Bread from Heaven
Robyn Black • August 18, 2021
John 6: 41-51
Can you relate to any of these scenarios – no names are mentioned to protect the people involved! You’re about to leave the house and realise you don’t have your car keys, they’re not in the place they always are, and neither are they in the second most likely place to be. You think back to when you came in the front door last, where did you go – did you rush to the toilet throwing the keys on the toilet or bed? Have the keys fallen out of your pocket before you even made it in to the front door? Of course, the word car keys could be substituted with ‘mobile phone’, sunglasses, prescription glasses, or wallet. And the number of times, OK I’ll say I, have then found the item in an obvious place after hunting around the whole house….like phone on the charger, keys on the kitchen bench, glasses on my head. Sometimes it’s easy not to see what’s right in front of you.
And this week we read of the Jewish religious people grumbling, because they can’t see what’s right in front of them. They know that Jesus is no ordinary man…there have been many healings and miracles that have taken place with him. How could they have possibly missed what seems so obvious to us. They’re grumbling because they didn’t understand what was happening. Last week we heard that Jesus inferred that he was God, he said “I AM the bread of life”. He use the name of God – I AM – to talk about himself. And this week Jesus says John 6:41“I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
And the Pharisees said, “Are you kidding me? OH.MY.WORD. He grew up in Galilee!!!
Or as the Bible says in verse 42 of John chapter 6, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” You and I probably have some sympathy with the Pharisees. If someone said to me today that they were God, I’d have trouble believing them. But there were signs, and the sign or miracles were there as a signpost, to give us a clue about Jesus.
The Bible says Jesus fully God and fully man. That’s not an easy concept right. But apart from Jesus himself saying it, others also saw it and confirmed it – like Thomas when he saw and touched Jesus after he was resurrected, he said to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).
Or when Jesus says to Martha “I AM (there’s that those words again) the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” Martha’s been in the background, watching, observing, seeing the miracles, watching the great compassion and love of Jesus and she says “Yes, Lord, I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” (John 11:27). Or Peter who saw all that Jesus said and did, and then Jesus said, well Peter, who do you think I am? And Peter said ‘you are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).
But the Pharisees looked right past the obvious signs and miracles, it’s like they didn’t see them because it didn’t fit with their preconceived ideas. Whatever or whoever they thought the Messiah would be, they didn’t think Jesus fitted the bill! And so, they were like, nope, he grew up in Galilee, he’s human and that’s all there is to it. As an aside, it is a hard concept and the early church struggled with this idea and came to understand it as the fullness of God and the fullness of humanity co-existing in the person of Jesus. It’s not like it’s all mixed up together and his got Mary’s eye’s and God the Father’s good temperament. Rather, in Jesus each nature dwelt in its fullness without changing the other. Being God didn’t make His humanity superhuman, and His humanity did not dull down the gloriousness of his divinity.
Thomas, Peter and Mary looked at what was happening and interpreted it through a lens of faith and trust. The Pharisees looked at what was happening, it didn’t fit what they expected or wanted, so they rejected Jesus.
You know, I know people who live with terrible regrets. I know people who see no hope for the future. I know people who live in misery in the present. And yet, when I say, give Jesus a go, invite him in to your life, you’ve got nothing to lose. And they say no to Jesus, because of their preconceived ideas of who he is, and it’s such a tragedy. Because life could be so different for them. We have absolutely nothing to lose by trusting in who Jesus is and surrendering our life completely to him.
I often say that when I was in the Salvation Army’s training college, I thought a lot about theological things. I’m sure you’d think ‘thank goodness, that’s exactly what you’re meant to be doing there!’ But can I say, sometimes, you can think too much. Faith is not a logical thing. The Pharisees had thought through so much, that they thought they knew how God would act, what the Messiah would look like. Sometimes, we just need to take a deep breath and say, OK, I don’t understand what you’re doing God, or I don’t understand all the theological issues, but I am going believe and trust you with my life.
Then in verse 44 Jesus says “For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me”.
God the Father draws us to himself. God has made all the moves so that we can have a relationship with Him. He sent Jesus to walk amongst us, he sent Jesus to die for us, he reached out to us. Many people go lectures and hear gurus talk, and feel that they have to search for God. A bit like a child lost in a supermarket – running frantically to try and find their parent, the source of security. Yet God seeks us out – the poet Francis Thompson called God, the Hound of Heaven. He pursues us, stays on out trail, undaunted by our rejection of him, and despite our rebellion toward him. This is an act of enormous kindness, He loves us in spite of our failures, our rebellion and our sin. We love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19).
