Jesus
answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you
saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.”
During my time in
Birmingham, a colleague and I started Church in the Park at Linn Park. Before
we launched the ministry, we canvased the crowds in the park, most of whom were
homeless, to see if there would be any interest. Almost all the people we
talked to said the ministry would only be successful if we served lunch after
worship – one guy was very intent on bologna sandwiches.
I recalled this
particular text from John and thought to myself, “Do they not understand we are
serving Jesus, not food?” The more I reflected on the comment, however, the
more I realized I was really no different.
I went to Bible study in
7th grade because there were Krispy Kreme donuts. I went to
Happening because I knew I could eat all the candy I ever wanted. I went to
church every Sunday in college because I knew a free dinner awaited me
following the service. I became a priest because I knew I would never have to
pay for lunch ever again (just kidding)!
There is no doubt that
food, especially free food, draws a crowd. Translating the refrain from Field of Dreams, if you have food, they
will come. While food is essential for both our physical and mental health,
there must be something more to sustain our spiritual health. As someone said,
there must also be soul food.
Jesus has no problem
gathering the fold into the flock with a free lunch, but Jesus is clear that a
free lunch is not the end game. Jesus hopes the crowd will see beyond food. Jesus
says, “do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for
eternal life.” – that we might pass
through things temporal and not lose the things eternal.
Jesus hopes the yearning
for a Krispy Kreme donut turns into a yearning to know the fullness of God.
Jesus hopes the thought of never ending candy turns into the thought of knowing
a love that never ends. Jesus hopes the appeal of a free meal turns into an
appeal that says, Lord, have mercy – a mercy freely given by our Savior.
All of this is not to say
that God does not care about our temporal reality. In fact, God cares so much
about our temporal reality that God is willing to take on our frail flesh and
die for us. God knows that this temporal reality so often blinds us to God’s
eternal reality, and God’s mission is to reorient us toward that eternal
reality through Jesus of Nazareth – a human being just like you and me.
God is not devising an
escape plan for all the holy people stuck on earth. Rather, God is sanctifying
us through Christ so that this temporal life might reflect the things eternal - thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
It’s not that this
temporal world is bad. After all, God looked at creation after the first
generations and said, “It is very good!” And then God told us to take care of
this world. But instead of taking care of this world, instead of taking care of
each other, instead of trying to find the divine life in all things, we fall
into the temptation of consuming the things of this world with little regard
for the sacredness of it all.
Things start to go
sideways when we use this world to serve our needs instead of serving the needs
of the world. And so, here we have this Jesus who calls us to see the world
from a different point of view by giving us the vision of the kingdom of heaven
on earth – a vision that calls us to pursue the things eternal.
Jesus says, “seek ye
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be
given unto you.” And the paradox of it all is that when we pursue things
eternal, we are content with our temporal reality – we realize we have all that
we really need.
When I say, we realize we
have all that we really need, I do not mean that we will get everything we ever
wanted. I do not mean we will get all the material things American culture
tells us we need in order to lead a life worth living. I don’t mean everything
in life will work out like we hope.
Rather, I mean when we
pursue the things eternal, we are no longer so attached to the earthly things
we think we need for fulfillment, we are no longer so attached to the temporal
things our culture puts so much value on.
Speaking of things our
culture puts so much value on, did you know that Apple just became the first
American company to exceed $1 trillion in value? This isn’t really that
surprising though. The Alvey household shares two Apple TVs, a Mac desktop, and
an iPad. We’ve also owned a number of iPhones and iPods over the years. Once
you buy one of their products it’s almost like you are sucked in for life. At
some point, it’s like you can’t live without Apple products.
Imagine for a minute if
our culture was as invested in the kingdom of God as we are in Apple products.
Imagine for a minute what our world look like if our worldview was guided as
much by the kingdom of God as it is by the worldview Apple products open us up
to?
Studies show that people
don’t buy Apple products because they offer the best technology. Many would even
argue that Apple does not offer the best products. Instead, people buy Apple
products because it is a way of life. Buying Apple is a lifestyle.
I think the church should
take a tip from Apple. Instead of trying to offer new and improved products and
services, we should be offering a different way of living – a lifestyle modeled
after Jesus and his followers.
Jesus didn’t come to
offer new and improved products for a better life. Jesus isn’t peddling goods
that guarantee health, wealth, and happiness. Instead, Jesus is offering a way
of life that opens us up to God’s eternal reality in the here and now. Jesus is
offering a way of life that models the kingdom of heaven on earth, a kingdom
where all are valued and cherished as beloved children of God.
Before we were called
Christians, we were called People of The Way. We were called people of The Way
because our lives were so radically different from the consumer culture around
us. We associated with the sick and lowly. We advocated for the widowed and
orphaned. We gladly gave up whatever earthly treasures we had for the sake of
the kingdom of heaven – for the sake of the community of God. We compelled people
to follow Jesus not by what we had to offer but by the way we lived.
Beloved in Christ, may we
live for this true bread from heaven, may we live for the way of Jesus, may we
live for the kingdom of heaven and may God bless us and fill us with all good things
through the changes and chances of this life until we rest, at last, in God’s
eternal changelessness. Amen.
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