Satisfied

Good Morning. It is always a great day to be in the House of the Lord. One of the challenges that we face in the world is that we are always looking for satisfaction. We love to find things that satisfy our bodies, minds, and our souls.

Have you ever thought about that before?

What Really gives you satisfaction?

It might be completing a certain task. It might be attending church? It might be a particular food you are thinking about right now.

Food is always an interesting topic when it comes to satisfaction.

We love to eat in our country. Food is as much a necessity as it is an experience and source of joy and satisfaction.

I have noticed something though. There are lots of different foods that satisfy our stomachs but not all of them provide lasting satisfaction.

What are you talking about Pastor Andy?

What I am referencing is this basic idea that we can be satisfied by something like breakfast but in different ways.

Breakfast

I am not a big cereal eater, but if I kept Cinnamon toast crunch in the house I can be a big cereal eater. I love cinnamon toast crunch and when I sit down and eat it, it is usually more than one bowl.

There is something I notice though. When I have that kind of breakfast, full of sugar and carbohydrates it doesn’t take long for me to get hungry again. I will be looking for a snack soon after. My body just burns through it. Lots of calories but really empty ones.

If I eat my normal breakfast, which is usually high in Protein. Like Eggs, Bacon, or sausage, maybe some toast and fruit. Or if I have my high protein Oatmeal I stay satisfied far longer. It keeps me full and its a very different experience.

When I get that breakfast that is more satisfying I also feel better about myself longer because I know it is better for me in the long run.

At the end of the day though I still become unsatisfied.

This leads me to this mornings passage before we get to it though we need to set it up. We will be in John Chapter 6, let’s start though with a little summary of where we are at.

Feeding of the 5000

We will be picking up in the story of Jesus shortly after he feeds the 5k people in Johns Gospel. Many of us know this story but just in case you haven’t heard it or need a refresher. The abbreviated story is this.

Jesus and his disciples were out away from any major towns and they were there and People were listening to Jesus teach. They started to get hungry and he told his disciples to go buy bread for them.

The disciples are like how in the world is this going to work. They found a small boy with five small loaves and two small fish and Jesus blessed it and they started to pass it around. Before they knew it all the people were feed and not only were they fed there was left overs.

Right after this meal Jesus and his disciples set off across the lake to get away. Well, His disciples did Jesus walked across the lake. The next day the crowds were wondering where they went and the figured out they went across the lake so they started looking for them and before Jesus and his disciples know it they found them and they couldn’t escape this crowd. This is where we pick back up with Jesus.

John 6:26–27 NIV

26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

The Signs

Jesus had performed some amazing miracles and signs for them. He had been healing people and then he feed all of them and they were amazed. They wanted more.

Just like when we eat inevitably we want more the crowd wanted to experience more.

Yet, what was it that they were looking for?

What are they Looking for?

Jesus calls the people out he recognizes that they have shown up for something. They arrived to get something from him. They wanted the signs for the results not because of who was performing the signs.

They were wanting the good part. The Bowl of Cinnamon toast crunch instead of the meal that is lasting.

This had me thinking about our relationship with Jesus and what we are looking for.

Are we looking for the signs or Jesus?

Have you thought about it. We love to see the good works that Jesus does and how he impacts our lives but are we pursuing him because we want something from him or because we want to be with him.

Are you wondering how to know if you are in this place let me give you an easy test.

First Question.

When do You pray?

Do you pray only when you need something from God or do you pray because you want to enjoy your relationship with God?

Let’s be honest with ourselves. How often do we find ourselves in the situation that we are praying because we are in need.

Now, is that a horrible place to be. No, but if we are honest is that the only time we should be praying. We are only looking for God because we need another quick fix. We aren’t looking for God because we want a lasting satisfaction.

Second Question

How often do you seek His Word?

Do you engage his word daily to speak into your life? Do you join in the fellowship of believers to learn more from others?

Or are you only going to church or his Word when you are struggling or you hit a hard time?

The other truth we have to face is we often don’t want God to speak into our lives through his word because it is a constant reminder of how we are falling short of where we are supposed to be.

When we have a regular diet of God’s word through daily reading, and the church we suddenly find that we are being challenged on how we have to transform who we are to be better disciples of Jesus.

There are other questions I could ask you but Jesus reminds us in the passage that we already read of something very important.

John 6:27 NIV

27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

Food that endures

Jesus calls us to engage in Him and to seek the food that endures. Some of the most basic things that we can do is engage in him. To find the way that we can follow after him in what we do. We need to engage our faith in new ways so that we can find that food that satisfied. The only way that we connect to Jesus is through building that relationship with him.

The crowd though was struggling because they wanted more but they had a very different idea of what they wanted in fact they try to share that with Jesus.

John 6:28 NIV

28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

They ask Jesus what must we do to get more bread? How do we get more is the question that they are really asking. Yet, Jesus gives them an interesting response.

John 6:29 NIV

29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Simply believe in the one who God has sent.

We learn that Jesus is referencing himself in that moment but they couldn’t see that. They responded to Jesus with a reference to their past.

John 6:30–31 NIV

30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

Manna From Heaven

One of the first things that we should notice from their response to Jesus is who they say the Manna came from.

“He gave them bread from heaven to eat”

Moses gave them bread from heaven. They recognized that the manna was from heaven but they gave the credit to Moses. They failed to see that the bread that was nourishing them was coming from God. Jesus challenges them and pushes them to see this very truth.

John 6:32–33 NIV

32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Bread From Heaven

Jesus promises that the bread that sustains life comes from heaven. Moments earlier he said all you have to do is to believe in Him who came from heaven to be get the bread that endures.

Jesus was trying to get them to recognize that He was right there in front of them and he is the bread that satisfies everyone. He is the bread that endures. He is the one who fills us, but we too often will respond just like they did.

John 6:34 NIV

34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

Give us the Bread!

WE want to be satisfied and we want to receive it but we are too busy failing to recognize that all we have to do is come to him and to follow him.

Jesus told us to just believe. He also connects that very idea to work. He connects the truth that belief in God is more than just a thought in our minds it is a change in our hearts, minds, and our actions.

The challenge comes is we are too busy being Satisfied with being unsatisfied.

Satisfied

Too often we don’t want to do the work. We get complacent. We start prioritizing just looking for the bread we want instead of the bread we need.

We fall short and we sit back and we wonder why is this happening. We walk this life but we only keep pursuing the foods that fill us momentarily. We do that through things like work, hobbies, travel, food, family, and so many other things that we use to distract us from where we are supposed to be.

We are satisfied with the things that really leave us unsatisfied when it comes to eternal things. All the things we pursue we can’t take with us but we hope that at the right moment we can get right with God so that we can make sure we are in heaven.

This is not how we are supposed to live.

We have to start recognizing this truth.

Deuteronomy 8:3 NIV

3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

This leads us back to Christ and what he taught his disciples and through his disciples what he teaches us. IT is also this bread that points us to him. It is through his word that we have found the new covenant.

Communion