12 Pentecost/Year B Sermon/Aug 11, 2024 - Rev Julie Platson
1 Kings 19:4-8; Psalm 34:1-8; Ephesians 4:25-5:2; John 6: 35, 41-51
Opening Prayer:
Almighty God, your Son Jesus Christ
fed the hungry with the bread of his life and the word of his kingdom.
Renew your people with your heavenly grace, and in all our weakness
sustain us by the true and living bread, Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
—posted on The Church of Scotland’s Starters for Sunday website.
We’ve been talking about Jesus and bread for the past three weeks. And for two more weeks, we will still be on the topic of Jesus and bread. Makes one wonder – why five weeks talking about bread? What’s so important about something so basic as bread?
To those of us, who appear to have their daily needs met, by always having food to eat, having a roof over our head, a pillow to lay our heads down at night, work that is meaningful, family life that is good, health that is robust…something as basic as bread, may not enter our minds too often.
So, perhaps five weeks talking about something as basic as bread is calling our attention to someone else. Maybe we are being nudged to consider that for many among us, in our communities and outside of our church, something as basic as bread, has a whole different meaning for them.
There are those who experience hunger are all around us, from all walks of life, and all ages - these are all people, who are all beloved children of God…They all have a story to tell…ones that perhaps we need to pay more attention to and listen more closely to.
Jesus is concerned about everyone’s story: your story, my story, people living in poverty’s story, children going to bed hungry and waking up hungry – their story; he’s concerned about the farmers in rural communities; he wants to hear the story of the working poor in our urban communities; he wants to hear from the women and girls who account for over 60 percent of the world’s hungry; he’s concerned about the seniors, who are often overlooked and go hungry in isolation.
And we are called, as Jesus reminds us often, to be concerned about our neighbors’ story, especially the hungry among us. Hungry for food, hungry for belonging, hungry for love, hungry for respect and compassion and understanding of their needs.
I think back to our first reading today from 1st Kings…and wonder how many of us or those we identify as experiencing hunger, have ever been in that place of deep despair as Elijah was – at the point of giving up and not feeling like he could go on? And then to have an angel of the Lord come and nudge him to get up and eat...and be strengthened for the journey…It was an angel of the Lord, who shared the bread of life with Elijah.
I wonder how many people among us, that you are aware of, are often at this point of giving up? Whether it’s from physical hunger, or dealing with chronic illness, health issues, family issues, struggling to pay rent, or put food on the table for their families? How many would be encouraged to go on, if only an “angel of the Lord”, someone who looked like you or I, showed up and shared the bread of life, the Good News of God, in Christ? Someone who uses their words to build up and encourage, to be kind and tenderhearted towards one another…
I am thankful for all the ways, that there are angels and messengers of hope that walk among us now through the various ways we are working with the hungry among us here in Sitka, through our weekly manna meal offering in collaboration with other Sitka churches, collecting lakeside receipts to help fund some of our outreach ministries, collecting non-perishable foods, partnering with the Sitka Homeless Coalition. On a national level, Episcopal Relief and Development donations help with various life-giving resources to encourage communities at risk worldwide establish their own ways of addressing the extreme poverty in their areas. Bread for the World is another world-wide organization that addresses poverty and hunger through advocacy efforts to address the ongoing systemic practices that contribute to the ongoing barriers that trap people in a cycle of poverty and hunger.
So, yes, the past few weeks, Jesus has been talking about bread, but not necessarily only about bread in regard to our physical nourishment which we often associate hunger with. Addressing hunger and poverty, as you can see in the examples of these different types of outreach efforts that are working on hunger and poverty issues that I just mentioned, is not only about putting a meal on someone’s table. It’s about learning to live together in love with one another and learning from one another, listening to one another, in such a way that brings about healing and wellness and fullness of life for all of God’s people.
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.”
Jesus is talking about believing in Him, the bread of life, that is broken, blessed and shared at the table of God’s kingdom, a banquet to which all are invited.
When was the last time you thought about inviting or welcoming the poor and hungry among you to the table and banquet of God’s love? When was the last time you stopped to consider for a moment that there might be people among us, in our communities and outside of our church, that are hungry for the Good News of God, in Christ?
There might be someone among us that is longing to hear your Good News story, your witness…that yes, the Lord is good. There might be someone among us who is longing to share their story with you, their sorrows, their hopes?
This week, I encourage you to consider, how you, in this time and season of your lives, are being called to be an angel of the Lord to someone who is hungry for food, hungry for belonging, hungry for love, hungry for respect and compassion and understanding of their needs.
Invite them to come, taste and see that the Lord is good.
Closing Prayer/Hymn:
Taste and see.
Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
O Taste and see.
Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
Closing Benediction
May the love of God which gives life to the world, sustain you;
May the bread of life, Jesus Christ, feed you with the food that endures to eternal life;
May the power of the Holy Spirit nourish and strengthen you in faith.
~ written by Moira Laidlaw, and posted on Liturgies Online. http://www.liturgiesonline.com.au/