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“Mommy, Daddy; I’m Hungry?” (John 6:
24-35)
(A sermon preached August 6, 2006 at University UMC by Kennetha Bigham-Tsai)
Coming into a congregation of this size, I wonder about the various
understandings of the Eucharist–of Holy Communion—of the Lord’s Supper. I know
that like myself, a former Baptist, many of you were not brought up as United
Methodist and that those who were still might have differing understandings of
this sacrament.
I am wondering about your perceptions of this meal that we will partake of
today, and I am sure that many of you are wondering about the perceptions of
your new pastors. Do my pastors believe that the bread and grape juice are
literally changed and really become the body and blood of Christ? Do my pastors
believe that Christ’s body is somehow mysteriously present on the table along
side the elements? Do my pastors believe that what is happening here is simply a
symbol–just a memorial? What do my pastors believe about this meal, and what do
I believe?
I hope that today’s sermon will at least explain one of the ways in which I
understand this sacrament and help all of you to reflect upon your understanding
of this meal. And I do believe that we all will be helped in our understanding
by taking a look at today’s scripture passage. Here in this passage, we have
Jesus saying, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty,” (John 6:35). Later in this
same chapter in John, we see Jesus saying to the crowds these somewhat
disturbing words, “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,” (John 6: 51). Here Jesus is suggesting the
rather macabre thought that they must eat his flesh, and later he says, drink
his blood, to have eternal life.
These sayings are confusing, and sometimes disturbing, and the Bible even
reports that many of those early disciples left Jesus because these teachings
were so difficult, (John 6: 60, 66). Yet no matter how difficult these sayings
may be, and no matter how difficult it is sometimes to grasp the meaning of
communion, I believe that there are some rather common human experiences that
can help us understand these concepts–concepts of the Communion elements as
symbols of the body and blood of Christ.
And so, the common human experiences that I will point to today are the
experiences of childbearing and parenting. For I believe that there is nothing
that better helps my understanding of Communion as a symbolic feast upon the
body and blood of Christ—nothing that better helps my understanding than
experiencing or watching a woman experience a pregnancy.
When I was carrying Keeton, I was well aware that he was literally feeding upon
my body–gaining sustenance from my body. Nutrients and fluids were being
transmitted to him through my body. And when I nursed him, it was even more
clear to me that Keeton’s sustenance and nurture came from my body.
Those of you who are mothers, whether or not your children are still young or
whether or not they have long since grown up, you can remember this
experience–the experience of carrying that child. You sustained another human
life with your body. You provided all of that child’s sustenance with your body.
That developing human child literally fed upon your body.
And fathers, you can join us in this imagining. For both fathers and mothers
work to provided for the sustenance of their children. By the work and labor of
our bodies we, as parents, have fed and provided for--have nourished and
sustained our children. We have in some sense given our bodies--engaged our
bodies in some form of work–to provide sustenance for our children.
And even those of you who have not had children of your own have still used the
work of your hands–used the work of your bodies in some way–to provide for
children. You may have taught children in the school system or in a Sunday
school class–you may have counseled children–or provided them with medical care.
Think about the ways that you have used your bodies in some form of work or
labor that has helped to sustain or nourish a child.
Whether mothers, carrying and nursing children, or mothers and fathers working
for and raising children, or grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, nurses,
doctors, or counselors working to provide for the needs of children, we have all
in some way used our bodies to nourish and care for children.
And when we think of using our own bodies to provide nourishment for another,
certainly we can understand statements like, “I am the bread of life…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—my
body, (John 6:48, 51)”
This is a promise of provision, of nurture and of care to be found in the person
of Christ. Yet it is not primarily a promise of physical provision, but a
promise instead of spiritual provision and nurture. Statements such as these
have to do with spiritual nurture–with a loving God providing for the spiritual
nurture of humanity through a Christ who is the bread of life for the world.
And therefore, by extension, the meaning of the Eucharist, as a feast upon the
body and blood of Christ–also has to do with the bread and the cup as symbols of
spiritual nurture–symbols of a loving God providing for the spiritual nurture of
humanity through a Christ whose body is represented by a loaf of bread and a
chalice of grape juice.
Now, I’ve talked about the nourishment of a child in its mother’s womb, but one
day eventually that child is born and grows into a little toddler. And children
at that age, though most wonderful and precious, can sometimes be a bit
demanding. So remember with me the time when your children were small, or if you
don’t have children, remember the times you baby-sat or worked in a nursery or
observed a young and perhaps hungry child with a parent. Do you remember at some
time in your life hearing the plaintive cry, “Mommy, I’m Hungry! Daddy, I want
something to drink! Mommy, Daddy, I need this or that thing right now!?”
