Yes, He's the Bread of Life John 6:51-58

August 15-16, 2009
the 11th Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 15B, Ordinary 20B

Jesus is the bread of life: it's part of Christian faith and a great offense to crowds who come looking for Jesus to do something big. 2000 years ago many came to see Jesus perform miracles. They wanted to eat their fill like the 5000 who were fed from 5 loaves and 2 fish. Jesus offended them when he said, "I am the bread of life." Jesus words are still just as true and just as outrageous. He is our sustanence and our hope. His words still outrage us in a world looking for God to come in the awesome and not in the everyday bread of our lives.

Bear in mind that bread means different things to all the generations who follow Christ today.

I asked a crowd of 5th graders once how many had made bread before and only a few raised their hands. That evening each child and their parents mixed flour, oil, honey, molasses, water, baking soda, and salt together. It's messy fun work connecting kids with the often unseen ingredients behind everyday life. Jesus promises to come in body and blood in everyday bread adn wine. We eat bread everyday but many have forgotten how to make it and so many other ordinary parts of our diet.

This morning I asked a crowd gathered for worship at an assisted living apartment facility how many had made bread and all of them raised their hands. They could easily list every ingredient needed. One man in the crowd, a pastry chef, piped in not to forget the lard. "You always need some shortning to get it to mix smoothly." Jesus is the bread of life and the hope of the world. He comes in the ordinary that everyone 4 generations ago made in order to survive.

Jesus promise, for us, is that he will be with us, in His body, in ordinary bread made by ordinary human hands and human made machines.

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A prayer request: my wife's grandpa Lloyd passed away. His funeral will be this Saturday. Please keep Gerry, his bride of 60 years, and his daughters Stephanie and Linda in prayer.