God the Father draws us to Jesus. He’s doing that this morning in church, He does that when you see the sunrise, He does that when you hear a beautiful piece of music, He does that when you encounter the compassion and love of another person. God draws you to Jesus in so many ways…but it’s our responsibility to respond…don’t’ ignore the Holy Spirit when He whispers ‘see that mountain, I made it’, or when He says ‘you know how much you enjoyed that persons sense of humour, they’re made in my image’, or when He says ‘how about that meal, I provided that for you’. It all leads to Jesus.
Then Jesus says in verse 47 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life.”
This is what it’s all about eternal life with God. But make no mistake, it starts now. We live in this world but we live with a glimpse of heaven. 2 Corinthians 1:22 says that God has given his “Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first instalment that guarantees everything he has promised us.” We have the Holy Spirit with us – and in that we have the fullness of God within, but it’s just a down payment on what is to come when we experience the fullness of God in heaven.
This morning, 3 things to consider:
Firstly, The Pharisees held back from Jesus and grumbled. Honestly, you and I have nothing to lose by believing unreservedly and surrendering to Jesus. Are there areas where your doubting and fearing? Surrender them to Jesus today.
Secondly, remember God is always drawing you to Jesus. Listen to His whispers as he draws your attention back to Him. Everything leads back to Jesus, and it’s a way of gratitude.
Thirdly, Jesus did it all so we can experience an eternity of being with God. He loves us, He forgives our sins and mistakes, and He’s give us his Holy Spirit so we can experience a little of heaven on earth. So good. Everything was done, so you can come to Jesus
Sermons For The Moment
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Luke 1: 26-33
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Commitment from Love, Ruth 1: 1-18
This is an interesting Psalm – another psalm of ascent. We spoke about these Psalms of Ascent a few weeks ago. They were songs the Jewish people sang as they made their way to Jerusalem to go to the temple, through the forest, along the tracks, camping by the roads. And I believe songs like this kept them focussed and kept their spirits up. I can imagine days of walking together, tiring, boring, hot and dusty. And singing some of these Psalms keep them focussed on the faithfulness of God. Much better then eye spy for the kids. Journeys are not all their cracked up to be even if the destination is worth it. As you know, when I was growing up we always holidayed at Bawley Point past Ulladulla, and in those days it was about a 4 hour drive from Sydney. We always left later than we meant to…and the last 20 mins was on a dirt road. One year when I was probably about 4 years old it was dark by the time we got to the dirt road, and half way along the dirt road, was a dodgy wooden bridge over a river. I think part of the bridge had been damaged and we had to wait a bit in the pitch black darkness before we could proceed. Dad was out with a torch ensuring the bridge was safe to drive on and mum and us 4 kids were sitting in the darkness – no street lights, no moonlight. Of course, you might be able to guess what I said to mum in that car, with fearful crying…you’ve probably heard it from kids before. I said ‘I want to go home’. Mum said to me, ‘we can’t go home Robyn, we’re almost there’. In truth, after the bridge we had the last 10 minutes of a 4 hours journey left. We safely crossed the bridge and we were OK. But I remember it. I remember the feeling of being scarred in the darkness. I remember not liking this journey at all. Even though I always loved the destination. Well this psalm celebrates the end of the journey and the arrival at the destination. Psalm 126:1-3, “When the Lord brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, “What amazing things the Lord has done for them.” Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!” Before we can understand the laughter and joy of the Israelites, we have to understand their journey. This Psalm looks back to when they arrived back in Jerusalem after 70 long years in Babylon. The captives had experienced great sorrow and mourning in exile. We read these heartbreaking words in Psalm 137: “Beside the rivers of Babylon, we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees. For our captors demanded a song from us. Our tormentors insisted on a joyful hymn: “Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem!” But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?” (Psalm 137:1-4). Their tormentors demanded they sing joyfully, but they were like – that’s impossible, it doesn’t come from our heart. So they just sat by the waters of Babylon and wept. But now by an amazing work of God they were suddenly back in Jerusalem. And so their joy came from their heart. The wait was over, the journey was complete. “We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy.” The journey is the hard bit though isn’t it? I was reminded of this, this week. An Officer couple I was speaking to, said that their teenager said some very hurtful things to them. Stuff like, ‘you make my life worse’. As they spoke to me, I did very little but listen and pray with them. They do have other supports in their life as well, already seeing a psychologist. But what I