Sermon - Laetare 2020 - John 6:1-15

The Christian prays with the psalmist: “The eyes of all look to you, O Lord, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” We see quite clearly in our readings today that God feeds His people.

In the Old Testament, when the people were in the wilderness, after being brought out of Egypt, God spoke to Moses saying: “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’” 

Likewise in the New Testament, when the people were gathered around Jesus in the wilderness without food: “Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.” Christ nourishes His people with food both for the body and the soul.

Our Lord wants us to realize this in our day as well. God not only fed His people through miraculous means, but indeed God continues to feed His people by ordinary means. While we might only see hog barns, combines, cattle lots, gardens, and chicken farms, God is the one actively bringing forth the fruits of the earth. He is responsible for every morsel of food and drop of water which nourishes us. From the farmer to the truck driver to the grocer to the chef, God provides it all and works through them.

But what about the times when we don’t have as much food as we would like or need? Does this mean God isn’t caring for us? Of course not! God often has allowed people to go without and to hunger, He permits famines to take place in this world. Why? He does it in order that we might be humbled and learn to receive our food from Him with thanksgiving.

During the exodus, at the very beginning, they were hungry and in need, this is why they grumbled against God: “you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” God could’ve immediately given them food, but instead He let them hunger. He did this to teach them that He is the one who provides their food. In fact, He provided their food when they were in Egypt as well!  But they needed to learn that God is the one who provides.

Likewise in our day, this is perhaps something this pestilence gives us a glimpse into. For decades, we’ve lived in a luxurious land with more food than we can eat! But with this pestilence and the global economy crashing down around us, you can’t help but wonder how we’re going to get by when people can’t work and stores can’t stay open. What happens when the next paycheck doesn’t come? What happens when the retirement account is depleted? What happens when the emergency savings is empty? Will there be days when I go hungry?

I’m not prophetic, so I don’t know what’s going to happen. But I do know this: God our heavenly Father knows what’s going to happen and He provides for His people. That doesn’t mean we won’t go hungry, but that God is simply the one to feed us. It’s to Him we must hope in. Sometimes in order for us to learn to more to have faith in God’s nourishment, we need to experience a famine, or at least be reminded that one is possible.

God allows His saints to suffer. He sends us sadness and crosses in order to draw us closer to Him and teach us to trust in Him for every good thing. If we do experience some weeks, or even months or years of famine, remember that God cares for you, and even the smallest bite of food is still an undeserved gift from God.

So when you hunger, before anything else, trust in God! When you get the smallest bite of food, thank God and praise Him for His many blessings! When you put on some clothes or you step into your house, thank and praise God! Every sip of coffee, every lick of the ice cream cone, thank  and praise God! Use this pestilence as an opportunity to be reminded of God’s unending providence.

However, this earthly providence God gives to us is the lesser thing. The greater thing is that God provides for us spiritual food that we might eat and live eternally! Jesus says, “Strive for the Food which is not perishable but for that which abides in the eternal life which the Son of Man shall give you.” What food is Jesus talking about? Again Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me shall not hunger; and, whoever believes in Me shall nevermore thirst... I am the living bread who came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread shall live forever.”

Jesus is the food and nourishment that we need so desperately. By faith you consume Christ and receive the benefits of His life for yours. When you believe in Jesus, you are spiritually eating and drinking of Him and receiving the forgiveness of your sins. But more remarkably, Christ gives us His true body and blood for us Christians to eat and drink.

This eating and drinking of Christ’s own body and blood is foundational for what it means to be Christian. Jesus says, “My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him.” You can’t help but be reminded of the Lord’s Supper, in which Jesus says Take, Eat, this is my body; Take, drink, this is my blood. 

When you receive the body and blood of Jesus in the Lord’s Supper you are eating and drinking the most precious gift of food that our Lord has ever bestowed on us! The Lord’s Supper is no small thing in the life of the Christian. In a way, the Lord’s Supper is literally the lifeblood of the church. 

When you eat this real food that is placed upon your tongue, God wants you to remember that His love and care for you is real and tangible. The Son of God bodily descended to earth. He came to be among us with a real body to be bodily present with real people and feed them with real food. So God feeds you His real body and blood in the sacrament of the altar. 

In our digital and electronic, socially distant, age it’s easy to think of God as distant from us. To think that this is all just a spiritual thing, a mental intellectual exercise, and that the physical aspect of our lives is unimportant. Many people are doing what they’re calling “online church” today in America. Well I’m here to tell you there’s no such thing as “online church.”

 If you’re listening to or reading this sermon on the radio or internet, attempting to worship with a screen or a speaker, this is not church. This is a good family devotion for you maybe, it’s a good way to ruminate on the Word of God. This sort of thing can be very fruitful to do every day! But it’s not church. A bodyless church isn’t church. 

Essential to church is having people gathered together, just as the people congregated on the mountain with Jesus and He fed them real food. When we go without the bodily nature of church, we’re missing something very important. When we go without the body and blood of Jesus, we’re missing something very important. We’re missing the very lifeblood itself. What’s taking place right now is a famine of the body and blood of Christ.

If there’s some good to come from this famine and national shutdown, I hope it’s that we learn to greater appreciate the bodily closeness we share in church. Being physically present with one another is good for you and you need it. Receiving the body and blood of Christ in the sacrament is huge. If we hunger and thirst for our body, let us learn to also hunger and thirst spiritually for the real food that nourishes us in both body and soul: the body and blood of Christ. Just as we must eat food for our bodies regularly, and to go without causes us distress, let us learn to earnestly hunger for the heavenly food and eat it regularly.

When this is all over, come to church, and be fed the true body and blood of Christ. Be nourished with food that fills you up eternally. Greet one another as the body of Christ. Rejoice with the fact that you’re together and together you make up the church. Food for the body is good, enjoy it; but this food for the soul is better, never let it go again.