October 27, 2002: Sharing Our Bread
and Wine - John 6:35-39
Pastor Trent Johnson
For those who have ears to hear…
Once upon a time in a land far, far away, certainly nowhere near this fine and happy place,
off in an out of the way corner where few ever go, there stood a little factory where workers
specialized in the abundant production of bread and wine. And when I say bread and wine, I
don't mean just any old bread or just any old wine. I don't mean a 24 oz. white loaf from Cub
Foods. I don't mean a wino's jug of strawberry ripple. I mean a quality of bread and wine
such that, once tasted, it was hard to ever again think of anything else even qualifying as
bread or wine.
It may seem at first a cruel coincidence (I assure you, it most certainly was not, as we shall
see in just a moment.): The little factory whose workers specialized in bread and wine was situated
in the midst of a city plagues by harsh and unyielding famine and draught. In the city, times were
truly desperate. The dead and dying were found in nearly every house. The suffering was evident on
nearly every street corner. One couldn't open the morning papers or turn on the evening news
without multiple accounts of a dozen here, twenty there, all struck down by the
scourge of hunger and thirst.
If you pause to reflect here for just a moment, it may strike you. If the little factory and
it's workers produced such abundance of bread and wine, and if the people of the city were so
desperately hungry and thirsty, why wasn't there a line at the factory door a mile long? Why
weren't a fleet of truck going out from the factory every hour on the hour to supply the city's
neighborhoods? That, in and of itself, is an intriguing, though rather disturbing tale.
Years and years and years ago, when the little factory was first established, lo and behold,
it's owner's prime purpose was to provide for the nourishment of the city. Provisions were made
by the factory owner to ensure that no one in the city ever need hunger or thirst. The
little factory and it's workers would always offer an abundance of bread and wine. It was a
wonderful plan, one could say a perfect plan, until people got in the way. Many say the problem
began almost immediately when some of the city people decided, through sheer ignorance or willful
folly, take your pick, the bread and wine were not to their liking. Some thought the bread to hard,
others, too soft. Some thought the wine to sweet, others, too dry. Go figure. You just can't
please some people. Rejecting the little factory and it's workers, rejecting the bread and wine,
these city people went off to make do with whatever they could find in the streets. What they
discovered was pitiful at best, and yet it seemed to them a feast, if for no other reason than it
wasn't the bread and wine from the little factory. As I'm sure you can imagine, this frustrated,
even angered the little factory workers. They decided from that time on they'd be much more selective
with whom they shared their fine products. After that, few and far between were the city people who
got to taste the bread and wine. That's one side of the story and maybe it's true. But it's not the
only version.
Some say this whole mess was started by the little factory workers themselves. According to this
account, the workers quickly grew weary of the masses constantly demanding bread and wine. They
grew tired of keeping the production schedule necessary to meet this demand. Discontent and murmuring
quickly grew. Eventually, after several long and decidedly boring business meetings, the workers
finally determined to keep most of the bread and wine for themselves. After all, what had the
city people ever done to deserve such royal fare? From then on, most of the bread and wine never
left the factory. Some say this is why so many of the little factory workers are obese and even
drunken, though, in all fairness, the workers prefer to call it being "well fed" and "mature". Over
time, as the city people found themselves repeatedly turned away from the little factory, they quit
coming and were forced to fend for themselves.
Now, really, who knows which side of the story is true? Maybe both are true. Maybe there are twelve
other versions of the story that help explain the dilemma, but the long and short of it is this: In
a city wracked by starvation, raging thirst and a plague of related ailments, there's a little
factory off in an out of the way corner where few ever go. It's workers specialize in the abundant
production of bread and wine, more than enough to meet the city's need. And, as in the city a baby
cries in agony for even a crusty morsel to nourish her emaciated frame, in the factory, a worker
pulls another dozen loaves of warm, tasty bread from the oven. And, as in the city an old man gasps
for even a drop of tepid water to quench his swollen tongue, in the factory, a worker corks bottle
after bottle after bottle of sweet and refreshing wine. And it makes you wonder. It makes you
wonder what it would take for the city to wake up to the treasure store of food and drink hidden in
it's midst. But it makes you wonder even more. It makes you wonder even more what it would take for
the little factory workers to wake up to the overwhelming need right outside their front door…
Let he or she who has ears to hear, hear well and ponder…
We're reading from JOHN 6:35-59 (Please read). For obvious reasons, this passage is often referenced
during the communion meal. However, this morning I read it to make a simple observation: Jesus is
spiritual food and drink sufficient to meet the needs of everyone who comes and partakes of his life.
