who nourishes us, Christ who sustains us. And as much as we might wish that it would be instant gratification, all our problems miraculously solved, no more doubts, decisions, or distress, Christ doesn’t work that way. It’s daily bread. Bread for today. Food for the journey.
• Like the crowd, we wonder aloud, “How do we get this bread? Where do we find it? Where do we look? And can we hold it, and touch it, and examine it for flaws until finally we believe?”
• And Jesus answers, “Look around you, it’s here, and there, in me, in you, wherever two or three are gathered.”
• And so it is.
• At the table, in the bread and the cup, yes. There we find the living bread that nourishes. The sacrament of God’s presence. The outward and visible sign of God’s sustaining grace.
• In the gathered community that weeps with us and rejoices with us, yes, there we find the living bread that sustains us. The community of the gathered, the 2 or 3 and Christ is in our midst.
• In our ministry to those who need ministry, the hands we hold out to the hopeless, the words we speak on behalf of the voiceless, yes, that is where we find the life-giving bread that sustains others and gives life to us as well.
• When we step out in new directions in our faith, taking risks with the familiar and the comfortable, when we dare to be faithful rather than fearful, yes. It is in that faithful risking that we find the cup that quenches our thirst; the bread that feeds our soul.
• In all of those places, yes, and many more, we find Christ, the bread of life, the daily sustaining presence of God, the daily bread that feeds us on our journey. “Give us this day our daily bread.”
• I know, I know, we long for miracles, instant answers, a handwritten note to drop from the sky outlining all the directions and decisions we should take in our quest to be faithful. Alas, that’s not the bread Christ is offering.
• But what Christ offers is ultimately more satisfying, a life-giving spirit that nourishes us daily, Christ’s promise: Lo, I am with you always.
• And so we pray: God give us this bread each day; fill us each day with life anew, that we might be for the world the bread that feeds others. Amen.