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Writer's pictureReverend Sue

Bless our Hunger

Last week we began the exploration of Jesus as the bread of life by reflecting on the fullness of God – the great enoughness out of which Jesus brought forth his blessings and in which we also live, move and have our being. This week I would like to suggest that our hunger can be a blessing. (Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost. Proper 13 (18). John 6:24-35.)

You may wish to read what I wrote three years ago reflecting on these same texts. (You may also want to go the bottom of this blog and follow the link to an admired colleague John Squires blog on the gospel of John and the richness of the biblical imagery.)

 


We are a hungry species and the story of the chosen complaining in the wilderness and the first century seekers who are already hungry again suggest it has always been so. That they and we are physically hungry is part of our material makeup and completely understandable. Even the anxiety about possible hunger in the near future is understandable given the hand to mouth existence our forebears had and many in the world still do. Indeed even in wealthy nations, as the gap between the overfed and the poor has grown, food insecurity has returned as an issue for many. So we should not hurry to ridicule physical hunger or those who are anxious about what they will eat. What the gospel story does, I think, is invite us to consider hunger more broadly and challenge us to distinguish between our hunger for what we need to live and the hunger for what and who makes for a life of meaning, purpose and faith.

 

Those who had been physically fed the day before are challenged by Jesus not to work for the food that perishes but the food that endures. Their response is to ask how they can earn it, by what works of God, can they be worthy? To which the response is to believe, or be in relationship with, the one who is sent – Jesus! Like their forebears in the wilderness who are fed by the generosity of God, being fed is not a reward but the response of a generous creator and is offered in the context of relationship and belonging not payment and reward. We are fed by the fullness of God which constantly pours into the creation. Our hunger is not a curse but an invitation to partake in the goodness of God and to find ourselves, even in the wilderness, at a banquet.

 

Our hunger can be a holy hunger in that it leads us towards what gives purpose and meaning to life, can lead us to seek and then follow the one who was sent, and when we recognise that hunger in others can lead us into community and service.

 

If we were not hungry for more than just our daily bread then we would not be motivated to seek out wisdom and truth and relationship with the divine. Our hunger can be part of what keeps us faithful through the hard times and going the distance. Our hunger in many ways is deepened by the spiritual journey as our relationship with the Christ grows more ardent with time rather than waning.

 

And whilst our relationship with the Christ is intensely personal it is yet necessarily experienced in community. Our hunger does not lead to a lonely meal but a banquet with others. Partly no doubt because our creaturely existence is always as part of an interconnected whole and also I suspect that we are not capable of understanding or growing in the faith without others. That does not mean that sometimes people don’t need to leave a particular fellowship but rather that the need for companionship is part of our nature. And because we have all been given gifts we need others to bring their gift to the table. And we need the gift that is within us to be called forth.

 

This is not to say that all hungers are good or good for us. Part of the challenge next week will be to distinguish between what makes for survival and what make for life. And of course some appetites make for death and destruction and we need to recognise this tendency within ourselves and others. Maybe during the week in between we might observe ourselves and notice what makes us feel hungry, what satisfies and what does not, what gives us a sense of purpose and aliveness and what feels like chores or distractions? All of this may help us discern more clearly what hungers draw us closer to God and God’s purposes for our life and what hungers are for what perishes.

 

But for now we give thanks for the fullness of God that awaits the hunger in us so that we desire relationship with the one who made us, loves us, and calls us. May our hunger be holy and satisfied by the bread of life.

This is my work informed by all I have heard, read and experienced. I am indebted to the wisdom of others. This week I am especially grateful to:

 

 

John T Squires: “The Bread of Life: take one (John 6)”

 

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