Bread of Life, the Nourishment of God
Speaker: Rev. Christina Fridel
Location: Whitney United Methodist Church
Date: August 2, 2009
Would you think for a moment about communion? When you think of that is there a specific communion time that comes into your mind? What do you think about when you hear those words “communion?” I’ve been thinking about that same question this week for myself and I was thinking of three short stories that I can remember clearly about communion.
When I was in seminary it was our orientation time so I was there. I had only been there a couple of days and I had been with this group of people I had never met before and we had gone into Washington, DC to so some work with understanding the poor situation there in DC and we had come back and we were in this room somewhere and we had communion. Big loaf of bread, but there were a lot of us and when they started communion the guy who was doing it started out with big chunks. Well, by the time he got to me and the few of us in the back we literally had crumbs. I’m not exaggerating. He literally got to the spot where he had about this much left and there were a good 20 or 30 of us. But, you know, the truth was we still had communion. The little teeny tiny piece of bread was still that body of Christ for us. And I remember that communion clearly and it was a message for all of us that when you do communion you have to make sure you have enough bread and that you dole it out correctly.
But then the next year, when I was in Rim…..well, a few years later when I was in Rim, which was my first year in ministry we had communion and there were only like, I think, twelve of us so we still had this great big loaf of bread but it was a lot smaller group. And Bret Strobel, who I believe some of you know, he used to go to church here, he was the communion provider that day and he tore off chunks of bread and he said, “This is the body of Christ. Christ said that he is the bread of life so take and enjoy.” And I just remember those two pieces about the differences between them. It’s still the body of Christ where literally it’s the crumb in your hand or a big chunk.
And then there’s the memory of my last communion in Seaside. There was a retired gentleman by the name of Ron Frangel who had been on the board of ordained ministry the year I was ordained. And he was the right person in that congregation. You couldn’t have asked for just a person that allowed me to do ministry but also allowed me to learn from him. And that last time, when I got to put the bread in his hand, was a reminder to me of the community. It was a reminder in communion that God feeds us through simple bread and also that we are part of the community gathered here, and we are indeed feed by Jesus, the bread of life. That, I think, is the message this morning, that reminder that we are part of a community that takes communion and are fed together by Jesus, and that Jesus indeed is the bread of life. And when we participate in a simple meal that, indeed, Christ is present and feeds us it.
That fits the two stories today. I love the story of the Israelites who are now in the wilderness. You remember they’ve come from over in Egypt and they’re hungry and they’re convinced that God has led them out there to die. Like, you know we at least had food to eat in Egypt. God provides for them but he doesn’t provide what they think they want. He provides some food but it’s in this manna which is a fine, flaky substance. And their question is not, “Thank you God for feeding us” it’s, “What in the heck is it? You want us to eat this stuff?” But in that, if you heard that last line of the story, God provided for them. They complained and God provided for them. God provided that deeper hunger so that they would know who, indeed, was in charge because I think in some ways that’s their deeper question. It’s not “We’re hungry” but it’s really “Who is in charge here?” We’re actually going nowhere. Is Moses in charge, are we in charge, is God in charge, where is he anyway? And God says to them in the feeding of them in manna and plaice “I am the Lord your God and I will provide for you. That’s if you trust in me I will provide.”
And God says that to us this morning. Trust in me and I will provide for you. In this simple meal I will provide Jesus. I will provide for you no matter what is going on in your life, no matter what is happening in the church, I am in control, I am in charge, and I will feed each of you. When I ask that same question in the Gospel it’s slightly different. You remember last week Jesus fed 5,000 people with 5 loaves and a little fish and they remembered that. They remembered the food so they come back and they want more. Jesus says you don’t get it do you? It’s not about bread but being fed by me and being filled by my love and my grace. They saw food and they saw was grub but Jesus saw food, and what he saw was eternal life.
It’s that sense of being provided for, that sense that God indeed present this morning, and is indeed present in a simple loaf of bread and simple grape juice and simple wine, that Jesus is the bread of life. Did you hear that line when he said, “I am the bread of life. I will feed you that spiritual nourishment that you need,” and we’ll do that and fill our deepest hunger whether we hunger for longing, whether we hunger for satisfaction, whether we hunger for belonging or to be useful, whether we hunger to be loved, cared for, we hunger to be comforted in a time of grief and sorrow, or whether we hunger for justice and mercy, God feeds us in this meal and feeds that deepest hunger.
And today we partake from this simple meal. You know, I’m always amazed when I stand up here. It’s not complicated. You know, there isn’t some huge recipe to make communion. You know, you don’t have to have a little of this and a little of that and make sure all the recipe’s right. It’s simple bread, sometimes made in an oven at home, sometimes bought at the grocery store. It’s just simple bread and a little grape juice and a little wine, and in that God feeds our deepest hunger, because Jesus said “I am the bread of life.” So today when you get your piece of bread, whether that’s a little crumb or a big chunk, know that God feeds us in that and that in the power of the Holy Spirit it becomes for us the body and blood of Christ. We argue a lot in theological circles about how all that happens, whether it’s this word or that word, but God says that doesn’t matter. It becomes for us the body and blood of Christ, that we might be filled that our deepest hungers might be realized. That we might go then into the world to be the body of Christ for others. Know today that in this community we are fed by Jesus, so that we truly can become the body of Christ, that this week as you meet people they will see Jesus and not just see us.
It’s indeed a gift, for Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.” So the fact this morning when we come forward know that you’re not coming simply to receive bread and a little grape juice or wine but you’re coming indeed to be fed by the one who came to feed us, the one who came not to just give us physical food but to feed our deepest hunger.. What a gift! And that is indeed what communion is….a gift. And may God indeed feed us this morning.
Amen