Showing posts with label A Proper 13. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A Proper 13. Show all posts

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Leftovers Anyone?

8 Pentecost, Cycle A Proper 13, August 2, 2020

Genesis 32:22-31 Psalm 17: 1-7, 16

Romans 9:1-5 Matthew 14:13-21

Lectionary Link


One of the best things, the day after a meal is leftovers.  I've said hundreds of time, "wow, this soup or sauce tastes better today than when I served it last night."  And so the obvious question is why don't I have the discipline to serve things a day late so that the flavors can marinade longer and taste better?  Well, I'm not that disciplined and also not everything tastes good as a leftover, like a soggy salad.

 

I'm fascinated with the accounts of the multiplication of loaves stories in the Gospels.  They all include leftovers.  Why do all of the authors make sure to report leftovers but they never write about what is done with the leftovers?  Are the leftovers recorded to imply the abundance of God's blessing?  Are the leftovers recorded to indicate that the work of distribution remains for the disciples to feed people who were not present for the original meal?

 

Is the multiplication of loaves story the cryptic insertion of the Eucharistic practice of the early churches with the invitation that the leftover bread is the renewal supply of God's holy bread for the people of this world?  If MacDonald's have served billions of burgers, how many billions of people have been fed with the continual leftovers from the Table of the Lord in the history of the church?

 

The leftovers reported at the multiplication of loaves event is an indication that the feeding of people with bread and the word of God is still not finished.  It is a reminder to us that we cannot divorce Eucharist as an event of Word and Sacrament from the needs of the hungry people of the world.  We are challenged to devise creative economies to get the leftovers from the abundance of God to us to those who need food and the things for necessary subsistence.

 

Let us look at a theology of leftovers in the story of salvation.  One might say that the intent of God was to bless all with abundance and have the leftovers of abundance be continually shared to new and more people.  The leftovers are the evangelism, the invitation to join the main table of blessing which God desires for everyone.

 

The biblical story of salvation is that God wanted to deliver the blessing of abundant living to all people in this world.  As God's creation, God wanted the human creatures to have an "owner's manual" on how to best operate human living and how to troubleshoot if problems arose.

 

The delivery system was the selection of a people who would build a house of prayer for all people to be invited into the ownership manual for best behaviors and living.

 

We have read today, the story of the transformation of a single family man into the corporate personality.  Jacob wrestled with God and he, died as the last Patriarch, but he received a new Corporate Name, the name of Israel.  In this name, a people would be readied as a divine strategy to deliver the owner's manual for human beings to this world.  Israel became the corporate name for a people with a divine mission.  And the mission had some successes and some failures.

 

The mission was successful in forging a continuing identity for the Jewish people by rules which segregated them from the other people of the world.  Everyone can theoretically become a member of an Amish Community, but the rules are so inaccessible from the normal practices of modern people as to make Amish practice an impossible universal practice.  What became obvious in the time of Jesus and Paul is that Judaism as it had come to be practiced was not adaptable to the conditions in Palestine and to the majority people in the cities of the Roman Empire.  Even though Judaism permitted proselytes to convert, one could say that evangelism was not a major mission of the Judaism which was practiced at the time of Jesus and Paul.  The most effective way of Jewish evangelism was birth of a child within a Jewish family.

 

In the letter of Paul to Romans, Paul, a Jew, mourned the fact that his Jewish faith community did not have evangelical wisdom.  How could the people of the world know that God's blessing was intended for all if there was no strategy for sharing.  Paul believed that the blessing of God to the Jews had plenty of leftovers.  The offering of these leftovers to the Gentiles people was the evangelism of the Jesus Movement within the Roman Empire.  The earliest churches derived from the synagogues and were a Christ-centered Judaism to the people in the Roman Empire.  And to be more accessible, the Jesus Movement were led by the Spirit to dispense with the ritual purity requirements of Judaism to reach the Gentile peoples.  And this caused a painful separation of the Jesus Movement from the synagogue.  Evangelism of the Jesus Movement believed that one was not distinguished by ritual purity, as important as it might be, one was distinguished by the inner presence of the Holy Spirit to change one's life toward the moral perfection of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, self-control and faith.

