The 10th Sunday after Pentecost - But first you have to admit you have a problem

It's been quite a while since I began a sermon with a joke.  It's not my preaching style, but I came across one this week that I have to share.  It's a beach scene with a lifeguard standing up on a tall life guard chair.  There's a man far out in the ocean up to his neck in the water, hands raised in a gesture that cries for help, looking as if he's about to go under.  The lifeguard, a Ph.D. student in psychology, looks directly at the man and yells, “I can help, but first you must admit you have a problem.”

In our gospel reading from John today, Jesus said almost the same thing to that crowd.  According the verses just before those we heard, John told us the disciples had gotten in a boat to go to Capernaum, and Jesus had withdrawn to a mountain by himself.  Jesus had fed a great multitude the day before.  Now a new day had begun, and these folks were determined to find Jesus.  John did not say the crowd knew the disciples had set out for Capernaum, but they must have known.  What John does say is this, “Then some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks; so when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.”

This crowd seems eager, desperate, determined.  Like the drowning man in my joke, they were driven to cry out for what they expected and hoped Jesus would give them.  Their action of jumping in the boats and taking off to find Jesus—just like the drowning man's gestures—embodied their cry for what they believed they needed.

Let's try imagine how they were feeling. Imagine a child expecting a certain gift.  Perhaps he has been told he would get something he wanted very badly, but he has not seen it come in the house. Or perhaps her parents (or whomever is giving the gift), usually gives her what she says she wants the most, but none of the wrapped presents looks the right size or shape.  In either case the child is desperate to be given the hidden gift or to tear into the presents to find the desired one—desperate!

Jesus had fed the crowd  in a most amazing way.  Now they must find him, so they can witness more of what he does and, perhaps, receive more as well. They were doing all that they could to find him!!  The boats they took set out from Tiberias and headed to Capernaum.  Hugging the coast of the Sea of Gallilee, they had to travel north about 12 to 15 miles.  And when they arrived, they couldn't believe Jesus had gotten there ahead of them.

I don't think their first question to Jesus was asking for information, but rather expressing astonishment—to paraphrase: you weren't with the disciples, how could you have gotten here ahead of us? Jesus didn't respond to their question; he responded to the intent that brought them to Capernaum.  Their intent in following him was to let him know they wanted his help in providing what they believed they needed.

As the lifeguard said to the swimmer, Jesus told them they must acknowledge their problem in order to gain what they needed. What was their problem according to Jesus?  They just wanted more bread, but what they really needed was God:  “Do not work [“work” in this case means taking desperate measures] for the food that perishes, but the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”  Since the “Son of Man” is a messianic title, Jesus offered them hope.

After hearing this promise of a Messiah who will provide what they hope for, they have two questions.  First they ask, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answers that the work of God one must do is to believe in the one God sent.  And then  they ask, “What sign are you going to give us, so that we may see it and believe in you?”  They go on further to say that Moses gave their ancestors manna to eat. They want proof that Jesus is as good as or better than Moses.

Have these not been humanity's eternal questions?  What must I do (or what must we do) to get exactly what we want from God?  And, by the way, prove to us that you, who want us to follow you, are favored by God by giving us—or getting us—what we believe we want.  Our faith finds its basis in receiving what we want!

Jesus re-frames their concern about getting what they want.  Since they have been talking about receiving bread, he turns bread into a symbol of what God offers humanity: “For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world . . . I am the bread of life.”

So by receiving Jesus, we will receive life in God.  By accepting Jesus as the Messiah of God we can be transformed now and forever.  Our lives in this world can be filled with God, so what we desire will coincide what makes us fully human—fully the people God has created each of us to be, who love God with our whole heart and mind and strength and our neighbors as ourselves.

This may sound wonderful, but it doesn't sound too easy or comfortable, does it? Our instincts often drive us to be self-centered, careful to look out for our own interests.  Only when we are able to admit we need help—as the drowning man in the joke was being asked too do—only then can we be open to the transforming presence of God in our lives.

The shape of our worship is no coincidence.  Confession, absolution from God, reconciliation through the exchange of God's peace and finally receiving the Real Presence of God through the bread and wine at Holy Communion—through our worship we express our need for help with the problem of being self-centered, and only then we can become open to God, ready to receive the bread of life.

To open with a joke and close with some lyrics from the Rolling Stones—no, this isn't your grandparents' sermon.  As the Rolling Stones wisely sang: “No, you can't always get what you want /No, you can't always get what you want/No, you can't always get what you want/But if you try sometime, you just might find/You get what you need.”  For Christians, our “trying sometime” means admitting, as the drowning man had to—admitting that we have a problem by confessing to God when we have missed the mark of loving God and our neighbor—and then being ready to receive God's help—who is Jesus, the bread of life.