As most of us are aware, we are in the lectionary cycle that follows the progression of Jesus as the Bread of Life. It would seem that John the Evangelist – and Jesus himself – are intent on really bringing home this message of what can really feed us, not just physically, but spiritually. These lections from this Sunday to come are the third of five consecutive weeks with this theme. It’s obviously a message that Jesus feels bears repeating, not just once, but several times in succession. One might be tempted to say: “Ok, I get it!” But do we? Clearly, it seems that this is a message that is important to pay attention to. So, what’s the message?
We live in a world that is full of distractions – a world that offers us quick fixes for what we think might ail us. We live in a world that all too often points us to things outside of us as a way of comfort. We are bombarded with an flood of marketing that says that if we live in the right zip code, the right amount of money in the bank, the right designer label on our clothing, the right car, the right this or that – that somehow these things can fix us – that somehow these things can fill the void – the hole – within us. And the truth is that it sometimes works – but not for long. These temporary fixes are fleeting at best, and ultimately do not fill the hole within us because the longing within us is a longing for the Divine- a longing for God, and can only be filled by the things of God.
So Jesus is standing before us with the bold claim that he is the True Bread of Life. He stands before us to say that in the midst of all of our distractions and our groping attempts at temporary fixes, he offers what is real. He offers us what can really heal us. He offers us what can really sustain us for the longer journey of the soul with God. When life offers us a bowl of tears, Jesus offers us living water. When the darkness seems too dark, Jesus offers himself as the Light of Our World. When the bread we eat is soaked in tears, Jesus offers himself as the True Bread of Life that can sustain us through it all. Jesus is saying that no matter what life throws at us, if we can remain focused on him, somehow things will work out for us. But all too often we are prone to fall for cheap imitations, something other than the real deal, something other than the True Bread of Life sent down from heaven to us by the very hand of God.
I want to share a story about a little girl and a dime-store necklace. One day the little girl was with her mother at the dime-store. While the mother was waiting in the checkout line, the little girl ran up to her with great excitement holding in her hand a cheap little dime-store imitation pearl necklace. She loved the necklace and wanted it so badly that she begged her mother to let her have it. The mother looked at the cheap necklace and said “I don’t know…ten cents is an awful lot of money.” The little girl pleaded with her mother and said she would do anything her mother wished if she could only have the necklace. Her mother finally gave in and bought the necklace for her daughter, and the little girl wore it proudly every single day and never took it off, even sleeping with it on. It was her prized possession.
One night the little girl’s father came into her room at bedtime to pray with her as he did every night. The father said to the little girl, “Sweetheart, I have something I need to ask of you.” The little girl said, “of course, daddy, I would do anything for you, what is it?” To which the father replied, “I need to ask you if you could give me your necklace?” The little girl was saddened and said “Daddy, I would give you anything…but not my necklace. Of all my things, it is my most treasured.” Her father replied…”That’s ok, I love you.” A few nights later the father came to pray with his daughter and made the same request. “Honey, can you give me your necklace?” The little girl answered, “Oh daddy, you know how much I love you and I would do anything for you, but I just can’t give up my necklace.” The father replied…”it’s alright my little darling, I love you.” A few nights later the same request came from the little girl’s father, “Honey, can I have your necklace?” The little girl with much sadness replied, “Oh daddy, you know how much I love this necklace, and I never want to part with it, but if it means that much to you…well ok”, and she unfastened the necklace from her neck for the first time since the day she got it and handed it to her father. As she was doing this, her father reached into his pocket and pulled out a jewelry case. He opened the case and inside was a real, genuine pearl necklace. The little girl looked up at her father with amazement as tears of joy ran down her cheeks. Her father said, “I knew how much you loved your necklace and I love you so much that I wanted you to have the real thing.” He fastened the string of pearls around her neck…and they prayed.
God wants us to have the real thing, the true treasure, the real Bread of Life that he offers us in Jesus. And God is waiting for us to let go of cheap imitations – the dime-store stuff – so that we can receive the bread that can really fulfill us.