Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever
comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be
thirsty. (John
6:35)
I’ve
always loved this story (John 6:25-35). All these well-fed folks go running
after Jesus because they think he’s paying off like a broken slot machine. This
is just after Jesus has fed 5,000 people and come up with a sizable surplus.
This looked pretty good to the crowd, and they’re thinking this Jesus guy might
make a pretty good king—especially if he’s going to bust out with free bread!
But Jesus is on to these guys. He sees how shallow their motives are. He’s not
fooled by their small talk.
(Of
course, Jesus understands their confusion when they ask in verse 25, “Rabbi,
when did you come here?” He could explain the reason they hadn’t seen him get
into a boat was because he’d just walked on water across the Sea of Galilee,
but that would be something of a distraction.)
No.
Jesus, who, when he had many mouths to feed and what appeared to be not enough
food, had the folks sit down while he said grace over what little food they did
have. He didn’t lament the scarcity. He knew he was in the presence of God’s
abundance. He wanted the crowd to know that too, but they were too willing to
make Jesus their provider without understanding he wanted them to develop faith.
They were hungering for more, not recognizing the blessing God had
already given. Their selfishness betrayed their lack of gratitude.
Why
is it, do you suppose, that when we’re well-fed we keep asking for more? I’m
always amazed that the phenomena of scarcity and anxiety are much more
effective in bringing us to a place of gratitude. Our American Day of
Thanksgiving owes its origins to people who were getting their butts kicked by
circumstances, but who could turn around and say, “At least we’re still
standing.” Those stout pilgrims who sailed on the Mayflower experienced
a 50% mortality rate before they celebrated their first harvest on these
shores. Thanksgiving Day became official during the Civil War when President
Lincoln noticed that, even though Americans were tearing at each other’s
throats, no foreign power had invaded us, and our crops hadn’t failed. FDR
fixed the date for Thanksgiving in 1939 as the U.S. was crawling out from the
Great Depression and teetering on the lip of World War II. Each of these
milestones saw Americans clinging to survival by our fingernails. What else
could we do but offer our thanks to God?
I
get nostalgic at Thanksgiving time when I remember that participating in an
ecumenical Thanksgiving service was my first official act as pastor of Faith
Lutheran 27 years ago. I had been called as pastor on the Feast of Christ the
King, and four days later I represented our congregation at the ministerium’s
Thanksgiving Eve worship at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church. I remember
looking out at the assembled worshipers that evening and seeing only one face
from Faith—Rich Aicher. I felt terribly disappointed that no one else from our
parish had bothered to come out and support their new pastor. What I should’ve
felt was deep gratitude that I had a parishioner as dedicated to worshiping our
Lord as is Rich Aicher.
So,
for this Thanksgiving I will be repentantly grateful to God and to my
congregation. We are small and not wealthy, but we are still standing. There
are still small children here who will learn about the love of Jesus, and funky
almost-twenty-somethings who are willing and excited to teach them. We are
still bleeding money, but not anywhere near as badly as we had feared. We have
a roof which doesn’t leak and a new sanctuary organ which we got for free from
a Lutheran church which has gone the way of all flesh. We still have VBS in the
summer, and great Youth Sunday. We have a new prayer and praise ministry on
Wednesday evenings started by a lay woman with a heart for evangelism. A few
days ago we invited the whole neighborhood to our church for our resurrected
Fall Festival.
(And
I’ve got to be honest here. When 19-year-old Emma told me we could bring this
pre-holiday bacchanal back from the dead I thought she might’ve been smoking
something! The old Fall Festival—which we’d not held in six years—
involved an army of Lutheran ladies and took months to plan. Two teenagers put
this thing together in nine weeks, and it was sensational!)
All
the above are terrific examples of how God has been good to us. Nevertheless,
there are deeper, more moving causes for our gratitude. We have each other to
love, to pray for, and to share our ministry. We do, in our humble way, the
work Jesus commanded us to do. We collect food for the hungry and cook meals
for the lonely. We welcome the stranger (We’re really good at that!), and we
provide a safe space for local seniors, Haitian Adventists, and alcoholics who
want to get their lives put back together. And we gather every Sunday to feast
on Jesus, the Bread of Life. We have reason to be grateful.
I’m
grateful to this congregation and the years I’ve been privileged to be pastor
here. I’m thankful for the children I’ve been able to see grow up and for the
little ones who come to kids’ sermon each Sunday. I’m grateful for the faith
and support which has been given to me by the people of God in this place.
We
are still standing. May God be prasied!
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