 

Leftovers might seem to be like second-hand clothing that we give to the thrift store.   But when it comes to food, leftovers can be the better tasting food due to mature marinating.  And that is what evangelism is in the Jesus Movement; it is the leftovers of the blessing of the main meal which has marinated our faith lives in maturity so that we can make a more tasty presentations of our good news to the people in our lives.  Why?  Because we want everyone invited to the main table of God's love and blessing.

 

May God give us wisdom to distribute the wonderful leftovers of God's blessing in our lives, so that more people can know that they are invited to God's main table, God's welcoming feast of life.  Amen.

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Sunday School, August 2, 2020 9 Pentecost, A Proper 13

Sunday School, August 2, 2020 9 Pentecost, A Proper 13



Themes:


The most famous wrestler in the Bible?  Jacob.  Jacob, when he was going home and when he was afraid of meeting his brother whom he had run from in fear many years ago, wrestled one night with an angel.  The angel was a better wrestler, but Jacob was good at just hanging on.  He would not let the angel go until the angel blessed him.  And Jacob was successful at holding on for his blessing.  And what did Jacob receive as a blessing?  He received a new name.  What was that name?  Israel, which means the one who wrestles with God and is successful.  Jacob the wrestler became Israel, the father of the sons who would be the head of the tribes of Israel.


When we are afraid, we sometimes need to use our prayer as a way of holding on to God for a blessing so that we can receive from God a plan for our lives.  We don't have to be given a new name, but we can receive new important work to do in our lives.


The Gospel:  When Jesus saw a multitude, he told his disciples and helpers:  "You feed them."  This means that if we are followers of Jesus, we need to make sure that all people receive the best medicine in the world.  What is the best medicine in the world?  Enough food to eat.


We are like doctors when we make sure that all people of the world have enough food, which is the most basic medicine of life.


We come to church to receive bread at communion.  We need to remember that the bread of communion is not just for a special religious meal; it is also to remind us that everyone needs enough food.  And we need to hear Jesus say to us: "You feed them."



Sermon:


   One time upon a time there was a bus trip that had to travel on a road that went through the desert.

   And there were sixty people traveling on the bus.  And there was not place to stop and get gas and not restaurants in the desert, because no one lived there.  There was only one bus that came on the road every two days.

  Well, on this particular the bus broke down.  The bus had engine trouble, and here they were stalled in the desert with no place to go for food and shelter.  And there was no bus coming for more than a day.  And the cell phones would not work.

  So the people got off the bus…and they were worried about having enough food and water for the babies and the older people.

  So the bus driver announced that everyone would have to be calm.  Find some shade and help each other.

  Some people were very worried and they complained about being hungry and thirsty.

  The bus driver said, “Let see how much snack food everyone has brought.  Let see how much food we can gather together for a meal.  And many people complained that there was not enough food.  But the driver said, “Let us meet under that one big tree by the side of road in about an hour and see what kind of meal we can put together.

  The driver also open the storage area under the bus where all of the suitcases were, so people could get into their suitcases.

  And in an hour, they all gathered for their meal.  And it was surprising to see how much food people had brought.  All kinds of chips and drinks.  Lots of bottles of water.  And when the suitcases were opened, some people brought canned hams and boxes of fruit and nuts that they were taking to their families.  And when all of the food was shared, the driver was amazed.  He said, “We have plenty of food to last us until the next bus arrives to rescue us.”

   And so the people, who at first thought that they had nothing, when everyone shared, they found out that they had more than enough to go around.

  When Jesus was teaching a large crowd followed him far from the city.  And it was time to eat.  And his disciples did not think that there was enough food outside of the city to feed this large crowd.  But someone donated five loaves of bread and two fish.  And Jesus took this bread and blessed it.  And he thanked the little boy who shared his lunch.

  And after he prayed, suddenly there was enough food to go around.  It could be that when this little boy shared his lunch, everyone else decided they could share their lunches too, and so there was more than enough food to go around.

  And what we need to learn is that when we all share together, we will find that we have enough to go around.

