THE ANGLICAN CHURCH
OF
ST. JUDE’S
NINTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
AUGIUST 9, 2009
TITLE: “COME BACK FOR MORE”
TEXT: ST. JOHN 6:1-15
PREACHING TEXT: ST. JOHN 6:15
[RSV]
From the beginning of His public Ministry, “The man who would not become King”
becomes a dominant theme in the life of Jesus. Remember the temptation story?
Before He began to preach and teach, Jesus went into the desert to reflect on the
Mission He was about to undertake. He was living in a time of political turmoil.
There was a need for a strong King. This is what the people were dreaming about
and hoping for and praying for. And the temptation that came to Jesus was to be
that King … first, appeal to use economic power. “Command these stones to turn
into bread, the Devil said. In other words, “Feed Your hungry people and they will
do whatever you say.” This temptation was not about hunger, it had to do with the
possibility of Kingship.
Secondly, the devil appealed to the use of Jesus’ charismatic power to impress the
people. “Dazzle the people by jumping off the pinnacle of the Temple without
hurting Yourself.” Surely this miraculous performance would entice them into
making Him their King.
Finally, the greatest temptation of all: the appeal to the use of political and military
power. “The means of conquering the whole world is within Your grasp,” the devil
told Jesus the “power and the glory” of “All the kingdoms of the world” can come
under Your rule, said the devil. But to each temptation Jesus answered “No!” He
would NOT BE KING, in this sense.
We come now to today’s Scripture Reading, from the Gospel of St. John. In John’s
Gospel, the Lord’s Supper does not begin in the “Upper Room” on the last night of
Jesus’ life. It begins earlier, out on the hill where Jesus breaks bread and feeds the
crowd of more than five thousand. Here St. John makes the direct tie-in with the
beginnings of Jesus Ministry… the first temptation.
Jesus has given the crowd bread … the very thing they had been hoping He would
do. For centuries there had been the belief that when [the Messiah-King] came at
last, there would be a great banquet to celebrate His coming. “This is the banquet,
we’ve been waiting for and praying for. This Jesus has fed us with the bread.” And
that is why St. John’s Gospel concludes the story in these words: “At that, Jesus
realized that they would come and carry Him off to make Him King, so He fled back
to the mountain” … because He was the Man who would not be king.
All through the Gospels, Jesus is trying to help us understand that although there is
power and pleasure in money and material things, and all the other sources of
satisfaction of our human appetites, there is only one context in which it can be in
touch with the ultimate source of power and pleasure, and that is the presence of
God! This is the real “Pearl of Great Price,” the “one thing needful.” But, in order
to experience the power of God’s Presence most fully, we must acknowledge our
total dependence of Him. Because Jesus “emptied Himself,” as the Apostle Paul puts
it, because He trusted unconditionally in God’s Will even though it meant the Cross,
because of His willingness not to be the kind of king the crowds wanted Him to be,
God exalted Him.
This becomes a model for us. Jesus makes this very clear in His first Beatitude:
“How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” [Mt. 5:1. Not
those who want to be king, but the poor in “spirit”… those who identify their life’s
meaning and their life’s mission with God’s Will. Not by wanting to be king of the
household! Not by wanting to be king of the office! Not by wanting to be king of the
workplace! Not by wanting to be king of the campus! Not by wanting to be king of
the city or the nation! Not by wanting to be king of the Church!
So,… in recognizing Christ as King, what do we mean? Certainly not as a kind of
superman somewhere off in space, looking down at us from a kind of head office in
the sky. Rather, Christ , our King is enthroned in our hearts. Christ our King, does
not control by power. Christ does not control by Law. Christ the King, controls by
Love. And this Love is at the very core of our being, Who am I? I am a child of God.
I am loved by Christ. And so are you and you and you!
“I am the Bread of Life,” Jesus tells us again and again. Jesus is our soul food. Jesus
is the Bread that gives Life to us, He feeds us, nourishes us, sustains us, gives us the
power and the strength to live as Christians. And, Praise God, He is the Source of
this Bread that never runs out. We can always come back to His Altar for more.
That’s what being here is all about, we’ve come back for more!
We are here today not just for ourselves. We are here today because we love other
people. We are here to pray for other people, and to lay their concerns alongside
ours at the Altar of God. We are here to feed on the Bread of Life, our source of the
nourishment and strength we need in our Ministry to others. What a joy it is to
come here knowing that the Bread of Life will renew and refresh us … Spiritually,
emotionally, and physically …for our continuing ministry of Love to our families, to
our neighbors everywhere, and to the world.
AMEN.