³⁵Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  ⁴¹Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴²They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves.⁴⁴No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. ⁴⁶Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life.⁴⁹Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” John 6:35, 41-51

“Who ever heard of a God having anything to do with the everyday, the ordinary, the mundane, the dirty? Gods are made for greatness, not grime; they supposed to reside up in the clouds, not down here with the commoners. I mean, who ever heard of a God who is willing to suffer the pains and problems, the indecencies and embarrassments of human life? It’s down right laughable. No wonder the crowd grumbles against Jesus’ words, for such words seem to make fun of their understanding of God’s majesty and, even worse, to mock their own deep need for a God who transcends the very life which is causing them so much difficulty.

No wonder they’re upset. They know, first-hand, of their own flaws and shortcomings, of their own faithlessness and failures. They know of their doubts and fears, too, of their betrayals and broken promises, their petty grudges and foolish prejudices. They know all the shame and disappointment and regret which each person carries around on his or her back like a snail carries its shell. And so if Jesus is really like they are, then they are doomed. For how can someone who is like them save. How, even, can one like them be saved? And so they grumble because they are angry, yes, but even more because they are afraid, afraid that, in the end, they’re really not worth saving.” (…in the Meantime, Ordinary Things, August 3, 2015, David Lose)

It is hard for people even today to believe just that truth – that Jesus is God’s son come down from heaven.  Jesus is the one who provides us our daily bread – because he is the living bread come down from heaven.  Jesus has to say it three times in our text – “I am the bread of life”, “I am the bread that came down from heaven”, and finally “I am the living bread that came down from heaven”.  It is just too much for the religious leaders to accept.  And of course, we know that this truth gets Jesus killed.  And yet, we need to take a lesson from Paul this day to remember that we need to speak the truth in Christian love.  But understand this, just because you speak the truth does not mean that you will automatically convince others or convert others.   Just because we speak the truth about our understanding of the Christian way does not mean that people will flock to our side, or flock to our church.  Speaking the truth is more about how we are to live the Christian life, and less about bringing people to faith.  Whether you find this disturbing or not, it is God the father who draws people to Jesus.  It is not our works, or our doings.  Jesus says “No one can come to me unless drawn by the father”.  It is God who is in control – what we can control is what comes out of our mouths.  And what comes out of our mouths should be formed by one fact – that by God’s grace you and I have been saved – it is through Grace that we have eternal life – and that is the truth we all want to share with our neighbors.  Whether people listen or not, speak the truth in Christian love.

Pastor Dave

I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and He answered me.” Jonah 2:2  

The story of Jonah is one of the most interesting if not fascinating accounts in the Bible. Jonah did a lot of soul-searching in the belly of the fish, which he should have done before he decided to run to Tarshish. But we all can identify with Jonah – for we all have looked to run away from G-d. Sometimes life just goes badly – sometimes we think our sin is too great — and so we look to run away from G-d instead of running to G-d. Is there sin in your life? Of course there is because we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of G-d. In light of Jonah’s blatant disobedience, G-d had to do something drastic to catch his attention and lead him to repentance.

What can you learn from this situation? The people of Nineveh were enemies of G-d’s people. Jonah thought they should be judged instead of given a second chance – and Jonah knew that G-d was slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He obviously needed a lesson in sharing G-d’s love, mercy and Grace for all people. After all, Jesus has come not for the healthy, but for the sick. As such, Jonah had time to contemplate the nature of G-d while the stomach acids of the fish stung his eyes.

Next time you find yourself in a “belly-of-a-whale” problem, don’t forget to ask the hard questions – looking at your own life, understanding that our place is at the foot of the cross of Jesus, and then figuring out what is to be learned from each situation. I do not believe that everything happens for a reason, but I do firmly believe that we can find meaning in every situation – good and bad.

Pastor Dave