So, pass the bread basket.
This morning 30 thousand runners are starting the Rock n Roll Marathon in downtown San Antonio. In fact several from our church are among them including: Jennifer Feutz and Grant Lopez. These runners have been training for months in hopes of making their personal goal and to benefit Susan G Komen breast cancer. Training regimens are a big part of the runners getting to where they are. One major part of their training iscarb loading. They strategically load themselves with carbs to train their bodies to more effectively use the energy from carbs. Before big runs and marathons, they feast on meals with bread and pasta to get ready for the next day.
Bread. It is something we all enjoy. We sit down at restaurants to bread baskets. We munch on bread waiting for the meal to come. Even in this morning's Gospel, Jesus talks about bread. To put you in the place of this morning's Gospel let's move back to just before today's reading. Jesus performs the miracle of the feeding of the 5000. Jesus fills the bellies of these people and they are amazed. They search him out and when they locate him again are looking for more. Jesus quickly reminds the people that he is there for more than just providing the physical needs of their bellies. Jesus is not here to provide us with a physical meal. Jesus shares with them the story of God providing Manna through Moses in the desert. When the Israelites did not recognize the physical bread that God had given them to eat so also the people with Jesus would not recognize the spiritual bread that God would provide through Jesus. What the people with Jesus that day did not recognized was their that the hunger he came to feed was not gut hunger. Their hunger could not be filled by an all you can eat fish and bread meal. They were spiritually hungry.
What does it mean to be spiritually hungry? Spiritual hunger is a longing to be in the presence of God. We long to search for our meaning and long to reach out to God. We look for experiences that will bring us to that place. Being spiritually fed can happen in many different ways. Many times we don't understand it but when we do recognize it we sit in the presence of God.
And this brings us to this morning's Thank offering worship time. As Christians we are to give thanks for the blessings that we have received. We are to share those blessings with others with our whole heart. We are to give out of the love that God has given us.
Giving is something we often take for granted. When it comes to spiritual bread, many time[s] our giving is like filling ourselves with physical bread and not focusing on the spiritual part of our giving. We give out of convenience, we give because the time of the year is right. Many times we give out of our need to feel good. Some have said to “Give til it hurts” but that really has no meaning for us. Giving more of ourselves and giving til it hurts means that we write a bigger check, we give a little bit more.
Over my 10 years in ministry, I have had the opportunity many times to search out what I spiritually hungered for. I remember in the first year taking a group of high school youth to Hope House. These high school youth really just thought they were buying Christmas gifts for some underprivileged teens. Hope house is a teen mother halfway house in Hopkins Park Illinois. Hopkins Park is one of the poorest communities in the nation with half the population living under the poverty line. One of my teens was paired up with a 16 year old who wanted a real Barbie doll. The girl was confused and thought it was a little weird but she bought her a Barbie doll. When the time came for the Christmas gathering, she sat and heard the story. Her family was poor and they had always done the best to provide the best life possible for her. Most of her toys were from thrift stores and dollar stores. She had seen the commercials of little girls getting Barbie dolls and wanted to experience that happiness if only for a little while. What should have been just a simple gift became a meaningful connection between these two girls. Nicole left the experience realizing that she was very grateful to live in privilege. What was a simple Barbie doll had a great meaning that far outweighed anything we could have imagined.
Many times Youth Ministries participates in the same, if not very similar service projects year after year. These service projects benefit people around San Antonio and Texas and help the youth to understand helping others. What I sometimes overlook is that I can fall in a rut of not challenging myself as a Christian to take something different away. We find as Christians that we help the same people and give to the same charities because we get behind “their cause.” All of these “same” projects are beneficial but when we step out and try something new and step out and do something a little different, we can again be reminded that we are not just “tasting bread” but understanding that we are spiritually hungry for the “true bread from heaven” which helps us to understand what “give til it hurts” really means.
