Pentecost+11/Proper 13B
(Exodus 16:2-4,9-15; Psalm 78:23-29; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35) Have you ever tried to sell something to someone in your life? When I was in college, I worked as a salesperson to sell refurbished computer monitors at computer and electronics fairs. One of the very basic strategies to sell something to someone is to know what that person actually needs. But I guess for a business person who can sell anything, it may not necessarily be about finding out what people need but really about making people believe what this business person offers is what they really need. Creating a problem that people can have and offering a product that can be a solution to that problem. So one of the things that Sales 101 can teach us is storytelling. Artistically craft a big picture problem that people might deal with, and skillfully provide a product that can solve that problem. There’s a human psychology behind this. People usually don’t care about great products or the ones who sell them. People care about themselves and those who can help them solve their problems. I believe there’s at least one business ethics at stake here. As a salesperson, am I telling people the real issues that they have and suggesting some solutions to their problems? Or am I creating a problem that people actually don’t have, which is called as fear marketing and tricking them to buy my products? At this point, you might wonder why Im talking about the psychology of business or Sales 101 this morning. Well, in today’s gospel lesson, Jesus in a way quite explicitly appears like a salesperson, but not a very successful one. We might think it is inappropriate to compare Jesus to a salesperson, but let’s be honest and admit that he’s selling the food to the crowd who follow him. So let us look closely at how Jesus as the divine provider approaches the crowd. The story begins after Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand. The crowd looks for Jesus and eventually finds him. In their question of Jesus’ going about, he points out why they follow him and what they want from him. He directly tackles into the real problem that these people deal with. The food. That’s what they look for and what they want from Jesus. But it’s not just the food. It is what the food does to these people. It is the essential means to sustain their lives. So, the food is really about the life. Without eating anything, we cannot continue our human lives. Now, let’s listen to Jesus who goes right into what these people, including ourselves, are really concerned about: “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, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” Let me modernize this saying: “Look, guys. You worry about the food that can instantly feed you. That’s why you look for me because I gave you the loaves of bread. But I can give you something better. This food has no expiration date. This food lasts forever. I’m the only provider of this food. I even have the divine stamp on this food!” The crowd who is definitely interested in this food with the divine stamp is curious. They ask, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” This wording is a bit confusing, but it can mean, “What must we do to perform the works of God in order to get this bread that doesn’t perish but endures for eternal life?” Simply put, “What should we do to get that food that endures for eternal life?” The crowd takes the bait. The bait whose literal meaning is the food in old Norse, beit. Jesus’ answer is way too simple. The crowd would feel quite confused by his answer. He says, “Believe in him whom God has sent. Believe in me.” There’s nothing that people have to do in order to get this food from God. There’s no requirement to fulfill. There’s only one thing, which is to believe in Jesus. This rather simple and easy answer to get the eternal food can very well trigger doubt in people’s hearts. If it’s too easy, it’s not worth it, we often say. Also, when something comes too easy, we most likely let it go the same way. I imagine the crowd would probably feel the same. They become suspicious so they demand from Jesus some kind of proof that helps them believe in him. They ask Jesus, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” I think it’s a reasonable request on the crowd’s part. The logic is, “Look, Jesus. If you want us to believe in you, you gotta give us something to convince us. Didn’t you perform the miracle of feeding all of us? Do something like Moses did. Give us something!” Jesus responds, “Very truly, I tell you. It was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” This answer of Jesus doesn’t seem too convincing. He’s actually not giving them what they demand. It would’ve been so much easier if he gives them something to eat, performing another miracle for them so that they can believe. But he’s telling them something else. He uses the example of Moses who these people mention and says that Moses is different from him. Moses did not create the manna. He didn’t give the manna. It is God alone who can feed the Israelites in the wilderness. The crowd now doesn’t seem to care much about what Jesus says before. They simply ask him, “Give us this bread always.” This is a unthoughtful and desire-driven response on their part. Basically, they don’t really care what Jesus tells them. They just want to have that bread, that food which has no expiration date and lasts forever. They even seem to forget that they are asked to believe in Jesus. After all, the crowd just doesn’t get it. And this is very typical of St John’s gospel. Throughout his gospel, Jesus tells people one thing and they don’t get it. Now we see this phenomenon of not understanding Jesus and getting stuck in their own heads. In his response to the crowd’s demand, Jesus now has an opportunity to become a successful salesperson. They take the bait and they want the food now. He can sell his product to these people. He just has to give something to them and he can surely become the one with power and authority. But he isn’t. He’s not a successful salesperson. Far from it. He answers to these people, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” He neither sells nor makes a profit of honor and power. Instead, he offers them his entire self, personhood. He is not merely a sign to make people to believe in something or someone other than himself, but he himself is the sign and symbol that reveals what God is like to the extent that he is God incarnate. His intention is not to sell, but to save, not to make a profit out of people, but to profit their lives, their whole selves out of his love and compassion. There’s no intention of gaining something from people, but of gaining their lives by giving himself, losing his life. So, to summarize today’s gospel lesson, Jesus wants to give the crowd his entire self, his whole personhood as the bread of heaven coming from God. The only thing that the crowd ought to do is to believe in him as the bread of life. Receive him as he presents himself. Receive him as the bread of life for you and for the whole world. My friends in Christ, Jesus tells us this morning that he comes to each one of us, to every single person in this world in the most intimate way, the deepest way possible. He comes as the whole person. He doesn’t just show or give us bits and pieces of him. He reveals who God is, the God of compassion, the God who unconditionally loves every single person and creature in this universe to the extent that God becomes the food to feed all. The Eucharist that we celebrate and receive every Sunday in this sense is the greatest outward sign of that divine love. Being himself present in the bread and wine, letting him consume by us, we are known to Jesus and he is known to us. In the mouth of Moses, God says, “At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.” Receive the bread of life, Jesus. Have your fill of bread. Know that Jesus is the Lord your God. To feed on him is to believe in him, which is to put your trust in his love, to fall in love with him. And as we are known to him and he is to us, all of us who become the catholic church of Christ, who become one body of Christ, are to be that bread of life, the bread of Christ for our neighbors and for the world. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. |
Paul"...life up your love to that cloud [of unknowing]...let God draw your love up to that cloud...through the help of his grace, to forget every other thing." Archives
January 2025
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