Bread for the Journey
based on John 6:25-35
by Dr. David Rogne

In a movie based on Ernest Hemmingway's story, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" there is a scene in which two men are discussing with each other the difficulty of finding meaningful goals in life. Both are big game hunters, which enhances the symbolism that both of them know what it is to pursue something, yet neither has found what will really satisfy. One man tells the other of an incident, which provides the theme of the story. One day while he was high above the snow line of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, he found the remains of a leopard, apparently frozen to death in that most unlikely place. The men speculated about what the leopard was seeking at that high elevation. They conclude that whatever it was, the leopard was seeking the wrong thing, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and it destroyed him. The implication is that this is the way it is for humans as well: we aspire to something, pursue something, and if it is the wrong thing, or if it is sought in the wrong way, it leads to our destruction.

The New Testament deals with that same theme, the human search for meaning, in equally serious terms. Consider the passage we read this morning. A large number of people were on their way from Northern Palestine to Jerusalem to celebrate their most significant religious festival, the Passover. On the way, many of them had seen or heard about some of the unusual things Jesus of Nazareth was doing, and they turned aside to listen to him, and to see if he would perform some miracle in their presence. They stayed too long out in an uninhabited place, and Jesus was concerned that they should have something to eat. He took a small amount of bread and fish, blessed it, distributed it among the people who were present, and amazingly, there was enough for everyone.

Then Jesus withdrew and made his way back to the other side of the lake, even though the people were aware that no boat had put in to take him aboard. When they discovered that Jesus really had left the area, some of them began to suspect that perhaps he had miraculously crossed the lake during the night, and they had missed what would have been a fantastic trick. When morning broke, many of them arranged for boat rides to the other side where, they suspected, they would find Jesus. When they got to the other side, to the village of Capernaum, they sought for Jesus and found him. In this event, we have acted out for us the human search for meaning, and some lessons from Jesus on how to carry out that search successfully.

The first thing Jesus seems to say is that we should examine our motives.

There was no question that these people wanted to find Jesus. When they found him, their first question was, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" The implication was that he must have done something unique, since he had not left in the boat with his disciples, but he had made it to the other side anyway. "Did you go and do something slick, Jesus, and not give us a chance to see it?" Jesus didn't even answer the question. "You are looking for me, not because you saw signs," he said, "but because you ate your fill of the loaves." "You haven't followed me because of my ideas, or because you have developed loyalty to me or the things I stand for. You want only what you think you can get from me."

And aren't we often like those people? There are so many things that we want from God: success in business, escape from the consequences of some act, peace of mind, deliverance from some evil. We may seek Christ, not because the relationship is rewarding, but because we suspect that if we can get on the good side of him, we will get what we want. In the book, "The Keys of the Kingdom", Father Francis Chisholm arrives in China to reopen a Catholic mission that has been closed for a while because of turmoil within the country. There is no evidence that the church has had any impact on the area. Before long, a Chinese couple shows up to greet the priest and to declare what good Christians they are. When they can't contain themselves any longer, they ask when the first shipment of free rice will arrive. When Father Chisholm tells them there will be no free rice, they disappear, giving no help.

We are tempted to be rice Christians too: interested in the by-products of Christianity, but not necessarily in Christ himself. If we receive health, or prosperity, or a loved one back from the edge of death, we are content, but if we do not receive these things, we may become angry with God and give up the faith.

God can be for us simply a convenience. So Jesus warns us to examine our motives: do we seek him for himself, or for what we hope to get from him?

A second thing Jesus seems to say is that we should examine our goals.

He says, "Do not work for the food which perishes." It is very difficult for us to rise above a physical and materialistic level of life. The stomach craves food, the eyes crave beauty, the body craves satisfaction, the skin needs covering, and the whole person needs housing. The Christian faith doesn't suggest that we don't need these things: Jesus says, “...your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things . . ."(Matthew 6: 32) The problem arises when these things become so grossly over-valued that we forget that there is another dimension of our lives which also needs to be cultivated.

In our pursuit of material well-being, we may still come up hungry. A long time ago, Isaiah said, "Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?" (Isaiah 55:2) The film "Melvin and Howard" purports to tell the story of Melvin Dummar, and how he came to be mentioned in the will of Howard Hughes because he had rescued Howard Hughes out on the Nevada desert one night. As the film unfolds, it tells the story of a man whose life is marred by an advanced case of materialism. At one point, after his wife has won a television show contest, Melvin buys a boat. She complains that, like so many of their other purchases, it will be repossessed, but he explains that he has always wanted to have a Cadillac and a boat, and now he has had both. He can't afford to launch and operate the boat, so he sits in his driveway calling the coast guard for weather reports. The film gently probes the lifestyle of people like Melvin and his wife, who view life only in terms of what money can buy. They never truly taste the good things of life. They eat the artichoke leaves and throw away the heart.

