August 20, 2006
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Sunday, August 20, 2006 The children were crowded in a makeshift hospital. Their
village had been bombed and many children needed blood to live. A Red Cross
nurse spoke to the children in English and very broken Vietnamese, trying to
explain that the injured children needed blood to live. The Gospel for today tells us so clearly of the One who has give all of His blood to give us life. Jesus gives his very life to give us life. We see what love is. Jesus gave his own flesh and blood for the life of the world. He gave it for each of us. "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I give for the life of the world is my flesh. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life and I will raise them on the last day." Every month, our congregation packages food for Feed My Starving Children. They show a DVD and you hear all kinds of voices from children complaining, "What’s for supper, not that again," "Can’t we ever have anything good?" "I’m hungry, I’m starving, I haven’t eaten in three hours." "Where are we going on vacation this year?" And then they show children from around the world who are truly starving. Children four years old weighing ten pounds or less. The statistic is that over 30,000 children each day die from starvation. I am amazed that, in only an hour and a half, 28 people packaged over 11,000 meals that will feed 30 children every day for a whole year. We pray in the prayer our Lord taught us: "Give us this day our daily bread," not "Give me my daily bread," but "Give us (everyone around the world) our daily bread." The logo for Feed My Starving Children is "Feeding God’s children around the world hungry in body and spirit." Hungry…in body and spirit. The crowd who came to Jesus in our Gospel was hungry in body and spirit. We, too, are hungry even when we are full. We are hungry in body and spirit. Deep inside, even when we don’t know it. We are hungry for the food that only Jesus provides. St. Augustine wrote "Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You, O Lord." We try to satisfy our hunger in so many ways. Searching for the bread that we think will satisfy our desires—wealth, popularity, success, more things, newer things, bigger and better things—faster and faster to get ahead to prove that we are better, to satisfy our desires, to be in control, but so often we end up exhausted, empty and alone. We don’t even know how hungry we are. We can’t see how shallow and empty our lives have become. "I’m fine." I’m not hungry. We want to satisfy our own hunger—"I can take care of myself—I can eat the right foods and do the right things to provide for myself." But there will always be a hole in our hearts. On our own we will always be hungry again, we will always be thirsty again. Jesus said to the crowd, "I will give you a different kind of food. I myself will be your food. I am the bread of life—of your life. I will give you myself. I myself will be the food you need. I will give you my own flesh and blood to give you eternal life. We don’t have to spend our lives storing up hoarding food, hoarding stuff. He gives us himself to feed our hungry hearts with the bread of life. "This is my body, given for you. This is my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sin." Jesus sees us in the crowd. He sees our tired lives, our cracked and hardened hearts. He knows we are sinners who are selfish and mean, who hold grudges and are quick to blame, and be full of pride. He knows how we have failed to love one another—in what we have done and left undone. We have even failed to love those closest to us. Jesus sees us in the crowd—and He knows we are aching, lonely and often afraid. He sees our doubts and fears. He sees us desperately trying to fill our lives with all that doesn’t satisfy. Jesus knows we are hungry and He says to you and me with great love: "I am the bread of your life. I am your good shepherd. I am the light of your life and the light of the world. I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the true vine and you are the branches. I am the resurrection and the life. I am for you and not against you. I am with you. I am and I will be the one who comes to give you eternal life . I am yours and you are mine." It is not enough to simply remember Jesus. Like a transfusion, Jesus becomes a part of our flesh and blood--to heal us, to be in us, to give us life—cell of our cells, bone of our bones. This is my body and blood—to nourish you, to give you life now and life even in the face of death. Jesus comes to give us life in the midst of all that terrifies us; in the midst of all of the struggles and evil we face. He joins us with one another from the whole world who share this meal in Jesus name as blood brothers and sisters. One day I was at the care center for a communion service. I came to a man with the words, "This is the body of Christ given for you." "No, no, not for me," he said with his head down with shame. "For you and for them—not for me." "This is for you for the forgiveness of sin. "No, no, no not for me." I said to him again, "This is the body and blood of Christ for you." He looked up, "It is for me?" "Yes for you." "For me?" "For you. This is the body of Christ given for you. This is the blood of Christ shed for you." "For me. For me. Thank you…it is for me." We come to the table with our hungry lives. We come as beggars. We receive a little bread and a little wine and to the world it is only crumbs, but in this holy meal, Jesus is really present giving the gifts. He has promised forgiveness, life and salvation. Jesus gives us himself --His very life--His body—to give us eternal life. He gives all of His blood for you. It is for you. The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in his grace all the days of your life unto eternal life. Amen. |
The Norwegian Lutheran Memorial Church · 924 E. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2952 · (612)874-0716 |