Eating Is Believing

In Exodus 16, we read about the Israelite’s faith—or lack thereof. I see in their story, my own story, and our story. There they were, safe from Egypt. God overwhelmingly demonstrated his power. First, there were the 10 plagues. Then God brought them out, and the Egyptians gave them precious cargo, gold, silver, food and clothing. Then, when it looked like it was all for nought, when they Red Sea blocked their way, and the full Egyptian army was coming from behind, God dried up a path through the sea and then drowned the army afterward! He protected his people, and removed their greatest threat in one fell swoop.

This reminds me of a satirical story. If you’re at all familiar with modern Biblical theology, then you know that many modern scholars approach the Bible with skepticism. They have a hard time believing the miracles, I’m not sure why, but they look for natural explanations for things. I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago when I said that someone had suggested that a freak wind had frozen the surface of the Sea of Galilee, allowing Jesus to walk on the water. Anyway, the story goes like this. A person relatively new to the faith is reading Exodus and he comes across the passage describing the crossing of the Red Sea. “Wow!” He exclaims, “this is totally amazing!”

“What is?” his professor asks.

“The Israelites crossed the Red Sea on dry land!”

“Oh said the professor, actually, the word we translate as Red Sea can also mean Reed Sea, so it’s fairly likely that the water was only a few inches deep.”

The student reluctantly accepted the professor’s explanation, and kept on reading. A few minutes later, he gave another loud exclamation.

“What now?” asked his professor.

“This is totally amazing! God drowned the entire Egyptian army in a few inches of water!”

All followers of Christ suffer from trust issues. We forget God’s power, and we forget what he’s able, and promised to do for us. The Israelites, barely in the wilderness, barely any time has passed since the crossing of the Red Sea, and they’re complaining. “Oh, woe to us! We’re going to starve to death! Oh, if only we’d stayed in Egypt. At least food grew there! At least there we had 3 squares a day.”

Never mind the fact that they didn’t have any control over their lives at all. Never mind the fact that they were beaten, they were slaves, they worked in deplorable conditions. No, all that was forgotten with the present need. They had no food, and no way of growing any. SO they went around whining and complaining, grumbling against Moses and Aaron.

Amazing, isn’t it. The Red Sea was no problem for God. The Egyptian army was no problem for God. The Pharaoh and all his false gods were no problem for God to handle. But providing daily bread? Impossible!

Are we really so different?

Clearly the people in Jesus’ day were not.

Earlier in chapter 6, John describes the feeding of 5000 men, probably 15-20000 people in total. Jesus did all that with 5 loaves and 2 fish. Now, the next day, people come looking for Jesus, expecting more food. When they find him, they’re shocked to meet him on his terms, not on theirs.

They wanted physical food. But Jesus used the physical food, to show what he was really offering, himself: God. But the people didn’t get it! They simply saw the man they knew. Joseph and Mary’s son, he’s the kid who worked in their neighbourhood. But Jesus is much, much more.

I am the bread of life, Jesus said. The phrase, “I am” is significant. It is the name God said to Moses at the burning bush, when Moses asked, “Who do I say you are?” John records some 7 “I am” statements all to prove that Jesus is the messiah, the son of the Living God.

To this statement, the people have the audacity to say, “Moses gave us bread from heaven.” In other words, they’re saying, “Are you greater than Moses?” Jesus corrected them; God gave them manna, not Moses. I am God. I am the one who feeds you. If you want food, you need to eat my flesh and drink my blood.

Eating and drinking is believing. It is believing that Jesus is who he says he is. It is trusting that not only has he saved us from our sin against God the Father, he’s also actively nourishing us, through the Holy Spirit, whenever we participate in Lord’s Supper.

It is remembering what the whole point of church worship is. The point is Christ. We come, not to get what we want, but to be fed by Christ.

But in the wilderness, people complained bitterly, and God sent snakes to kill them. Only those who looked in faith at the serpent on a stick, were healed. Only those who look in faith at Christ on the cross are healed of sin, and spared everlasting death.

There were many people there who heard Jesus words and left. They wouldn’t accept them. He went from 5000 + followers to just his closest disciples. “Are you too going to leave?” Peter, speaking for the rest replied, “Only you have words of eternal life, where else can we go?”

We have eternal life. Or, as we learned this morning, we have a billion trillion deposit slip. We have, already, every spiritual blessing in Christ. And yet, how often do we grumble, how often do we complain? How often do we fail to see what we already have?

I’ve heard complaints after worship. I myself have complained after a worship service! Such audacity, such arrogance! In worship, God the Father receives our pathetic attempts to give him honour. At the same time the Holy Spirit is at work in our hearts, our minds, transforming our terrible attempts into something that is beautiful and amazing. And the Holy Spirit does this all on account of the one sacrifice Christ gave on the cross! And yet, we have the audacity to say, “I didn’t like that. I can’t do what I want. I didn’t get what I expected. This wasn’t for me. I didn’t get anything out of that.”

I confess I’ve had this attitude. I sometimes struggle with it still. But it isn’t about me. It isn’t about you. It is about coming to receive nourishment from Christ. It is about ascribing worth to God. It doesn’t matter how we do it, it doesn’t matter what kind of songs we sing, what style of music we use, what instruments are played. None of that matters! What matters is our heart. And if our hearts are bitter, then we’re not praising God. If our hearts are distracted, then we’re not praising God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, may God, the God of all grace keep us from complacency. May God protect us from thinking that church is all about us. May God protect us from harmful, damaging attitudes toward one another.

Instead, full of the Spirit, let us realise that more and more, we are united in Christ! More and more, let us be governed by the Holy Spirit. Maybe you’re sitting here this evening, and you’re thinking, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Pastor Paul. I’ve never experienced anything like that. I’ve never experienced any kind of joy in the Lord. I’ve never experienced that freedom that comes from knowing that all the sins, mine, and those others have committed against me are gone, totally gone. I don’t need to hang onto that bitterness and anger any longer.

Please, please, let it go. Give it over to Christ. Put your trust, your hope in him! Experience right now, the Joy of the Lord! Live in the bounty of that joy! Amen.