O.K. maybe I’m just talking about my experiences with parenting, but if you can
remember with me experiences like these, hold for a moment those memories in
your thoughts, hold them with you for a while and imagine this crowd seeking
Jesus. They get into boats and go looking for him. They are seeking Jesus,
crying plaintively–“Jesus, we’re hungry. We’re hungry for some meaning in our
lives. Jesus, we’re hungry. We are hungry for hope in our lives. Jesus we are
hungry. We are hungry for an end to the emotional pain in our lives. Jesus, we
are hungry. We are hungry for a solution to this intractable problem. We are
hungry for the healing of a relationship. We are hungry Jesus. And we’re thirsty
too. We need a little drink of hope, and of healing, and of compassion.”
And then Jesus says, “I am the bread of life...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, (John 6: 48, 51). You
can come to me for nurture and for sustenance–it is literally in me that you can
find food–-not the food that perishes but food that endures for eternity.”
This passage and others in John speak to us about faith in God in Christ as
“food for eternal life.” Those who come to Christ in a spirit of faith will find
in him spiritual food. They will find in him the eternal, sustaining and
nourishing food that is the presence of God. This is the food that Christ
promises. And this is the food that we will feast on today.
Right after this sermon and after a hymn, we will give thanks for the spiritual
food which Christ provides. We will remember the life and ministry of Christ–how
he gave his body for us–not just in suffering–but in ministry to the sick, the
lonely, and the outcast. We will remember too his death and resurrection, and
the hope which resurrection gives to us. We will remember, and we will give
thanks that on the night that he was betrayed he took bread and broke it and
declared it his body, given for the spiritual nurture of the world. We will
remember that he then took the cup and blessed it and declared it his blood
given as a sign of covenant and therefore as a sign of the promise that we would
never be thirsty again.
Now, I want to assure you that for me these elements remain pieces of bread and
cups of grape juice. They have not literally been transformed into the body of
Christ. But somehow Christ is present with us in this meal. Wesley would have
said that Christ is present by virtue of the Holy Spirit. Christ is with us–in
us and through us–through the pervading work of the Holy Spirit.
But I want to offer an even more concrete perception of the presence of Christ
and therefore of the meaning of the Eucharist than did Wesley. Yes, Christ is
present with us in this meal, by virtue of the Holy Spirit–but also, by virtue
of the Church–the Church–you folk--empowered by the Holy Spirit, providing each
other and the world with the spiritual food that is Christ.
So think with me–imagine with me one more time the significance of the statement
“I am the bread of life. You must eat of my body and drink of my blood. And
whoever does will never be hungry or thirsty again.” Think with me of the
significance of that statement and realize that it is the Church which is
Christ’s body. It is the Church that is represented by this meal. You, the
Church, are the broken Body of Christ–you are the bread and the cup given for
the spiritual nurture of the world.
Let me make this more concrete. As the Body of Christ–you provide spiritual
nurture for each other and for the world. That happens through your provision of
Christian education, member care, and prayer. I mean that every time you teach a
Sunday School class, or take bread to somebody, or pray for somebody, you are
providing spiritual nurture. I mean that when you take communion to shut-ins or
when you act as a Stephen’s minister to someone in need, you are providing
spiritual nurture. I mean that when you do a missions project or when you work
for peace and justice, you are providing spiritual nurture, because you are
providing Christ to the world.
In the liturgy that we will read, we will invoke the Holy Spirit upon these
elements and upon ourselves with the words, “Pour out your Holy Spirit on us
gathered here, and on these gifts, that in the breaking of this bread and the
drinking of this cup, we may know the presence of the living Christ and be
renewed as the Body of Christ for the world.”
We will ask, through our liturgy, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we might
be renewed as the Body of Christ for the world–Christ’s body giving spiritual
nurture to the world. This is the meaning of the Eucharist, of this Supper, of
Holy Communion–that these elements represent the provision of spiritual nurture
through Christ and the call of the Church to be the Body of Christ providing
spiritual nurture to the world.
Friends, there are people out there without hope–people without meaning in their
lives--people who are lonely and who struggle in all kinds of ways. And, we have
a world in which, not only do individuals struggle, but whole nations
struggle—whole nations are at war and descending ever farther into seemingly
endless cycles of violence. There are serious needs and problems in the world,
and there are so many people who are plaintively crying, “Church, I’m Hungry.
Church, I’m thirsty. I’m thirsty for a little hope and meaning in my life. I am
hungry for some compassion. I am thirsty for some peace. I am hungry for some
justice, and righteousness, and some hope. I am hungry and thirsty for all of
these things–and I want food and drink that will last. I want food and drink
that will endure. I want spiritual food and spiritual drink that will give me
peace for eternity.”
Church, people are hungry and they are thirsty–feed them, and give them
something to drink! Amen.
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