Hunger pangs

By the Rev. Elisabeth Shelton Hartwell

Revised Common Lectionary reflection, Proper 13, Year B
August 4, 2024

Key verse: 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.” -John 6:35

Dear fellow preachers, I confess to you my weakness for ice cream, especially peanut butter flavored. I am of the opinion that ice cream should constitute its own food group. Ice cream is usually somewhere in the back of my mind, but especially so right now because our text from John is all about hunger: what we are hungry for and how Jesus satiates our need for food.

Of course, we might realize that ultimately our text is not about literal food, but spiritual food. Throughout the course of our 11 appointed verses from John’s Gospel, it is very apparent that, although the people seek literal food to fill their bellies, Jesus is concerned with what feeds them spiritually. He is trying to communicate to them that he is the spiritual food for which they long; he is the living bread who can satisfy their deepest needs and sustain them throughout the course of their lives.

When Jesus describes himself as the “bread of life,” he employs yet one more metaphor to describe who he is. Indeed, in the Gospel of John, Jesus uses a number of “I am” statements to share his identity and purpose. However, because Jesus often speaks so metaphorically and abstractly, it can be challenging to bring his words down to a level that is meaningful and relevant for our everyday lives of faith. As preachers, we can ask how, in our day-to-day living, we act as faithful stewards of our own spiritual hunger and the deep hunger of the world in which we live. Far beyond a quest for simple solutions or immediate gratification, we can encourage our congregants to seek spiritual food that is profound and meaningful.

As we invite our congregants to reflect on how Jesus satiates their spiritual hunger, and to identify the needs we look to Jesus to fulfill, we might consider asking some of these questions in our sermons:

• For what do your congregants hunger and thirst? How has their spiritual hunger and thirst changed over time?
• What do your congregants seek when they come to worship and participate in church activities?
• Even as Jesus is our living bread, we are meant to follow him by addressing the hunger and thirst of those around us, both literal and figurative. How can your congregants address the hunger and thirst of those in their immediate community and beyond?

My fellow preachers, Jesus’ identity as the bread of life taps into our deepest needs and most searching questions. Far from satiating our hunger with simple solutions or immediate gratification, he puts us on a quest to dig deeper and reach higher. To embrace Jesus as our bread of life is to embrace the unusual way he moves in our lives and meets us in our need. Ultimately, the ways in which we are fed by faith are not meant to be understood as much as experienced. Through our sermons, we can invite our congregants to experience Jesus as our bread of life.

In Worship

What an ideal text to share and reflect on during a Sunday when the sacrament of communion is being shared in worship! How can you incorporate images of Jesus as the bread of life as you welcome congregants to the Table, share the prayer leading up to the breaking of the bread, and say the prayer after communion? What could you say in each of these parts of the liturgy about our own deep hunger and the hunger of the world in which we live?

Worship with Youth

Youth tend to be very hungry: literally and figuratively. Their bodies are growing, just like their understanding of the world around them and their own unique selves. Invite youth to consider the ways they are literally hungry (and probably give them a snack as they consider this!), and then transition into a discussion of the ways they are hungry when it comes to faith. What questions do they have about faith and about Jesus? How does Jesus help to meet their hunger?

Worship with Children

If you are sharing the sacrament of communion in worship, invite children to come up to the Table during the children’s message. Talk about what they find on the Table and what it means. You can point out that each person really does not eat a whole lot of bread or drink a lot of wine or grape juice, but that communion is not so much having our bellies filled as it is about knowing who Jesus is and spending time with Jesus in a very meaningful, special way.

Previous reflections for Proper 13B:
2018 – What is it?
2015 – Non-perishable discipleship
2012 – Cultivating spiritual growth