2 Kings 4:42-44 Psalm 145: 10-19
Ephesians 3:14-21 John 6:1-21
We may think that recycling is only a recent trend in our efforts to improve our ecological practices, but in the world of ideas expressed in oral traditions and literature recycling is a rule of life. The fact that human beings use language means that ideas necessarily get recycled. In our lives of faith we need to leave the practice of chauvinistic narrowness in thinking that we've always got the best and the final ideas and learn to be growing and developing people in the recycling of stories and ideas as we make fresh application of all of the words of our lives for faithful living.
The composition of the bread of heaven discourse in the 6th chapter of John is an example of the recycling of words expressing the ideas, the insights and the meanings of the church which gathered and produced the writings of the Gospel of John.
What has been recycled and re-used and re-interpreted?
The Gospel of John served a greater function within the early communities than literature does today. Today we are flooded with words and we have many genres and specialized areas of study. Bible literature in the original communities had to be their liturgy, their Scripture, their Sunday School, their entertainment and their politics. We are used to the division of life experiences because of the massive growth of world knowledge.
The writers of the Gospel of John were aware of the religious and political speculation about the appearance of another great prophet. The appearance and the disappearance of great people mean that we always expect and look for the next great person since the world needs the leadership of great people for us to survive and to make creative advance.
Moses, David, Elijah and Elisha were the seminal great leaders for people who inherited the Hebrew traditions. The people in the Hebrew tradition had religious and political speculations which involved an anticipation of those who would be regarded to be successors of Moses, David, Elijah and Elisha in greatness.
The intertestamental literature and apocalyptic literature, particularly the book of Baruch, suggested that a prophet would arise who would like Moses be involved in the marvelous provision of bread for his people. To be like Moses, one also had to be associated with the taming of water events. Moses interceded to part the Red Sea and led his people into the wilderness where he interceded again and God brought the miraculous Manna or bread from heaven.
The writers of the Gospel of John were quite certain that Jesus was the one who could be the successor to Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and David. The story of the multiplication of the loaves is a story of identifying Jesus with the Manna tradition of Moses and Israel. And we also have read that the prophet Elisha was associated with the sudden multiplication of food for a crowd. Moses had a great water event in the crossing of the Red Sea. Elijah's pupil Elisha levitated an axe head to the surface of the water. So in recycling these stories from the Hebrew tradition and using them as templates for telling the story of Jesus, the leaders of the church were teaching their members that Jesus was the valid successor of Moses, Elijah and Elisha. Jesus fed the 5000 and he walked on water in these stories of identification with the great men of faith.
The writers of the Gospel of John are very much against literalism. The writers of Gospel of John are not interested in light, healing, blindness, sight, multiplication of loaves or death as literal empirical conditions; the writers are interested in their spiritual meanings. It is amazing how many people today want to read the Gospel of John as "supernatural" events rather than understand that the writer is a wisdom teacher who uses the natural to illustrate the spiritual.
The story of the multiplication of loaves also has interesting side light meanings. Take the little boy who initiated the great picnic by sharing his lunch. One can see the kingdom of God belonging to children motif here. When we can act from our child aspect of personality not totally jaded by adult calculating doubt, we can find surprises. Philip said with true adult doubt; there's not enough food or money to feed this crowd. But this young boy shared without being inhibited by "kosher" food rules which would make one suspicious of public eating. So Jesus took the example of the boy sharing his lunch....told the people to close their eyes when he gave thanks and when they opened their eyes it became obvious there was more than enough, not only to share but to collect the left overs for more sharing. There is a faith meaning in this: if the little we have makes us shy about sharing we will not know the abundance which can be gathered within a community. It is when each person shares their little that the miracle of abundance can happen when it is collected with what is given by everyone.
The writer of John used this story also to discount the literal and natural meaning of being a king. The people received from Jesus their bread and circuses; they received their food and entertainment and if someone could give them enough food and entertainment, they would be a satisfied citizenry willing to serve such a king. Jesus would not allow himself to a "bread and circuses" king. He withdrew from this notion of kingship. He withdrew from the notion of a earthly political and warrior king like David. The kingship, the messiahship of Jesus was understood to be his rule within the realm of spirit and light, a realm which people had access to if they could be cured of their crass literalism and come to meanings of how they could know themselves in a relationship with God even while they had a different sort of relationship with the political situation of their lives.
We will spending four weeks in the Bread of Heaven Discourse, and we will pursue other meanings of this discourse in the sermons coming up in the next three weeks.
For today, let us remember that great events and great people invite future great events and future great people because the world is in need of continuous touches with greatness to propel us both to survive and creatively advance in the kind of excellence which can help us to surpass ourselves in faithful living.
Moses, David, Elijah and Elisha, introduced and invited the world to be ready to know the greatness of Jesus. And the greatness of Jesus inspires us to be excellent.
