How are we being fed?

By Rev. Heather J. Blais, Rector

​Last Sunday’s gospel lesson featured a handful of verses from John 6, generally known as ‘the bread of life discourse’. Our lesson today picks up with the provocative statement Jesus made at the end of that discourse:  “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Or as it says in the Message translation: …“I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever. I have told you this explicitly because even though you have seen me in action, you don’t really believe me. Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me. And once that person is with me, I hold on and don’t let go. I came down from heaven not to follow my own agenda but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me (6:35-38).”

Today’s passage dives into the implications of this claim. It can be helpful to remember who Jesus was speaking to in the crowd.  Several disciples were present, many of whom would leave as a result of this discourse. Many more were his childhood neighbors, all of whom would have known him to be Mary and Joseph’s son. Jesus was a familiar face, a kid who grew up in the neighborhood, in a community where everyone knew one another’s business. Except now that kid has grown up. He is claiming to be divine; here to act as God’s agent in the world by teaching God’s Way of Love, and expecting folks to follow him on the Way. 

It probably would have been difficult to take him seriously.  Especially given most folks would have taken his words literally, and imagined Jesus was promoting cannibalism.  Awkward and not at all in keeping with their Jewish tradition.  At best his kinder and non-judgmental neighbors would have been concerned about his overall health and wellbeing.  While the more judgmental neighbors would have rolled their eyes at one another and said,  “There goes Joseph’s son again, thinking he is God.” Deep sigh. 

That said, when we reflect on Jesus’ metaphor, it is incredibly spot on. In my own experience, the truth of this metaphor resonates more deeply each year. Here’s why.
Jesus was speaking to folks who were intimately familiar with poverty and hunger, and were living in an empire where they had little to no power or say. They needed to be frugal with their meager food supply, and a bad harvest or moldy stores of grain could be disastrous for households. Their very real hunger and thirst instilled in them the need to be resourceful in finding ways to sustain themselves. 

We see this same kind of frugality and resourcefulness in many neighbors who make use of our community meals and essential’s pantry. Folks find a way to take a meal or two and stretch it across a few days or to feed multiple mouths.  Hunger, poverty, and the resulting marginalization is still all too real, even in our own backyard. As a faith community, we have chosen to be aware of this deep rooted hunger that so many folks face, including our own parishioners. We have chosen to do our small part to ease that hunger by offering meals, essentials, and given the even greater gift of offering our respect and seeing each person’s dignity; remembering each person is made in the image and likeness of God. 

When Jesus tells the crowd then, and us today, that “I am the bread of life” he is offering us the liberating truth that we can and will be sustained in body, mind, and spirit by our life giving God. Many of us have experienced times when the money we had did not seem like it could possibly cover the essentials. In those moments, we pray for God to help us find a way forward, and somehow, things always come together in ways we never could have planned. To be clear - this does not mean prayer leads to magic money, the power of positive thinking, or easy answers. Prayer is the truth that when we rely on God, our prayers will be answered in one way or another. Often in surprising ways:

• a church supper or community meal that helps stretch our grocery budget. 
• neighbors sharing their children’s outgrown clothing when ours desperately need some.
• a grandparent providing childcare to help with childcare costs. 

• an unexpected gig that brings in a bit of extra money. 
• a relative who lets you live with them for a season. 
• even government programs that support individuals and families with low incomes or those struggling with mountains of student loan debt. 

Since childhood, I have found God consistently to be the Queen of Abundance, always making a way, when it feels like there is no way. 

This is equally true when we shift from physical hunger to spiritual hunger.  Since the very beginning of the Jesus Movement, communities of seekers and believers have gathered each week to worship God. Communities gather as a body in worship for several reasons:

• to remember we are not alone; and as communities of faith we see again and again how we are better together. 
• to offer praise and celebrate our Creating God, Redeeming Christ, and Life-Giving Spirit. 
• to listen to God’s holy word and preachers who reflect on the many ways God has been and continues to be at work in the world. 
• to offer God our prayers of petition and thanksgiving, and to ask God to guide the Church in how we walk the Way of Love in the world. 
• to be spiritually nourished in the bread and wine, which is quite literally bread and wine, but also food that in community, and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, will spiritually nourish and sustain us. 

In my own faith journey, it was the experience of receiving communion each week that hooked me into following Jesus and embracing the Episcopal Church. To this day, receiving communion continues to bring a peace and calm that sustains me, while also defying all logic. I mean, how could a stale, dissolvable wafer and some taylor tawny port sustain anyone through the challenges of this life? I don’t know how, but Christ is really present in this spiritual meal, and it is a truth Christians have discovered again and again and again. Yet it took living through covid for some of us to realize just how important it is to gather as a body of Christ.  It turns out the communion we create when we gather as a worshiping community is just as essential for spiritual nourishment. Because following the Way of Love is not a solo pilgrimage through the wilderness. It is something that Christians have been doing together since the very beginning of the Jesus Movement. 


While I imagine none of this is news to those walking the Way of Love, it is helpful to to reflect on  Jesus words’: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” His words are offered both as a fact and as an invitation. Where are we seeking out nourishment in our lives? We all have resources we tap into during times of challenge, hunger, and need. Yet instead of seeking nourishment through prayer and community worship, we often will seek nourishment any and everywhere else. In my own faith journey, even as an occupational pray-er,  I will routinely seek sustenance in places that lack nourishment (hello, Netflix and BBC), before getting a loving memo from God that a life of faith means turning to God, not a screen.  I embarrassingly share this because I imagine I’m not alone. There are so many other bright and shiny ways our world invites us to seek nourishment, when in reality, these ways tend to leave us feeling emptier and hungrier than we were in the first place. There are also seasons when we do seem to get it right, and remember to go to God first, but then somewhere along the way, not on purpose, we get distracted and start looking for our sustenance elsewhere.  It’s a pretty human thing. God knows we are easily distracted, and that like our friend Peter, we are frequently a bit slow on the uptake.

That’s why I hope this week we will receive Jesus' words as an invitation to reflect: 

• How is our prayer life? 
• Is everything smooth sailing and we are excelling at going to God first? 

If so, fantastic. 

• Are we seeking nourishment and comfort somewhere else and finding it leaving us empty? Either from time to time or more like, every time?

It’s okay. It happens to all of us at some point or other. 

• How are we connecting to God and our faith community in worship? 
• What might it look like to tend to our prayer and worship life at this juncture? 

Amen. 








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