  Jesus came to teach us to share with one another, so that all might have enough to eat.  And that is a good lesson for us to learn.  Amen.

Intergenerational Family Service with Holy Eucharist

August 2, 2020: The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost 

 

Gathering Songs: 

 

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

People: And Blessed be God’s kingdom, now and forever.  Amen.

 

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: 

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 First Litany of Praise: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the Book of Genesis

The same night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the day is breaking." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me." So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Then the man said, "You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved." The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

 

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 17

 

I call upon you, O God, for you will answer me; * incline your ear to me and hear my words. 

Show me your marvelous loving-kindness, * O Savior of those who take refuge at your right hand

from those who rise up against them.

 

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

 

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

 

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." And he said, "Bring them here to me." Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil 

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and 

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is 

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

 

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Liturgist:         The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:            And also with you.

 

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory Song: 

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

 

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of our birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ. 

 

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

 

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

 

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

 

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

 

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory. 

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

 

(Children may gather around the altar)

The Celebrant now praises God for the salvation of the world through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

 

 

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat 

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as   

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

 

The Prayer continues with these words

 

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

 

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

 

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

 

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

 

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

 

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing, 

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

 

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

 

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

 

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

 

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

 

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

 

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Alleluia.  Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

 

Words of Administration

Communion Song:  Something in the Way God Loves  (song sheet)

 

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: O Lord, You Are My God   (song sheet)

Dismissal:    

Liturgist:    Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 

People:      Thanks be to God!  

 

 

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Reconnecting the Eucharist to Real Eating

