-“What drains you?”

Sermon-Year B Proper 12-August 9, 2009


The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."

John 6:35, 41-51



Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

In seminary we had Eucharists every day of the week. Usually there would be a saints day at least every other day, so the readings and theme for the sermon would change regularly. But one week, for some reason, there were no saints days, no changes. So every sermon that week had to be on the same 3 lessons. By Friday we all were dreading ONE MORE SERMON on the same lessons. We’d just heard 4 sermons already on the same lessons in 4 days. The professor preaching on the 5th day stood up and we all groaned realizing we were going to hear a 5th sermon in 5 days on the same thing. And he started off saying, “ some day YOU will have to preach a sermon 5 times on the same lessons. And people will groan when you stand up to preach and there’s not a thing you can do about it. God help you.”



Ok, two weeks ago we heard the story of Jesus feeding the 5000. A familiar story, everyone knows it. But then the lectionary jumps from the 6th chapter of Mark, to the 6th chapter of John for 4 weeks. That’s where we went last week. And each of these 4 weeks Jesus is trying to use this miracle, this “miracle” to help people understand who he is and why he came. But it doesn’t work. The harder Jesus tries to explain, the more angry-or confused-or dumb-everyone in the story becomes. Some of the people, like the ones in today’s reading, just don’t like Jesus. Some don’t want to understand. Or they’re not going to comprehend anything Jesus says because they think he’s just a bad Jew. No matter what he says, they will argue with him.

So forget Jesus for a moment, let me come at this a different way. Do you know what drains you? Do you know what sucks the life right out of you? Think about it. I’m not asking what are your pet peeves, I’m asking what things exhaust you. Deb and I were having a disagreement about money the other day, and I told her that talking about money always reminded me of arguments my parents had when I was a little boy-and how scared I became when I heard them arguing. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that arguing, fighting itself, was a real bugaboo of mine. I will go way out of my way to avoid an argument, because they drain me. Think about it, what events, situations, make you feel most uncomfortable, most anxious, most unnerved?

Ok, I wanted to start there because I thought it would make the next question easier for you to think about-what feeds you? What strengthens you, what lifts you up, makes you feel better no matter how bad things are going? What situation, event, relationship, whatever, always makes you feel stronger, more capable, more gifted? I’ll give you another couple of examples. I love the Olympics-not because of the gold medals. I love the stories of the athletes-what they’ve overcome, what sacrifice they had to make, what other people did to help them make it to London. I am fed when I think impossible things are possible, when I see something incredibly noble or hopeful or inspiring happen. I am lifted up when I see another person do something that I didn’t think I had the strength to do. When I’m having a bad day, or week, or month, I will find a story about someone overcoming the odds, and I am always fed. I know that sounds simplistic but that’s what works for me. And if you listen to my sermons, you will hear one of those stories almost every week. Here’s one:

At the foot of a great mountain in China lived a father and his three sons. They were a simple and loving family, whose great joy was sitting, eating a meal together and sharing their lives. The father noticed that travelers came from great distances eager to climb the dangerous mountain. But not one of the travelers ever returned. The three sons heard stories about the mountain, how it was made of gold and silver at the top. Despite their father’s warnings, they could not resist venturing up the mountain. Along the way, under a tree, sat a beggar, but the sons, ignoring him, did not speak to him or give him anything. One by one, the sons disappeared up the mountain, the first to a house of rich food. The second to a house of rich wine. The third to a house of gambling. Each became a slave to his desire, and forgot his home. Meanwhile, their father, more and more depressed at his sons’ absences, missed them terribly. “Danger aside, “ he thought, “I must risk everything and find my sons.”

As he climbed the mountain he reached the summit, he found indeed that the rocks were gold, and the rivers ran with wine. But he hardly noticed, so intent was he on recovering his sons. He only wanted to find them and help them remember the love they had once shared. On the way down the mountain having failed to discover them, the father encountered the beggar under a tree. He asked the beggar’s advice. “The mountain will give you your son’s back,” the beggar advised, “only if you can bring something from home that will cause them to remember their father’s love.” The father raced home, grabbed a bowl of rice. He returned up the mountain, and gave some to the beggar. He then found the three houses where his sons were living. Carefully he placed a single grain of rice in the mouth of each son. And as the rice touched each boy’s tongue, each son realized how stupid he had been, how empty his life truly was, and that he wanted only to return to his father’s home. One by one the sons and the father walked down the mountain, and returned to their house.

Jesus says to the people, I am that which feeds you. I am like bread. Every day you live in me you will be lifted up, strengthened, nourished, inspired-fed. The people didn’t get it. I think he should have started by asking people what drained them.

Do you know what feeds you? Do you know what gives you life? Do you know what strengthens you for the journey? Do you know what things, events, miracles actually give you hope? Have you ever thought about it? The phrase Jesus uses is “living bread”. He’s trying to get people to understand that being in relationship with him, will feed them, give them life forever.

Listen to this piece from Brian Peterson, Professor of New Testament

Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary Columbia, SC , about today’s gospel.

" A diet of bread, week after week, may get rather tiresome and stale – unless careful attention is paid to the movement of John 6. … In last Sunday's text, the center of attention was upon Jesus as the gift from the Father for the life of the world. Building on that claim, this Sunday's text focuses on Jesus as the center of faith to which the Father draws people. The movements within chapter 6 for these two Sundays, and for the one that will follow, are certainly interconnected, but they are not identical. Jesus is not simply repeating himself, and John is not writing in circles…. The crowd concludes that Jesus has not come from Heaven, because they know his parents. Familiarity is breeding contempt. One who has been among them cannot possibly be what Jesus claims to be. …The truth is not found in knowing the human parents who have nurtured Jesus' childhood. Rather, the truth is found in knowing that Jesus has come from the Father in Heaven. The crowd's self-assured "knowledge" stands in their way of seeing the truth. ….The only way out of such deadly unbelief is to be drawn into faith by the Father, and this activity of the Father is a



major focus of today's text. …. Faith is not simply a human choice to be made, but is the activity of the Father drawing people to Jesus. …. We must be dragged into faith by God; there is no other way to come. …. there is promise and hope in this text's declaration that God does in fact draw people to faith in Jesus. God is busy doing that right ….Even to the grumblers, Jesus comes as the bread of life, opening our eyes and hearts to new possibilities. ….. As conversations go on and objections are raised, Jesus does not seem interested in making it easier to swallow. ….If the crowds have been offended by trying to reconcile Jesus' heavenly claims with Jesus' familiar parents, what will happen when they are faced with the brutal reality of the cross? The bread from Heaven will give life to the world, astonishingly, by dying for it. This bread of life from Heaven is no "free lunch;" it will cost Jesus his life. Feeding on this bread will bring us as well to the cross (12:32).”

The story continues. It will be easy to think of the things that drain you, empty you. But think of the things that feed you, strengthen you-even challenge you. Think of the single grain of rice that has been put on your lips, wakes you up, and draws you back home. Amen.