Sunday, August 1, 2021 (today’s lectionary)
THIS world is not our home
Jesus looked at us and said, “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures through eternal life. My Father gives you the true bread from heaven, which gives life to the world. And then Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger. Whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
Like moths in the dark, we sought the light. So many of us had only heard of Jesus, but now we wanted to see him. Some of us had been fed bread by his disciples, bread that seemed to come out of nowhere, far away from the city ovens. I wanted the bread, but far more I wanted to see Jesus, stand in his presence, feel the rain of manna pouring down from heaven.
I will now rain down bread from heaven for you.
Healing came for me simply in hearing the stories of my friends. My tired body caught fire, I didn’t struggle to my feet as much as jump up like the cripples he had healed of so much more than I ever suffered. I ran to see this man, walking toward the outskirts of our town.
The Israelites asked one another, “What is this?”
As had happened before, I was surprised and disappointed at the cynics in my family and neighborhood. They seem to have lost their capacity for wonder. Mystery doesn’t appeal to them; they have settled for what they can see and touch … and keep control over. Jesus won’t let us do that; I hope he won’t! He carries mystery and wonder in his eyes, in his words and every step he takes throughout our country. His humility precedes him. I’ve heard that pride is simply the absence of humility. When Jesus speaks of the first being last, and the last being first, of course he is speaking of himself, he is speaking from experience.
What we have heard and know, we will declare to the generation to come: the glorious deeds of the Lord, his strength and the wonders that he wrought. Yahweh opened the doors of heaven, and then man ate the bread of angels.
Jesus walks easily in his sandals through our hot July and August dust. What he ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner was simple. Jesus ate to live. It was in his early morning prayer that he received the sustenance of the bread of life. His own renewal every morning preceded his preaching and any touch of our Father that he shared with us.
Put away the old self of your former way of life and the futility of your mind corrupted by deceitful desires. Now be renewed, in the spirit of your minds and put on your new self, created in God’s way.
On this first Sunday of August, I can’t wait to hear what he has to say, watch how he heals us from every disease, and learn to walk as he walks, so we can follow, toward the world that IS our home.
(Exodus 16, Psalm 78, Eph 4, Matthew 4, John 6)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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