In September, the Confirmation and High School youth and I had a new “serving experience.” We signed up to do service hours at San Antonio Food bank. If you have never been there, it is an awe inspiring facility. The day we went we were assigned to their “Senior Care Division.” We had no idea what that meant really. We were taken with another group of volunteers to a conveyor belt. For the next 3 hours we would be packing boxes of food that would travel around South Texas. They would be given to seniors. They would last 2 weeks. They were packed with items such as cereal, canned veggies, meat and fruit, canned milk, 2 different juices, beans, rice and other assorted items tightly packed in this box. During those 3 hours of hard labor, we packed almost 1000 of these boxes. 970 bottles of grape juice passed through my hands. My feet hurt, my back hurt, my body was rejecting the thought of moving. It was hard work. It was difficult in that time to see the joy and blessings that we were experiencing. We just wanted it to be done with. Afterwards, we reflected. We understood that service projects were not all fun and games. We understood that we were not only serving the people that would get these boxes but also the countless employees and volunteers who make the food bank happen. Even though the service we had done hurt, we still could better appreciate what it took to make sure the underprivileged of South Texas could get food they so desperately needed. I remember going to church the next morning in pain. I remember thinking there is no way I will ever have them do this service project again because it is too hard. Then I realized that giving hurts sometimes.
Jesus is the bread of life. [He becomes bread for us by taking on human flesh and giving his life for us] This bread is not about the empty calories that we often fill ourselves with. This bread is not about giving without thought and feeling. [It comes to us by the grace of God] Just like the runners in this morning's marathon, if we do not use our bread effectively it will not fuel our bodies. If the runners do not eat and train in the correct way, the bread they eat is just empty calories. We shouldn't load ourselves with feel good things and empty calories. We as Christians should take heart in what our giving does and why we do it.
Many times we fall [back] into the laundry list of donations and charities we support. We have a list of places we give time to and list of places where we serve. By adding more to the list we are not “giving til it hurts,” we are not truly enjoying the bread from heaven. Having an understanding of the things that we take for granted and the blessings that we have helps us to fill ourselves with the true bread of life.
And this is where we find ourselves. Because we have been created in the image of God we hunger for something more. We hunger for something greater. That spiritual hunger for the “true bread from heaven” helps us to understand what “give til it hurts” really means. We begin to give, serve and live our Christian lives with a new found heart that has empathy for others, does not take for granted our blessings and serves not because we have to or should but because we are serving others for the Glory of God.
Bread. It is something we all enjoy. We sit down at restaurants to bread baskets. We munch on bread waiting for the meal to come. Even in this morning's Gospel, Jesus talks about bread. To put you in the place of this morning's Gospel let's move back to just before today's reading. Jesus performs the miracle of the feeding of the 5000. Jesus fills the bellies of these people and they are amazed. They search him out and when they locate him again are looking for more. Jesus quickly reminds the people that he is there for more than just providing the physical needs of their bellies. Jesus is not here to provide us with a physical meal. Jesus shares with them the story of God providing Manna through Moses in the desert. When the Israelites did not recognize the physical bread that God had given them to eat so also the people with Jesus would not recognize the spiritual bread that God would provide through Jesus. What the people with Jesus that day did not recognized was their that the hunger he came to feed was not gut hunger. Their hunger could not be filled by an all you can eat fish and bread meal. They were spiritually hungry.
What does it mean to be spiritually hungry? Spiritual hunger is a longing to be in the presence of God. We long to search for our meaning and long to reach out to God. We look for experiences that will bring us to that place. Being spiritually fed can happen in many different ways. Many times we don't understand it but when we do recognize it we sit in the presence of God.
And this brings us to this morning's Thank offering worship time. As Christians we are to give thanks for the blessings that we have received. We are to share those blessings with others with our whole heart. We are to give out of the love that God has given us.
Giving is something we often take for granted. When it comes to spiritual bread, many time[s] our giving is like filling ourselves with physical bread and not focusing on the spiritual part of our giving. We give out of convenience, we give because the time of the year is right. Many times we give out of our need to feel good. Some have said to “Give til it hurts” but that really has no meaning for us. Giving more of ourselves and giving til it hurts means that we write a bigger check, we give a little bit more.
