What Are You Hungry For?
July 26, 2009—John 6:1-21
What are you hungry for? The day’s been long and no one feels like cooking so you go through the list of types of food and restaurants you might eat at. Will it be Chinese, Italian, German, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, pizza, sushi or simply burger and fries?
I’ve participated in 3 and 5 day fasts during retreat experiences and it’s amazing what hunger pangs can stir up. I’ve got this theory, unproven of course, but I believe that when we are hungry for a snack there are 3 kinds: (1)Sweets—candy-chocolate, peppermints, ice cream; (2) Salty treats—chips and salsa, pretzels—hard or soft; popcorn fits into this category; and last but not least, my favorite snack—(3) bakery goods—donuts, cookies and the best, cinnamon buns! (Which is your favorite?)
There’s a fascinating book on food that I have just hade time to go through quickly—not reading every paragraph on every page: Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, by Eric Schlosser. It’s on the best-seller list recently. The author writes that Americans spend more money on fast foods than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers and recorded music combined. I was aware several years ago that the amount of money spent on eating out had surpassed the amount of groceries purchased. The fast-food chains are now conveniently located close to the check-out counters in many large warehouse stores.
Even Tim Horton’s has moved beyond double-doubles and donuts. The majority of Tim’s revenue comes from soup and sandwiches.What are you hungry for? It’s a great question, one that goes beyond what your body feeds on for fuel, beyond what you crave for a midday snack. It’s a question that if you are willing to explore, takes you to explore your deepest drives and desires.
What accomplishments are you feasting on hoping they will give you that long sought after sense of fulfillment? What activity do you devour that you continue to consume, hoping it will finally make you feel whole? What ideology are you buying in bulk, praying that it will answer all of life’s questions? What are you hungry for?
Jesus knew about hungry people—they were always in his face and after the story in the gospel,they were eager to make him their personal food bank, their king. Jesus had reached rock-star status. His teachings, his healing miracles, his connection to a source of power beyond himself were a magnet that drew people to him. That was good news.
The bad news was that there was little time for being alone, for prayer, and that close personal connection to the source of his power, Creator God. He tried to get-away but the crowds pursued him. In the Jewish tradition, the crowd was counted, but only the men were counted and the story reports there were about 5000 men. That’s huge crowd to speak to without a good sound system. But, Jesus wisdom about the truths of life silenced the crowd and they listened intently.
His assistants made him aware the people were hungry. Their analysis said they did not have enough money to go and buy enough bread to feed this multitude. What to do? The crowd’s hunger could turn ugly. From the side a boy came forward with 5 loaves of bread and two fish. The absurdity of the small offering caused the disciples to roll their eyes.
But Jesus made use of what was offered. He blessed the food offered in a manner that also happened at the Last Supper, and when the meal was over, amazingly, there was enough for every one. And the crumbs left over filled 12 baskets.
There’s lots of theological overlay in that last little bit. We don’t know what the facts were. Perhaps, Jesus simply snapped his fingers and turned the 5 loaves and 2 fishes into a massive banquet for 5000, or did Jesus use the example of the boy’s generosity to motivate everyone to share what they had with those around them. Moving from self-centered, self-interest, in meeting your own need, to being a community caring for each other provided a new consciousness. One of the theological metaphors applied to this was the “left-overs filling 12 baskets.” The Jewish nation had 12 Tribes. Jesus was bringing a new spirituality and there would be enough for everyone. (That was Paul’s great discovery in the epistle lesson, written while he was a prisoner in Rome. God’s amazing grace was and is for everyone not just the select few.)
In our hungers do we perceive Jesus merely as a BUFFET OF BLESSINGS for us, from which we can pick and choose? These stories today could provide people of the 1st century and us with very seductive and attractive pictures of Jesus—but very inaccurate ones. The temptation is to see Jesus as the guy who can walk on water, heal the sick, raise the dead and apparently not only calm the seas, but also sooth the hunger pangs of 5000 plus stomachs.
The temptation in these stories is to see Jesus simply as the one who can meet our needs and make our troubles melt away, like a short-order Savior. To be honest, I think that’s the way many of us first approach Jesus. Our lives are filled with cravings for financial security, physical well-being and life full of happy, peaceful relationships. Our idea of the trinity is “me, myself, and I.”
We enlist the help of Dr. Phil and Oprah and try out the secrets of self-help, self-improvement, at least trying the cures and fixes on the covers of the magazines and the commercials in-between reality tv shows.
The way we shop for actual food also is a striking metaphor for our search to meet our hunger satisfaction. Warehouse, Big Box, stories like Costco allow us and encourage us to load up on life’s necessities at bargain prices in bulk. The underlying assumption is “life is better when you buy more.”
As a little side-bar-do you know that Costco is beginning to sell coffins in their stores. That raises several questions for me: what do you do with a coffin once you’ve bought it—assuming you won’t need it for awhile? The other question is: do they sell coffins only in six packs?
Many of us shop for fulfillment like we shop for our groceries. We walk through life loading our shopping cart full of stuff we hope will cure our cravings. And, at some point, maybe when our financial foundations are shaken, or our hopes and dreams don’t develop, we make our way to Jesus. Just like everything else, we throw him into our cart, too. In, the process, Jesus becomes just another thing we put into our shopping cart, a game we play where the goal is simply to get what we want. It is a game than in the end proves to be unfulfilling.
Bono, of the rock band U2 and a professed Christian sums up this unfulfilled search with these hit lyrics: “I have climbed highest mountains, I have run through the fields, I have run, I have crawled, I have scaled these city walls…But, I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.”
Jesus came to be the food we need. If you’re looking for a Jesus who will fatten your RSP, guarantee a cure for your illness, offer you 10 easy steps to a perfect family, land you a job, or restore every one of your relationships, then, you’ve got the WRONG JESUS. When we come TO JESUS, AND COME FOR JESUS, THEN WE MEET THE REAL JESUS.
When our souls are fed and our spirits are lifted by the work and example of Jesus, we may still go through seasons of illness, unemployment or even a lack of food. But one thing we will never be is—EMPTY!.
When we fill our life spaces with Jesus’ spirit, we find that many of our other cravings, such as a need for purpose and meaning, will be satisfied, freeing us to meet the challenges of our day-to-day lives with contentment and a perspective on a new consciousness.
So, one last time: What are you hungry for? It a great question a question that goes deeper than whether you like snacks that are sweet, salty, or baked goods. May we follow Jesus, Not so that he can meet our needs, but rather knowing deeply that he is all that we need.
Isaiah: Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me and eat what is good and your soul will delight is the richest of fare.(Isaiah 55:2) Jesus is the bread of life.