The Gospel for us today is also about the simple story of a boy who shared his lunch and this lunch became the magnet which drew to itself a great meal to feed the crowd. The Gospel for us is not to minimize the meaning and the significance of what each of us has to offer for the miraculous to happen within our community. May God help us to share beyond our shyness and discounting modesty about our gifts and invite our community to a greater abundance. Amen.
The composition of the bread of heaven discourse in the 6th chapter of John is an example of the recycling of words expressing the ideas, the insights and the meanings of the church which gathered and produced the writings of the Gospel of John.
What has been recycled and re-used and re-interpreted?
The Gospel of John served a greater function within the early communities than literature does today. Today we are flooded with words and we have many genres and specialized areas of study. Bible literature in the original communities had to be their liturgy, their Scripture, their Sunday School, their entertainment and their politics. We are used to the division of life experiences because of the massive growth of world knowledge.
The writers of the Gospel of John were aware of the religious and political speculation about the appearance of another great prophet. The appearance and the disappearance of great people mean that we always expect and look for the next great person since the world needs the leadership of great people for us to survive and to make creative advance.
Moses, David, Elijah and Elisha were the seminal great leaders for people who inherited the Hebrew traditions. The people in the Hebrew tradition had religious and political speculations which involved an anticipation of those who would be regarded to be successors of Moses, David, Elijah and Elisha in greatness.
The intertestamental literature and apocalyptic literature, particularly the book of Baruch, suggested that a prophet would arise who would like Moses be involved in the marvelous provision of bread for his people. To be like Moses, one also had to be associated with the taming of water events. Moses interceded to part the Red Sea and led his people into the wilderness where he interceded again and God brought the miraculous Manna or bread from heaven.
The writers of the Gospel of John were quite certain that Jesus was the one who could be the successor to Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and David. The story of the multiplication of the loaves is a story of identifying Jesus with the Manna tradition of Moses and Israel. And we also have read that the prophet Elisha was associated with the sudden multiplication of food for a crowd. Moses had a great water event in the crossing of the Red Sea. Elijah's pupil Elisha levitated an axe head to the surface of the water. So in recycling these stories from the Hebrew tradition and using them as templates for telling the story of Jesus, the leaders of the church were teaching their members that Jesus was the valid successor of Moses, Elijah and Elisha. Jesus fed the 5000 and he walked on water in these stories of identification with the great men of faith.
The writers of the Gospel of John are very much against literalism. The writers of Gospel of John are not interested in light, healing, blindness, sight, multiplication of loaves or death as literal empirical conditions; the writers are interested in their spiritual meanings. It is amazing how many people today want to read the Gospel of John as "supernatural" events rather than understand that the writer is a wisdom teacher who uses the natural to illustrate the spiritual.
The story of the multiplication of loaves also has interesting side light meanings. Take the little boy who initiated the great picnic by sharing his lunch. One can see the kingdom of God belonging to children motif here. When we can act from our child aspect of personality not totally jaded by adult calculating doubt, we can find surprises. Philip said with true adult doubt; there's not enough food or money to feed this crowd. But this young boy shared without being inhibited by "kosher" food rules which would make one suspicious of public eating. So Jesus took the example of the boy sharing his lunch....told the people to close their eyes when he gave thanks and when they opened their eyes it became obvious there was more than enough, not only to share but to collect the left overs for more sharing. There is a faith meaning in this: if the little we have makes us shy about sharing we will not know the abundance which can be gathered within a community. It is when each person shares their little that the miracle of abundance can happen when it is collected with what is given by everyone.
The writer of John used this story also to discount the literal and natural meaning of being a king. The people received from Jesus their bread and circuses; they received their food and entertainment and if someone could give them enough food and entertainment, they would be a satisfied citizenry willing to serve such a king. Jesus would not allow himself to a "bread and circuses" king. He withdrew from this notion of kingship. He withdrew from the notion of a earthly political and warrior king like David. The kingship, the messiahship of Jesus was understood to be his rule within the realm of spirit and light, a realm which people had access to if they could be cured of their crass literalism and come to meanings of how they could know themselves in a relationship with God even while they had a different sort of relationship with the political situation of their lives.
We will spending four weeks in the Bread of Heaven Discourse, and we will pursue other meanings of this discourse in the sermons coming up in the next three weeks.
For today, let us remember that great events and great people invite future great events and future great people because the world is in need of continuous touches with greatness to propel us both to survive and creatively advance in the kind of excellence which can help us to surpass ourselves in faithful living.
Moses, David, Elijah and Elisha, introduced and invited the world to be ready to know the greatness of Jesus. And the greatness of Jesus inspires us to be excellent.
The Gospel for us today is also about the simple story of a boy who shared his lunch and this lunch became the magnet which drew to itself a great meal to feed the crowd. The Gospel for us is not to minimize the meaning and the significance of what each of us has to offer for the miraculous to happen within our community. May God help us to share beyond our shyness and discounting modesty about our gifts and invite our community to a greater abundance. Amen.
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