Don't get it twisted...

 John 6:24-35 is the lectionary Gospel text for Sunday, August 1.

The crowd followed from "Tiberias", a town named in honor of the Roman emperor.  It is still about Rome here, folks.  It is still about being under the occupation and oppression of empire.

The people said, "Give us this bread."

Jesus knew what they were asking.  They wanted the trinkets of Kingdom, just as they were killing themselves for and settling for the crumbs and trinkets of empire.  They would settle for barley loaves if they could get them.  They were conditioned to believe that empire was inevitable, that it was the best system going, and that it was not the system that was the problem, but rather they, themselves, somehow.  They believed that they did not have what it took to be "on top", and therefore were on the bottom.  They got the whole thing twisted.

Jesus brought Kingdom values that lifted up all, equally.  Empire created wealth for the few elites, at the expense of the many.  The Kingdom values everyone having enough and being satisfied with enough.  Empire promoted the abuses of power over others that allowed a few to control the many and exploit them. The Kingdom values each person being empowered to live their lives, make their decisions and control their own destinies because of equitable opportunities in life.  Empire lifted up status above others as a way of life, so that some felt superior to others and justified in their abuses and exploitations of them.  The Kingdom values humility, shared value for one another, equality in value and value for community over individuals.

Some in the crowd were "Wannabe's."  Though they would never be among the elites, they bought into the empire system and wanted to be on top within it.  They were true believers in this world view, and got whatever they could get under it, even at the expense of others around them.

Some in the crowd were demoralized.  They felt powerless over the system under which they lived, and powerless to change it.  They were held down, back and out so long that they believed it could never be changed, so they did nothing to change it.

Some in the crowd were simply angry.  They would take shots at whoever crossed them, whether isolated Roman soldiers in dark alleys or other citizens who irritated them.  They were striking out in futility, out of shear anger and frustration.  They were the ones who would have made Jesus a military king.

Some in the crowd would get it.  There IS a better way.  Jesus' Way of Kingdom here and now is a better, more sustainable life for us, and for everyone in the world.  They would organize, follow and work to resist the empire values that brought oppression to so many.  They would work to ease the suffering of those under it and to offer a different, better way - Jesus' Way for living in the world together.  They were the ones through whom the First Century world was changed for a time, until empire subjugated the movement and institutionalized it under empire, toward its own ends.

It is about the bread, but it is about much, much more.  It is about the UNITY, GENEROSITY, AGAPE LOVE and GRACE that sustains life and brings transformation.  It is about destroying a system that is hateful, greedy, abusive and inequitable through Agape Love and Grace, to be in alignment with God's Kingdom and its values.

"This is the work of God - believe in the one whom God has sent." - Jesus

So, when they demanded of Jesus, "Give us this bread."

His answer was - "You have it."  "I AM the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

Jesus' Way sustains us in the wilderness of empire.  Agape Love and Grace are the ONLY sustainable way for the world.

The "food of the world" perishes.  The crumbs from the table of the elites, the trinkets given to placate the victims, the trickled down drops from the bounty above, the false power over a few others to control and abuse them, the false status above others that justifies our hatreds out of fear - these just promote an unjust, ungodly system that hurts God's children, our sisters and brothers.

Jesus' Way of Agape Love and Grace sustains.  It delivers us from sin and death, here and now in THIS PART OF GOD'S KINGDOM.  It kills a system that devastates and destroys lives.  THAT is the Bread of Life that sustains us, if we will only come to believe in it, commit to it, apply it and live it.

Under the occupying and oppressive evils of empire, don't get it twisted - there is only ONE Bread of Life - Jesus' Way of Agape Love and Grace.

Pastor Jamie