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Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the text for this morning comes from the Gospel reading. You may be seated. All through the people of Israel’s life during the wilderness, well, and for that matter, prior to and after the wilderness journeyings, they were taught… And proclaimed unto that they were different, markedly different, than all of the other cultures that surrounded them. That they stuck out like a sore thumb from all the other cultures around whom they would live and interact. Now they are just like us. They have the same sinful condition that plagued and belabored them as it plagues and belabors us. However… The common thing of this sin is that there is this temptation within them and within you and me to take a bit, just a little bit, of the society around us and graft it into our faith. Because, you know, sometimes some of this stuff that God proclaims just is a little too difficult to be so different in this world. So as you remember, the people of Israel were always struggling because all the societies around them were highly spiritual. They were very religious, albeit very pagan. All of the societies that surrounded the people of Israel during their wilderness journeyings and after they got to the Promised Land were very religious and very spiritual. However, everything that these cultures taught and everything that they practiced… Pointed away from the revelation of God that God had given them through Moses and the prophets. And it’s the same for you. You see, we live in a very spiritual and very religious society. And yet the spirituality and the religiosity of the society around whom we live and exist and move has a different point of view than the revelation that God gave through Jesus Christ. So society says to proclaim and preach that two people who love each other should not and cannot be married is hate speech. The temptation to agree with that is remarkable for the church because it’s all about love, isn’t it, between these two people. And though you and I may be able to stand firm on that issue, let it be our son who is gay. Let it be our daughter who is a lesbian. And then it’s a little bit more difficult, isn’t it? It’s very muddy and not very clean. Let it be a kind and considerate co-worker who is as gay as can be. And it makes it more difficult to stand on these revelations from our God. It makes it very tempting to embrace what society is trying to bring in. Because it’s all about love, right? Right? In our society for 40 years, we have said as a government, it is a right of a woman to end the life of a child. Because it’s all about the rights of the woman and loving her rights. For anyone to speak otherwise denounces her rights. And who wants to denounce the rights of a woman? Lest we forget that many of the aborted babies were little girls. Who also had a right as a young lady in the womb of their mother. And it’s very easy for us to stand firm on this revelation. Until it’s our grandchild that was aborted. Until it’s a child from our son or from our daughter. Or until it’s a co-worker who you love and respect. Who all of a sudden finally shares that she too has gone through that. And then it’s muddy again, isn’t it? It’s not clean anymore. And the temptation to denounce what God has revealed is, again, very remarkable. Strong temptation. Because isn’t it all about love for that person? Now those are very, very controversial topics in society, are they not? But there are two controversial topics that this morning’s texts talk about. And if you were to talk to your family members… Who maybe have joined an evangelical or a non-denominational church or any other church that teach differently about baptism. Now what do you do? For the text says there’s only one baptism. We confess in the creed one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. And is that just bread and wine up there? Is that just a memorial, a churchly rite? Or is it really… In fulfillment of what Jesus said, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. Let one of our children stray afar from that truth. And it’s not a Lutheran truth, by the way. It’s a Christian truth. And then it makes that topic difficult. Are there multiple truths or is there only one truth? Society says there are multiple truths as to how to define marriage. Marriage. Society says there are multiple truths as to how to define abortion. Fellow Christians say there are multiple truths about baptism and about the Lord’s Supper. And really that it all gets rolled up into, are there multiple truths about the bread from heaven? Jesus, about whom the scriptures, this morning’s gospel speaks or not. Jesus engages this crowd in a very unique way. First of all, they’re flummoxed. They knew that he was there on the side of the sea because they had seen him dismiss the disciples, but yet he’s not there. So how did he get to the other side? And he didn’t take another boat. So when they do find him, they are sincerely, notice the text, they’re sincerely seeking Jesus. But the Jesus they’re seeking is markedly different than the Jesus who’s speaking to them. The Jesus whom they’re seeking filled their bellies to the full. And they were thinking, they’re seeking Jesus. This is a pretty good gig. We follow him around. He gives us some religiosity, and sincerely, and we get our bellies filled. I like this life. This is good. That was the Jesus they were seeking. The Jesus who was speaking to them said, you’re searching for me, which is good, but you’re searching for me for a wrong reason. You’re searching for me because your bellies are full. I will give you life. And it’s more important to work for the bread that I will give to you. So instead of asking him for more truth, they go, Oh, well then, tell us what we got to do. And isn’t that the Christian’s response? God, just tell me what I got to do so I do it and then all is well. But to live our life that way, does it bring absolute peace? How do we know we’ve done the right thing at the right time? To the right person. And how do we know at the end of the day that we’ve done enough? But they in their boldness say, tell us what we got to do. And