© St Paul’s Lutheran Church Box Hill VIC 3128
Pastor Andrew Brook
Address for: Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Preached: August 9, 2009
Living on he Breadline
John 6:35, 41-51
The
year
was
1934.
The
Great
Depression
was
at
its
height.
Schoolchildren
line
up
for
free
issue
of
soup
and
a
slice
of
bread.
From
some
of
them,
it
might
have
been
the
only
thing
they
had
to
eat
all
day.
Over
30%
of
the
Australian
workforce
was
unemployed.
Many
people
were
forced
to
live
on
the
breadline.
A
woman
who
grew
up
in
Box
Hill
in
the
1930’s
tells
of
her
experience:
‘Poverty,
hidden
at
first
was
becoming
obvious.
A
soup
kitchen
was
started
up
at
the
school
but
pupils
had
to
have
a
lePer
from
a
parent
to
prove
they
were
on
the
'Sustenance'.
'Susso'
kids
got
'Susso'
soup,
'Susso'
shirts
and
dresses,
These
were
certainly
warm
and
probably
the
only
brand
new
garments
they
owned
but
made
out
of
ugly
material
that
idenRfied
them
immediately…Over
a
period
of
Rme
some
families
became
unable
to
cope
with
it
all.
In
some
families
I
knew
Bread
and
Gravy
was
a
regular
meal,
fruit
and
vegetables
a
luxury.’
What
a
contrast
with
the
world
that
we
live
in,
in
Box
Hill
and
surrounding
suburbs.
We
simply
don’t
know
what
it’s
like
to
live
on
the
breadline.
Most
of
us
couldn't
imagine
the
shock,
even
the
shame,
of
having
to
queue
for
hours
for
something
to
eat.
We
are
people
who
have
plenty,
who
can
choose
what
and
where
we
eat,
where
food
isn't
so
much
a
necessity
as
a
lifestyle
statement.
Our
lives
are
full,
oWen
to
excess,
of
food,
of
things,
of
people
and
appointments.
That
wasn’t
exactly
the
case
for
those
to
whom
Jesus
was
speaking
in
John’s
gospel.
These
were
people
who
lived
on
the
breadline.
They
oWen
didn’t
know
where
the
next
meal
would
come
from.
When
Jesus
fed
the
5000,
it
wasn’t
just
a
demonstraRon
of
his
power
and
compassion;
it
was
also
something
that
would
keep
the
pangs
of
hunger
away
for
another
day.
It’s
no
surprise,
then,
that
people
'were
about
to
come
and
take
him
by
force
and
make
him
king.'
Jesus
could
provide
exactly
what
they
needed.
The
next
day
the
crowds
came
back.
They
wanted
Jesus
to
take
the
easy
opRon.
‘Give
us
a
full
stomach
and
send
us
away.’
But
Jesus
wasn’t
prepared
to
send
them
away
physically
saRsfied
but
spiritually
impoverished.
So
he
begins
to
share
with
the
crowd
about
what
we
might
call
the
‘spiritual
breadline.’
Bread
is
a
staple
foodstuff
that
saRsfies
hunger,
but
no
amount
of
bread
will
saRsfy
the
hunger
for
a
meaningful,
purposeful
life.
Food
for
the
body
is
important,
but
Jesus
steers
the
conversaRon
toward
what
we
might
call
‘food
for
the
soul,
not
‘the
food
that
perishes
but
…the
food
that
endures
for
eternal
life.
That’s
what
Jesus
himself
says
in
response
to
Satan’s
temptaRon:
‘People
do
not
live
on
bread
alone,
but
on
every
word
that
comes
from
the
mouth
of
God.’
And
it
is
Jesus,
the
Word
of
God,
who
is
God’s
ulRmate
word
of
love
and
grace
to
the
human
race.
That’s
why
Jesus
speaks
plainly
to
the
crowd:
‘I
am
the
bread
of
life.
