“…Whoever comes to me will never be hungry…”
(John 6:35)
So okay. In this age of “fake news,” I’m
going to take a page out of Kellyanne Conway’s book and present an “alternative
Gospel” to the Gospel reading assigned in the Revised Common Lectionary for
Pentecost 11 (John 6:24-35). Here goes:
“So
when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they said
to themselves, ‘Dang! That was really something! This Jesus fed us and we didn’t
even ask him to. How loving and compassionate this man must be!’ Others said, ‘He
has shown us love. He has done works of healing and managed to see to all of
our needs out of pure grace. Truly this must be the Messiah we have longed for.
Let us go and find him that he may teach us the way of God.’ So they themselves
got into boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on
the other side of the sea, they knelt before him and said, ‘Thank you, Rabbi,
for being the vehicle of God’s generosity. Our hearts are touched, and we long
to learn more from you. What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus
answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe him whom he has sent.’
So they said to him, ‘We have seen the sign of God’s blessing from you. We will
believe and obey.’ Jesus said to them, ‘You have spoken well and wisely. Put
your trust in God and in me. The Father provides, so do not fear. Be generous and
open yourself to loving sacrifice as even I will do. Pray for one another, be
kind, forgive one another, and know that your sins have been forgiven. Love
your enemies, and you will taste the true bread which will satisfy your hunger.’
They answered him, ‘We believe that you are the bread of life.’ And they went
on their way rejoicing.”
But, of course, the above is NOT what the Bible says. My little
experiment in creative writing couldn’t be the Bible story, because it’s not
the human story. We just don’t get it. We’re sinful, selfish, and frightened,
and this story just never seems to fall out the way I’ve imagined it.
Yup. Those pesky Judeans went hunting for
Jesus alright, but their motives left a lot to be desired. I love how they try
to schmooze Jesus with small talk in verse 25. “Rabbi, when did you come here?”
They knew good and well where Jesus was going, and Jesus immediately calls them
on their transparent BS. He knows they’re following him in order to get another
free meal, and he advises them to hunger after the things that will fill their
spirits. Worldly provisions will always run out. A relationship with God,
however, is eternal. It is the way to navigate through a dangerous world.
Without it, we are left with nothing but our own selfishness and fear of
privation.
I can almost imagine Jesus slapping a palm
on his forehead and rolling his eyes when they feed him the line in verse 30, “What
sign are you going to give us so that we may see it and believe you?” I mean,
for cryin’ out loud!! Didn’t he just feed 5000..??!! Hasn’t he been healing the
sick all along? How many more signs of God’s grace do these people want?!
But how many more signs do you want?
Walking with faith in Jesus isn’t easy. No
matter how many signs of God’s grace and providence we see, we keep hoping God
will give us just one more. We keep wanting to test God. We long for security.
Faith, however, is always stepping out blindly, hoping the loving arms of God will
catch us.
Look. I don’t do this faith thing any
better than anyone else. Just this week I got a distressing email from the
church finance chair. I started to panic. What will happen to our congregation?
Will we have to shut down?
I’ll admit it was an effort for me—and it
always is—to remember how God has made much out of little. I have seen
unexpected manna turn up time and again. And, even if God doesn’t choose to
provide the way I and my congregation want
God to provide, God will provide something else. God’s like that.
We pray all the time, “Give us this day
our daily bread.” Every day, even on the crappiest day we might be having, God
gives us food and water, shelter, people to love us, and the Word to inspire
us. It is prudent, of course, to look at the signs and try to plan for the
future. It is also prudent, to see the signs of God’s goodness in the past and
in the present, and rejoice—and believe—in
the goodness of the Lord.
Thanks for reading, my friend.
PS-Of
course, not everyone gets enough daily bread. The 2018 Northeast Philadelphia
CROP Hunger Walk is scheduled for October 28. Our goal is to raise $10,000 or
more for global and local hunger issues. You can sponsor the Faith Lutheran
Team by clicking on www.crophungerwalk.org/philadelphiapa
and typing Faith Lutheran in the “Find a Team” box.
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