8 Pentecost, Cycle A Proper 13, August 3, 2014
Genesis 32:22-31 Psalm 17: 1-7, 16
Romans 9:1-5 Matthew 14:13-21

Lectionary Link

   I would like for us today to get very basic and obvious because we sometimes cover up the obvious with accrued traditions and practices. 
  What is the most poignant expression for a new born baby of the real presence of the baby's mother?   The nursing baby is most basic expression of the real presence of the mother in the life of the baby.  It is the touching closeness of the maternal body and it is the very flow of life sustenance from mother into the baby as a direct source of life.
  The real presence of abundant and sustaining life is eating and drinking as what is most basic about life.  Certainly the experience of  the eating event as an experience of real presence gets diversified and variegated as a child grows because mom and dad become more indirectly present to the child in how they provide the food even while the family meal can still be a significant real presence of people to each other.
  I believe that we in the church in our liturgies in how they have developed in various social settings have lost the connection of the Holy Eucharist being a real meal feeding real hungry people who experience the Real Presence of the power of a power of real life saving nutritional life because of this eating.
  One of the most important identities of the people of Israel is the amazing miracle of their survival through a very long journey through a very unfriendly wilderness.  The very formation story of the people of Israel is told around this survival story.  They believed that they survived this long journey because of a continuous food miracle. The people of Israel were so amazed about their survival they believed it had happened because of a miracle.  They believed that they knew the real presence of God through this miraculous manna which was given to them every day.  How did we ever survive the long journey?  We had to have had the bread of angels, the bread of heaven to survive this long journey.
  The manna tradition was used by the early Christian writers to speak about the practice of the Eucharist.  The miraculous feeding of the multitude by Jesus in the wilderness was a presentation of Jesus as a new Moses.  The early church believed that presence of the Risen Christ was multiplied to them each time they ate bread and drank wine in obedience to his commandment to do so.  But the real presence of Christ in the food was also connected with the receiving of real sustenance of real food.
  The socio-economic situation of many within the new gatherings of the Jesus Movement was communal in nature.  Excommunication from synagogue and from families of birth meant that many followers of Jesus had to rely upon their new extended families.  The urbanization in the Roman Empire meant that home churches became extended families for newly relocated people.  So the gathering for Eucharist also was a gathering for a truly open communion where people were verified to have adequate food for their life because they ate in public together.  If persons in the community could be seen eating in public, it was a way for the community to guarantee that each person was getting enough to eat.  The Gospels include the sacramental tradition of knowing the presence of Christ when people were given food.  Remember the parable, "Lord when did we see you hungry or thirsty?  When you provided food and drink to the least of these my brothers and sister, you did it to me"  Early Eucharist was a practice of the real presence of Christ known when Christ was known because Christ was present in the one who needed food to eat.
  You and I and the church have lived in a highly altered practice of the holy Eucharist.  We have made it such a stylized and aesthetic meal of religious devotion that we have lost the direct practice of it being in the context of an actual sustaining meal.
  I would submit to you that this is due to the socio-economic condition of the people who gathered for the Eucharist.  Already within the Pauline community of the Corinthian church, the members began to see the community meal as a sort of "party" and even to the point of inebriation.   Paul warned them that if they ate and drank in an unworthy manner that they would be guilty of the very body of Christ.  Obviously, this was a community that had enough to eat and so their community and public eating resulted in their losing the "miraculous aspect of eating another kind of heavenly food."  Paul suggested that they do their eating in their own homes before they came together.  One can see how the socio-economic conditions helped to shape the practice of the Eucharistic liturgy.
  This socio-economic change should not mean that we lose the connection between the real presence of Christ in the bread and the wine and the real presence of life in eating real food and drinking real drink.
  The Eucharist as a public gathering still has far reaching socio-economic ramifications especially in making people aware of human need.  It is no accident that churches in the global South are growing in number where rapid urbanization means that extended family church gathering is a very important event for social networking in a new location.  It is no accident that the only reason why mass attendance stays steady in developed country is because of the poorer immigrant community.  Poor people need community more than independently wealthy family units.  Poor people need to gather and network for identity and mutual help and care.  Poor people need open communion because when they are seen in public it becomes more or less evident as to whether they are getting enough to eat.  Poor people depend upon the miracle of getting something to eat as the very identity for their lives.
  It is all well and good that we can gather and dip our tiny little bread-oid into the chalice and sing and chant our Mass settings to know the aesthetic devotional sublime moment of sensing the other-worldly in our Eucharistic event but we should not forget the real connection of the Eucharist with real hungry people being the real of presence of Jesus to people who have become the ministers who give food and drink to the least of these.
  The aesthetic devotional presence of Jesus in the Eucharist should be the political inspiration for us to encourage our country to find a way to feed these poor children who have arrived at our border as well as all who through no fault of their own have found themselves in need of food and drink for the maintenance of their lives.
  We can reconnect the beauty of the Eucharistic liturgy with real eating as we leave this Eucharistic gathering full of the presence of Christ and determined to be those who help to organize the people of our communities to bring food to those who are hungry through no fault of their own.
  May God give us a sense of the holy and real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist; but may the holy and real presence of Jesus within us motivate us to bring food to the people who will also be the presence of Christ to us when we feed them.  Amen.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

What does MacDonald's Hamburgers Have to Do with the Feeding of the 5000?

