Musings for Pentecost 10

Sunday, August 9, 2009
Lectionary 19
Proper 14
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Midweek Musings
Reflection by Elizabeth Hanks-Ovando

INTRODUCTION
Jesus says that the bread he gives for the life of the world is his flesh, and whoever eats this bread has eternal life now and will be raised on the last day. In Ephesians Paul tells us what this life Jesus gives us looks like, this life we live as those marked with the seal of the Holy Spirit in baptism. We live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. The whole purpose of life is giving yourself for the other.

PRAYER OF THE DAY
Gracious God, your blessed Son came down from heaven to be the true bread that gives life to the world. Give us this bread always, that he may live in us and we in him, and that, strengthened by this food, we may live as his body in the world, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.


FIRST READING 1 Kings 19:4–8
First Kings chapter 18 describes the contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. The contest proves that the Lord is God; and afterwards Elijah orders the killing of the Baal prophets. Angered by the deaths of her prophets, Queen Jezebel threatens to kill Elijah. This reading finds Elijah fleeing, fatigued, and in utter despair.

4But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors." 5Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, "Get up and eat." 6He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, "Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you." 8He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.


PSALM 34:1–8
Taste and see that the LORD is good. (Ps. 34:8)
1I will bless the LORD at all times;
the praise of God shall ever be in my mouth.
2I will glory in the LORD;
let the lowly hear and rejoice.
3Proclaim with me the greatness of the LORD;
let us exalt God's name together.
4I sought the LORD, who answered me
and delivered me from all my terrors.
5Look upon the LORD and be radiant,
and let not your faces be ashamed.
6I called in my affliction, and the LORD heard me
and saved me from all my troubles.
7The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear the LORD
and de- livers them.
8Taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are they who take ref- uge in God!


SECOND READING Ephesians 4:25—5:2
Christians are called to be imitators of God. This does not mean Christians are perfect. Rather, the Spirit is at work in our lives so that our actions and attitudes genuinely reflect the love and forgiveness we have received through Christ and his death.
Chapter 4
25So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. 26Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27and do not make room for the devil. 28Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. 29Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. 31Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Chapter 5
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, 2and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.


GOSPEL John 6:35, 41–51
After feeding more than five thousand people in the wilderness, Jesus teaches them regarding the true significance of this remarkable sign.

35Jesus 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. 41Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" 43Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves. 44No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

REFLECTION
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.

According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, between 2 and 5 million Americans have an eating disorder. We live one of the most prosperous countries in the world and according to the Surgeon General 2 out of 3 Americans are overweight or obese.

Geneen Roth writes in When You Eat at the Refrigerator, Pull Up a Chair, in a chapter entitled “and stop when you've had enough” that “It's about what you hear when you hear the word 'enough'. It's about taking more than enough of something you know you can get-food-because you believe it's impossible to get enough of what you really, really want.”

Ok, so what scripture is saying is not the literal hunger and thirst but it gives us cause to think about what we really, really want. Coming to Jesus, believing in Him can give us love, peace, simplicity, and joy. And that's what we all really crave anyway.

WE PRAY FOR:
• Those struggling with eating disorders
• Families struggling to feed themselves
• The unemployed and underemployed