Jesus in his clarification says to them, the work of God is this, to believe upon the one whom he has sent. And he refers to himself as the son of man. Don’t let that phrase pass you by. He is saying, I’m the fulfillment of those Old Testament prophecies that you have heard. Especially the prophet Daniel, among others, about the Son of Man. And then he adds the great statement, Upon me has God the Father set his seal. That is the same as saying, I’m the Messiah. So he tells them that all they need to do is believe in the one that the Father has sent, upon whom the Father has set his seal, and they will no longer hunger. Well, Jesus makes it very clear to them It’s about me and what I have done. Because if the Father has sent me, he has sent me to do something. And the very bread or his flesh that he has sent stands before them looking like any other human being and yet looking like any other human being. You and I know by faith he’s God in the flesh. And that’s a teaching we’re not going to bend on, are we? Yes. And yet when we look at that bread, which looks like bread, like any other bread in the world, and yet we confess because God said to us, this is my body. And we can’t bend on that either. That’s truth. That brings comfort and peace. So the crowd counters Jesus’ clear revelation as to who he is and says, Show us a sign. Come on. Let us see what you really can do. Because if you do something great and tremendous, well then, we’ll believe in you because we’ve been taught that God revealed himself to the people of Israel by feeding them the manna from heaven, the bread from heaven. Come on. You can do the same. He just revealed to them who he really is. He just said to them he is the bread from heaven. He just proclaimed to them That the Father has set his seal upon him, and yet they’re asking him to bend the truth, to create an idol out of Jesus, rather than the Savior out of Jesus. If he is really the Savior, if he really is the one upon whom all things stand, if he really is the only way to heaven, then what he says about himself and how he chooses to come to us It has to be held closely so that we don’t turn Jesus into an idol of our own making, mixing a little bit of the world’s understanding, or really misunderstanding, about who he is and what he does. The crowd hears from Jesus’ lips where he has to clarify again, I am the bread of life. Who has come down from heaven and I give life to the world. That’s not an abstract concept of life about which he speaks. It’s not as if Christians have a better life in this world than others. Because if you know yourself and I know myself, sometimes Christians in this world have a crappier life than non-Christians. This is about eternal life and heaven. And so when Jesus says, I’m the bread of life that’s come down from heaven, I give life to the world, the crowd, it sounds like, gets it. Because they say, well, give us this bread and give it to us always. He does give us this bread, and he does give it to us always, but they don’t see that. The world doesn’t see that. And yet your Jesus said it very clearly. And he gives it to us so that we believe. Believe. Have you ever wondered about why Jesus talked this way to the people? I mean, really, Jesus, if you’re going to talk about eating and drinking and really mean faith, or if you’re going to talk about faith and really mean eating and drinking, just use the word. Jesus chooses not to. Just as Jesus chose to teach in parables, did he not? And parables are something that they look like they’re understood on first glance, but you and I know by faith, Faith only understands them. So when Jesus says, whoever eats and drinks, I’m the bread of life that comes down from heaven, you’re thinking, well, Jesus, why are you so confusing? He’s not. It’s simple for a child, isn’t it? A child gets it. It’s you and I as adults that struggle with it. Confirming children at a young age, seemingly young age, when they haven’t grown up and dealt with all of life’s problems and struggles yet, It’s a very wise thing to do. In fact, it’s sometimes easier for them to grow into that faith than someone who has come from a different background or has been influenced by some other teaching than what Jesus has proclaimed. Truth does one thing that Paul talks about. It builds the body up. It doesn’t divide the body. It builds the body. It builds the body. Now, what we do with that truth is very important. This world tempts us to take the truth like a club because who misuses or who doesn’t get the point of a club? If we use truth like a club, oh, we’ll always get a reaction. No one’s going to misuse the truth that we’re proclaiming. No one’s going to take advantage of the truth we’re proclaiming because they’ll get clubbed. But if we use truth like, The chivalrous way of throwing down a cape so that the lady didn’t walk in the dirtiness of the fluid on the ground, then that can be taken advantage of if truth is used that way. It can be ignored if truth is used that way. And that’s exactly how God wants us to use such truth. Jesus did not build his church with a club but with love. He did not force anyone into any point of view. He proclaimed truth and the Holy Spirit did its work. And God, through Jesus Christ, shared the faith like putting the cape down so that his bride, the church, does not dirty or soil herself in this world, but is cleansed as she enters into the marriage feast. That’s difficult to do for the church. It’s difficult to do for you and me. Put away the club. It does no good. Love does. Love’s not always niceness. Niceness has nothing to do with love. Love is clinging to the truth, the one truth, not the many, so that true hope and comfort can be had. Because at the night when you’re trying to sleep and you can’t, and you’re considering all the things in your life or your children’s lives or your family’s lives and you wonder, it’s the truth of forgiveness that God says, come, whoever comes to me will never thirst. Whoever comes to me will never hunger. That truth works. And strengthens and gives peace. In the name of Jesus. Amen. The peace of God which passes all understanding. Keep your hearts and minds on Christ Jesus to life everlasting. Amen.