If the story I've share left you confused, allow me to clarify. The little factory is the Church of
Jesus Christ. More accurately, the workers are the Church of Jesus Christ. The city is a world without
Jesus. The bread and wine meant for sharing are Jesus himself. And no, we don't "produce" Jesus in the
way a bakery produces bread or a winery produces wine. That's where the analogy starts to breaks down.
All the same, I think you get the picture. Having received Jesus' life, you and I are meant to share
Jesus and his life with those around us who are, quite literally, dying for lack of spiritual
nourishment.
In MT. 28:19 Jesus said, "Go and make disciples of all nations…" In ACTS 1:8, "…you will be my
witnesses…to the ends of the earth." In PH. 2:15-16, Paul described Jesus' followers as stars set
in a black sky, children of God holding out the word of life to a crooked and depraved generation.
In v. 6 of his letter to Philemon, Paul encouraged his brother in faith, telling him, "I pray that
you may be active in sharing your faith…". Those who seek to privatize and personalize Christian faith
to the extent it no longer need be shared with others have failed to understand an essential element
of that faith. The very essence of Christianity living dictates this faith be spread by people sharing
Jesus one to another. There's legitimate question as to whether Christian faith is really, by
definition, "Christian faith", if it's not being shared with others in one way or another.
Before you raise your defenses, or walk off muttering about another crusade from the pulpit
to jam personal witnessing down your throat, hear me out, ok? First, I've said nothing about witnessing
per se. We're talking about sharing Jesus. No doubt, a one on one verbal witness of Jesus is often an
essential piece in the process of sharing, but there are many pieces in the process. Think of it this
way. The counter person who sells you a loaf of bread or a bottle of wine may get to close the deal,
but he or she is just one piece of the process getting that product into your hand. So, too, with
sharing Jesus. You or I may not get to be the "deal closer" all that often. All the same, we may be
the one who day by day is mixing the dough or wrapping the loaves. We may be the one stomping grapes
or labeling the bottles. Thank goodness we're there doing our part. Without us, the process of putting
bread and wine in people's hands would be that much less effective. Second, would anyone disagree that
life by it's very nature seeks to reproduce life? Jesus is living bread and living water living in us.
Can we all agree that's a scripturally sound statement? That life in us is what the NT calls
zoe,
God's eternal quality of spiritual life. It longs to reproduce. Reproduction,
by it's very nature, involves some type of sharing. A seed, or some other life essence, must first be shared for life to
reproduce. I'm not trying to jam
personal witnessing down anybody's throat. However, I make no apologies whatsoever in saying with great urgency, I
certainly am encouraging all of us to be as active as possible in the work of
sharing the bread and wine of Jesus' life with others, whenever, wherever,
however we can.
Jesus' body broken for the brokenness of the entire
human race is living bread sufficient for the dark hunger that rages in
people's lives. Jesus' blood
shed for the forgiveness of every sin ever committed is living wine sufficient
for the merciless thirst that drives people to foolishness and despair. Jesus said in JOHN 10:10 he came to give us a full, abundant quality of
this life. Jesus is no liar. If you are a follower of Jesus, that life is even now living within you. As we have gathered together as followers of Jesus, that life flows here
among us. Jesus said of this life
in MT. 10:8, "Freely you have received, freely give." Friends, the city can't wait much longer. People can't stay hungry or thirsty forever. Hunger and thirst are resolved in only one of two ways. Either food and drink are found to satisfy the need, or that hunger and
thirst eventually become lethal. Hunger
and thirst, left unsatisfied, kill people. Workers (If you've determined to follow Jesus, that's what you are, a
worker in his Kingdom.), it's time to leave our out of the way corners. It's time to come out from behind the walls, windows and doors of the
factory. It's time to share the
bread and share the wine of Jesus that others might not die, but rather live.
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