2024.08.11 | Spiritual Snacks and the Abundance of God
Relying on the Abundance of God
– a reflection by Ashley Moore. August 11, 2024.
Good morning! May the peace of Christ be with you...
Last week I talked about the Exodus story, the liberation of the Hebrew people, the miracles that God performed through Moses, the grumbling of the Hebrews as they trudged through the desert despite God’s providence. We considered how they were not psychologically prepared for their new paradigm, but were likely repeating the behavioral patterns they had employed to get their needs met under the oppressive rule of the Egyptians. We also heard how God was angered not by their complaints but by their lack of faith.
I did not spend time exploring God’s amazing gift of manna - “the bread of angels.” Exodus 16 tells us it was a fine flaky substance that coated the ground each morning and was as fine as frost on the ground. Moses said, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.” But there were stipulations too: Each person was only to gather a single portion (1) for themselves and one portion for each member of their family. No more, no less. They were also instructed to consume their portions entirely and not to try to keep any of it for later. But some ignored this instruction and gathered less or tried to gather up a larger amount. But no matter how much they gathered, when they measured it afterward, there was only one portion per person. No more, no less. People had only been able to gather the amount that was allotted to them.
And those who tried to hold onto it until morning found that it a) either melted or b) became “wormy and rotten.” So each person was provided only as much as they needed.
Joshua 5:11-12 tells us that they ate this manna for forty years, until they came to the land of Canaan. On the day after the Passover, they ate the produce of that land...and the manna ceased on (that) day and (afterwards) the Israelites had manna no longer.”
Today’s scripture comes from the gospel of John, chapter 6. This chapter is full of details that are meant to remind us of Moses and the Exodus story. It begins by describing how Jesus had gone up a mountain with his disciples and a large crowd had followed them. The scripture says that about 5000 people came to that place. Jesus noted that it was nearly time to celebrate the Passover meal and so asked his disciples what food they had to feed the people. Then Jesus took the scarce provision of 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes, blessed them and passed them along to be distributed among the throng of people. A miracle occured before their eyes – everyone was able to eat as much as they wanted until all were satisfied. And when the meal was finished, the disciples gathered up what was left over and were surprised to find that they now had 12 baskets of bread remaining. The people were astonished and said “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.” This is mirroring God’s provision of manna in the Exodus story:
the people had followed Jesus into the wilderness
where there was no provision for them
and the leader had been able to give them bread to eat by performing a miracle of God.
Later that evening, as the disciples had rowed 3-4 miles out into the sea of Capernaum “they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat...they were terrified. 20 But he said to them, “It is I AM; (2) do not be afraid.” Another miracle of God.
The next day, the crowd of people that had been left behind went looking for Jesus and found him on the other side of the Sea of Capernaum. They approached him and began asking questions. But Jesus responds that he knows that they have come looking for him only because they had eaten their fill and wanted him to feed them again. But he cautions them about chasing after such transient and impermanent sustenance. He tells them to seek out the food that endures for eternal life instead. So, they ask “What must we do to perform (such) works?” He tells them that they should believe in him, the one the Father had sent, the one upon whom God had set his seal.
But they scoffed and said “What sign are you going to give us so that we may see it and believe you? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness...it is written, ‘(Moses) gave them bread from heaven to eat. What work are you performing?’” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but God who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
So Jesus said to them “ I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But...you have seen me and yet do not believe.”
Then they asked each other, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
As I said last week, God’s promises come to us and are realized through faith. (3) God wants us to have faith, to rely on Him and come to Him with faith in our hearts. Remember how we read in Psalm 78 that “the Lord...was full of rage and a fire was kindled against (the Hebrews) because they had no faith in God, and did not trust his saving power?” Despite His anger, God rained down manna for the people. Here, in the gospel of John, we again see God gracefully and lovingly feeding His people and rewarding those who seek him.
