Laetare
26 March, Anno Domini 2017
St. John 6:1-15
Pr. Kurt Ulmer
In the Name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This first part of John 6 is one of my favorite and, I think most beautiful and simple pictures of the Christian Church – people gathering around Jesus, hungering for what He and He alone can give them. The crowds that had gathered around Jesus that day had seen the signs that Jesus had been performing and, no doubt, heard some of His preaching. And they wanted more. They didn’t fully understand Jesus, but they wanted more. And so they followed Him out into the wilderness, into the middle of nowhere, where there was no food, no water. Maybe they were just so swept up in the moment that that they absent-mindedly forgot to pack a cooler with lunch and a few beers. Maybe some of them just expected that, as He had done for the illness of other, Jesus would take care of their hunger as well. Either way, out they marched – thousands of people like sheep without a shepherd.
Jesus knew what they were after. He knew full well that for most of them, His miracles were little more than neat tricks – that they weren’t coming to Him seeking God’s mercy, they didn’t believe that He was the Messiah who would save them from their sins and eternal death. Jesus knew that many of them would likely be in the crowds that cried out for His crucifixion. But He loved them anyway. He wanted to care for them and feed them. That is what Jesus does. He cares for His creation, regardless of what His creation thinks of Him. That is love. That’s how we even know what love is, because Jesus showed it to us; He first loved us and gave His life as a ransom for ours.
In today’s world, there are as many reasons people first come to church as there are people. Maybe they heard you talking about what goes on at your church. Maybe as you were going through a time of struggle and hardship, you said something about what Jesus has done for you or how He has never failed to take care of you. Maybe the Lord has laid a cross on them that finally showed them how desperately they need help. Maybe they were intrigued by why people who believe as we do, want to go out and help people they don’t know, even people who hate them in return. Not everyone who goes out to the wilderness of the church knows exactly why or what they will find. But, regardless of what they come looking for, here they will always find a Shepherd who loves them, who knows their need better than they do and well provides them with more than they could ever hope for or imagine.
You see, Jesus knew that the crowds needed far more than just food, they needed Him, they needed to see who He really was and that He was able to give them so much more than just bread and fish. By performing this miracle, Jesus was showing them that He was God, who had created them and who provides them with everything they need. He also wanted to open their eyes to their sinfulness and their greatest need – their need for rescue from eternal death. And He wanted them to see that He had come to do just that. He wanted them to seek after the kingdom of God and His righteousness. He also wanted them to know that, as their Creator He would certainly give them what they needed in this life – everything they needed to support this body and life. But when that is all they wanted Him for, when they sought to make Him king so that He would keep giving them stuff, He left them.
Our Lord loves and cares for us whether we believe or not, whether we thank Him or not, because He is love and that is what love does. That is why we, Christ’s Church, His body here on earth, can and want to do exactly what Jesus did – we show mercy because we have been shown such great mercy in everything; because we know that not only does Jesus give us daily bread that makes our stomach stop growling, but He has given us the bread of eternal life – Himself, the true eternal food of His Flesh and the true drink of His Blood. It doesn’t matter what it costs us or whether people appreciate it or understand why we do it – it doesn’t matter because it didn’t matter to Him and because we have the great and inexpressible joy of knowing that that is exactly what Jesus does and promises to do for us – care for us in every way that we need it even though we don’t deserve even the smallest crumb from His hand.
Whatever first brought you here, you keep coming back because the food you have received from Jesus’ hand has created faith in you and draws you back. You may have come here looking for a comfortable place, for a group of nice friendly people, for help with your problems. But what you found exceeds anything you ever hoped for. Here, gathered around Jesus, you have found peace that no amount of money or food or earthly wealth could ever buy. You have found a place where your real troubles – your sin, your eternal welfare, your fear of God’s judgment against your idolatry – find perfect healing and forgiveness in the Blood of Jesus. You have found the place where Jesus has you lie down and rest from your working so that through the hands and mouths of His undershepherds He can give to you mercy, forgiveness, salvation, peace, hope, and eternal joy – and all of it absolutely free.
That is the Church. That is who we are. We are hungry people who have come to be fed by our Lord. And His greatest joy is doing exactly that. We have walked away from the world because we know it has nothing of value to offer us. We have eaten it’s bread and it has made us sick and left us even hungrier. We have come to this place where the world has no say, no influence, no voice because we know that the world is full of the devil’s lies. We haven’t come to bring the Lord something He needs from us. We don’t have anything of value in His eyes. What we do bring is our sin, our guilt, our shame, our disobedience, our idolatry, our covetousness, our lovelessness, our hateful words, our murderous thoughts, our wandering eyes. We bring them to lay at Jesus feet because He wants them. We bring them because He has promised to take them from us and die for them so that they could all be forgiven. We come so that we can hear those precious words “Your sins are forgiven. Take, eat. This is My Body which given for you. Take, drink. This is My Blood which is shed for YOU for the forgiveness of sins.”
Those words fill our hearts to overflowing. And out of that overflow come our hymns of praise and thanksgiving for all that Jesus has done for us. Having received such boundless love, we can’t help but use all that has been given us to make sure that not only we but our children and our neighbors are always able to come here and sit at the feet of Jesus, to hear the gracious words of life that pour out of His mouth and receive the Bread of Heaven that satisfies our hungry souls. Out of the superabundance of God’s mercy flows the love for our neighbor and our desire to help them in every physical need, but also to invite them to sit with us at Jesus’ feet and be fed by the Good Shepherd.
Let us pray. Lord Jesus, we thank and praise you that you have created us and every day give us the things that we need to take care of our bodies and the bodies of our neighbor. Forgive us for only wanting from you earthly things and for allowing those earthly things to distract us from the one thing needful, the Bread of heaven. By Your Holy Spirit, stir up in us a daily desire for your Word and the precious Sacraments that give eternal life. Move us to love our neighbor so that we would share with them the blessings you have poured out on us, especially the gifts of forgiveness and salvation that we have through your cross. We ask that you do this for the glory of your Name. Amen.