H. Michael Brewer
Crescent Springs Presbyterian
6 August 2006
BREAD
John 6:24-35
“If only I could get that promotion.”
“If only I could get into that school.”
“If only he’d ask me out.”
“If only I could get over this illness or buy a home in that neighborhood or drive a car like that or take early
retirement or get pregnant—then I’d be happy. Then I’d have it made. Then everything would be OK. If only...”
When we're honest with ourselves, we readily admit it: Who we are and what we have are never good
enough. We see an ad with a gorgeous model and we want to be her (or him). We walk through a store and
crave all the great stuff we know will never be ours. We watch action-packed movies and feel like our lives are
boring.
It seems we're never satisfied. That in itself is distressing. But what’s even worse is that if we’re lucky
enough or determined to get the thing we wanted, after we’ve got it we’re still not satisfied. We grab the brass
ring, we win the award, we nab the scholarship, we make a killing in the market, we get the trophy wife—and
somehow there’s still something missing.
That’s because there is a God-shaped hole in each of us. That’s the notion of a 17th Century
mathematician and philosopher named Blaise Pascal. He says there is a hole in the human heart, a gaping
crack that reveals a bottomless abyss, and we would do anything to fill that endless emptiness.
We try to fill it with money and success. Or we shovel lots of sexual adventures into that void, trying to
disguise the numbness within. Or we work around the clock. Or we chase after popularity. Or we pursue
power and prestige. Or we make an idol of health and fitness. Or we buy a lot of stuff. Or we comfort ourselves
with food, confusing heart and stomach. Or we choose some drug—alcohol being the perennial favorite—and
we drink, smoke, snort, shoot in the hopes that if we can get enough we won’t feel empty, at least for a while.
All this is not as bleak as it seems. In fact, this hunger—this gaping hole within us—is a great blessing from
God. It is meant to tug us and pull us into the arms of our Maker and our Savior. Think of it as rock in your
shoe. You may ignore it for a while. You may limp along for miles with that rock gouging you at every step. But
sooner or later, you’re probably going to stop and do something about it.
That’s why God gave us this spiritual hole, so that we will not be able to settle for anything less than God.
To quote loosely from Pascal: “What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there
was once in humanity a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This
emptiness we try in vain to fill with everything around us, though nothing can help, since this infinite abyss can
be filled only by the infinite God.”
The story from John’s Gospel captures the human dilemma in snapshot. The day after Jesus fed the
multitude in the wilderness, the crowds come looking for Jesus. They beg and borrow boats and they row
across the Sea of Galilee. Catching up with Jesus on the other side, they say, “Teacher, what are you doing
over here?”
Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but
because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for
eternal life, the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and
gives life to the world.”
They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever
believes in me will never be thirsty.”
The crowd didn’t really want Jesus. They wanted another free meal. They figured, “All I need is an extra
loaf or two. That will be enough. I can get by on that.”
We keep trying to fill the hole by ourselves. We keep hoping we can find or earn or luck into something on
our own that will satisfy us, so we can be self-sufficient, so we can save ourselves, so we won’t have to
depend on God.
But it never works. God is the only thing big enough to fill that hole. Jesus Christ is the only bread that will
truly satisfy our hunger.
Sounds great in theory, but does it really work? Speaking from his own personal experience, here’s what
the apostle Paul says: “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the
secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in
want. I can do everything through [Christ] who gives me strength.”(Philippians 4:12)
These aren't just pious, religious-sounding words. This is the heartfelt confession of a man who was
sitting in prison at the time. Paul could have said, “If only I could get free, then I’d be at peace.” But Paul knew
better than to pin his hopes on circumstances.
There was a time in his earlier days when Paul had freedom, authority, prestige, status, credentials, and
looking back on those days when he had everything and was still empty, Paul says, “I once thought all these
things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes,
everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have
discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ...” (Philippians 3:7-8 NLT)
Paul didn't depend on his circumstances or his accomplishments for fulfillment. Paul could be happy
when he had everything or he could be happy when he had nothing at all because he knew the secret of true
contentment: a deep, personal friendship with Jesus Christ, a friendship that fills the hole inside of us with
the presence of God.
The crowd came to Jesus looking for a free meal, what they thought would be a quick fix for their
emptiness. Jesus knew better, so he said to them, “I am the living bread. Whoever eats of this bread will live.”
And because of this teaching “many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.” (John 6:
66)
We’re hungry. We’re empty. We want to fill up on our own terms without having to bring God into it. I’ll tell
you how well that works. A few years ago during a really cold spell when the snow was on the ground for days
and wouldn’t leave, an acquaintance of mine was worried about the birds. He started throwing bread into the
yard to feed them. Every morning and every afternoon he tore handfuls of white bread into pieces and
scattered it in his back yard.
The birds came. They gobbled it up the bread and fought over the scraps. And after a few days my friend
began to find dead birds in his yard. A few on the lawn, a few others frozen to death in the bare tree branches.
Only later did he learn that his kindness had accidentally killed those birds. Winter birds need seed because
seed contains oil and oil is what insulates the birds against the freezing temperatures. Given an easy meal,
the birds stuffed themselves on bread instead of hunting for seed. The more they filled themselves with the
easy bread, the quicker they died.
There is a hunger in you and me that only one thing can satisfy. God save us from easy substitutes that
leave us hungrier than we were before.
Soli Deo Gloria!