9th Sunday after Pentecost

John 6:24-35 ²⁴ So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. 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.

When I was in high school, I would frequently earn some extra money by baby sitting for one of my teachers. Her husband was a lawyer and they lived in one of the newly built sub-divisions in the fashionable part of town. She had a son JJ. He was the apple his parents’ eye, and he had pretty much had every toy you could think of. He had one of those battery powered child size cars with the camouflage paint. He could cruise up and down the asphalt driveway driving his little heart out. That is, of course, until he got bored and wanted to move on to the next thing. From the battery powered car to the pool table, to the video game system, to the computer, to the pinball machine, to the legos, on and on and on. Now, I tried to give JJ his space and let him play with his toys, but I still needed to keep an eye on him so I would try to find something else in the area that seemed interesting, and occupy myself with that while JJ was playing with the toy of his choice. However, the strangest thing kept happening. Every time he saw me having fun with some toy, he would put down what he was playing with, come over to me, and begin playing with whatever I had. The first time I didn’t think much of it, but when it happened over and over again, I began to notice the pattern. Soon enough it dawned on me that it wasn’t the quality of the toy that was drawing JJ’s attention, it was the fact that I was playing with it. He had no lack of toys, but he was most interested in the toy that someone else was enjoying.

It was a phenomenon that I would go on to witness many times as I worked with children: one child picks up a toy and begins to play with it, suddenly that toy becomes the hottest imaginable commodity, the priceless object that all of the other children simply must have. Fortunately, this is a phase that most people grow out of as they learn about sharing, taking turns, and respecting the feelings of others. To borrow a line from the Rolling Stones, “you can’t always get what you want.” Besides being a great song, it is a fact of life that adults have to live with, we can’t always get what we want. We may want a new truck, or a more understanding boss, or even to catch the eye of that certain someone, but that refrain remains, you can’t always get what you want.

Our gospel text for today picks up just after Jesus fed the 5,000 and then crossed over to the other side of the sea. The crowd has followed him over there, yet they act surprised to find Jesus there. They come to Jesus asking to be fed again. In Jesus, it seems, that these people have found someone who is able to provide food for them out of thin air. Nothing like this has been seen since the days long before when their ancestors were given manna from heaven for food. But the people are following Jesus, not because they realize that he is the Messiah, the very incarnation of God walking among them. No, they follow because they want food.

My dad is fond of telling the story of one summer that he spent on Uncle T.A.’s farm. He learned a lot about farming that summer, mostly through the chores that TA assigned him. One of these chores was feeding Bear. Bear was a great big mut of a dog. On all fours he stood waist high, but when he reared up on his hind legs he was nearly 6 foot. This was the kind of dog that children could ride around the yard. After about a month and a half of work around the farm my dad had developed a strong bond with Bear. One evening uncle TA and my dad started wrestling in the yard. It wasn’t anything serious, they were just playing around, but Bear began to bark and growl at TA. His loyalty was clear, he was out to defend the one who made sure that he got fed.

Like Bear, the crowd in our lesson today is interested in Jesus only because he could provide for their physical well being. They come to Jesus hoping for bread, but you can’t always get what you want. Sometimes what God has in mind is better. What they get instead is not simply bread, it is the bread of life.

This bread that Jesus offers is not ordinary bread. Jesus says that those who eat this bread will never be hungry. This sounds like an appealing offer to someone who is out to satisfy their physical hunger, but they misunderstand – much like the Samaritan woman at the well from a few chapters earlier who wanted never to have to return to that well to draw water. You can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you find, you get what you need. Like the crowd that followed Jesus, and the Samaritan woman at the well, we all have things that we want from God. Experience has taught us that we do not always get everything we want. We don’t even get everything that we pray for. You may not get what you want, but you will get what you need.

Jesus has promised us the bread of life and living water. This means far more than satisfying our hunger and quenching our thirst – it means providing for all of our needs. This is what we ask for in the Lord’s prayer when we ask God to give us our daily bread. Not just that we would have enough food to eat, but that God would sustain us by providing all that we need for this life. Providing a place to live, enough to eat and drink, clothes to wear, and a group of people who love and care for you. You can’t always get what you want, but you’ll get what you need.

And in addition to all of that, God has given us a way to experience His presence, in a simple meal of wine and bread, Jesus’ body and blood poured out on the cross to save the world from sin. When we gather around the Lord’s Table we are united not only with each other in this congregation – we are united with all believers across creation and with God himself. God has made a new day today, and drawn us together as a congregation. Jesus says to us the same words which he spoke to the crowd so long ago, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” And so today, you are invited, yet again to come forward to this Table and feast. You might find – you get what you need.