Oak Chapel United Methodist Church

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We are not surprised by the fact that some people, in Jesus' day, didn't like him. (Some don't like him today - because he cuts through all their pretenses and requires them to change - but, today, people are usually too polite to say so. Out of courtesy they just ignore him.) Jesus told people the truth about themselves, sometimes in blunt way, and that's not calculated to make a lot of friends. This passage from John's Gospel is a perfect example. Jesus has just fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and a couple of fish. And he has also just walked on water! And now these clowns show up and ask him to show them a sign! He is exasperated. "I just showed you amazing signs. What more will it take? You don't really want to see signs, you want the power to do signs yourselves and prophet by them. You don't want the miracle of the loaves and the fishes; you want the bread." They give themselves away when they ask, "What must we do to perform the works of God? Clue us in. Tell us the magic words." A lot of people approach religion that way: "Don't bother me with a lot of mumbo-jumbo about God and Jesus and faith, hope and charity. Just tell me what's in it for me?"

At this point Jesus lifts the whole conversation to a higher level: "Some foods are perishable," he says, "other foods have an indefinite shelf-life. Don't work for perishable food. Work for the stuff that lasts. You want to do the work of God? Believe in me." "What sign will you give us," they ask again, doggedly? "Moses gave our ancestors manna (miraculous bread from heaven), and it kept them alive in the wilderness where there was no food to eat. That was his sign, what's yours?" "I give you the true bread from heaven," Jesus said, (no wonder they got angry) "the bread that gives life to the world….I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never by hungry, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."

Naturally, on Thanksgiving we think of our material blessings - with cornucopias on the altar, and tables full of food at home. Even in recession, we have lots of "bread," the material stuff that keeps us alive in the dessert. But no matter how much food we eat tomorrow, we will be hungry again. (Maybe not for a day or two, maybe not for leftovers, but we will be hungry again.) Nothing wrong with that kind of food. We need it. We praise and thank God for it. But there is another kind of bread which gives us another kind of life, eternal life, and satisfies us not for a day but forever. Jesus tells these people to quit thinking about how they can make a buck - get more of that material bread -- and start thinking about that other kind of bread, which nurtures our souls and pays off in eternal life.

This will be a muted Thanksgiving in America. In too many homes there will be empty chairs at the tables. Some of the missing will be away fighting in a far-off place, some will have been lost in the September 11 atrocities, others will have passed away in more natural ways. But, in every case, their absence reminds us of our need for that other kind of bread: for some food that lasts, that nourishes us through this vale of tears and keeps on feeding us until we meet our loved ones at God's table. Let us thank God tomorrow that we have been given Jesus Christ, the bread of life.

The opposite of Thanksgiving is resentment. Instead of counting our blessings we count our problems and look for someone to blame. We never let go of a grudge. We are always keeping score. We harbor hatreds until they poison us from within. Thanksgiving (an attitude of gratitude) is an antidote for that heart-poison. Without knowing what your personal anger is, I would venture a guess that it is about time to give it up. It's only hurting you. Life's too short to waste it on resentment. Make it your business to find things to be thankful for. You'll be surprised. I came across a list recently of the things St. Paul expressed thanks for. The list was surprisingly long, which reminded me how important thanksgiving and praise were to Paul and how often (in spite of terrible hardships) he stopped to give thanks. Maybe a few of the items on Paul's list will help us get started with our lists.

He thanks God for His daily bread. We've talked about that. That's the bread that doesn't last, but is necessary for us to live, the everyday bread In whatever form it takes (whether miraculous manna from heaven or a hamburger at McDonalds) it is a gift from God. If we don't say thanks when we sit down at the table, maybe it's time to start. He thanks God for men and women who have faith in Christ. Very early in his letter to the Romans, he says, "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world." Today, I am indeed thankful that so many of our national leaders are men and women of faith. And I'm thankful for those in this church, and those in the other churches I've served or attended (even as a child) who have been persons of faith. I have been inspired and encouraged by so many along the way. Other people are gifts to us from God.<

Paul thanks God for deliverance from his sinful nature: He summarizes his sinfulness, sins of commission and sins of omission, sees no way out, throws up his hands ("Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?") and then answers his own question, "Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory…." How many times has God rescued me from my own sinfulness (sinfulness "by thought, word and deed," as the communion service says) and set my feet on higher ground? How many times? All day, every day.

Jesus said he was "the bread of life." Let us thank God tomorrow for our everyday bread, which perishes but which we need, and for the life giving bread of Jesus which feeds our hearts and souls, and which we need all the more. I wish you a happy Thanksgiving.