Are You Gonna Eat That?

Jesus offers us blessings without asking for anything in return, right? Well... maybe we should think about that a little bit more, especially when we are preparing to receive Holy Communion. This short sermon considers what Jesus said to the crowds who followed him after he fed them. Maybe we should still listen to him.

What must it have been like to be part of the crowd on the day that Jesus fed so many people with so little? (John 6:1-15, 25-27) Five thousand people had gathered to see Jesus, hoping to see one of the miracles for which he had become famous. Five thousand people! That’s a big crowd! That’s twice as many people as Hobart Arena in Troy holds. It only seats about 3,500 people. It’s even more people than the outdoor Fraze Pavilion in Dayton holds! It only seats 4,300 people. So when Jesus’ disciples asked all those people to sit down on the grass and started serving food, nobody thought that everybody would get some. I’ll bet that you could hear some grumbling from the back rows. There were probably some men back there who were elbowing their wives and saying, “I told you that we should have gotten here earlier! What took you so long getting ready, anyway? We’ll never get any of that food!”

But of course, they did get some of that food. Everybody got some of that food! No sooner did a basket of bread pass by on the left than another basket would pass by on the right; and those baskets never got empty. Everybody had so much to eat that not a single person turned to his neighbor and asked, “Are you gonna eat that?” In fact, they had so much to eat that they decided they should make Jesus their king. Why, they wouldn’t have to worry about having enough food if Jesus were king! If they had a bad harvest, he could just conjure up enough food for the whole country. Heck, they wouldn’t have to work at all if Jesus were king! They could just kick back and let him work miracles!

But Jesus didn’t care too much for that idea; so after everyone had eaten, he slipped away from them. The crowd looked for him all night; and when they found him the next morning, he knew what why they were there. They wanted him to feed them breakfast! And he called them on it! “You aren’t interested in hearing what I have to say,” he said. “You just want more to eat! Quit worrying about where your corn flakes are coming from. I can give you food that lasts eternally. Worry about that!” Of course, they didn’t know what he was talking about. If you read a little further in this story, you’ll find out that some of them got so disgusted with Jesus that they just went back home.

When we hear this story, we look at those people in that crowd who went home, and we shake our heads in disbelief. Who would leave Jesus before they listened to what he had to say? Who wouldn’t want to follow him, and maybe even become one of his disciples? The answer is, of course, that the people who went back home only cared about their own comfort. They came to see Jesus because they had heard about his miracles. When he fed them until they were full to bursting, they wanted more miracles like that. They didn’t want to hear what Jesus had to say about taking up a cross, or loving their neighbor, or forgiving others so many times that they lost count. They just wanted to feel good.

Are there people like that around today? Sure, there are. There are plenty of them. Some of them even sit in church pews on Sunday and call themselves Christians. Oh, they want what Jesus has to offer. They want his healing and his peace and his comfort. The trouble is that they don’t want any of the self-sacrifice that’s a part of being one of his disciples. For example, some of these folks are suspicious of people who aren’t just like they are. They might not admit it, but deep down inside, they’re pretty sure that Jesus really only likes middle class, taxpaying folks like they are. They aren’t willing to lend a helping hand, either. If their elderly neighbor can’t get out to mow his yard, they would never think of offering to cut it for him. In fact, they might even call the health department if the grass gets too long! And as for donating to charities or to the church… Why, they worked hard to earn that money! Why should they give to moochers who have more kids than they can afford? They’re just like those folks who were part of crowd who gathered around Jesus on that long-ago day on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. They only care about their own comfort. It’s great if Jesus can help them with that. But if Jesus asks anything of them, they’re outta there!

In just a few minutes, we will gather around the Lord’s Table; and Jesus will feed us once again. Of course, this bread and cup are only symbols of the real food that he offers us in abundance: forgiveness, comfort, courage, joy, eternal life, and the peace that passes all understanding. And after we have joined him at the meal, he will look at us with a question in his eyes: “Will you now go home; or will you follow me?” That’s what we have to decide as we prepare to eat the food that he offers us. Will we agree to follow him wherever he calls us to go? I have just one question for you as we gather at the Table this morning: “Are you going to eat that?”