Whoever
comes
to
me
will
never
go
hungry,
and
whoever
believes
in
me
will
never
be
thirsty.’
Pastor Andrew Brook August 9, 2009
As
the
conversaRon
proceeds,
we
can
see
misunderstanding
cascading
into
disagreement,
ending
up
in
downright
hosRlity.
Why
is
the
crowd
so
unresponsive,
so
slow
to
catch
on
to
what
Jesus
says?
Perhaps
it’s
because
human
beings
aren’t
that
good
at
dealing
with
the
big
quesRons.
We
are
oWen
more
comfortable
with
surface‐level
answers.
We
would
prefer
to
deal
with
the
immediate
issue
rather
than
dig
deeper,
down
into
the
core
of
our
humanity.
We
invent
all
sorts
of
ways
of
masking
what
is
going
on
deep
inside.
We
develop
addicRons
to
food,
alcohol,
money,
things,
sex,
in
order
to
suppress
the
pain
of
something
that
has
happened
in
the
past,
or
the
dull
ache
of
not
knowing
what
life
is
about
or
where
it’s
heading.
The
crowd
weren’t
afraid
to
admit
that
they
had
need
of
physical
sustenance,
but
they
were
less
keen
to
admit
that
they
were
spiritually
hungry.
To
acknowledge
this
hunger
is
to
admit
that
we
are
less
than
complete
in
ourselves.
In
our
quieter
moments,
that
truth
stares
us
in
the
face.
‘Who
are
you?
What
you
have
you
made
of
your
life?
What
happens
when
this
is
all
over?’
Jesus
answer
is
to
direct
us,
not
to
a
philosophy
of
life,
but
to
a
person
in
whom
dwells
the
fullness
of
life:
himself.
‘I
am
the
bread
of
life.’
The
people
listening
to
Jesus
found
this
claim
difficult
to
swallow.
‘The
Jews
began
to
grumble
about
him
because
he
said,
“I
am
the
bread
that
came
down
from
heaven.”’
Who
could
blame
them?
Jesus
looked
to
them
like
any
other
Rabbi?
'Is
this
not
Jesus,
the
Son
of
Joseph,
whose
father
and
mother
we
know?
How
can
he
now
say,
'I
have
come
down
from
heaven?
'How
can
he
claim
to
be
the
one
that
saRsfies
forever?
There's
no
doubt
that
those
who
heard
Jesus
understood
exactly
what
he
was
claiming.
The
Jews
called
the
Law
given
by
God
on
Mt.
Sinai
the
'bread
of
heaven.'
But
now
Jesus
was
saying
that
he
was
the
true
bread
from
heaven,
and
that
in
him,
God
could
be
completely
known.
Those
who
came
to
him
in
faith
in
him
would
receive
life
in
the
fullest
sense.
'Whoever
believes
has
eternal
life,'
Jesus
says,
in
response
to
their
complaints.
You
may
have
this
same
quesRon
today
about
Jesus.
Surrounded
by
a
supermarket
of
religious
products
and
lifestyle
choices,
what
is
so
special
about
this
man
and
his
claims?
How
could
someone
who
is
flesh
and
blood,
just
like
us,
be
God?
What
offended
people
then
offends
people
today
too.
Many
people
think
that
God
is
a
remote
being,
minding
his
own
business
in
some
dark
corner
of
the
universe,
or
some
impersonal
force
that
lives
within
us.
But
what
about
the
parRcularity,
the
physicality,
of
the
God
who
is
revealed
in
Jesus
Christ?
It's
too
much
to
believe!
BePer
the
god
somewhere
out
there
at
a
safe
distance
than
the
God
in
the
flesh,
Jesus
Christ.
The
crowd
were
right.
It
is
hard
to
comprehend.
It
does
take
a
miracle
to
believe
what
Jesus
says
about
himself.
Jesus
announces,
'No
one
can
come
to
me
unless
the
Father
who
sent
me
draws
them,
and
I
will
raise
them
up
on
the
last
day…
Everyone
who
has
heard
the
Father
and
learned
from
him
comes
to
me.'
