Pre-Revival: Will There Be Enough Bread for Tomorrow?” - Pastor Jacqueline Hines August 8, 2021

 

“Pre-Revival: Will There Be Enough Bread for Tomorrow?” - Pastor Jacqueline Hines

August 8, 2021

The bread of life. That’s what Jesus says he is in this gospel of John. The bread of life.  Once I participated in a Pentecostal church in Baltimore. It was a small African American congregation that wanted to connect to its African roots. Sermons and conversations were often sprinkled with stories of African history. One year, an official African king was invited to come and speak at a banquet. I volunteered to be a one of the servers. I watched humbly as the king marched into the church – which used to be a car showroom. The King dressed in the tradition of his tribe and walked barefoot, his royal procession going before him. He sat at the head table and during the meal, I was instructed by one of the pastors to go to his table and ask him what foods I could bring him. He told me to wrap some bread so that he could take it home for later. I was familiar with the idea that some speakers never eat before they speak because it can be uncomfortable. So I did exactly what I understood him to say because I definitely did not want to offend the king. I wrapped up a generous portion of bread and put it beside him on the table so he could take it with him. Somewhere along the way, the pastor hastily removed the bread and explained to me that he did not mean he only wanted bread to take home. “Bread” meant a meal, a to-go package to be eaten later. I was confused and had to be taught what the king meant by bread, for the word “bread” meant so much more than I understood it to mean.

So, what does Jesus mean when he says, “I am the bread of life?” Like all of scripture, there may be layers of meaning. Jesus declaring himself to be the bread of life is especially meaningful when we have a problem, when we are in trouble, and when we are in despair.

We humans have been in trouble since the beginning of time. And from the beginning of time, the best way out of trouble is God’s way. By God’s design, we need food if we are going to live and not die.

Very few of us have ever been close to starving…starving to…death. Missing even one meal can be very, uncomfortable, distracting and for some of us it may even become a medical emergency. Running out of food for our guests can be a disappointment, a crisis, and even sign of being a ne’er do well.

Very few of us even know what it means to be hungry and have no prospects of a next meal, much less not having the innumerable choices we probably have right now in our refrigerators, cabinets, or the dozens of grocery stores restaurants and we pass every day.  Very few of us have ever been close to starving…to death. And if we have, we quickly forget, like a woman in labor forgets her labor pains for the joy of a new beginning, like we forgot many of the urgencies we dealt with during our covid-19 quarantine.

History has shown us some times when humans were desperate for food. One of our VBS teachers mentioned that she was reading a book called The Worst Hard Time.  It is one of several books including Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath that tells of the dust bowls that were a part of the Great Depression. Thousands of people had traveled West in order to have a better life, though if you want something good, isn’t it is wise to ask God to guide us and be prepared to listen to the answer? The land was rich and fertile, and wheat – used for making bread – was a primary crop for four generations. I wonder if they exercised the art of rotating crops or allowing the land to have its Sabbath. Natural disasters can be human made with a few bad habits, and a little greed. An extended drought came in the 30’s. The land became as dry as dust. Tons of topsoil, gone. Just like you rub your feet on a carpet and get a shock, electricity generated between the dust and the ground. Like a magnet, it swirled the dust around and around in the shape of a bowl with the force of a whirlwind. The dust bowl moved at 65 miles an hour and as high as 10,000 feet and throughout a 100 million acres in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Colorado and more. People would tie themselves to a post with a rope just to go a few hundred feet away as far as their barn.  Cars were layered with dust and found in the stomachs of dead animals. People were driven from their homes and livelihoods, some homeless and in ill health. Farmers were losing 25 million dollars a day. They were desperate times, for fewer crops meant less food, and less life. In desperate times it is not easy to remember that Jesus is the bread of life, a very present help in our time of trouble, but it is the only way to have life.

John Wesley, the father of Methodism (1703-1791) new something about hunger. He grew up in a Christian home in the 18^th century. He was one of 19 children born to Susanna and Samuel Wesley – 10 survived. It was a time when infant mortality was very high. It was not easy to feed such a big family, especially since Samuel was often in debt, even to the point of spending months in debtor’s prison. Nevertheless, John and his brother Charles a musician whose hymns are in our hymnbook today, were very disciplined Christians. They were more disciplined than the average Christian. While studying at Oxford University, they were ridiculed for being so methodical in the spiritual life. They ate and slept the good news of the gospel as if their lives depended on it. They grew up with a mother who was their bible teacher. Their father was their pastor and preacher. On campus, they formed a club for people who wanted to live Godly lives. Other students laughed at them and called their club the Holiness Club, for they would meet three hours a day, pray every hour, fast twice a week, and go through a daily checklist to examine each other’s behavior. They emphasized repentance, worship, holiness, revival, and good works. Then, and to this day, Methodists are involved in social justice causes regarding alcohol, slave trade, prison reform, feeding and educating the poor, labor conditions, child welfare, and fair trade.

Though Rev. John Wesley and all of England had their struggles, their neighbors in France were on the verge of full rebellion as things were so corrupt and disorganized; the wheat crops were in such disarray. It was said that 60-80 percent of household budgets depended on the harvesting of wheat. Bread was hard to find, and the little that was left after the rats got to it, left many starving. These conditions gave birth to the French Revolution (1789-1799). 

It was a situation that Professor Ron Sider of Eastern University wrote about in his book Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger.  Then and now, Jesus reminds us – don’t you get it yet – I am the bread of life. I will heal you of bad attitudes and wayward ways, I can make you whole where you are broken. I can guide you through every storm. I am the source of your happiness and satisfaction. I am the bread of life, the bread of heaven that feeds you and sustains you.

The French Revolution brought some changes for the better, but it was a terrible price to pay. There were many people in England who thought… hmmm. If the French can get the government’s attention and guillotine the queen, perhaps we could do the same. It is said that the spiritual movement beginning with John Wesley was so influential in bringing reform and help for the poor and those in need that what happened in France did not happen in England.

Like the Wesley’s, the prophet Jeremiah was mocked and imprisoned for warning God’s people that their sins would result in catastrophe, that the Babylonians were going to win the “war” they were in. No king wants to hear that another country will control them. Jeremiah was considered a traitor because people wondered if he were on the side of the enemy. He was imprisoned and blessed to receive a loaf of bread daily and when the bread ran out, then the real trouble began as predicted. Regardless of his anger and frustration with King Zedekiah, he asked Jeremiah to pray for his people, but the king did not honor God. He knew the power of prayer. At the same time, King Zedekiah called Jeremiah out of his prison cell and asked him the question that showed, in spite of his disrespect and disobedience to God, that he knew God had something to say. King Zedekiah asked Jeremiah, “Is there a word from the Lord?” Even if he was not necessarily going to honor God’s word, he still seemed to very much want to know what God had in mind. It’s not what the people say, it’s what God says. In this world we have seen our share of trouble, personally, privately, as well as collectively. We have been through rationing of food, gasoline, vaccines, masks, sanitizer, and toilet paper to name a few. Droughts put limits on our food source and keep us from watering our lovely lawns. We have experienced wars and rumors of wars.

In the midst of all we go through, we hunger for what only the Holy Spirit can provide – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness (generosity), faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

We are created by design to need, on a daily basis, the same “bread” that I learned to serve the African king in that church in Baltimore. The bread from Heaven gives us strength to walk with our God to a place of victory against sin and evil. The bread from heaven brightens our spirits long enough for us to sing for joy no matter the depth of our sorrow. The bread from Heaven brings life even in the shadows of death and satisfies our deepest hunger and our greatest longings.

May our daily hunger be a daily reminder that Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.” And, may we come to him first and foremost, every day.