Hungry

 John 6:22-35

August 1, 2021

            “I’m not hungry, I’m bored. I’m not hungry, I’m bored.”

            Have any of you ever repeated that mantra to yourself? I have. Many times. Sometimes it works to convince me not to eat something that I really don’t need, physiologically, but oftentimes it doesn’t.

            This last year or so, I feel like I’ve spoken these words more often than usual. When we first went into lockdown, I made some grand promises to myself. I was going to work out every day. I was going to sit quietly and meditate every day. I was going to make nothing but healthy foods, and finally get a handle on the food demons that haunt me.

            That worked for about a month. And then I found myself pulling down the brownie mix I had on hand for when company came and baking it just because. Even my grocery shopping changed in this past year. I have never bought so many bags of chips when we weren’t having a party. I didn’t buy them just for me, let me make that clear, but for all four of us living in the house. They became a staple comfort food. Comfort being the key word here. When the whole world was turned upside down, and we were trying to figure out how to survive in this new reality, comfort became extremely important. We wanted comfort and, for a lot of us, that comfort came in the form of food.

            And I know I’m not alone in this. I saw a post on social media from the actor Will Smith. You know Will, the former Prince of Bel Air, who has played everything from the guy who kicks the hind quarters of aliens in Men in Black and Independence Day to the king of boxing in Ali. Mr. Smith, like many of us, spent a long time this past year, grazing, and he has gotten a wee bit out of shape in the process. So, to keep himself accountable and real, he posted his before picture on social media and pictures of himself once more hitting the gym and working out to recover from his time seeking comfort in food. Seriously, if Will Smith has struggled with eating for comfort this past year, then I don’t feel quite so bad that I have too.

            I’m not hungry, I’m just bored!

            I suspect, however, that eating for comfort rather than sustenance was not an issue for most people in Jesus’ context and culture. I suspect that they did not take food for granted, because it was something that could be in relatively short supply without much warning. I suspect that many of the people who followed Jesus, who flocked to Jesus, who listened to his words and wondered at his ways, knew what it meant to be hungry, really, deeply, sustainably hungry. They knew what it meant to be hungry in ways that I never have and most likely never will.

            So, when they hear Jesus talking about the bread of heaven, when they hear him say that they should work not for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, they want to know more. Just like the woman at the well wanted to know more about this living water, so she would not have to haul buckets back and forth to the well anymore, these people want to know about this bread that endures. They wanted to know because they were hungry – hungry in their bellies and hungry in their hearts.

            After all, Moses gave their ancestors the manna from heaven when they were wandering lost and afraid in the wilderness. What will Jesus give them as a sign so that they can believe in him?

            Jesus tells them that it was not Moses who gave them the bread of heaven. It was God who gives them the bread of heaven.

            “The bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

            This must have sounded like the best news ever! Please give us this bread – always. Jesus responds,

            “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

            I wonder if Jesus was trying to get them to think about what they were really hungering for. What are you hungry for? What do you think will satisfy you in the long run? Are you only trying to fill your stomach, or are you hungering for something far deeper, more long-lasting?

            This is John’s gospel, so nothing is quite what it seems to be on a surface reading. John wrote in metaphors. Words always have layered meanings and deeper truths than what we might think at first. So, what was John’s Jesus trying to make the people understand about bread and hunger? What was he trying to make them see?

            Obviously, Jesus wanted them to accept and believe in who he was, his real truth, his fullness as the incarnate Son of God. He fed their bodies with the loaves and fishes, but he was also trying to feed their hearts, their minds, their spirits. I am the bread of life. If you come to me, if you believe in me, if you trust in me, you will never hungry, you will never be thirsty – not for the things that really matter.

            But I think one of the problems we mortals have is that we get confused about what really matters. When people are hungry, physically hungry, the most important thing is getting fed. I am listening to an audio book right, a novel called American Dirt about migrant, refugees from Mexico and Central America trying to make their way north. One of the main characters is an eight-year-old boy named Luca, who is fleeing Mexico with his mother because their entire family was brutally murdered by a cartel. He and his mother should have been murdered too, but they escaped, and now in this short time as migrants, Luca has learned that he can never turn down the gift of calories, because they don’t know when they will eat again.

            When people are hungry, physically hungry, it is hard to think past that gnawing ache to what they need for a deeper, more fulfilled life. But we who have probably more food available to us on a regular basis than we could ever need, have the luxury of thinking about something deeper.

            I suspect Jesus knew that people who were physically hungry needed physical bread in order to contemplate the spiritual bread he offered. They needed to be fed by him in order to truly be fed by him. But he also knew that even if they stomachs were satisfied, they would still need help to understand what he was offering, who he was, who he is. Because our stomachs may be full, but we still don’ t know what our hearts are hungry for. And even if we have a glimpse of recognition of what Jesus is truly offering, even if we, like the people, ask for that eternal bread for always, it’s so easy to believe that there is other bread that will satisfy us more. Bread in the form of money or nice stuff or stability or retirement accounts. That’s all bread, but is it the bread that endures? Is that bread of life?

            What are we hungry for? Really? What do our hearts truly long for? What will feed us and sustain us and keep us?

            In a few minutes, we will gather around the table, and I will lift up the bread and repeat the words, “The body of Christ, the bread of heaven,” and we will eat together. So, I ask you now and in that moment to think about the hungers within you. What are you hungry for? What does your soul long for? And as you eat the bread, remember the One who is the bread of life, who is the bread that satisfies our souls. Remember him and then look at one another through this table where we gather. Look at one another as Christ looks at us – as God’s beloved children, each of us, and give thanks for one another. Give thanks for this bread of life. Give thanks for this nourishment which is now and which is eternal. Give thanks and let your hunger be appeased.

            Let all of God’s children say, “Alleluia.”

            Amen.