But what Jesus is offering here, is a profound spiritual gift! It is abundant grace and the gift of a love beyond imagining. God wants us to understand how wide and long and high and deep Her love IS. Jesus said, “I came that (you) may have life and have it abundantly.” (4) God is giving us the blessing of new life and forgiveness through faith in Christ. Praise be to God!
Whereas God rained down manna for the Hebrews despite their lack of faith, here we see Jesus, Emannuel, God with us, come to earth himself and offer eternal life through his very body. That though it is broken, scarred and crushed by corrupted systems of government, commerce and religion, the loving presence of the enfleshed God transcends, offering eternal life to “whosoever believes.” Like Moses, Jesus was also not the type of messiah people wanted or were expecting. He too had people questioning him and challenging him and even betraying him. But unlike Moses, Jesus’ miracles did create some believers who followed him of their own volition. And his greatest miracle was the one where he overcame the most horrific execution the Romans could muster by defeating death, being resurrected and eventually having the religion he inspired become the official faith of the Roman empire itself! And the very symbol they used to flex their power and strike fear of death into their subjects has become the very symbol we use to remember Christ’s resurrection and love for all of God’s people. (Point to the cross.)
Now, Paul tells us in Ephesians 1 that through Christ, God has blessed us with “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” He tells us that:
We are made holy and blameless in His sight
We are adopted as into His royal family and made heirs according to the promise
We are given the special gift of forgiveness of sins and His abundant grace
We are given the Holy Spirit who lives in us, leading us and strengthening us
We celebrate this amazing gift through the recreation of the Passover meal in which Jesus initiated the sharing of the bread and wine that transforms the broken pieces of Jesus’ body into the unified body of Christ. Before early Christians had access to any written Gospels, they had the Eucharist. Their participation in the reenactment of the communion meal was their central liturgy & ritual practice. It was how they transmitted the stories of Jesus. And the early church practiced an open and inclusive table. The hospitality of the Eucharist was radical table fellowship, an egalitarian act under Roman rule. (5)
Jesus’ radical table fellowship is his ongoing extravagant welcome, anticipating the day when all God’s people are gathered together for the great banquet. Christ claims us, and we belong to Him. We lift up the elements and proclaim “Behold God’s love for you!” That is why here in the United Church of Christ everyone is welcome at the table. As we reenact the meal, we continue to extend that radically inclusive table fellowship to all of God’s people no matter where they are on life’s journey. It is Christ’s continual invitation to come commune with him. It “make(s) the grace of God visible in the world.“
Our God does not want us to worry, but rather to rely on Her for our earthly provision as well. In Luke 22-23, Jesus said to his disciples, “do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. How much more value are you than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life span? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of (them). But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the (fire), how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.
Our God does not want us to build up a store of our provisions and hoard them. Like the manna, we should receive our daily bread and consume it knowing that new provision will be made tomorrow. Consider the Parable of the Rich Fool whose land produced an abundant crop one year. So, he decided to build new barns to expand his storage capacity that he might keep it all to himself. But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And all that you have stored away, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.” (6)
We do not build up God’s kingdom on earth by hoarding and guarding resources like some capitalist dragon. God’s economy requires us to give and “be rich toward God,” His people and feed others out of what we have, even if it is just 5 loaves and 2 fishes. We must walk in faith knowing that faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains!
Therefore, Jesus says, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
And so beloved, know that God loves you and cares for you. God is Jehovah Jireh and will provide. The abundance of God abounds all around us. And we are called to extend that blessing to others through the radical table fellowship of communion, through the sharing of the Eucharist, as well as through care for our neighbors. That is how we build God’s kingdom on earth.
So fortify your faith and lean into God’s understanding, relying on God’s abundant love for you. And do as the prophet Micah said: Love kindness, do justice and walk faithfully with your God. Amen.
(1) Exodus 16:16, an “omer”
(2) The original Greek reads “It is I Am; do not be afraid.”
(3) Romans 4
(4) John 10:10
(5) Pitre, Brant, “Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist,” New York; DoubleDay/Random House, Inc., 2011.
(6) Luke 12:13-32