Tenth Sunday After Pentecost Study
10TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 08-01-2021
FIRST READING: Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
This is a story taken from the journey in the wilderness of the Israelites, who had been freed from slavery in Egypt and were on their way to the land promised by God who had delivered him. It’s so very early in the journey (Chapter 14 tells of them miraculously crossing the divided Red Sea!) that it is difficult to account for the people complaining so soon. But what Biblical scholars call the “murmuring motif” because it shows up so often in the story of the journey had already begun even before they left… and then before they crossed the sea… and right after they crossed the sea… and now again.
Was it short term memory of what slavery had been like? Too much walking under harsh conditions? Food preference nostalgia? Sam Keen, an American author, professor, and philosopher, wrote, “Why are known hells preferred to strange heavens?” The people wished that they were back in slavery in Egypt!
After the people complained to Moses “on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt” (16:1), God said that the people would have quails (it’s a bird) and some sort of “bread” from the sky. It was some sort of flaky substance left from the morning dew. Christian scholar and author Gail Ramshaw suggests that the name for that bread, manna, might be a Hebrew pun, a sort of “Whadddayacallit” or, as our reading says, “What is it?” (verse 15). Nobody knows for sure what it was. Some scholars propose that it was some sort of sweet excrement from insects… and former St. Peter’s pastor, the Rev. Mark Livermore, told his Sunday School adults that it was probably bird excrement. Nevertheless, God fed them. God also gave them some clear instructions that seemed to promote trust in God and overcoming the temptation to be greedy and to hoard. You can read the verses in Exodus 16 that are not part of today’s lectionary to see how that went with the folks on their way.
When have you nostalgically remembered “the good ol’ days”, even if your memory wasn’t quite correct? How soon and how much do you complain – even against God – when things don’t go exactly as well as you expect right now? Do you trust God for your “daily bread”? Or has your list of wants and wishes become so very long?
Is Jesus your “Bread from heaven”?
SECOND READING: Ephesians 4:1-16
Christians share both unity and diversity. Our unity is as ONE body, ONE Spirit, ONE hope, ONE faith, ONE baptism, serving ONE God. Our diversity is expressed in the various gifts and talents and abilities that we have been given to offer in ministry. And NO group should be characterized by the quality of their love more than the Church! NO group should be marked by a spirit of unity and a bond of peace more than the Church! Paul writes that we should never act like spoiled children, pouting, griping, grabbing, criticizing, competing, and contributing in any way to disunity and dysfunction as a body. Paul writes that we should allow Christ to be the Head of his ONE body. Paul urges us “to lead a life worthy of the calling” (verse 1) and offers the essentials of “humility and gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (verse 2).
How are you and I and we all doing at this call to be that kind of Christian community?
Look at verse 15. What do you think it means to “speak the truth in love”? How might this be different from love without truth or truth without love?
GOSPEL READING: John 6:24-35
This is the second of five Sundays that we are in John 6. Last week we especially focused on physical need and physical hunger. This chapter continues to unfold and expand.
Hunger is everywhere. Ours is a hungry world. It’s estimated that one out of every ten people here on Earth go to bed hungry. We were actually making some progress, because 6 years ago it was one out of every seven people instead of one out of every ten… and 9 years ago it was one out of every six people here on this Earth. According to the most recent United Nations statistics that I read, 21,000 people die every day of hunger-related causes… in 1981, 40 years ago, the number of deaths was almost double – not 21,000 persons per day, but 41,000 per day. So, as I say, we are making some progress… though the global COVID -19 pandemic has us trending in the wrong direction.
Then there are other hungers. There are many who certainly hunger for the end of this life-changing and life-challenging pandemic all over the face of this Earth. There are those who hunger for meaning… or truth… or justice… or change… or success… or peace in our homes, on our streets, around the world… or inner peace for a troubled and burdened heart… or companionship… or healing… or liberation… or love… or even a little respect… or a few moments rest, a few hours of good sleep… or a better education… or a safe place to live… or a fulfilling job with adequate income… or a pile of material things… or another drink, another drug, another high… or more sex, any sex… or the relief and release of death… or the ultimate adventure… or even a better relationship with God… or any number of other things. In truth, our appetites are many, and our hungers lead us into not always fulfilling situations. Sometimes we think that our immediate desires, our momentary whims, are the only thing that matters. Sometimes we hunger for something that we don’t really need. Sometimes we hunger for what is just about this life and this world. Sometimes we are confused and conflicted by competing hungers that lead us in different directions. And sometimes we hunger for something that will bring harm to ourselves and others.
One day after being miraculously fed, five thousand people cross the Sea of Galilee to track down Jesus, with some sort of appetite. Did they truly know what they hungered for the most? Do WE?
Jesus did provide food for empty stomachs on one side of the Sea of Galilee, and then on the other side he spoke of bread that lasts forever and satisfies more than empty bellies.
Sometime we have a hunger that not even a sandwich will fill,
we have an itch that all our scratching will not solve,
we have a hunger that is deeper and greater than our stomach,
we have a longing that this world cannot satisfy,
we have a hunger deep down in our soul.
Do we know THIS hunger, THIS need? Or are we – like those Hebrews out there in the wilderness in today’s passage from Exodus – so confused that we would prefer going back to slavery in Egypt and would complain against God? Do we know THIS hunger, THIS need? Or are we perhaps looking for love in all the wrong places, unsatisfied and disappointed? Do we know THIS hunger, THIS need? Or are we – like so many in our society – literally stuffing ourselves so full with food and drugs and other sorts of other stuff hoping to bury that spiritual hunger, that emptiness that won’t go away?
Brothers and sisters in the crowd, the Bread of Life is here to feed us. Jesus has come to give you real life, true life, meaningful life, more life, lasting life, life that lasts into eternity. That’s what you really need, whether you know it or not. That’s what you truly hunger for the most, even if you’re not aware of this. Until you fill THIS hunger, all the chasing, hoarding, and trying to stuff yourself will only bring you MORE hunger.
Today Jesus proclaims, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (verse 35). Will we accept Jesus’ invitation? The Gospel reading and reflection continues next week.