Sermon manuscript:
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
Our Gospel reading today is the middle of a conversation
that turned into something like an argument. The conversation is between Jesus
and some Jews who were seeking him. The reason why they were seeking him was
because they had been fed with the five loaves and two fish. That impressed
them. They were ready to get on board with Jesus. Why shouldn’t he be king?
Then we’d have loaves and fishes aplenty.
But when Jesus had been found, he put a damper on their
plans. He said, “You shouldn’t work for food that
perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.” Jesus would
not only feed their bellies, but their souls too. There is a food that does not
perish in the eating of it, but endures to eternal life. Jesus is that food. He
says, “I am the bread of life.”
As you heard in the reading, this redirection of their
intentions didn’t go over very well. They grumbled. They couldn’t understand
him. They had liked the bread that they had eaten before. Why couldn’t he just
make some more. That would make them happy. But Jesus as bread? What does that
even mean and what are they supposed to do? Eat him? That’s ridiculous. They
want bread made from barley, not bread made of flesh.
But Jesus’s goal wasn’t to do whatever needed to be done in
order to be popular. When you understand that Jesus wasn’t trying to entertain
the crowd, or seek their approval, but instead to speak the truth about his
Father and about himself, then his words become more understandable. They
become more understandable, but only to those who will believe. If you will not
believe, then Jesus’s words will be strange at best but what is much more
likely is that you will be repulsed by them. If you will believe, then what he
says is simple and wonderful.
Let’s take his main statement, which begins our reading. He
says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me
shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” Jesus
is the bread of life. Faith eats him. If you eat this bread, then you will not
hunger and you will not thirst. This could be referring to physical hunger and
thirst if need be. I wouldn’t put it past Jesus who fed 5,000 with five loaves
and two fish. But physical hunger and thirst are not the only kind of lack we might
have. Spiritual hunger and thirst are much more important. Spiritually we
hunger and thirst after righteousness. Hungering and thirsting after
righteousness is another way of saying that we haven’t got any. We aren’t
righteous.
We are well aware how damaging it can be to lack food and
drink. We can’t live very long without them. What about righteousness? Can we
live without righteousness? In a sense we can, but it isn’t much of an
existence.
If we are living without righteousness then we are always
needing to live in delusions and under the cover of darkness. We have to hide, so
we aren’t found out. We don’t want to be exposed otherwise people will know
what we are really like. It is very important to delude yourself about God, or
about what happens when we die. If you are not righteous, then you cannot enjoy
the thought of meeting God or being judged by him unless you make yourself
forget all the stuff that you have done. Without righteousness we do well to
stay away as long as we can, until we can stave off death no longer. Then our
fear begins in earnest.
If a person was righteous, then he or she would not need to
worry. It would be nice to have no fear. But many people do not believe that becoming
righteous is possible. That’s understandable. Consult your own experience. Who
hasn’t done shameful, embarrassing stuff? Don’t we all need to hide from the
light lest our evil deeds be exposed? That sounds right to me. We’ve all blown
it one way or another. But this is where Jesus’s words in our reading today are
so important. They address this need that can seem so impossible to do anything
about. Be that as it may, Jesus still says what he says.
He’s the bread of life. All you who hunger and thirst for
righteousness—because you haven’t got any—may eat him and be filled. Then you
are righteous. Then you can stand in the judgement. You need not fear the
light. Why? Because Jesus was punished in your place for your sins, and he
gives you his own righteousness as the Son of God in the place of your
sinfulness.
I admit that the picture is strange. Jesus tells us to heat
him because he is the bread of life. The Jews grumbled among themselves. What
does he mean when he says that he is bread? How are we supposed to eat him? Our
brains work the same way as their brains worked, so I think we can understand
their confusion. But Jesus does not back down. He doesn’t apologize. He presses
forward with his points and, if anything, gets only more extreme.
Extreme actions are needed to cure our lack of
righteousness. It is not just saying you’re sorry. It’s not trying harder.
Those are some not so extreme actions that come to mind. We must eat Jesus, the
living bread sent from heaven. Desperate times call for desperate measures. We
desperately need righteousness. Every other attempt will leave us hungry. Then
the best we’ve got to combat our lack of righteousness is deluding ourselves or
trying to stay in the darkness.
This is all completely unnecessary. Jesus lays out his Father’s
will in such a simple way in our reading today. He says, “This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose
nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this
is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in
him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
So simple: Look to the Son. Believe
in him. You’ll have eternal life. Any sinner can grasp hold of that
because he says nothing about making it up to God. He says nothing about paying
for your own sins. If you know anything about yourself you know that you
haven’t got that in you. Instead, it’s “Look to the
Son. Believe in him.” That’s the Father’s will. You had no
righteousness, but now, believing in Jesus, Jesus has fed you with himself as
the bread of life. It’s as simple as that.
This reminds me of my favorite statement about evangelism.
Evangelism is telling people the Gospel, which is the good news about Jesus.
Someone has said that evangelism is like one beggar telling another beggar
where to get bread. Beggars, as you know, don’t have any money. They can’t buy
anything. No food. So when beggars get food they like it. They might even tell
their friends where they found it.
So, also, with us Christians. We are beggars when it comes
to righteousness. We haven’t got any. But then Jesus comes along and says,
“I’ll be your righteousness. I am the living bread that
has come down from heaven. Eat and be satisfied. Eat and live.” The
beggar goes from hungry to full. Shouldn’t we beggars tell our fellow beggars where
we got bread? They too may be forgiven. They too may be completely righteous
through faith. Point them in the direction of Jesus who wishes to make himself
known throughout the world by means of us beggars. We have tasted and seen that
the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
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