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"Chocolate Chip Cookie for Life"
PENTECOST 9
August 2, 2009
John 6:24-35
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ!Sometime before leaving California, I was called upon by members of my home church to be the judge of a chocolate chip cookie contest... Imagine if you will, having to pick between nine different home made chocolate chip cookies. The soft texture of some, the crispness of others, the bouquet of each, milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, dark chocolate, the delicate flavor of peanut butter. Some with walnuts, some with pecans. My friends, I tell you, it was no free picnic, it was tough, but someone had to do it, and you will be happy to know, I was equal to the task! Of course, it would have been easier if I had been called upon to judge these cookies before we ate supper, but nnnooo, it turned out to be part of the entertainment for the evening. Now, it may be that some of you think that I consider chocolate chip cookies to be the necessity of life. Well, the truth be known... I do. To my way of thinking, they are essential to life as I know it. Other people may have their own essentials, e.g., when you think of the Norwegians, say, any Norwegian here at LCC, you know that he or she considers lutefisk to be essential to life. And for many Minnesotans, Scandinavian or otherwise, Lefse is an essential. And of course for many of us who call ourselves Lutheran, coffee is an essential – after all, it’s our unofficial third sacrament. But in our Gospel this morning, bread is the necessity of life - the symbol of the essential. Just preceding the account in today’s gospel in which Jesus declares, "I am the bread of life," there had been the feeding of the 5,000. Can you imagine what a picnic that had been! Thousands fed out on a sunny hillside. It was a great event, and the people wanted even more. Who wouldn’t? There were thousands fed on that hillside. And some of the people got into boats and followed Jesus to the other side of the lake. And Jesus talked with them, answering their questions, challenging their narrow vision. Just as Jesus had met the needs of thousands, he also met the needs of those few. Just like the people in Moses’ time who were murmuring in the wilderness, the people followed Jesus to see more signs, more wonders, more tricks. But Jesus was not a magician, he did not do tricks. And Jesus would not let the people make him king. He would not be followed because the few extraordinary things that he did. Instead, Jesus called attention to the essence of his life, to his very being. He was the bringer of the "way." And he was one with the Father, and said, "I am the bread of life... I am the light of the world... I am the resurrection." And now, some of those who were on the hillside with Jesus eating of the loaves and fishes have come to Capernaum to find him. Jesus tells them straight up to not work for the food that perishes but for that which endures for eternal life. Some things never seem to change. Jesus has the same message for us today – do not work for the food that perishes but for that which is eternal. Look at the things we consider essential – not just chocolate chip cookies but work and career related, recreation related, power and prestige related, our finances often from the standpoint of either acquiring wealth or keeping it. They ask: “…so what must we do to perform the works of God?” To our ears it sounds like a works-righteousness thing, but at that time it would have made sense for them to think in those terms. Jesus answers: “This is the work of God, that you believe in whom he has sent.” Now that sounds like faith, and it is. And it can be looked at two ways, both of which are correct. It’s the work that God does for us, and it is the “work” that we do, if you can call simply not rejecting what God does for us, as work. Our faith is a gift by grace from God, it’s undeserved, it’s unearned, it is a work done by God. And here’s something more – the Greek words we translate as “believe in” are more accurately rendered as “believe into.” To properly put this into our context, we need to know that in the middle eastern society of Jesus’ day, your identity was wrapped up in your family, in your town or village, in your clan. It’s still the same in much of that area today, which makes it difficult for westerners to get a handle on how to treat those in Iraq, Egypt, and elsewhere. To believe into Jesus is to forget yourself, to die to self, to live to and in Jesus, not only on Sunday, but when going to bed, when getting up, when sitting to a meal, greeting friends, while at work. It means living as a Christian – a little Christ – all the days of your life as best you can. It’s more than a mere intellectual assent – it’s trust to the point of putting your life on the line for and in Christ. It’s a change of identity. And Jesus is the bread of life, the essential for life, not just existence, but life, the abundant life that can only be lived in and through Jesus. You can have all the toys, all the money, the stuff in the world and it avails you nothing because it’s not the abundant life that Jesus would have us live. That life can only come in a life lived into Jesus, where God does the work and we receive what he does. Amen. Rev. Bruce Hannem, Associate Pastor
Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa, Minnesota |
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