Receiving God's Hospitality

I was asked to add this sermon to the blog - it starts with two quite long readings - I hope you’ll find it worth your time!

We are looking at Exodus 16:1-16 and John 6:25-35.

EXODUS 16

 ¹ The whole congregation of the Israelites set out from Elim and came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. ² The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. ³ The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” ⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. ⁵ On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” ⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ⁷ and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” ⁸ And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord.” ⁹ Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites: ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’ ” ¹⁰ And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ The Lord spoke to Moses, ¹² “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘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.’ ” ¹³ In the evening quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. ¹⁴ When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. ¹⁵ When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?”^[a] For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. ¹⁶ This is what the Lord has commanded: Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer per person according to the number of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.”

JOHN 6

²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” ²⁶ Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill of the loaves. ²⁷ 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.”²⁸ Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” ³⁰ So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us, then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? ³¹ Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”³² Then Jesus said to them, “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. ³³ For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” ³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Last week we started our summer sermon series on hospitality.

Abraham sees strangers from the door of his tent, in the heat of the day, and rushes out to take care of them.

Today, we are back with the theme of heat which seems especially apposite at the moment, with our fields parched, our gardens scorched, all of us looking for shady places and cool drinks in this rather brutal weather. We hear the account of the Israelites, in the desert, wandering around in “the wilderness of Sin”. And the people of God are grumbling.

This is the 15^th day of the second month - they have been in the desert for six weeks - young and old, frail and strong. If I told all of you, and everyone in this community, school children, grandparents, healthy and sick, that we were going to spend the whole of the summer holidays camping out in - say - the middle of Wales, with no reliable sources of water or food, I expect we would hear a voice or two raised in objection.

It is true, that by this point in the book of Exodus, the people have seen the 10 plagues visited on the people of Egypt, they have escaped through the divided waters of the Red Sea as the Lord has intervened to save them from Pharoah’s army, they have had bitter water miraculously turned to sweet at Marah, but now, six weeks into their new life of freedom from slavery, they are grumbling.

It turns out freedom is not quite what they expected. Perhaps they have been enslaved for so long that they didn’t quite know how to imagine freedom or the process of learning how to live with it.

The grumbling is understandable, even if it’s not praiseworthy. The people want to know - they ask Moses why did YOU bring us out here to die in the desert when we could just have died “by the hand of THE LORD” in Egypt.

Moses is quick to point out that their complaining, although directed at him, is really a sign that they don’t trust God’s goodness.

When you consider that the shortest route across the desert from Mount Sinai to Canaan is a journey of about 11 days, and that because of their disobedience and lack of faith, they stayed in the wilderness for 40 years, you can see the scale of the problem facing both Moses and the Lord!

And yet, the Lord does not abandon them or reject them. He hears their grumbling and he sends what they need. Enough each day for their needs. Never more than enough for the day ahead except on the day before the Sabbath, when they receive a double portion. As much as they need, but no more, every day, for forty years.

This is the gracious hospitality of God - from nowhere and out of nothing, everything that is needed is given. Nobody goes hungry.

The food might not necessarily be what the people would have expected - after all - how often does bread rain from the sky?

And it certainly is not what they would have chosen - in the book of Numbers, we hear the Israelites grumbling about the manna itself:

⁵ We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. ⁶ But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”

Nonetheless the manna is provided, faithfully, through days, weeks, months and years. Regardless of how difficult, faithless, disobedient or downright perverse God’s people are, he continues graciously to give them what they need.

It is because the people of Israel do not get to the point where they are actually willing to trust and follow the Lord’s command for 40 years that they spend so long going around in circles.

They get the manna - but they don’t get the point. The Lord can be relied upon. The Lord is generous. The Lord is faithful.

The Lord gives us, very often,

·       things we do not expect,

·       perhaps things we would not have chosen,

·       perhaps even things we do not particularly welcome,

but nonetheless he gives us what we need, and this is the depth of divine hospitality – if we can only come to grasp its fullness. I recently met someone who is going through a very difficult time - from a secure but oppressive situation into an insecure but nonetheless unfettered life - it's not the gift, the spiritual food this person would initially have chosen, but it is, as they now see, the living bread that they need.

In our gospel reading today we hear this very episode referred to by the crowd. On the previous day, Jesus has miraculously fed five thousand people - not with manna and quail but with fish and loaves.

They ask Jesus – what sign will YOU do - in essence to prove that you are as powerful and authoritative as Moses. And Jesus says to them, “You are seeking me not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill of loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures…

And then he goes on to make this amazing statement:

It was not Moses who GAVE you the bread from heaven

But my Father GIVES you the bread from heaven. I AM the bread of life.

God’s very character of love and generosity, community and creativity, is so ineradicable, so deeply embedded in everything that God is, that God gives God’s self as food for us - as daily bread. How extraordinary.

In our communion prayer we recognise the hospitality of God week by week - we are welcomed at the table, we are invited as honoured guests, and we are fed with the living bread - the body and blood of Jesus - to equip us and bless us.

I wonder how you are feeling today. Have you been offered the heavenly manna when what you would really like is a plate of fish, garlic, and cucumber? Would you rather have a month’s supply of food in the cupboard than depend on the daily grace of God?

I mean - I think that’s human - many of us are probably in that sort of position. It is not easy for us to entrust ourselves fully - like the Israelites, even though we know we have been rescued by God’s love and brought into a place of safety, we are inclined to do things our own way, and perhaps to look with some wistfulness towards those who seem to be materially better off than we are.

In order to really entrust ourselves to God’s hospitality perhaps we have to draw closer to an understanding of the depth of God’s love for us; in creating us, sustaining us, coming to be one of us, living with us, dying for us, offering his very body for our lives. In order to offer the hospitality of God, one day at a time, to those around us, with confidence and love, we must be willing also to receive it, confident that this eternal food is offered to us with completely loving intention.

Rowan Williams says this:

“To share in the Holy Communion means to live as people who know that they are always beloved guests – that they have been welcomed by God himself... By inviting us to his table, Jesus Christ is telling us that he wants our company.”

As we come to close now, I wonder whether we can just take a moment, to reflect on this saying of Jesus - I am the bread of life. 

What does that mean to you?

How do you feed on this daily bread?

Are we able, truly, to receive the depth of the love that this daily bread carries?

Let’s pray

Lord you give us yourself as living bread as we gather at your table. You give us the gift of yourself daily. Help us to feast with confidence as we are blessed by your unending and generous hospitality, and to share our confidence with others, that all people may come to have their deepest hungers satisfied.

Amen

Revd Kalantha