1 August 2021

Trinity 9

Ephesians 4:1-16, John 6:24-35

May I speak this morning in the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

“The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Our two readings this morning pose us with some interesting questions – why do we follow Jesus and what does it mean to be part of the church?

Just before the events in today’s gospel reading Jesus had miraculously fed 5000 people with five small loaves and two fish.  With that small beginning, and a prayer of thanks from Jesus, the people ate their fill and there 12 baskets of leftovers.  I have preached on that before and it should encourage us that, no matter how straightened the times and no matter how meagre we think our gifts are, when they are offered to Jesus in faith then impossible things can happen. 

There is no doubt that the crowds were impressed with this miraculous sign and, after they had finished eating, they declared Jesus to be a prophet and wanted to make him King, by force if necessary. (6:14,15).  But that was not what Jesus intended and he withdrew to the mountains by himself.

There then followed an interlude of the people realising that Jesus has gone and some climbed into boats to sail around the Sea of Galilee (or the Lake of Tiberias as it is also known) and go looking for him in the fishing village of Capernaum.  If you ever go to Israel then it is still possible to visit that same village, which is named in all of the gospels, and there is a wonderful modern church with a glass floor through which you can view the remains of what is believed to be St Peter’s house.  Presumably the crowds headed there because they knew that Jesus and his followers were often there and that is, indeed, where they found him.

Although Jesus knew that this crowd had been impressed by the sign of the feeding of the 5000, and wanted to make him king by force, he also knew that the crowd’s motives for following him were mixed:

“Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” 

If you look closely at Jesus’ encounters he often challenges people to look at their motives for doing what they are doing.  In Mark 10, and elsewhere, Jesus asks the question a number of times: ‘what do you want me to do for you?’

By challenging the crowd, and by posing that question to individuals, Jesus encourages them to look deeper – to see if there is anything beyond their surface motives.  Perhaps their obvious need is their real need – as the blind man who wanted to see again – but Jesus still wanted him to name that need.  Or perhaps, like the crowd here there may be a variety of needs but Jesus wants them to stop and think and ask who and what they want in this situation.

Jesus’ challenge to this crowd looks quite rude – he is saying that they are only following him because they enjoyed a free lunch and, if they hang around, they may get some more free food.

I feel quite sorry for them – they are following Jesus through both wilderness and across the sea and he is accusing them of being freeloaders.

But then, of course, he takes them deeper into the true meaning of who he really is – not simply an earthly prophet or king or even a dispenser of free food which, no matter how much you eat, will never fulfil you forever. 

“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”

The crowd then pose Jesus a question:

         “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

The answer is simple and refreshing:

         “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

To believe in Jesus is the work of God.

But the crowd weren’t happy with that.  Despite the fact that they had already seen the feeding of the 5000 they wanted another sign and, despite what Jesus had already said about physical food they wanted him to feed them again, like the Hebrews had been fed with manna from heaven in the wilderness.  

Perhaps Jesus was right to think that they only wanted more free food.  Perhaps also the crowd here are representing another temptation for Jesus, by getting him to prove that he is equal to Moses or to prove his divinity 

“If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread”

The crowd are repeating the temptation of the devil.

Which brings Jesus to the denouement of this toing and froing:

“I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

The crowd have been on quite a journey: they ate their fill of physical bread, they have spoken about the miraculous bread from heaven which fed their ancestors in the wilderness and now Jesus says that he is that bread from heaven and, if they do the work of God by believing in him, then they will never truly want for anything again.

As those who seek to follow Jesus in the wilderness now we know that he feeds us week by week in the bread of communion and, for us, that bread is as physical as the loaves on which the 5000 dined, it is also as light as the manna in the wilderness and it is also Jesus himself, broken and shared for our healing and union with him and with one another.  

Which brings us briefly to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.  As always with Paul there are layers of meaning to be mined and these 16 verses could keep us occupied for a month.  For today I simply want to identify the theme of church unity and it’s purpose.

In verses 4 to 6 Paul names the seven ones:

“One body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one Faith, one baptism, one God”

 I can’t help thinking that if the churches, and denominations and factions spent a little longer dwelling on those seven ones then we may move beyond our man-made differences and see our essential unity which, of course, is in the God who calls us and feeds us with the bread of heaven.

The purpose of that unity in the church is not to impose uniformity, on the contrary each calling and part of the body needs to be different and needs to be fully itself, but that the whole body should grow together as one, that we should move from being spiritual infants who are blown around by every fad and trend, by cunning, deceitfulness and scams and, as Paul says:

“…we will grow in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does it’s work.”

Ligaments are rarely the first thing we think about when we think of a healthy body, but if the smallest supporting ligament goes wrong then it can affect the health and happiness and work and mission of the whole body.

Why do we follow Jesus and what does it mean to be part of his church?

I follow Jesus because he feeds my soul eternally with the bread of life and to be a small supporting ligament within the body of Christ is the greatest calling ever.

We are the body of Christ and we called to build up that body by sharing the body amongst ourselves and by being the diverse yet united body of Christ in the world.

Lots to think about.  But, if you remember nothing else today, remember this:

“The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Amen.