Love the Giver, Not the Gift
Robyn Black • August 3, 2021
John 6:24-35
Last week we heard that Jesus miraculously fed thousands of people. They were hungry, starving, and he filled their stomachs. Maybe it was the best meal they’d ever had. But we get the idea now, that this massive crowd is following Jesus with the idea, ‘we’ll squeeze more outta this guy! He gave us a great lunch yesterday, but listen more importantly what’s for breakfast today?!?’
In verse 26 Jesus says to them “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you.”
I understand that there’s something alluring about hanging around someone who can provide materially for you in some way. I read about Whitney Houston and all the ‘friends’ and ‘family’ who came out of the wood work once she had some money. They would hang around her constantly, using her money to buy drugs and party hard. But at the end of her life, those people had moved on and were no longer there for her. They were interested in Whitney’s money, not her company or friendship. They sought the gift, not the giver.
That’s exactly what Jesus is saying here to the people ‘you seek me, because you think I can give you a slice of bread. But there is so much more, and make sure you don’t miss it. Jesus says ‘you’re thinking about food – bread’, “But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you.”
I read a story this week about a woman whose friend had died unexpectedly from cancer.
.She wrote “I offered my friend a lift to her appointment at the hospital. She was fighting a rare and aggressive form of cancer: one which would take her life within mere months. We were mostly quiet as we travelled that morning when suddenly she broke our shared silence and she said, "I only wish..." and she paused to catch her breath. I found myself holding my own breath as I waited for what she would say next. "I only wish I hadn't worried so much about money." And yes, I remember well the day her four children emptied out her house and divided up her precious things, particularly the growing pile which would make its way to the city dump. I remember crying just a bit as I walked through her kitchen to see all this play out.”
The things we wished we hadn’t worried about so much in life. Don’t be concerned about perishable things says Jesus. It’s hard isn’t it? I get that we need to have a place to live, we need to have enough money to eat. And yet Jesus says there’s so much more to life, so much more to life in Him. There’s so much more to put your energy in to. He says be careful about where you put all your energy. There are many things that, at the end of life, won’t matter.
The people following Jesus wanted someone who could provide them with bread that’s here today and gone tomorrow. And Jesus said
33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”
35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
I AM the bread of life says Jesus. You might remember that in Exodus 3 Moses is at the burning bush and says to God, who shall I tell everyone I’ve been talking to? Exodus 3:14 “God replied to Moses, “I am who i am. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.”
And Jesus uses this exact wording to say “I AM the bread of life”. What is Jesus saying? By calling himself I AM, he’s saying that he is God. And the bread of life? Who doesn’t like the smell of fresh baked bread out of the oven! Such a nice idea, but in our culture we wouldn’t eat too much of it!
But in this ancient culture, bread wasn’t an optional extra with a meal – they weren’t worried about carbs then! Bread WAS the meal. Think of middle eastern food even today, and the prominence of flat round bread. And in the desert with Moses, bread, called ‘manna’ was provided by God every day. Bread wasn’t an optional extra there either – no bread, no life. That’s all they had to eat. In this one statement Jesus says that he is God, and that he has been sent to provide everything we need for spiritual life.
And later in Jesus life, just prior to his crucifixion, we read in Luke 22:19, “He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” Jesus broken body on the cross took our sin and brought us spiritual life and hope. And forgiveness is just the beginning. The bread of life wants to nourish our spirts every day, wants to continue to make us into the beautiful people of God that just shine for Him.
What does that look like? It means digging in to the bible, or reading a devotional book, or reading a biography of someone who did great exploits for God, spending time talking to God in nature, or listening to a podcast of an inspiring Christian speaker, or listening to beautiful music that inspires, or taking notes during my message on Sunday and looking up some of the scriptures for yourself…and coming back and saying ‘I don’t’ think you were tight there Robyn’. And you’d never have only one meal a week…that would never sustain you. We need to seek the life and nourishment from God every day.
Eating is an active thing – you need to do something. Jesus will provide the nourishment, but if you don’t actually eat it, nothing changes. We seek the giver, not the gift. Having your own personal miracle, for the people in Jesus day it was bread, it exciting, but next week the bread is stale, mouldy, gone. But when we seek Jesus, we receive life and spiritual nourishment that will never fail, and is always enough.
Sermons For The Moment
New Year - Matthew 2:13-23
Do not be afraid - Matthew 1:18-21
Luke 2: 4- 15
Luke 1: 26-33
This is a subtitle for your new post
Ruth Chapter 4
Ruth 3
Ruth 2
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.