Proper 13

Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, 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. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.” Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

Last week we looked at a few different interpretations of the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand, including one that saw it more as an inspiring story of people sharing their resources instead of a story about a miracle.

And we talked about how we celebrate people sharing their resources as being in line with the kingdom, but we LOSE something important if our faith no longer has space for the miraculous.

It all gets reduced to people being moral and getting their immediate needs met.

Again, good things in and of themselves.

But there has to be more to the hope of Christ than full bellies right?

Well, that same theme continues into this part of the story because the focus remains on the provision of the bread.

The crowd wants more of it, so they track Jesus down.

And in one sense we can’t blame them.

Many of them were likely hungry and this man just gave them a full stomach.

We tend to stay close to those who meet our needs.

But Jesus makes it clear to them that their desire is shortsighted.

They’re chasing something that only satisfies their physical needs for a few hours.

Jesus is offering something deeper and more profound.

As I was sitting with this text, it struck me as something of a parable for the modern church.

For one, John speaks of what the CROWD desires and how the crowd moves.

The American church can often move like a crowd, following trends that shape our desires.

You’ll often hear us critique hyper-individualism in which people never acknowledge that they are connected to others.

But on the other end of the spectrum is getting lost in the crowd and it’s not any better.

Thomas Merton says it like this:

The great temptation of modern man is not physical solitude but immersion in the mass of other men, not escape to the mountains or the desert (would that more men were so tempted!) but escape into the great formless sea of irresponsibility which is the crowd. There is actually no more dangerous solitude than that of the man who is lost in a crowd, who does not know he is alone and who does not function as a person in a community either. He does not face the risks of true solitude or its responsibilities, and at the same time the multitude has taken all other responsibilities off his shoulders. Yet he is by no means free of care; he is burdened by the diffuse, anonymous anxiety, the nameless fears, the petty itching lusts and the all pervading hostilities which fill mass society the way water fills the ocean.

There is a very real risk of the people in the crowd not personally wrestling with what they experienced in Jesus and not approaching him to be seen and known and changed by him on a personal level. It’s much easier to move with the crowd that is collectively excited about getting more bread. What’s the next thing?!

I’m curious about the person who might break through the crowd just to touch the hem of his garment and look him in the eyes.

Thinking bread is good but my soul is empty more than my stomach.

AND if the American church moves like a crowd it also goes where the bread is in search of more.

Sometimes the bread is

An uplifting, adrenaline fueled worship experience

A killer children’s ministry

A nice campus

Outreach programs that give a sense of purpose or help their material needs

Or simply a sense of community because that’s where the crowd is

Sometimes all the crowd wants is the crowd

And again, these are not bad things in and of themselves

Some of them are GOOD things

Relational needs are real needs

But just like the crowd that came to Jesus, our desires are shortsighted if we just want a Sunday experience that will fill our bellies for another week, or at least a few days.

When the crowd is negotiating with Jesus they’re like, “Hey, Moses provided bread for everyone during the Exodus. Can we get something like that?”

I want Jesus to be like, “Guys I JUST gave you some miraculous bread.”

But Jesus makes a deeper point. He says, “It wasn’t Moses. It was God. And yes, that bread met people’s needs and sustained them in the desert. But the physical bread wasn’t the point.”

The point of the bread was to reveal the character of a God who provides. Jehovah Jireh.

The point of the bread was to reveal that God is there and he sees and he cares and he is active and he is with you in the desert.

The point of the bread was to drive the people to a deeper sense of trust so that they could not only come to him for bread but give their whole lives to him.

So Jesus says, “Look, I gave you bread for your bodies. But I have bread that sustains life beyond the physical.”

And the crowd says, “That sounds great we’ll have that.”

And Jesus replies. “It’s me. I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

This is obviously a MYSTICAL response.

Jesus is inviting them into a deeper spiritual relationship and experience.

But this is often too far for the crowd.

If you keep reading in John 6 Jesus continues to press this idea that his person is the bread offered to the world so that they can find eternal life and the crowd begins to thin. It tells many disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

It’s too mystical. It’s not immediate enough.

And this is often the case in the modern church as well.

Jesus invites us to die to ourselves, seek him in prayer, and practice a long obedience in the same direction to find and intimate connection with him that brings renewal as we’re caught up into the life of the triune God

Jesus is constantly inviting us behind the veil into deeper realities

But we’re like, “Is the band good?”

“What snacks do they give kids in Children’s Ministry?”

Fine questions, but if that’s the extent of our desires and our seeking we’ve missed it.

So last week I was arguing for a faith that makes space for miracles.

This week I’m arguing for a faith that centers on mystical realities and is willing to pursue Jesus beyond immediate gratification and apart from the crowds.

We might call this a more contemplative expression of the faith.

One that pushes through the crowds, and sometimes leaves them altogether, to touch Jesus or simply sit at his feet.

We want the bread that satisfies more than our bellies.