10th Sunday after Pentecost/Year B
August 1, 2021
Ephesians 4:1-16; Psalm 51:1-13; John 6:24-35
Opening prayer:
(inspired by John 6) The Abingdon Worship Annual 2009,
O Bread of heaven, come down.
Come down and fill us with your Spirit—
for your Spirit satisfies like no other.
We hunger and thirst for you this morning
and long to be nurtured in your love and forgiveness.
So we come to this sacred time and place,
where our hungers are finally and fully satisfied as only your bread can do. We will wait and listen for your leading in this time together. Amen.
A few years back, I facilitated a Summer Sabbath Quiet day…a silent retreat…here at St Peter’s…The various readings and scriptures and music that were chosen, were all selections that were meant to help us to return once again to the source of all creation, to the source that feeds us, and nourishes, and strengthens us with the food that endures for eternal life…
There were selections chosen to help us return to a more balanced rhythm of work and rest…work and Sabbath rest…
There were selections chosen that invited us to recall the connection between our bodies and our spirits… and the need to take care of both….reminding us, specifically...that our bodies are God’s temple…
A place where the Holy Spirit of God lives and dwells in us, breathes in us and rests in us…a Holy dwelling where the spirit of God’s love has the power to inspire us and unite us to love one another as we have been loved, forgive one another as we have been forgiven, and help us to grow and build up his beloved community…a community centered around a table of God’s love…where the true bread of heaven, the bread of God which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world…is made known to us through the One whom God has set his seal – Jesus…
Jesus…the One whose words invite us back to the center of our hearts, where He lives and dwells, with the Holy Spirit….
Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
It may be easy for us to truly hear these words and believe in them, when we are gathered together on a Sunday morning…here as we gather together on zoom, or in our beautiful church building, among the people we care for, young and old, and in the midst of a community in which we feel loved, and feel as if we belong…we spend time with scriptures, praying, singing songs of praise and worship…and partake in Holy Communion…the Eucharistic Feast…the highlight of our time together…which brings Jesus’ words to life for us…. “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
But then Monday morning comes along…and we get swept up in the complexities and challenges of everyday living…we spend too much time watching the news, and get drawn into the web of negativity and words that ignite conversations built around division, anger, and hopelessness…we get caught up in worries over health, and family and community issues, especially in this time of the covid-19 pandemic; we fall into the trap of thinking that more money, more control to do the thing we want to do, will finally satisfy our longings, our desires…we continue to chase after things that we think we need to be happy…we search and search and search...meanwhile…all of these distractions, these worries, these negative and hurtful words and actions that we focus on day after day, night after night…leave us neglecting the health of our bodies, our minds, our hearts and our spirits…it leaves us with a lot of stuff to sort through…a lot of layers of needless stress, and worries that separate us from experiencing the love of God…and leaves us feeling tired, hungry, empty and thirsty…
This is where repentance comes in… which calls us to take an honest look at ourselves, and what’s in our hearts…how are we caring for the dwelling place of God’s Holy Spirit of love? Is this Holy Spirit of Love, and Christ’s presence in this Holy Temple of our bodies, buried in layers of fear and worry?
Is my heart troubled or filled with anger? Is my heart overwhelmed with uncertainty or unbelief? Is it causing me to hurt others with my words and actions, or perhaps myself? Am I using my words and actions to build up or tear down?
This is where repentance comes in...as part of a regular spiritual discipline of meditating on God’s holy Word, spending time in prayer, silence, or listening to sacred music….all ways which help us to return and focus once again, on the One…who is the bread of life…the one who satisfies our hungers, our longings, and our thirst…the One who brings life to this world, the One who brings new life into our hearts….Jesus…
Repentance can mean praying something as simple and beautiful as the verses from our psalm today which can help us to be mindful of the need to clean out the unhealthy thoughts and fears that have been slowly building up in our hearts… to make room for Jesus, and the Holy Spirit of God’s love….to renew in us…a right spirit within us...and to fill us once again with the saving help of God’s love and joy…and sustain us with his bountiful Spirit..
Our bodies are God’s temple…
A place where the Holy Spirit of God lives and dwells in us, breathes in us and rests in us…a Holy dwelling where the spirit of God’s love is revealed to us through Jesus, and is sustained in us by the Holy One’s bountiful Spirit…
Let us strive to care for our bodies, our minds, our hearts and our spirits…..not only on Sundays…but throughout the week…so that all of our words and our actions come from a deeply-centered place of immense love, unconditional love, that proclaims the life-giving way of love that is made known to us through Jesus…helping us to build up the Body of Christ, the beloved community, by speaking the truth in love…
Today, as we celebrate Holy Communion, the Eucharistic Feast…let us remember the life-giving, and nourishing words of Jesus: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Rev Julie Platson, Rector
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church, Sitka, AK
Hymn after the sermon: Bread of Life
Bread of life, hope of the world, Jesus Christ, our brother:
feed us now, give us life, lead us to one another.
As we proclaim your death, as we recall your life,
we remember your promise to return again. Refrain
Hold us in unity, in love for all to see;
that the world may believe in you, God of all who live. Refrain
You are the bread of peace, you are the wine of joy,
broken now for your people, poured in endless love. Refrain