What are you hungry for?

John 6:24-35

 

In Christ:

What are you hungry for?  I think that question says a lot about our culture.  In some places in our world, that question is irrelevant.  Many people don’t get to decide what they are hungry for – they’re just happy to have something to eat.  Think of the Israelites in the desert.  It didn’t matter what they were hungry for, they were getting manna and quail.  But for you and I, the question, “What are you hungry for,” presents options.  For instance, let’s say you are at the buffet line at Pizza Ranch.  It may take you a while to figure out what you are hungry for.  There’s seven or eight different kinds of pizza over here.  There’s fried chicken and ribs and potatoes over there.  And on the other side, there is a huge salad bar with all kinds of choices.  In that situation it may take you a long time to figure out what exactly it is you are hungry for. 

 

Well, for the crowd in our text, they knew exactly what they were hungry for.  They had just had a free meal of bread and fish.  They had eaten until they were full – there’s just something about free food, you know?  It was a good meal, but that was yesterday and they were hungry again.  Our text begins: Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.  The crowd had seen Jesus perform a miracle.  He had fed thousands of people like it was no big deal.  They weren’t sure how he did it, but they were pretty sure he could do it again.  So, they went looking.  They wanted more.  He was their meal ticket.  When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

 

That’s kind of an odd thing to say to Jesus, isn’t it?  No, “Jesus, I am so happy to see you!”  No, “Jesus, teach us more of your Word.”  No, “Jesus, Lord have mercy on me.”  But rather, “Jesus, when did you get here?”  Do you see what they’re saying?  It’s as if they presume to be the masters over Jesus’ schedule.  ‘We didn’t miss anything, did we?  Jesus, don’t even think about doing another miracle without us.  Did we miss lunch?’  Their motives for being with Jesus are decidedly impure.

 

Jesus immediately picks up on that.  He says, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”  Jesus says to the crowd, “You are here for the wrong reasons!”  They were following Jesus for their own bodily welfare, not for their spiritual well being.  They were hungry for more food.  They were hungry for more miracles.  They wanted to be well fed and entertained. 

 

What do you want?  What are you hungry for?  We too often find ourselves following Jesus for our own bodily welfare.  We too often end up ignoring our spiritual well being and begin making demands of Jesus.  When we approach Jesus, what is the first thing we say?  Is it, “Jesus, I am so happy to be near you?”  Is it, “Jesus, I need salvation?”  Is it, “Jesus, I am desperate to hear more of your Word?” 

That may happen, on occasion, but I fear far too often we sound a lot like the crowd: making demands of Jesus and presuming to be his masters.  “Jesus, I need this.”  “Jesus, I need that.”  “Jesus, fix my family.”  “Jesus, fix my health.”  “Jesus, make this person be nice to me.”   “Jesus, get me this job and do it yesterday.”  Now, to be clear, there is nothing wrong with praying to Jesus and asking for his help.  He tells us to do that.  But, there is a big difference between humbly asking, and rudely giving Jesus orders.  And more than that, I think the point here is: what do we need most from Jesus?

 

What are you hungry for?  Think again of the buffet at Pizza Ranch.  If you ever go there during the lunch rush or during suppertime when the place is full, just watch for a minute.  The crowds will line up for the pizza.  The fried chicken goes quickly.  The dessert pizza flies off the counter.  People are definitely hungry for that.  I dare say that most of us will eat much more of that than we should.  But what about the broccoli?  The crowd doesn’t want that.  Sure, the salad bar will have some visitors, but the cooks rarely come out to fill up the broccoli.  There is not a huge demand for that.  Interesting, isn’t it?  The food that is really the best for the people is not the food they are interested in.

 

We do that in our spiritual lives, too, don’t we?  God blesses us with a buffet of blessings in this world.  We chow down the money and the possessions.  We get in line for more movies and fun.  We ask the Creator for more of the health and the success at work and we push through the crowd to get our hands on that last portion of a nicer car, but what about the broccoli?  What about God’s Word?  Friends, I fear that we are hungry for the wrong kind of food.  We fill up on God’s blessings, but we ignore the best blessing that he has given us.

 

Do you know what happens then?  Our soul deteriorates.  It breaks down.  What happens to the body that eats only fatty foods?  It gets more and more unhealthy.  Now, it might be fun along the way.  I love doughnuts.  They taste great, but the more of them I eat, the more unhealthy I become.  We can enjoy the good things in this world, and have a lot of fun doing it, but the less we feast on the Word - the more spiritually sick we become.  To neglect the soul is to destroy the soul.  Nobody leaves Pizza Ranch and regrets not eating more broccoli, but many will leave this world and regret not eating of God’s Word.

 

Jesus says, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.  On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”  Friends, what a good reminder for us Christians living in this American culture.  Do not work for food that spoils.  Do not strive and reach out for that which cannot last.  Mark says, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”  Every earthly goal and ambition that our sinful nature sets up in place of God is bread that spoils.  And it all leads to nothing and can only leave the soul that pursued it tormented in hell forever.  Every time we follow Jesus for the wrong reasons, we deserve that same fate. 

 

But there is a kind of food that does not spoil.  Jesus calls it the true bread from heaven.  This true bread is not found on the shelves at Festival Foods.  This true bread is not made from whole grains.  It is nothing like earthly bread at all.  Jesus says: “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”  Jesus, of course, is talking about himself.  He is talking about his life.  He is talking about his death.  He is talking about every Word that he speaks.  Jesus and his Word give life.  And what a buffet it is.  On one page there’s this:  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  On another there’s this:  “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”  And then this:  “I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  And of course there is, “Father, forgive them…and, “It is finished.” 

 

Tell me, what are you hungry for?  Jesus, the bread from heaven, offers forgiveness, new life and salvation.  He offers things that will last.  The crowd finally started to get it.  They said, “Sir, from now on give us this bread.”  By God’s grace, some in the crowd were now ready to focus on the right thing.  They were now ready to stand in line and wait for the true bread from heaven.  They took their eyes off of the free meal, which would be gone tomorrow, and looked toward the one who could give them salvation.

 

Friends, what are you hungry for?  Jesus says, in the last verse of our text: “I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in my will never be thirsty.”  Friends, stop working for food that spoils.  Stop filling up on all of the worldly things that are offered to us.  Rather, you and I like the crowd, need to look at Jesus and say, “Lord, from now on, give us this bread.” 

 

And even as we speak those words, we know that he has answered that request.  He has poured out himself on us in so many ways.  We have his body and blood in the Sacrament.  We have his pure and holy Word at our disposal every day in so many forms: meditations, daily Bibles, email, podcast, cd, etc.  But, friends, don’t leave it on the table.  Jesus has laid out a banquet for us.  How silly would it be for us to get up from the table?  Imagine your grandma’s Thanksgiving meal.  The stuffing, the turkey, the yams, potatoes and pies.  Then after the prayer before the meal, imagine getting up and leaving without taking a bite?  Are you crazy?  Who could leave all that good food on the table?

 

Don’t do that in your spiritual life either.  Join the Wednesday Bible class and get in on the discussion.  This fall, bring your kids to Sunday school and you stay for Bible class so the whole family can feast on God’s Word.  Commit to two dollars a month and make use of the meditations books we offer.  Don’t leave the bread of life on the table.  It is for you.  In faith, be hungry for God’s Word.  It will never let us go hungry and will satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst forever.  Amen.