Homily of the Rev. Dr. David A. Killian
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
August 2, 2009
John 6:24-35
I
Last week I attended two family reunions. The first was on Friday in Waupaca, Wisconsin, in the eastern part of the state, with relatives from my mother's side of the family. The second was on Saturday in Arcadia, in the western part of the state of Wisconsin, with my dad's side of the family. At both events, we were feasted with an abundance of delicious food and drink – chicken, ham, sausages, salads, home made bread, and numerous deserts such as lemon squares, brownies, and one of my favorite deserts which I only find in northern Wisconsin, poppy-seed cake. Delicious!
But no matter how much I enjoyed the food, this was not the reason that I went to these family reunions. The food, to be sure, was scrumptious. Food alone might have been a sufficient reason to attend these reunions, but, in fact, it was not the reason that people journeyed half-way across the state, or in my case all the way from Massachusetts, to be there. I went because I wanted to see my relatives, and, in particular, two aunts who are 90 years old, my aunt Rose, who is my mother's sister, and my aunt Eleanor, who is my father's sister. They are my oldest living relatives and I wanted to see them this summer because I didn't know if I would have another chance to see them while they were still alive. Last week, it was wonderful to visit with them and to recall the good times we shared in the past and to hear their stories about growing up on farms in Wisconsin.
I am reflecting on food this morning because food is at the heart of today's Gospel passage. First, we see that the people fed in the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand are still hanging around. They want to be fed again. This leads Jesus to talk about heavenly bread that will sustain them forever. Jesus wants to give them something that will outlast their earthly needs. He tells them, "Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you."
Today, I want to reflect with you about earthly bread and heavenly bread. When we receive the heavenly bread that is Jesus himself it will change the way we look at earthly bread. If we take on the mind of Christ, we will see that the food we eat each day is a gift from God. Jesus teaches us to recognize our dependence on God in the Lord's Prayer: "Give us this day our daily bread." When we receive the Bread of Life in Holy Communion, Christ wants to open our eyes to see that eating can be a spiritual activity if we eat with an awareness of the gift that God is giving us.
When we receive the Bread of Life in Holy Communion, Christ wants to open our eyes to see that the deep hunger in our souls is satisfied by God alone. No earthly banquet will satisfy our deepest needs. As Mother Teresa said, "There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread."
II
When we receive the Bread of Life in Holy Communion, Christ wants to open our eyes to see that we who have sufficient food to eat each day are called to relieve the misery of those who do not. An American woman in Haiti talks about seeing a little girl try to ease her hunger by eating dirt. "When I approached her, she covered her lips to conceal the mouthful of grit and pebbles, but tiny telltale stones glistened on her lips and chin ... I feel so stirred and inspired by (the) description of Jesus as a radical egalitarian who broke down barriers to celebrate table fellowship with all manner of people. I just wish we could set a table for the little Haitian boy who cried in my arms last night ... I asked him why he looks so sad. He burst into tears, eyes full of pain, and whispered, 'I'm hungry.'" (1)
When we receive the Bread of Life in Holy Communion, Christ wants to open our eyes to see that there is much that we can do locally to relieve the hunger of others. For example, many of you bring cans of food from your home to church each week for the Brookline Food Pantry. Yes, even in this affluent community, there are hungry people. At the Offertory, the ushers bring these gifts of canned food to the altar as a symbol to expresses our commitment to feed the hungry in Christ's name.
When we receive the Bread of Life in Holy Communion, Christ wants to open our eyes to see that we can join with others to combat hunger. Each year our parish is part in the Greater Boston Walk for Hunger that funds food pantries around the state and internationally. For many years our parish was part of the ministry serving meals at St. John's Church on Bowdoin Street in Boston to those living on the margins. We will continue this practical ministry by joining with programs such as the meals for homeless people on the Boston Common of Ecclesia Ministries.
When we receive the Bread of Life in Holy Communion, Christ wants to open our eyes to support the Millennium Development Goals. Goal One is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger by cutting in half between the years 1990 and 2015 the number of people who suffer from hunger and cutting in half the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day. In today's first reading from Samuel, the prophet Nathan confronts King David with the words, "You are the man!" Today, the poor of our world are confronting us who live in affluent nations: "You are the ones who can lift us from starvation and poverty."
III
When we receive the Bread of Life in Holy Communion, Christ wants to open our ears to remember the words of Mahatma Gandhi, "There are people in the world so hungry that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread." Bishop Desmond Tutu said, "I don't preach a social gospel; I preach the Gospel, period. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is concerned for the whole person. When people were hungry, Jesus didn't say, ‘Now is that political or social?' He said, ‘I feed you.' Because the good news to a hungry person is bread."
Today, as we come forward to receive the Bread of Life in Holy Communion, we receive nourishment for our spirits so that we can be the hands of Christ feeding the hungry. Christ gives us the bread of eternal life so that we can give his daily bread to those in need.
(1) In John Dominic Crossan and Richard G. Watts, Who is Jesus?