Proverbs 9:1-6
Ephesians 5:15-20
John 6:51-58
+ In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
If you have been paying attention to the gospel reading these
past few weeks (and I’m sure you all have), then you might be forgiven for
feeling a sense of déjà vu, a feeling that perhaps we have been here before!
The last few weeks of John’s gospel have spoken to us of bread, this week we
hear once again about bread, and next week, once more we have a gospel reading
from John about (yes, you’ve probably guessed by now) bread!
There seems to be something about the importance of bread and
its link with Jesus that the writer of John’s gospel is determined to impress
upon the minds of his readers. All of these readings actually form a continuous
narrative as chapter 6 of John’s gospel, which as you may recall, began a few
weeks ago with the feeding of the five thousand with loaves and fishes.
Unlike in the other three gospels, John’s gospel does not
highlight a specific event that may be said to be the institution of the
Eucharist. This long stretch of readings making the link between Jesus and the
all-important bread is John’s equivalent, his way of pointing us towards what
we have come to know as the Eucharist.
Bread has of course been used by cultures around the world
for thousands of years to symbolise that which nourishes and sustains life.
Societies have, for millennia, looked upon bread in some form or another as a
staple of daily living. Bread was a source of food available to all, whether
rich or poor, and here we have in today’s gospel Jesus himself making the most
remarkable claim. "I am the living
bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for
ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (Jn
6:51). Not only is he offering life-giving bread to all who will take it, but
he says that HE HIMSELF is that bread which is given for the life of the world.
In many restaurants when dining out it is customary to be
presented with a bowl or plate of bread at the beginning of the meal along with
some oil and vinegar for dipping. This is usually not a dish to be eaten alone,
but rather it is to be shared amongst the gathered company and enjoyed as a
prelude to the main meal. Within the context of our gathering together this
morning and every Sunday morning, as well as during the week, our partaking of
the bread and wine is no prelude to the main event…….it IS the main event.
However each of us may understand the mystery of what happens
during the Eucharist; Jesus himself is present in the bread and wine in a very
real way, and he offers himself to each one of us. “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them”
(Jn 5:56). The very ordinariness of the bread and wine is somehow transformed
into something that is quite extraordinary and it is able to provide us with a
nourishment that goes far beyond its physical qualities.
And we are invited to
come not only as individuals but also as part of a community, and that
community is wider than St George’s Church or the Church of England. That
community is the people we live and work amongst, it is the people we see
sometimes on the TV who seem to have so little, it is those who sometimes we
cross the road to avoid! As I have mentioned from here before none of us exists
in complete isolation, for most of us we are formed and shaped by the various
communities that each of us is a part of. A sense of community, of belonging,
goes to the very heart of who we are.
The prayer at the end of our service is one that asks that we
be sent out in the power of the Spirit to live and work to God’s praise and
glory. We who have been fed by Christ are to take Christ beyond these walls, to
share and to show something of Christ to others. We are called upon not to keep
the feast to ourselves but to invite others to the table at which we have eaten.
May he who came to share in our humanity, allow us to share
in his divinity.
+ In the name of God, Father and Holy Spirit.
AMEN