The
image
Jesus
uses
here
is
of
fish
being
dragged
into
a
net.
Without
the
loving
acRon
of
God,
we
can't
know
Jesus.
By
ourselves,
we
can't
believe
his
audacious
claims.
Luther,
in
preaching
on
this
text,
comments,
'People
may
forever
do
as
they
will,
they
can
never
enter
heaven
unless
God
takes
the
first
step
with
his
Word,
which
offers
them
divine
grace
and
enlightens
their
hearts,
so
as
to
get
upon
the
right
way.'
We
don’t
want
to
live
on
the
spiritual
breadline.
Why
eat
bread
when
we
could
be
feasRng
on
any
number
of
exoRc
dishes?
We
would
prefer
something
more
spectacular,
something
much
aPracRve
and
tasteful.
2
Pastor Andrew Brook August 9, 2009
What
God
gives
us
is
his
Son,
unadorned
flesh
and
blood,
an
uncompromising
witness
to
the
power
of
his
love,
an
unselfish
servant
who
sacrificed
his
life
on
a
cross.
‘I
am
the
living
bread
that
came
down
from
heaven.
Whoever
eats
of
this
bread
will
live
forever.
This
bread
is
my
flesh,
which
I
will
give
for
the
life
of
the
world.’
Jesus
sustains
us
spiritually
by
giving
away
his
life.
‘Here
is
the
bread
that
comes
down
from
heaven,
which
people
may
eat
and
not
die.’
Our
sin
and
rebellion
consumed
Jesus,
the
Bread
of
Life.
The
miracle
of
his
love
is
that,
in
doing
so,
we
receive
the
energy
of
his
new,
risen
life.
The
Bread
of
Life
is
our
spiritual
staple,
the
source
of
nourishment
on
which
we
draw,
not
just
once
but
constantly,
day
by
day,
week
by
week.
And
this
is
not
merely
a
subsistence
diet.
We
who
are
spiritually
hungry
come
in
faith,
through
God's
gracious
iniRaRve,
to
feed
on
the
living
bread.
We
do
so
through
the
daily
diet
of
God’s
word,
and
weekly
through
a
shared
meal
with
brothers
and
sisters
in
Jesus,
feeding
on
Jesus'
body
and
blood
through
bread
and
wine.
Living
on
God’s
breadline
is
food
enough
to
energise
us
for
an
acRve
life
of
faith.
Jesus’
sacrificial
love,
giWed
to
us
in
Word,
Bread
and
Wine,
energises
us
in
faith,
and
directs
us
in
love.
And
this
love
is
shaped
like
the
life
of
Jesus.
It
doesn’t
look
all
that
spectacular,
but
is
grounded
in
the
real
world,
directed
towards
those
who
don’t
stand
out.
It’s
oWen
hidden
in
the
ordinary
and
the
everyday,
in
family,
at
work.
God
uses
these
simple,
consistent,
unremarkable
acts
of
love
to
draw
to
himself
those
who
are
sick
of
the
glitz
and
the
glamour,
the
pat
answers
and
the
slick
presentaRons.
We
live
in
the
midst
of
a
society
where
people
have
so
much
stuff,
and
so
liPle
meaning,
who
want
more
and
more
but
are
fed
up
with
the
empRness
of
their
materialisRc
lifestyles.
The
greatest
act
of
love
in
which
we
can
engage
is
gently
lead
the
spiritually
hungry
to
the
place
where
they
can
be
fed.
I
heard
evangelism
once
described
as
the
simple
act
of
'One
beggar
telling
another
beggar
where
to
find
food.'
They
can
find
what
they
need
in
Jesus,
the
one
who
says,
I
am
the
bread
of
life.
Whoever
comes
to
me
will
never
go
hungry,
and
whoever
believes
in
me
will
never
be
thirsty.’
Amen.
3