was thinking in my head as they were speaking was ‘oh the teenage years, I’d forgotten them’. Though we have 2 wonderful young adults in P and K, they were times when it was more than tense. K wears her heart on her sleeve, and to this day apologises for some of the things she said to me. And P, you wouldn’t know what he was thinking, and then all of a sudden all his thoughts and feelings for the last 3 years would come out like molten lava everywhere. A few days later I checked in to see how the couple and their teenager were going. I mentioned in passing about teenage years and very briefly about our experiences. I didn’t want to make it all about me. But I said teenage years can be painful and those years can really hurt everyone in the family. Teenager included. They know that we have a good relationship with P and K and they said to me, you know, this is helpful. It gives us hope. I was like, yep, this too shall pass. Because when you’re in the midst of the journey of pain and sorrow, you sometimes wonder if there’s light at the end of the tunnel. If you’ll laugh again or experience joy again. You begin to wonder, “Is this all that God has for me? Will I ever be happy again?” And here’s the promise in Psalm 126:4-6, “Restore our fortunes, Lord, as streams renew the desert. Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.” When you are going through a time of deep sorrow, Psalm 126 is strong medicine for your soul. It carries a powerful message of hope. It tells you that times of trouble and sorrow do not last. It tells you that God will turn your sorrow to joy and your tears to laughter. If you are going through a challenging time right now, I pray that this psalm will speak to your heart this morning. Let me tell you right up front, whatever you’re going through, it will get better. God will change your tears to joy. This week I found something I wrote about 10 years ago. I had written it on a piece of paper and there was a whole reflection about my life. At the time we had my mum living with us, she had dementia, and mostly I remember the good times and the fun times with her. I was also the Corps Officer at Glebe and Bob was the manager at William Booth House. After a page of writing I had written something like this “I’m often anxious, I’m usually stressed, I have eczema on my eyelids and ulcers in my mouth. I always feel pressed.” I went out to Bob in the lounge room and I’m like, ‘oh my goodness, eczema on my eyelids and ulcers in my mouth’, often anxious, usually stressed. The thing is, my life feels a long way from that now, and I’d forgotten what that part of my journey felt like. I’m sure when I was there I couldn’t look ahead and see a time of joy…but the truth is that “Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.” This too shall pass. ‘Yes, the Lord has done amazing things for us!’ says verse 3. God is faithful – he does the healing, the restoring, he brings the streams in the desert that renews and brings fruitfulness. I don’t need to tell you – it takes time. Today, I’m praying for a work of healing in your life, a gradual restoration of joy, of laughter. Like me as a kid, sometimes we don’t like parts of this journey at all. Even though we know our destination is good. And ultimately, we have a destination like no other and that’s the promise of God. A home in heaven made possible through Jesus. May God bless you this week as you look to Him, listen to Him, find your hope in Him and find courage and healing in your journey.
Jesus speaking to the disciples says, ‘Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me. The Thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of John is a high velocity chapter, in my opinion. Headline after headline, The Last Supper is the feature article we know best, but then, there is Jesus washing the feet of the disciples to very mixed emotions. Then comes Jesus teaching regarding sacramental service and how he anticipates the disciples proper treatment of others. Iscariot’s predicted betrayal was mentioned, then Jesus speaks of The New Commandment followed closely on the same evening by Jesus warning and prediction of Peter’s denial of Jesus. A big night around the dinner table for everyone there, and a momentous series of events to unfold within the following few days. A lifetime of indelible memories for the disciples as the plans and purposes of God are revealed in the next few days. For the crowds who were present to witness this occasion many people must have found it mind blowing simply too hard to grasp…..all the events were miraculous, certainly, other worldly, certainly, and still today a full comprehension still eludes us without the exercise of a simple faith. I may not completely understand the ways of God…but I do trust God to be God. I’m okay with that and so is God! Earlier this week the media was full of conversation and speculation about how people were going to celebrate ‘freedom day’ (Monday 11th) the stroke of midnight was overwhelmed by pictures of mobs going to licensed premises to make pigs of themselves at the bar, the pokies and other gaming tables and screens. I’m afraid for me seeing the behaviors of people within the first twenty-four hours of so called freedom day was just a concentration of many days in the past 5 to 18 months. We saw many distorted ways for people to tell others how bad off they are and how tough their life has been at the hands of an uncaring and indifferent Government be it State or Commonwealth. The