Lectionary Link

7 Pentecost, Cycle A Proper 13, July 31, 2011 
Genesis 32:22-31 Psalm 17: 1-7, 16
Romans 9:1-5 Matthew 14:13-21

  From today’s appointed Gospel: And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.   (And one wonders what the total would have been with women and children, because they count too, and if there were teenage boys there, there would have to be a major food miracle).  Now where in our history and culture have we found posted the number of people who have been fed?
  Do you remember when those golden arches signs grew out of the sides of that hamburger chain in the 1950’s?  McDonald’s Hamburger.  And they had a sign that changed each week.  Over a million hamburgers sold.  I googled the most recent count and some speculate that it must be over 247 billion hamburgers sold.  That’s a lot of beef; though I often wondered about the beef content of those 15 cent wafers.  (I remember when they were 15 cents a piece).
  What if the Christian Church had a sign at each church posting the number of communions served since the Last Supper?  No sign would be big enough for the number of zeroes required.  And MacDonald’s total of 247 billion would not even be a speck of dust in the total number of communion bread served.
  Today’s Gospel looks like a miracle story in the life of Jesus, but more likely it is an early church recounting a teaching in the ancient tradition of the bread of heaven.  If this story were just a miracle story about Jesus feeding the masses, we’d have a moral dilemma on our hands.  Why isn’t Jesus multiplying loaves and fishes to feed all of the people in the world, right now? And why did he selectively decide to do it for one group of people in an event and why does he not choose to do it for all hungry people in the past 2000 years?  One really needs to be careful about how one literalizes the Bible, because then we only encourage the skeptics to demand that we be consistent in how we present God and Jesus Christ.
  The writers of the Gospel who gave liturgical writing or scripts that could be performed within their community worship gatherings, inherited the bread of heaven tradition from the Hebrew Scripture.  And so they told the story of the Eucharist and the story of Jesus using a development upon this motif of the bread of heaven tradition in the Hebrew Scriptures.
  When I hand you the little wafer of bread at Communion, all of you know the routine, otherwise if you were a young child when I hand you the wafer and say, “The body of Christ, the bread of heaven” you might say, “What’s this?”  And how is this the body of Christ?
  That’s exactly what the Hebrew people said when the bread of heaven tradition started.  You remember that one of the greatest heroes of the Hebrew faith was Moses.  And he led the people Israel out of slavery in Egypt.  But it took them 40 years of wandering in the wilderness before they got into the Promised Land.  And Moses as the leader, as a good leader, was supposed to feed this large group of nomadic people in the barren wilderness.  And there were not any MacDonald restaurants in the wilderness.  The environment did not provide subsistence for the people of Israel and with a food shortage, they complained to their leaders.  They even wished for the good old days of slavery in Egypt, At least there they had a supply of leeks and garlic.  And what Gilroyian could blame them? (After all it is the Garlic Festival Weekend).  So Moses prayed to God and God sent from the sky each day, a strange substance on the ground.  And when the people saw, they asked, “What’s this?”  Or if they are like children who are asked to try some new food, they probably said, “ooh, What’s this?”  So “what’s this” became the name of this bread from heaven, Manna means, “What’s this?”  This was God’s intervention in providing heavenly bread for the life of the people of Israel.
  When the Gospel writers preached about Jesus and the Jesus Movement that became the church and were explaining the significance of the practice of the ritual of Holy Eucharist, they used the bread of heaven tradition in their teaching.
  Jesus was the new Moses.  And he like Moses led a large group of people out of slavery to Roman traditions and hypocrisy in the Judaic tradition.  And Jesus provided a new source of sustenance for this new community of people in the wilderness trying to get started and attaining their Promised Land to be the New Israel.
  The Passover Meal, a meal done within one’s natural family, was expanded to be a meal for all within the community of Christ.  And what was one of the early Christian titles for Jesus Christ?  Jesus was called the bread of heaven.  Just as Manna was special bread from heaven for the ancient people of Israel, so too Jesus was the bread of heaven to the new Israel, this new community who came into being because of Jesus Christ.  And when Jesus took bread and sealed his identity with it by saying, “This is my body which is given for you.  Take and eat in remembrance of me” he was expressing a continuity with the bread from heaven tradition.  Ever since, Christ has been identified with the Eucharistic bread, made that way by repeating the words of Jesus.  And we with our thoroughly skeptical sides receive the odd bread in our hands each week, with the even stranger words, “The body of Christ, the bread of heaven.”  And our skeptic side cannot help but say, “Man na?  What’s this?  Body of Christ?  Bread of Heaven?” 
  And yet this “Man na?” has been gathering the church for two thousand years.  The Eucharistic gathering is the most literal, and the most incarnate expression of the continuing life of Jesus Christ in the world today.
  The story of the multitude of the loaves and fish is a crucial story in the bread of heaven tradition that came to be the Eucharistic practice of the church.  And just as those early Gospel writers proudly posted the number of people who were fed by the presence of Christ, the church, even more than MacDonald’s,  has lost track of the number of people who have been fed and sustained by the presence of Risen Christ, in the bread and wine, and in countless other ways in this world.
  The 247 billion burgers sold at MacDonald is laughable when compared with the living bread of heaven, the risen Christ, who is known to us not only in the breaking of bread, but in countless mega-billions of way.  Let us thank God today that we are part of this wonderful bread of heaven tradition.  Amen.

Aphorism of the Day, March 2024

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