Sermon for August 8

May the words my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you O Lord, our strength, and our redeemer. Amen

Abbot and Costello did a comedy routine during their heyday called “Who’s on first?” For those who haven’t heard it, it’s worth finding and watching it on You Tube. It’s a hilarious routine about the infield of a baseball team with the player’s nick names being WHO, WHAT, and I DON’T KNOW. Lou starts out by asking Bud the names of the infielders, “Who’s on first?” Bud responds, “Yes, WHO’s on first.” Lou: “That’s what I want to know, who’s on first?” Bud: “Exactly, WHO’s on first.” You can already see where this is headed, especially when they mix in the other’s names of WHAT and I DON”T KNOW.

Sometimes when we read from John’s gospel, we get some kind of the same confusion. Jesus talks to people and they get confused. Jesus uses a word, and they take it a different way.

There was the Samaritan woman at the well and the use of the word water. Then there’s Nicodemus and being born again. There’s Pontius Pilate and what it means to be king.

In today’s gospel reading, the Jews were complaining because Jesus said, “I am the bread who came down from heaven.” Came down from heaven? That made them think, but not how you might expect. I don’t think so. We expect a Messiah who may come from heaven but we know this Jesus. We know his mother and father. He’s the son of Joseph. Come down from heaven! Not a chance.

But I would imagine they were a little more concerned with the “I am.” Statement. “I am the bread of life.” This is the first of the seven “I am’s” in John. Bread was a staple in the diet of the Jews of the time. It was provided at every meal. And sometimes it was the main course with bread dipped in olive oil at breakfast and bread dipped into lintel soup or gravy when there was meat.

Everybody needed bread—physical wheat or barley bread. Look at Elijah when he was in the wilderness running away from Jezebel. He was out in the wilderness, and he survived off bread and water that God provided for him.
So, Jesus is the bread of life. What does that mean and then, who is he? The gospels tell us that Jesus had such charm, such appeal, that people would listen to him for days just to hear his words. He was excitable; moved with compassion; filled with pity. He had sympathy for a person with leprosy; excited over his disciples’ successes; angry at coldhearted legalists; and he cried out in anguish at Gethsemane. He had patience with individuals, but none at all with institutions.

He would accept almost anybody’s invitation to supper. So, look at his list of friends: rich people, Roman centurions, Pharisees, tax collectors, prostitutes and leprosy victims. People liked being with Jesus; where he was, joy was.

And look at the people who impressed Jesus. A widow who put in her last two cents in the offering. A dishonest tax collector who climbed a tree to get a better view. A nameless child. A woman who had five unhappy marriages. A blind beggar. An adulteress. A man with leprosy.

Jesus was different than anybody of his time. He touched or was touched by the unclean. He was never concerned with those kinds of rules. And look at what he did for women. At service, the men would pray, “Blessed art thou, O Lord, who hast not made me a woman.” Yet Jesus not only associated freely with women, he taught some as disciples.

He turned everything upside down. The Pharisees believed that if you touched an unclean person, you become unclean. Yet when Jesus touched the unclean, Jesus did not become unclean—the person he touched became clean. When an immoral woman washed Jesus’ feet, it was she who went away forgiven and transformed.

The message was a new one. To get clean a person did not have to go to Jerusalem, offer sacrifices, and undergo purification rituals. All a person had to do was follow Jesus—just believe! Have faith! Your faith has made you well! God sees no undesirables, and neither should we.

So, who is this Jesus? Why did he call himself the bread of life? We are not to confuse Jesus calling himself the bread of life with the bread of Holy Communion—that will come later—not here. Elijah was given and ate real bread—bread from wheat or barley. God’s Word is the real flesh of Jesus. He came down to us as God’s physical response to our very real need for truth and meaning of and for our existence. God’s Word has now taken on flesh and has united the physical and spiritual. He came down to us and dwelt within our midst to teach us, in word and deed, to teach us about God’s love for us and for all. Jesus Christ is the very real, physical presence of that love.
Who’s on first? We are. First on God’s mind, first in God’s heart, first in line to take up our cross and follow Christ into the world as a sign of God’s never-ending love and compassion and we live off the true bread. Amen.