Word Becomes Bread

John 6:51-58

 

        At a local coffee shop a rabbi, priest, and minister regularly meet for breakfast. Good friends from different traditions, they enjoy poking fun at each other’s beliefs.

The rabbi begins, “Why do you insist on taking an amazing Jewish child and insisting he was God. Not even King David was perfect?”

The minister explains, “St. Paul claimed God became humbled, taking the form of a human, in order that we might know how to perfectly live.”

“Ah yes Saul of Tarsus, another Hebrew boy committing the sin of trying to define the Master of the Universe.”

The priest offers his wisdom. “I don’t think any of us claims to know God completely. But while we see dimly, we still want to expand on our vision.”

 “Like calling Jesus, the Bread of Life?” the rabbi asks.

 The priest and the minister give each other a high five as if they are finally helping the rabbi expand his understanding of their savior.

But the rabbi is far from finished, “So when you participate in your Holy Feast, which by the way you stole from my tradition, is the bread you consume the actual body of Christ or is it a symbolic act?”

Trying to be as diplomatic as possible the minister explains, “As you know this is one of those places where my good friend and I might have a difference of opinion.”

The rabbi continues, “Oh I understand completely. What I don’t understand is this. Do you believe Christ, the resurrected Bread of Life, to be real or symbolic?”

The priest reaches over and picks up his friends check.  “That is the question which you will never find my answer satisfactory, but at least we can still break bread together.”

Remember the old days when Christians, Jews and Muslims were never in a conversation together. Truth is those were also the days when denominational affiliations kept us out of any serious conversations. In days past Catholics were seen as papal followers, Presbyterians associated with predestination, and Baptists were just trying to make sure no one saw them having a good time. My how the times have changed. This congregation is a salad bowl made up of a lot of denominational flavors. I could invite an Imam or a Rabbi to come speak and you would welcome either with open arms. In this house we have expanded our understanding of other faiths and no longer limit God to our particular religious persuasion. Yet we still cling to the one we faithfully call The Bread of Life.

Can you imagine how odd the words, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” must have sounded to new converts within the early church? Think about how odd those words must have sounded to folks taking a critical look at this strange new cult called Christianity. Today, when we take communion, we use a variation of those words and seldom see them as radical. Yet to our Muslim and Jewish brothers and sisters those words are beyond scandalous because they simply do not believe God walked among us.

Increasingly, they are not alone. Forty some years ago when I began my ministry as a Christian Educator I would never hear folks questioning the divinity of Jesus. This is no longer the case. Biblical scholarship can make a solid case that the idea of the physical resurrection of Jesus was not introduced until fifty years after his death. I understand this is a discussion best suited for the Sunday School hour rather than this monologue where I control the microphone, but there is no denying that in cultures with advanced economies and a higher standard of living the idea of God becoming flesh and walking  among us is no longer taken for granted. I might even suggest there are some sitting with us today who find this idea puzzling.   So let me suggest something that may or may not be helpful as we address this scripture in John. Perhaps the writer of John’s gospel was not only thinking of the sacrament of communion but also the appearance of manna in the wilderness.

You remember the story. The Hebrew people escaped Egypt and made their way into the wilderness. Having left in a rush they soon began to run out of food and water. As was their nature, they turned to Moses and began to complain. They even accused Moses of bringing them out into the wilderness to die. Soon they were reminiscing about their wonderful times of slavery in Egypt. Moses’ only response was, “God will provide”. 

The next morning, all throughout the desert, appeared the Bread of Life. It was only there briefly. If not harvested, it melted in the morning sun. If not eaten immediately, it became sour. This bread of life had to be consumed or it was worthless. Those who would not go into the fields or complained the manna was not enough, went hungry. But those who ate were given the strength needed for the coming day.

John begins his gospel by claiming Jesus is the Word. In chapter six he expands on this idea by calling Jesus the Bread of Life. Like the manna in the field, the Word become Bread in order that it might be consumed. No one is excluded. All are invited to the table. Those who refuse go hungry but those who eat, live.

It is at this intersection that the theological discussion begins. Some of our Christian friends understand this to mean accept Jesus as your personal salvation and live eternally. But perhaps it is more. I like the phrase, “You are what you eat.” It is painfully apparent that I am a walking billboard for that axiom. While I am selective when it comes to vegetables, I never met a candy bar I didn’t like. What if consuming Jesus is the starting point to being more like Jesus. We have all read the gospels. How did Jesus spend his days? If people were hungry, he fed them. If people were sick, he healed them. If people were downtrodden, he lifted them up. If people were lonely, he stopped to talk with them. If people were full of guilt, he lightened their burden. From an ethical perspective Jesus was a very good Jew. Come to think of it ethically he would have made a fine Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or even agnostic.  

Maybe our problem is when we eat the Word, when we consume the Bread of Life, our discussions and our disagreements center on the future, not the now. Why should I be so concerned with who someone thinks Jesus is if that same person is living a life which compliments who Jesus was. I keep falling back on the quote by Gandhi. “I’ve read the teachings of Jesus. I find them to be wonderful. My problem has always been with the way Christians follow those teachings.”

Perhaps the writer John is saying to us, “Consume the Bread of Life and be consumed by God.” Jesus wants his bread to reach our stomachs. Jesus wants his bread to be digested in order that it might flow though our veins, nourishing our hearts, our souls, and our minds. Jesus wants us to sit across the table from a neighbor and love them. Jesus wants us to acknowledge an enemy and at least listen to them. Jesus just wants us to break bread together.

So the next week the rabbi, priest, and minister showed up at their regular spot for breakfast.  After the usual pleasantries the rabbi picks up from the following week. “So, did you boys decide if you are real or symbolic Christians?”

As if rehearsed the priest and minister replied, “Sh’ma Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu Echad,” which translated means, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is One.” The rabbi reached over, picked up their checks,  and then said …….. Amen.