Pretty Please with Sugar on Top?

So I sat down this morning with the intentions of having an almost-sermon put together by this time. Instead, I have been quite successful in failing to come up with anything even remotely interesting for a sermon. You'd think that at some point along this week, the Holy Spirit would have wanted to guide me a little bit... right? Well, now that I finally think that I've found a direction, I just need to find some way of getting started along that road. So here it is... here's what I'm thinking about...

The Gospel lesson for Sunday is John 6:35, 41-51. It is a continuation of the "Bread of Life" sermon, which began two weeks ago with the feeding of the 5000. Here we here Jesus again tell the crowds that "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." Well, as fantastic as this is... umm... what to preach on? The people grumble, because they misunderstand. Jesus has already fed them with REAL bread, but who does he think he is, claiming that he has come down from heaven? "The Jews" don't get it. How can Jesus claim that he has come down from heaven, when they know his parents! This is a common Johnanine misunderstanding. They are blinded by the physical, and have missed out on what is going on, what Jesus is saying, what Jesus is doing. And what is this whole, "bread of life" talk, anyway?

Well, I think that what Jesus is really trying to say, and what the people are thinking are two different things. The people WANT bread that they can see, feel, and consume... bread of this earth. Why? Because it meets their physical needs, and since Jesus has already shown in the feeding of the 5000 that he can meet their physical needs, they want to make him king. But they wanted to make him an earthly king. Kings were expected to care and provide for their people. Jesus can do that!! But Jesus leaves them, because he will not be made king according to their intentions for an earthly ruler. This passage beginning in v. 41 continues to show the disconnect between what the people think they need, and what Jesus KNOWS they need. Jesus is saying that if they hear (and hence believe), then they have eternal life. It is already theirs! Yes, they will die an earthly death, but they have eternal life. Jesus is saying, "I know you think that this is what you want. But I'm telling you and giving you what you really need! ME!" It's an exchange of sorts. We are being given something bigger... something better!

I saw a Nooma video with Rob Bell last week, and I've been thinking about it ever since. And I think it kind of fits with what is going on in this passage. In the video, Rob tells a story about how he and his wife had taken his 2-year old son to the mall. While they were there, they walked past a kiosk that was selling various toys, and one of these toys was a small ball, attached to a string, which then ties around your wrist (perhaps this is not the point where I admit that I had one such toy sometime ago!). Anyway, the vendor convinced Rob to try this toy out, especially when his son kept admiring them. So Rob put it on his wrist and gave the ball a toss--only to have it come back and hit him square in the face. Rob, with his pride now injured began to walk away, while his son cried out that he wanted one, ending with a whiney "But I NEED it." You see, Rob's son was convinced that this was a great toy, that he now needed. But Rob, knowing that this was most definitely NOT the best toy for his son, took him away in spite of his protests, promising to get him a more suitable toy... one that wouldn't bounce back and hit him in the face. So Rob took his son to a sporting goods store, walked back to the kickballs, and allowed his son to walk out with a shiney new kickball in the color he had picked out. Now, Rob didn't tell this story to talk about how he showed his love for his son by buying him a new toy. The point is, Rob's son thought he knew what he wanted, but Rob knew what it really was that was best for him.

In our gospel lesson for Sunday, we hear about how the Jews think they get it. They think that they know what they understand-- that Jesus is a man, not the "bread of life"; the son of Mary and Joseph, and not "come down from heaven." And they think they know what they want, what is best for them. Real bread. But Jesus knows better. He knows what it is that they really NEED. He turns to them saying, do not complain about this! God already fed your ancestors in the wilderness with manna, but they still died! I am the GOOD bread, the Word of God, and only with me and through me can you know God and live forever. If you eat this bread (aka hear this Word) and believe, you will be raised up forever!"

A friend of mine, in talking about this, reminded me of the Rolling Stones. "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you might find you get what you need." I don't know about the "trying" part, because I'm not sure that in our world of broken humanity and susceptibilty to sin if we can even try to get what we need. Because after all, it is only God who truly knows what we need. But what I do know is that while we may not always get what we want, God does know what we need, and God provides. And what we really need is Jesus.



So... is this sermon material? I don't know... I suppose we shall see....