Pentecost 13B 2018
Wilderness and the Bread of Life
Fr. Dale Matson
Click On Photograph To Enlarge
Lake Dorothy
Our Lectionary Gospel Lesson for this Sunday states,
"I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who
believes in Me will never thirst.” (John 6:35, NASB). St. John’s Gospel further states, “Your
forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread
that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living
bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live
forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the
world." (John 6:49-51)
When the Israelites were in the wilderness, they
lived a day-to-day existence. They depended on God literally for their daily
bread and for the water they drank. Imagine an entire nation in the wilderness
being provided for on a daily basis by God through Moses. This process went on
for 40 years and their clothing did not wear out as they traveled in the
wilderness. They had shelter and
clothing to protect them from the elements but still found it easy to grumble.
“Oh, that we had died at the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat
by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us
out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus
16:3)
In the wilderness, one must provide for and carry
with one, the basics of life. In the Sierra Nevada Mountains, one must be able
to keep warm, dry, hydrated and fed. This amounts to carrying a backpack of a
minimum of 30 pounds even for overnight trips and providing a way to purify the
water you drink. A backpacker is kind of like a street person in the
wilderness. Our backpack is our shopping cart. The difference is that we want
to be there. Even mountain water may have bacteria or viruses and the water
must be purified whenever you resupply. Sometimes the water sources are further
apart than you anticipate and dehydration is a real possibility in the dry
mountain air. Additionally, one must have the necessary navigational skills to
travel safely.
Sharon, Carlos, Carol, and Christina and I returned
from a 3-day 2-night backpacking trip this past Thursday. We began with a four-mile
drive on a Jeep trail up Laurel Canyon near Mammoth Lakes, which is a white
knuckle four-mile drive on a single lane gravel road to the trailhead. My
trusty Tahoe 4X4 hauled five adults and camping gear up this one-hour boulder
field. This route is not for the faint of heart. A Fresno doctor perished when
his jeep plunged off this road into the canyon far below in 2015. I asked
Carlos to drive down when we finished and I’m sure his level of enjoyment was
quite the opposite of my concerns driving up.
As soon as we got to Genevieve Lake, we set up
our tents which was a good thing since a tremendous thunderstorm rolled in with
heavy rain and hail. There was almost no time between the lightning flashes and
thunder. Sharon said she could feel the tingling of the electricity in her
feet. This is the wilderness experience when it is most intense. There are
times when you are overwhelmed by the beauty and solitude but this was a time
when have no choice but to surrender to God’s mercy. You have no control over
the storm. In the tent, I thought about the time Jesus calmed the storm and how
frightened his disciples were.
One also may encounter wild animals like bears,
mountain lions and rattlesnakes that require a prudent and respectful response.
On my Rae Lakes Loop hike five years ago I encountered a huge male black bear
coming down the trail switchbacks as I was going up. Fortunately, he was
courteous and moved below me only to reappear behind me on the trail as he
continued downhill.
God stated in Ezekiel, "I will make a covenant
of peace with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may live
securely in the wilderness and
sleep in the woods.” (Ezekiel 34:25). Thank You Lord!
In Fresno We are blessed to be within one hour of
the Sierra National Forest, Yosemite and Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Parks. I
believe it is no accident that God is frequently depicted as being in the
mountains or the wilderness. Although many of you may have gone on a spiritual
retreat, probably fewer of you have actually spent time alone in the
wilderness. It can be a singular experience to hear only the sound of your own
breathing. The wilderness can be stunningly beautiful and also brutally and
tragically unforgiving if you are there unprepared. Be properly prepared, for
the mountains make their own weather.
The wilderness in Scripture is referred to often.
It can be a location where God’s people are tested and learn obedience. “How
often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert!” (Psalm 78:40).
The wilderness can also be a judgment from God “I
will abandon you to
the wilderness, you and all the
fish of your rivers; you will fall on the open field; you will not be brought
together or gathered
I have given you for food to the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the
sky.” (Ezekiel 29:12).
The
wilderness is also a state of barrenness we are brought to, where we once again
yearn for God. “O God, You
are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts
for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” (Psalm 63:1).
The wilderness is a place for a fresh start.
“John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness
preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mark
1:4).
The wilderness is also an intentional destination
where there is an expectation of encountering God. “But Jesus Himself would
often slip away to the wilderness
and pray.”
(Luke 5:16).
The wilderness is even a place where we can
discover grace. “Thus, says the LORD, “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness--Israel, when it went to find
its rest."
Whatever reason that may appeal to you, consider
the possibility of time spent alone in the wilderness. The wilderness is not
just a destination. It is a state of mind also. Wilderness living is kind of
like choosing to be a street person in the woods. Instead of a cart, you have a
backpack with all of your goods. It is monastic living without the monastery.
I
understand how God used the experience in the wilderness to demonstrate to
Israel that He would provide for and protect them. They could not enter the Promised
Land until God had properly prepared them to live a life of obedience and
faith. The Promised Land for Israel is a type of heaven. For us this same
wilderness preparation is going on with our Moses, Christ our Lord is also our
salvation. The Spirit of the Lord is our pillar of cloud by day and our pillar
of fire by night.What is our daily bread In Luther’s catechism speaking on our
Lord’s Prayer, Luther defines it thus:
What is meant by daily bread?--Answer. Everything
that belongs to the support and wants of the body, such as meat, drink,
clothing, shoes, house, homestead, field, cattle, money, goods, a pious spouse,
pious children, pious servants, pious and faithful magistrates good government,
good weather, peace, health, discipline, honor, good friends, faithful
neighbors, and the like.
I believe it is here that Luther misunderstands
what Jesus is teaching us in the Lord’s Prayer by understanding our daily bread
as support for the body. That is the kingdom of this world. Luther is
interpreting our daily bread in the sense of the Old Testament wilderness
experience of the manna God provided daily for sustenance for the Israelites.
That is not however what Christ is referring to.
In Matthew chapter 6, Christ provides both His
prayer and the context for understanding our daily bread. Following his
presentation of the prayer (6:9-13), He then discusses the unnecessary and
material concerns of the world in verses 19-32. “So, do not worry, saying,
‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the
pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need
them. These are the material concerns that Luther incorrectly refers to as our
daily bread. In verse 6:33 Christ states, “But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” The daily
bread Christ is referring to is the daily bread required for sustenance in the
Kingdom of God. He is referring to Himself.
“Just as the living Father sent me and I live
because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This
is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died,
but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." (John 6:57-58).
Christ
knows that we too are in the wilderness. We need our spiritual water, food, and
shelter. As Christ told the Samaritan woman, “…...If you knew the gift of God
and Who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would
have given you living water. (John 4:10). Everyone who drinks this water (from
the well) will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will
never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water
welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13-14)
And
what is our shelter in this wilderness. Our shelter is the mystical body of
Christ, the church. It is there we find protection. It is there we find
fellowship and it is there we come together to thank and praise Christ for His
provision and protection in this wilderness in which we live.
My brothers and sisters, there is no purer gospel
than this. Christ has brought us back within reach of the Garden of Eden our
heavenly home. We again may partake of
the tree of life. He continues to feed His people the church with His body and
blood and has done so for two thousand years. In the Eucharist, we are given
the bread with these words spoken, “The body of Christ; the bread of heaven.” When we are given the chalice, we are told,
“The blood of Christ; the cup of salvation.”
In Him we have eternal life and in Him we are more than conquerors. Just as Yahweh provided daily manna in the
wilderness to the Israelites, Christ offers himself as our bread daily in the
Kingdom of God. Lord, give us this day our daily bread. Amen
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