August 6, 2006
John 6:24-35
Pastor David Swenson
This is the second of five Sundays where the Bible lesson is from John 6-the bread chapter of the Bible. Last week the lesson was the feeding of the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish. Today the focus is on Jesus saying I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE.
Now here is what is happening-important for us today because today we bless backpacks and install teachers.
This is the day after Jesus fed the 5,000, the people are still following him. They plead with him-give us another sign to help us believe.
Their attitude was ‘the miracle of the bread for 5,000 was great’ but what can you do to top that? Show us another great miracle! People have not changed have they?
Especially in our culture during this back to school time of year, what is new? Our culture craves novelty? Just like those people demanding a greater miracle of Jesus, what is new this year?
New teaching techniques? New hairstyles? New clothes? New backpacks?
Those following Jesus kept pleading with him-give us something new! A bigger sign! A better miracle, more spectacular, that we may believe! They hungered for more.
Jesus message to those following him was: you are not just a physical being but a spiritual being as well. Thereforejust as you need physical bread, you need spiritual bread as well.
That message is the same for us today. We need physical bread and we need spiritual bread.
Since we are on a physical journey in life we need a backpack or something like it to carry our stuff.
But we are also on a spiritual journey.
Therefore there are physical backpacks and there are spiritual backpacks.
From infancy to death, all of us are on a spiritual journey, therefore all of us need that spiritual backpack to carry our spiritual stuff.
The question is what do we have in our sbps-spiritual backpack?
1) For our journey we need the Word of God in our sbp.
In our lesson today Jesus says I am the bread of life. Our spiritual lives will shrivel up and die without Jesus.
Martin Luther said the Bible is the cradle that holds Jesus.
For our spiritual backpacks no matter what our age we need the Bread of Life, the Word of Life, the Word of God in that we cannot live spiritually without it.
Paul writes: all Scripture is God breathed-meaning inspired by God-
Paul continues:
§ It instructs us how to live our lives
§ All of us make mistakes and need to be corrected on occasion.
§ Growing our lives in ways that are pleasing to God.
That is the first item that goes into our spiritual backpacks.
2) Also as Christians we see life differently. Just as artists see things in life differently, so do Christians. We have a different way of looking at our world, at our relationships, at our mistakes, at our careers and jobs.
Paul writes: we walk by faith and not by sight. On our spiritual journey we walk with a different vision.
Albert Einstein was a brilliant man. I would call him a scientific artist. He saw things differently. On his spiritual journey he questioned everything, doubting yet believing.
He once said “There are only 2 ways to live your life. One is as if nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is a miracle.”
We carry that second way of seeing life with us in our sbps.
But sometimes it gets clouded over.
A pastor called on a man after cataract surgery. The man was resting at home and was extremely pleased with the results of the surgery. He said “I can see everything more clearly now. After a long silence he asked his pastor: Can you help me remove the cataracts from my soul?
As we walk on our spiritual journey, we can become overcome with cynicism, bitterness, and negativity. Those feelings rise up in us living in a world where the only thing permanent is change!
We need God and we need a faith community like LCC to help us remove the cataracts from our souls so we can have our vision of seeing everything as a miracle restored.
3) The other thing in your spiritual backpack is your own unique shape. Not your physical shape but your spiritual shape.
Just like all of us have a unique one of a kind physical shape God has created each one of us with a unique one of a kind spiritual shape.
Remember when we read Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven life as a congregation?
Pastor Warren uses the acronym SHAPE to describe how each one of us is created to serve God in a unique style that is all our own.
He also reminds us we cannot be content with our lives until we start using our SHAPE to serve Jesus who said I am the bread of life.
a) S stands for your spiritual gift. All of us have different spiritual gifts. Those gifts are not things that we choose but things that we are born with. Pastor Mark and I are meeting with our young people who will be confirmed this October. During our conversations we ask them what their gifts are!
In talking with them individually I am continually reminded how each one has different gifts!
In our spiritual back packs we all have different gifts, to be used to serve God.
b) The H stands for heart. Again all of us are unique with different hearts. Warren says ‘figure out what you love to do-that is what God gave you a heart to do’. What is your passion? Is it art? Science? Sports? Writing? Whatever it is ‘follow your heart and use that passion for the glory of God.
c) A stands for abilities. What talents and abilities has God blessed you with?
Remember the parable of Jesus? An owner gives different talents to three servants, goes away and expects them to use those talents. Two make good use of the talents while the third hid his talent. When the owner returned he calls for an accounting, praises the two, condemns the one.
In the story God is the owner, we are the servants. We are called to use our talents in God’s kingdom.
d) The P stands for personality. There is no one else like you. You are one of a kind! Parents, what a great message to remind our children each week, each day. Some people are shy and introverted, some are outgoing and extroverted. God has designed you with a personality that is all your own!
e) The E stands for experience. Warren reminds us “God never wastes a hurt”. Some of life’s greatest lessons come through pain. In my former congregation I had a group of people who had been through the hurts and pains of life. I would call on them when someone was going through a similar hurt. Young dad with cancer, I would send over John who had successfully been treated for cancer at the age of 32. Failed second marriage, I would send over Barbara whose marriages had failed twice.
God uses the painful experiences in life to help others going through the same type of experience.
Whatever your SHAPE is, it is right there in your spiritual backpack.
Wherever you go, whatever you do, how ever old you are, we all are carrying those pbs-spiritual backpacks-may God bless them today just as God blessed the school backpacks earlier today. Amen.
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