Sermons on Bread 1

The first of 3 sermons this year on Food and Faith based on John Chapter 6

Stories  of Food & Faith  - 26^th July 2015

All though the season of Pentecost, Trinity, Ordinary time the Gospel readings tell us stories about the earthly life of Jesus, there are miracles, healings and often  another element that  perhaps we should give more consideration, the stories of food & its very real relationship to faith

1. We have 2 great stories before us this morning, our gospel reading tells of the feeding of the 5000,  it’s a bit less ambitious the feeding in the reading from Kings but both show us the generosity and care  bestowed on our bodies by our heavenly Father. Bodies matter
2. We have 2 great stories before us this morning, our gospel reading tells of the feeding of the 5000 showing us the generosity and care bestowed on us by our heavenly Father, this is in sad contrast to the story from Samuel, which shows a greedy human (David) prepared to destroy anything and anyone to feed his selfish passions. His actions are really the opposite of those of Jesus , who gives support and care for the bodies of the 5000, whilst David plots and succeeds in eliminating the body of Uriah the Hittite. Bodies matter.

So lets look at how the stories of Gods  love and care manifests itself in people being fed. See how this works, food is the fuel for our bodies., so feeding and being fed, giving and receiving hospitality  should be  a faithful communication of God’s love and care for all creation, for all of us must eat to live. “We must daily break the body and shed the blood of creation …..…[1]” break the body, shed the blood important words linking us to both the source of our food and the primary ritual of our faith, for at the Eucharist we break the body and shed the blood of the Creator. Creator and created united and so we make the connection between food and faith, between feeding our bodies and our souls. Just as we see in the story, love , generosity expressed in a much needed meal. Bodies matter.

And if you think about it how many times do we hear of food and eating  in the gospels.  Perhaps Luke tells it best: scandalous meals with Pharisees and tax collectors, table talk with sinners and saints, feeding the 5,000, a final meal with disciples who did not understand, a resurrection meal with disciples who were beginning to see the light. The Pharisees’ charge that Jesus was a “wine drinker and glutton who eats with tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34) is well documented. And who can forget the stories about meals: the Great Banquet at which the outsiders become insiders,  and of course as we’ve just heard the big bash which is provided for that great crowd,  our God it seems knows the importance of food. Knows what really matters, and the reason for this ultimately is very simple and earthy,   by coming among us as one of us with a body that need real bread, real food Jesus showed just how close we are to the love of God  because he did not just save the soul; he also healed, touched and fed the body as well. The Lord’s Supper, so scandalously earthly . “Eat this bread; it is my body,” he said. “Drink this wine; it is my blood.” reminds us that  our bodies matter, our faith is not an other worldly  thing, its meant to be lived in the body here and now, Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us , comes to earth  human with a body to show us that physical creation  matters to God, that we matter , that we survive only because of the gifts of a gracious God, that we live and grow only because of the work of human hands of farmers, bakers, farm workers and others whom we so easily take for granted.

So we are compelled to take seriously the fact that, when Jesus came to the end of his earthly ministry, when he gathered in the Upper Room and tried to show that dozen half-hearted, half-understanding disciples what it had all been about, he showed them in a meal. That was all he needed to say. It was all still a mystery, but it was a mystery which they now, in the eating and drinking, became part of. Nobody knew what redemption, grace, reconciliation or salvation meant. Everybody knew what it meant to eat. Precisely.

And so the link between faith & food becomes clear. Fellowship at the table is important to human life and well being, to community and to family, it can be no surprise that from the earliest times important events have been celebrated by feasting. At our tables  every day and at every meal as we ‘break the body and shed the blood of creation’ we  have the opportunity to experience food as a sacrament,  every time we eat we can rejoice in the knowledge that The Father loves each one of us.

For the ancient Jew, every meal was full of deep significance,  we should take this seriously or perhaps like the Quakers we  can try to  live the ideal of making  every meal a Eucharist, for lets face it one of the greatest gifts we can  give is  our fellowship at the table, food prepared with love  and eaten together makes feel cherished, food prepared in anger and hatred is bitter indeed. So with each meal we can create communion with those we share them with,  we can also be in communion with those who have grown and produced the food,  and ultimately we can be in communion with all creation and with our Creator, and that’s quite a thought every time we eat with family, friend or stranger, we share his body, his blood in the fruits of creation, we  share in the feast of reconciliation and love that the Father has prepared for all his  Children

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[1] 1. Wendell Berry, The Gift of Good Land (San Francisco: North Point Press, 1983, 1981), pp. 272-281.