elusive quality many should be turning their attention to is their lack of ‘insight’. I find it sad even tragic when so many fail to recognise within themselves widespread disregard, disrespect and even indifference for human life, who are being driven by fear and selfishness. The restrictions introduced Internationally we call ‘lock down’ or stay at home directions, work from home, home schooling, click and collect, shopping on line for anything and everything on a shelf or in a shop. GP’s consultations on line, pharmacy requirement, prescriptions on line and chemists delivering. Most of what we needed and wanted was accessible one way or another with one important exception in my case….haircuts! Robyn offered…several times….and so did my daughter Keren. Freedom week got me a seat at the hairdresser on Thursday following several visits and several hours in a queue. The last haircut was just before the hairdresser went on maternity leave, she was back at work this week, her child is learning to drive now….its been a while. All four of my grandparents had died by the time I was in my twenties with only one of them really known by us and she was amazingly patient, durable, gracious, kind, and very warm and loving. A grandfather had served in both world wars and with some of his family migrated from a poor place to Australia during the Great Depression for a better life, and got it. There’s nothing unique about my family and nothing peculiar to Australia, this story of overcoming hardship, grinding poverty, widespread sickness and misery was known to millions upon millions over the world. You and I do not hail from the hordes of angels, we hail from the ordinary everyday variety of people who have populated the earth, not from those who live a charmed life. We however have a nature and a soul bestowed upon us by God the Creator of All, capable of kindness, compassionate and loving service. If you haven’t seen the real unspoiled nature of humanity at work, seek out the stories of your family, if you have grandparents, great grandparents, uncles and aunties who were born before the 1950’s talk and research and discover the strength and fiber of your inherited humanity. This does come with a warning however, be prepared for a surprise. The old expression, ‘I am today, what all my yesterdays have made me’, carries a great truth, but at best it can only convey part of your story. We are human with all the accompanying peculiarities……BUT we are more, much more. We are reading from the Gospel of John today, and I must admit, this is the Gospel I always turn to first. John 8:12 ‘when Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ Please take some time to ponder these words and how they are directed to you, this is personal. If you don’t think Jesus words are directed to you today…..then who is He speaking to? We have a guide to lead us so we can find our way. Our wisdom is to look to Him, and absorb His Spirit and apply that to all our circumstance of life. **We do have a guide for life and life for us each would be not only more **harmonious but we would be more fulfilled, we would truly know from **personal experience what Jesus means by applying the bowl of water and **towel in the Sacrament of Service. With such a sure guide in the world in does seem odd to me why many, many more people don’t follow the light of God. Humanity might have made greater progress faster than we have. Let’s get back to John 13: 21 before someone pulls the Zoom plug out of the wall. Before going in to hospital, I decided to help myself a bit by sorting and packing our books (700). However, there is one shelf still crammed full. No prize for guessing, they are cook books also I watch cooking shows on TV, UTube etc. Cooks often ask the guests on the show about their favorite meal, even what would they ask for if they knew this was to be the last meal. Two surprises, Ice Cream is a biggy, a multitude of flavors and trimmings. The second surprise has been simple meals like mum or grandma used to cook. This is when you discover food is a lot more than for just eating. I’ve never heard of anyone asking for Brussel sprouts or Kale. During these conversations about favorite foods we often hear about the significant people in their life, who were their great influences, those that bough much joy and kindness, those who were able to console, challenge and encourage even those who inspired love and gently directed people on to life in its fullness. Rarely do we hear about those who instilled fear or humiliation, distrust or dislike. Generally, we don’t gather people to the table who broke our hearts or spirit, crushed our dreams or betrayed our trust. Just before Jesus went to a garden to plead with His Father for another way out of His looming death, He invited 12 of His closest friends to join Him for Dinner, one last time. As the wine was being passed around the table Jesus dropped a bomb by announcing to them all, He knew one sitting at the table would betray Him and another would deny Him. What a stir, what a turmoil within each one as they declared their innocence, they all said it wasn’t them. Jesus knew in a few short hours He would be handed over to be crucified. A final meal together and Jesus could have chosen others but He chose the group closest to Him, including the ones He knew would soon betray and hurt Him. My last meal. Your last meal. Who would be on the invitation list? Why Jesus? What does this mean? This is what love does.