Better Bread
John 6:25-35
“You are what you eat!” is the old slogan that we have been hearing for years. Many of the fast food chains are trying to become more “healthy choices” facilities. Just this week KFC announced that beginning in the New Year, they would change their frying methods by switching to canola oil. This is supposed to cut down on the number of trans fats that people consume each year.
Food can do some strange things to a person. I’m not talking about food-borne illnesses that have been in the news recently. Food can change the behaviour of people. On the hit reality program Survivor, many of the “luxury” challenges often deal with food. It is amazing how quickly a friendship can disintegrate over a chocolate chip cookie on this program.
It’s not just food that people go nuts over. I’m sure you have seen it on television or at least heard about it - hundreds of women rushing to racks and racks of designer wedding gowns and trying them on in the aisles at Filenes in Boston. According to Filene’s website, basement buyers accumulate gowns from a variety of sources including manufacturer’s samples, overstocks, cancelled orders, excess merchandise, etc. Many of the dresses still have their original price tags and may be priced in the thousands. So, when these buyers have accumulated at least 1000 gowns they set a date for the "sale" and price all dresses at $249 each.
We can get lost in the heat of the moment. One second our heads appear to be screwed on straight, and the next second, we’re going nuts for the “Tickle me Elmo’s” and “George Foreman’s Lean Mean Fat Burning Machine!” It happens in the “real world” and it can happen in the church as well.
A few years back, and even today, one of the best selling books has been “A Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren. I’ve bought it and have read it. The book shows what a lie with Christ looks like. I have no problem with that. Pastor Rick even explains what the Plan of Salvation in the early goings of the book. My problem with the whole book is that some people, even people I know, have made it sound like it almost ranks up there with the Bible itself.
It seems like people like the latest fads and fashions. Many churches use hi-tech gadgets and specialized programs to reach people. I feel that some people only come out to these things for the “entertainment” value of it. They like the latest craze in churchiness. But in the same breath, some people come to our Celebration Sunday concerts and coffeehouses for the same entertainment.
I’m not questioning why churches do these things. It’s not an issue about big church vs. little church. What I’m talking about today is allowing God to take us past the flash and the fancy of the wrappings, and digging into the gift inside.
In the sixth chapter of John’s gospel, we find a story so amazing that Matthew, Mark and Luke have included in their own accounts of the life of Jesus. Jesus, with a small boy’s lunch, feeds five thousand people. I’ve heard of some people who give the big churches a hard time over little things. No offence but I have yet to see a big church take five barely loaves and a couple fish and feed thousands.
That miracle is amazing in and of itself. I could preach a message on the God of miracles, but you have heard them, and He hasn’t placed it in my heart to talk about it. Today, I want to look at what takes place on the other side of the lake. Let’s see what happens after the fellowship time. When all the pomp and circumstance had died down, what happens next?
Read John 6:25-35
In the first fourteen verses of this chapter, we see that five thousand men sat down for this meal of fish and bread. In other accounts of this gospel, we see that women and children were also fed. I believe, as a little aside to the whole story, that the men were responsible for feeding their families. So whatever they received that day from the disciples was also further divided among the wife and kids. The special thing about this story is that everybody present ate well, and there were twelve baskets of leftovers. We again get a chance to see that Jehovah Jireh, “God Provides” is present.
Jesus looked at the crowd, had compassion on them, and fed them all. In verse fifteen, however, the people were all set to make Jesus their king, and He hikes across the water... literally. It’s on the other side of the lake that the crowd finally catches up with Jesus, and that is where the real lessons begin.
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. (John 6:25, 26)
There is a chance that some here today are here out of habit. You’ve come to church because it’s what you do. It’s your thing. It’s almost like you’ve come, punched in and are waiting for the whole thing to end. Once the final “Amen” is given, it’s out the door, and nothing new has taken place in your life.
The people who chased Jesus across the lake did the same thing, and Jesus knew it. They followed Him, not because they saw something special about this guy, or even the miracle He had just performed. They followed Him because He had fed them, and it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. They were caught up in the moment.
Jesus warned them about that. “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." (John 6:27) Don’t just do it because they are doing it, but search for something more.
As a child, my parents took my sister and I to church with them. I can even remember the night that my parents made their way to the altar and accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. But before they were saved, they went to church because it was the “good” thing to do. They failed to see the fact that there was something more to this “religion” than friendly people and 7,653 verses of “Just as I am.”
Jesus looked at the people who had followed Him, and told them to seek “food that endures to eternal life.” In other words, there is more to what happened to these 5,000 men. Christ was compelling them to look for it. He wanted them to seek after it. He wanted them to yearn for it! “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)
“Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ’He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” (John 6:28-31)
Some people are only happy as long as something is done for them. In our last church, there was one lady who had it in for the previous pastor. She would tell you to your face that he “chased” people out of the church. Her largest complaint was that she never “got anything out” of the music. The pastor was not musically inclined, and she suffered because of it.
The only difference between the former pastor and myself was that I played music. The sad note of the whole story is that even though the previous pastor played no music, they had musicians who played each week. Once I started there, I played with the same people, and now the music was “great!” With a pastor who played music, she began to get something out of the service.
Let me say this, you only get out of a service that which you put in the first place. The people, who sounded like they wanted to follow God, still wanted Jesus to PROVE Himself to them again. They wanted another show, another performance.
Jesus would tell them all they needed to was to believe in Him, but they wanted sign. Their faith was in what they could see. They saw a Man feed them. They saw a Man perform miracles. They wanted a sign. The writer Hebrews sheds a different light on the subject of faith. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
Jesus looked at the crowd, and said “Folks, it doesn’t work that way.” “Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread." (John 6:32-34)
You see, church is not about attendance. This life is not about good works; there is a better rope to reach for. It’s not about sitting in a pew each week, but it’s about a life changing experience. Jesus changed their patterns of thinking. “Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." It’s not about warm fuzzies and fancy music. Jesus came to give us something better than what we want. He came to give that which we need.
To be totally honest, we don’t need this building. In fact, we do not need the Nazarene denomination, or any denomination for that matter. This whole world needs a deep personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to give us better than what the world had to offer.
At first these people came for the physical needs. They were wowed and amazed that Jesus had taken a schoolboy’s lunch and fed a multitude. They came looking for more of that. Jesus came to offer “better bread.” He came to give HIMSELF to a lost and dying world.
The people cried out to Jesus "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread." I truly believe that there were a few in that crowd who honestly wanted more of Jesus. They were tired of living the religion. They wanted a relationship.
Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. (John 6:35-37)
In the end of it all, Jesus told the people around Him that He was what these people needed. It would only be through the shed blood of Jesus that these people would see the Father. But still there were those in the crowd who still didn’t believe.
Conclusion
What drives you? What are you looking for this morning? Jesus is here offering you “better bread.” That does not mean that all your problems will vanish instantaneously. In fact, we’re told that things will actually get worse for those follow Jesus.
He is offering you hope today. Do not be like the ones in the crowds who just looked for the flash and the fancy. Go to Him for the sustenance. Go to Him for the bread that fills us completely. Jesus said “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” Whatever you are facing in this world, Jesus wants to be there with you every step of the way.