Over my 10 years in ministry, I have had the opportunity many times to search out what I spiritually hungered for. I remember in the first year taking a group of high school youth to Hope House. These high school youth really just thought they were buying Christmas gifts for some underprivileged teens. Hope house is a teen mother halfway house in Hopkins Park Illinois. Hopkins Park is one of the poorest communities in the nation with half the population living under the poverty line. One of my teens was paired up with a 16 year old who wanted a real Barbie doll. The girl was confused and thought it was a little weird but she bought her a Barbie doll. When the time came for the Christmas gathering, she sat and heard the story. Her family was poor and they had always done the best to provide the best life possible for her. Most of her toys were from thrift stores and dollar stores. She had seen the commercials of little girls getting Barbie dolls and wanted to experience that happiness if only for a little while. What should have been just a simple gift became a meaningful connection between these two girls. Nicole left the experience realizing that she was very grateful to live in privilege. What was a simple Barbie doll had a great meaning that far outweighed anything we could have imagined.
Many times Youth Ministries participates in the same, if not very similar service projects year after year. These service projects benefit people around San Antonio and Texas and help the youth to understand helping others. What I sometimes overlook is that I can fall in a rut of not challenging myself as a Christian to take something different away. We find as Christians that we help the same people and give to the same charities because we get behind “their cause.” All of these “same” projects are beneficial but when we step out and try something new and step out and do something a little different, we can again be reminded that we are not just “tasting bread” but understanding that we are spiritually hungry for the “true bread from heaven” which helps us to understand what “give til it hurts” really means.
In September, the Confirmation and High School youth and I had a new “serving experience.” We signed up to do service hours at San Antonio Food bank. If you have never been there, it is an awe inspiring facility. The day we went we were assigned to their “Senior Care Division.” We had no idea what that meant really. We were taken with another group of volunteers to a conveyor belt. For the next 3 hours we would be packing boxes of food that would travel around South Texas. They would be given to seniors. They would last 2 weeks. They were packed with items such as cereal, canned veggies, meat and fruit, canned milk, 2 different juices, beans, rice and other assorted items tightly packed in this box. During those 3 hours of hard labor, we packed almost 1000 of these boxes. 970 bottles of grape juice passed through my hands. My feet hurt, my back hurt, my body was rejecting the thought of moving. It was hard work. It was difficult in that time to see the joy and blessings that we were experiencing. We just wanted it to be done with. Afterwards, we reflected. We understood that service projects were not all fun and games. We understood that we were not only serving the people that would get these boxes but also the countless employees and volunteers who make the food bank happen. Even though the service we had done hurt, we still could better appreciate what it took to make sure the underprivileged of South Texas could get food they so desperately needed. I remember going to church the next morning in pain. I remember thinking there is no way I will ever have them do this service project again because it is too hard. Then I realized that giving hurts sometimes.
Jesus is the bread of life. [He becomes bread for us by taking on human flesh and giving his life for us] This bread is not about the empty calories that we often fill ourselves with. This bread is not about giving without thought and feeling. [It comes to us by the grace of God] Just like the runners in this morning's marathon, if we do not use our bread effectively it will not fuel our bodies. If the runners do not eat and train in the correct way, the bread they eat is just empty calories. We shouldn't load ourselves with feel good things and empty calories. We as Christians should take heart in what our giving does and why we do it.
Many times we fall [back] into the laundry list of donations and charities we support. We have a list of places we give time to and list of places where we serve. By adding more to the list we are not “giving til it hurts,” we are not truly enjoying the bread from heaven. Having an understanding of the things that we take for granted and the blessings that we have helps us to fill ourselves with the true bread of life.
And this is where we find ourselves. Because we have been created in the image of God we hunger for something more. We hunger for something greater. That spiritual hunger for the “true bread from heaven” helps us to understand what “give til it hurts” really means. We begin to give, serve and live our Christian lives with a new found heart that has empathy for others, does not take for granted our blessings and serves not because we have to or should but because we are serving others for the Glory of God.
". . . when we do understand it we sit in the presence of God." What a beautiful insight! Nicely done - on your way to seminary?
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