Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction to Lenten season
Our understanding of Lent is likely limited to knowing people who give up something for the season or don’t eat meat on Fridays.
Season of preparation for Easter - the resurrection
A time to reflect on Christ and His sacrifice so that when we come to Good Friday and Easter, we are better prepared.
Easter weekend is more than just a family time, eggs, candy and going to church.
From about 300 A.D. on, a season of the church.
ancient purpose to prepare/teach people in order to be baptized and brought into the church.
Also a time for those who had left the church to rejoin.
The whole community was called to prepare with them.
Method of preparation: Everyday objects to help us focus and reflect.
Bread, crosses, coins, shoes, oil, coats, thorns, stones
Don’t worry, it will all make sense as we go along.
We begin with some basics: What fills you up?
Bread.
It’s literally a staple of most folks’ diet.
The metaphor of bread helps us to prepare for the Resurrection and new life we have in Christ.
Jesus often speaks of bread, grain, preparation of bread as ways to describe spiritual truths.
In Jn 6, he explicitly describes what a full life is like.
Context:
Ch. 5, Jesus feeds 5,000 with loaves and fish.
That got the peoples’ attention!
The next day, they follow Jesus across the lake to find out when he was serving lunch.
Jesus starts “telling them the truth.”
The first of four interlocking, intensifying levels of the truth about what will truly fill our greatest needs.
Truth: Figure Out What Truly Fills You Up
What “feeds” your life?
We tend to follow after anyone or anything that we think will fill us up.
The way to figure out what those things are is to ask ourselves, what am I concerned about right now?
The crowd thought that sounded just fine.
An upgrade in food would be great!
Now, how do we make that happen?
Truth: Get the Right Source
Jesus raises the intensity on the crowd by pointing them away from the “grocery store.”
It’s full of perishable, limited resources.
Instead, he points them to believe in Messiah.
The crowd is still back on literal bread, but they’re making a connection between Moses and manna and what they had received from Jesus.
Now, they’re seeing Jesus as their local baker.
In their minds, they just come sit down every day and get delicious food for free!
So the natural response is, “gimme some of that bread!”
Not at all the same as Jesus taught us to pray for “daily bread.”
Truth: Be Filled With the Right Relationship
Jesus becomes more explicit: He is the bread under discussion.
He can absolutely fill every need.
Anyone who wants this kind of fulfillment only has to believe that He can, and will, provide.
Jesus also begins to connect who we trust with this life with our eternal life.
Crowd reaction: Wait a minute!
We KNOW this guy.
Crowd reaction: Yuck!
How can he feed us from his own body?
Truth: Eat This Bread, Drink This Cup.
And Truly Live
Wrap Up:
As World War II was drawing to a close, the Allied armies gathered up many hungry orphans.
They were placed in camps where they were well-fed.
Despite excellent care, they slept poorly.
They seemed nervous and afraid.
Finally, a psychologist came up with the solution.
Each child was given a piece of bread to hold after he or she was put to bed.
This particular piece of bread was just to be held—not eaten.
The piece of bread produced wonderful results.
The children went to bed knowing instinctively they would have food to eat the next day.
That guarantee gave the children a restful and contented sleep.
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