The Bread of Life

August 3, 1997

John 6:35

There is nothing wrong with eating. And there is nothing better to eat than fresh bread. Bread smells great while it is baking— tastes even better when it is fresh.

WE ALL HAVE TO EAT AND JESUS KNOWS THAT AND CARES

Jesus fed the 5,000 and from then on that seems to be all they could think about. They kept following Jesus around asking him to feed them.

THERE ARE DEEPER NEEDS EVEN THAN HUNGER FOR FOOD; JESUS KNOWS THAT, TOO, AND CARES

The first great temptation of Jesus in the wilderness involved bread and physical hunger and it is a hard temptation to understand. Jesus met that temptation by quoting from Deuteronomy, "Mankind shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from God the Father." The people looking for Jesus are in danger of facing that same issue: they think they know how to satisfy their own deepest needs.

Jesus told these people that he knew why they had come seeking him. "You want more bread, " he said. "But what you don't know is that I have something better than fresh bread for you." Jesus was speaking about a way of life and joy these people could not yet imagine.

Were these people coming selfishly? Probably. Probably you and I came to Jesus at first selfishly, too. We came because we thought we knew what we wanted. We stayed because we began to realize Jesus knew even better than we did what we needed. Until we listen to Jesus we think we can be happy with things of this world— good things— and not-so-good things:

FOOD, AND MONEY, AND TOYS, AND SEX, AND DRUGS, AND DIFFERENT KINDS OF POWER ARE ALL THINGS THAT PEOPLE USE TO MEET THEIR NEEDS FOR SATISFACTION. THEY ALL WORK TO A DEGREE. BUT THEN THEY DON'T WORK. THERE IS STILL THAT NEED THAT CANNOT QUITE BE REACHED.

Jesus told these people looking for a meal— that they needed to labor for a higher kind of bread. "How can we do this sort of work?" they asked. "What is the work of God we can do?"

THE WAY TO JOY IS ALONG THE PATH OF TRUST

Jesus said, "This is the work you must do: believe in the One that God has sent to you!" The work that begins the road to perfect satisfaction is trust.

JESUS CLAIMS TO BE ABLE TO SATISFY THE DEEPEST NEEDS OF THE HUMAN HEART. BUT FOR THIS TO HAPPEN A CERTAIN SORT OF 'LABOR' IS DEMANDED. IT IS NOT A 'WORKS' SALVATION OF EARNING OR MERIT. THE 'LABOR' OF WHICH JESUS SPEAKS IS TO TRUST THAT HE KNOWS BETTER THAN WE DO WHAT WE REALLY NEED.

One of the big lies of Satan is to convince people that making Jesus Christ Lord is like going on a diet. 'If it tastes good or if it is fun it is forbidden. Jesus has come to take all the joy and satisfaction out of life.' Here come people looking for a picnic and they get a lecture on spiritual bread and eternal life. They look at Jesus as if he is the great Killjoy.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The happiest and most joyful people in all the Universe are people who intimately know Jesus Christ. They have found the ultimate high.

In 1989 a scholar-pastor named John Piper wrote a book called Desiring God. In it he recognized this lie of Satan, and acknowledged that all too often Christians live far, far below the levels of joy intended for them. Piper wrote

Christianity has become the grinding out of general doctrinal laws from collections of biblical facts (78)

But then he goes on to challenge us Christians by saying

Worship is nothing less than obedience to the command of God: Delight yourself in the Lord! (77) and also...

The great hindrance to worship is not that we are a pleasure-seeking people, but that we are willing to settle for such pitiful pleasures (77)

He goes on to complain about the prosaic way we worship, saying

... childlike wonder and awe have died. The scenery and poetry and music of the majesty of God have dried up like a forgotten peach at the back of the refrigerator. (78) Not to pursue our JOY every day in the Word of God is abandonment of the revealed will of God. It is sin (125.)

Possibly we all came to Jesus at first for less than perfect reasons. I know that I did. And sometimes it is very difficult to honestly see into our deepest motives for even the good things we do. Parents and children, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors all can have a selfish edge on even the good things we do.

OUR CHALLENGE IS TO TRUST JESUS, THAT HE WILL LEAD US INTO JOY

Jesus told these people that they were seeking him because they thought he might feed them again. It almost seemed like Jesus couldn't get them off the subject of food. "Show us again," they said.

And Jesus, instead, challenged them to get to know him, and come to trust him, and let him call the shots of what they needed.

Some of them did. A whole lot of them didn't. They thought they knew better than Jesus. They thought Jesus' way of joy was impractical in their modern times. They went away one at a time and in groups.

Jesus turned to the people he had asked to follow him. "Do you want to go away, too?" he said.

They didn't go away. And they worked the work of God— they began to learn to trust Jesus.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, "Behold, I freely give
The living water; thirsty one,
Stoop down and drink and live."
I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life giving stream.
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him.

559 All the Way my Savior Leads Me

Into Communion

August 3, 1997

THE HOLY COMMUNION

The Law Read and Confession Made

The Lord Jesus Christ has said to us: "Thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This if the first and great commandment. The second is like unto it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

Shall we pray:

Search us, O God, and know our most private thoughts. Try us, and show unto us the deepest motives, the real state of our hearts. Forgive us where we have been selfish, or insensitive, or sinful in any way. We cannot keep the Great Commandment, and truly love You, O God, with all our heart, soul, and mind unless You in mercy grant to us the grace of Your indwelling Spirit. We cannot love each other as we should unless Your love is shed abroad in our hearts.

Brothers and sisters, let us search our hearts. In silence let us ask God to draw us near to Himself so that we can come to his table with confidence.

We do not presume to come to this table, O God, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your great mercy and grace. Grant us to eat the Bread of heaven, and drink the blood shed for the remission of sins, that we may live in Christ, and Christ may live in us forever. Amen

Let us confess our faith:

The Nicene Creed (STL # 14)

The Informal Invitation ("This is not my table . . . ")

Holy and gracious Father; in your infinite love you made us for yourself; and, when we had fallen into sin, and were worthy of death and hell, you, in your mercy sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal Son to share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to You, the God and Father of all.

He stretched out his arms upon the cross, and offered himself in obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.

The Words of Institution

On the night in which he was betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ took bread; and when he had give thanks to You he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, "Take eat: THIS IS MY BODY, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.

After supper he took the cup and when he had give thanks he gave it to them, and said, "Drink this, all of you; THIS IS MY BLOOD OF THE NEW COVENANT, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink this, do it in remembrance of me: Amen

We praise you for the mystery of our salvation! We truly believe

Bless these emblems, O God, and make them to us the Body and Blood of your Son, spiritual food, and spiritual drink of new and unending life in Jesus Christ.

And now, together, we pray, as Jesus taught us:

Our Father which art in heaven . . .

Now, humbly we receive the Gifts of God for the People of God