St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Wesley Chapel, FL
Preacher: The Rev. Adrienne R. Hymes, Vicar
Year B/Proper 15
1Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14/Psalm 111/Ephesians 5:15-20/John 6:51-58
August 18, 2024
Lord, take our minds and think through them: that your wisdom may be our wisdom. Take our mouths and speak through them: that we might recognize your voice and follow in your ways. Take our hearts, and set them on fire: that your Good News might burn brightly and bring all of your children to your light. Amen.
“Mama…you know I love you. Mama, you’re the queen of my heart; your love is like tears from the stars. Mama, I just want you to know, lovin’ you is like food to my soul.” These lyrics are from the 1997, ballad “A Song for Mama,” sung by R&B singing group, “Boyz II Men.” It was the theme song for the movie, “Soul Food.” This movie featured the complex relationships of a large family, anchored by the matriarch, known as big Mama, who prepared a weekly Sunday banquet—a central safe space for the family to gather and be nurtured by the food on the table and the love of the souls gathered around that table. In the midst of great joy and turmoil within the shared life experiences of that family, coming together by the love of Big Mama was like food to the collective family’s soul.
In our gospel passage in the sixth chapter of John today, there is talk of soul food. Jesus spoke not about the food that is perceived by the human senses—that which can be seen, touched, tasted and smelled. Jesus was not even talking about the manna that fell from Heaven that God provided in the wilderness to feed the Israelites. Jesus spoke of himself, the supernatural food, a unique soul-food, that gives everlasting life. Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven…very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (6:51,53).
The confused Jews disputed among themselves and were disturbed and offended by Jesus’ words, a fellow Jew. One reason for the inability to believe Jesus is that the people had shared a collective memory of God’s provision of manna from heaven, a bread-like flaky substance which fell upon the Israelites in the wilderness to feed them. The food that came down from heaven did not, and could not possibly, look like one of them, a mere human being. Besides, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?” (6:42). These people knew Jesus’ father and mother, and dismissed his words as nonsense, “How can he now say ‘I came down from heaven’?” they said (v.42).
Aware of the Jews’ stumbling block of human knowledge, Jesus emphasized that the bread of which he spoke, was not like the bread their ancestors had witnessed coming down from heaven which kept them alive, until they inevitably died, unable to escape death. Those who eat of “this” bread, Jesus said, will live forever. But, Human knowledge interfered with the hearers’ reception of Jesus message.
Another reason why the Jews were disturbed is that any Jew who heard Jesus’ words, would have known God’s Laws—rules for the Israelites to live by. The Law said, “…You shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood” (Genesis 9:4). This command is similarly repeated throughout the five books of Moses, in particular Genesis, Leviticus and Deuteronomy.[1] Jesus’ words appear to contradict God’s law, when he said, “…Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (v. 53).
The Jews were offended by Jesus’ talk of his own flesh as food. Receiving Jesus’ message literally, they disputed, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” The Jews’ human understanding handicapped them and made Jesus’ teachings incomprehensible. The Jews were in the presence of the bread that gives eternal life to all who eat of it, but by their lack of understanding and unbelief, they chose not to eat.
Just because we are people of faith, having the advantage of standing on the other side of the cross, we must not assume that we are shielded from the dangers of leaning on our human knowledge to make sense of divine truths. We must seek God’s wisdom.
King Solomon in our Old Testament reading in First Kings is one example of how we might first seek God’s wisdom. Recall that within the intimacy of Solomon’s dream, God spoke to his servant and asked what God should give Solomon. Referring to himself as “only a little child,” Solomon said, “Give your servant…an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil…” (1Kings 3:9). And, because Solomon humbly asked for the ability to optimally serve God’s people, God poured into him a discerning mind and gave him earthly abundance as long as he remained obedient to God’s statutes and commandments as his father, King David, had done.
Week by week, we come to the holy altar to be fed with the sacraments of Christ’s body and blood, believing by faith that the real presence of Christ abides in us and we in him, and that through that mutual abiding, we are bestowed with understanding minds and discerning hearts as we are nurtured to the full stature of Jesus Christ, in whom is life, the light of all mankind.[2]
Soon we will gather around the Holy table to consume the body and blood of Christ. As we eat the divine soul food, we are granted access to divine wisdom where our ability to discern between good and evil is strengthened. as we pattern our lives according to Jesus’ life. Be reminded of the transformation that takes place within you, and collectively within this faith community, as we partake of this holy supper in which we share in the divine nature of Jesus. Christ abides in us and we in him. Moving in and through us, by the power of the Holy Spirit, he continuously cleanses and renews us on our journeys of faith.
Through reading holy scripture, prayer, communal worship and obedience to Jesus of Nazareth’s teachings, God’s faithful people grow in wisdom. Like Solomon, we must embrace humility, and not lose sight of our utter dependence on God’s presence and guidance. May God pour into us a good understanding of His divine truths as we boldly go into the world to invite those, who do not yet know His son, to eat of the living bread—Jesus Christ, the one who vanquishes all hunger and destroys death.
In the midst of great joy and turmoil, within the shared experiences of the human family, belief in Christ feeds the collective human family’s soul. Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ, our savior is the bread of life. Let us come to the holy table to eat Jesus’ divine soul food believing that we are healed, made whole, and hunger no more. Amen.
[1] Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 17:11, Leviticus 17:14, Deuteronomy 12:23
[2] John 1:4