In this passage, Jesus is urging us to examine our goals, to be sure whether they are worthwhile. We need to be careful about what we strive for, not because we may not get it, but because we may. In the 106th Psalm there is a section describing Israel's complaint that in the wilderness they did not have all the benefits that had gone with slavery in Egypt. So, the Psalmist says, "He gave them their request; but he sent leanness into their soul." (Psalm 106: 15 KJV)

In Graham Greene's novel, "A Burnt Out Case," he tells the story of a world-famous, and world-weary church architect who, fleeing from a fame that had turned to ashes, and from the loss of human feeling, finds himself a visitor in a leper colony. When someone asks him about his past and whether he will help, he replies, "What I have built, I have always built for myself, not for the glory of God or the

pleasure of a purchaser. Don't talk to me of human beings. Human beings are not my country ... I haven't enough feeling left for human beings to do anything for them ..." The man had striven for fame and he had gotten it, but he had wound up without feeling; there was leanness in his soul. It is a terrible thing to find you labored for what perishes.

Therefore, Jesus' more positive warning is "Work . . . for the food that endures for eternal life." Some things are of enduring importance, and some are not. Chad Everett, for so long a star on the television series "Medical Center", tells of being at work on the television set some years ago when a fire swept across the hills of Los Angeles. He could smell the smoke and see the yellow glow in the afternoon sky. His wife called and said that the smoke was about 250 yards from their home. He told her to get the baby, the dog, anything else that was alive, and to get out. Fifteen minutes after his wife grabbed the baby, called the dog and fled, the house exploded from the heat, and 4,600 square feet of housing were gone in five minutes. "During that weekend," he says, "a lot of us, who were burned out, were sitting around in a restaurant talking. My little daughter, Carrie, was in my arms. She looked at me, and suddenly she put her arms around me, took my face in her little hands, and then kissed me all over my face . . . What do stone and tile and lumber matter compared to this?" Everett had begun to appreciate what is really valuable. "Work," says Jesus, "for the food which endures . . ."

A third thing Jesus seems to say is that we should examine our methods.

Jesus had spoken about working for the right things, so that crowd of seekers asked, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Like them, we concentrate on doing something. All of life has prepared us for the assumption that we must pay our way. We don't get something for nothing. Therefore, if we seek a relationship with God, there must be something we can do to secure that relationship. In a world of free-loaders, and people who refuse any responsibility, one would think that such an attitude would be welcome. We need people who are at least willing to pay their way. But the problem is, that when we concentrate on earning our way, we lose the idea of grace: God's gracious acceptance of us in spite of our unworthiness.

We frequently fall into the trap of doing things to buy a relationship, rather than doing those same things because a relationship already exists. A movie couple received considerable notoriety in years past because whenever they had a spat the man would present the woman with a substantial diamond. Was it to show his love or to buy her love? The same action can have different meanings. Sometimes when a couple's marriage is in trouble, I've observed that they will often buy a new house, as though there is some unexpressed hope that this gift to each other will keep them together, even though the relationship is very strained. A new house can be an expression of a sound relationship, but it cannot buy one. To do something because we are in a right relationship with God is one thing; to do that same thing in hope of purchasing that relationship is something else.

The way we get right with God is not by doing something to earn God's favor, but simply by relying on God's acceptance. When the crowd asked how to be made right with God, Jesus answered, "Believe in him whom he has sent." To believe in Jesus is to trust him: to trust him when he says that God is a friend and not an enemy, so we need not be afraid; to trust him when he says that God is like a father who loves and cares and forgives, so we stake our lives on the belief that there is acceptance at the heart of the universe.

Paul Tillich, the theologian, spent his whole career helping people understand this gracious aspect of God. "You are accepted," he would say, "accepted by that which is greater than you ... Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted."

Sometimes we can’t afford to buy what we really need, but we receive it anyway. It is in those moments that we capture a glimpse of what grace is all about. Years ago, an immigrant family boarded an ocean liner to make their way to America. They gave almost everything they had to book passage. When others went for meals, they sat in their small space and ate stale bread and salami, but they which others were enjoying. When their food began to run low, they asked one of the ship's officers what it would cost to eat one of those meals. The officer was incredulous, and told them that there was no charge for the meals. The meals were included in the fare. Everyone on the journey was welcome at the table.

Each of us is involved in a journey, which we hope will bring us to God. Fortunately, God, in his graciousness, has provided for us to be nourished during our spiritual pilgrimage. Even as God gave the ancient Israelites manna for their journey of faith, so he gives us bread for our journey of faith. Today we gather at the table of our Lord to partake of bread and wine. It is not enough to sustain us physically, but what it represents is intended to sustain us spiritually. "I am the bread of life," says Jesus, "Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." If you have never embarked on that journey, today is your opportunity to begin. If you embarked in the past, but you have lost your way, today is your opportunity to get back on track. If you are right now a struggling disciple of Jesus Christ, this is your opportunity to reaffirm your desire to live as his disciple.