Sermon and Video for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

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Video of Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer

2024 Pentecost 12

1 Kings 19:1-8               

Ephesians 4:17-5:2                  

John 6:35-51

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. Amen. 

Right when Elijah was ready to give up, the Lord gave him the gift of food. His life and work were not done. The Lord has more for the prophet to do, so he is given food to strengthen him for the journey ahead. 

As Jesus describes who he is and what he can do, Jesus reminds his listeners that years ago, Israel was also ready to give up, and the Lord provided what they needed to live in the wilderness. Manna, the mysterious bread, appeared all around them every morning six days a week. 

The food and drink that the Lord provided Israel during their forty-year sojourn in the wilderness is only to sustain them. It fills their stomachs and gives them strength for the day. The same with the food that Elijah receives. Despite being provided by an angel, the food only serves to give Elijah strength for his coming forty-day journey. There is no eternal value to the food. No inner spiritual transformation occurs because of it, other than the ongoing lesson of simply living in the trust that the Lord provides for our daily bread. 

In the hands and words of Jesus, bread takes on an entirely different meaning. Jesus says, I am the Bread of Life. Jesus, as the Son of God, is as essential to life as daily bread. Yet, unlike daily bread, receiving the crucified Jesus with faith leads to eternal life. When we close our eyes for the last time on this earth, Jesus promises us that we will wake up on the last day and coninue eternal life with him. Jesus is the bread of life who dies for the sake of the world. He rescues us from destruction and death and promises us heaven. 

He is lifted up on a cross for all to see. He is sacrificed on the cross for us so that we may enjoy the Father’s forgiveness. When we look upon Jesus with faith, our heavenly Father looks upon us with mercy. We are declared forgiven. For Christ’s sake, we are loved and cherished. 

Jesus says, “Come to me. I am the bread of life. I am the resurrection and the life. Come, follow me. He says, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Jesus comes to give us salvation and to change us. He comes to transform us. 

The transformation is what the Apostle Paul addresses in the reading from Ephesians. In my Bible, this reading has the heading, “The New Life.” 

As far as God is concerned, it is not enough for God to simply forgive us and then send us on our merry little way. God desires us to be of his flock. He desires to lead us, shape us, transform our thinking and behavior, so that we imitate our Lord. The Holy Spirit is preparing us for eternal life by his love and forgiveness. Through Word and Sacrament, Christ’s sacrifice and love, the Father’s forgiveness, the steady work of the Holy Spirit is changing us from the inside out. 

The Apostle Paul speaks of this new life in his letters to the church.  He encourages the church to let God work within them. Jews who receive Jesus as the Messiah are no longer bound to continue observing the distinctive provisions of the Torah. Enjoy the freedom! Gentiles are to no longer worship other idols or engage in practices that their pagan life led them into. Enjoy the freedom! Instead, Jesus the Bread of Life, leads us into a new and different way. 

The new and different way is a life that is oriented around a love that reflects the love God has shown us in Christ Jesus. Love for the sake of Christ means putting to death those emotions and practices that come easiest and most natural to us. The Apostle names a few: greed, deceitfulness, anger, revenge, theft, laziness, indulging in sensual pleasures with those we are not married to. 

Instead, the Bread of Life, give us His life so that we are strengthened in the long journey of learning to speak in a way that builds up those around us, learning to forgive those that deserve our wrath and vengeance, letting God take away our bitterness and anger and malice and ungodly desires. The Bread of Life frees us, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” 

This kind of transformation is not possible without the work of Christ. Our own efforts only take us so far. Our own efforts will never allow us to match God’s expectations of us. So, we receive Jesus the Bread of Life, knowing that only He can lead us into being imitators of Him, and walk in His love.  

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.