Sign

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
August 1, 2021

13 Proper B 

          One of the most memorable lines in “The Wizard of Oz” comes at the end of the film when the good witch Glinda descends in a bubble right in front of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion.  Dorothy and her companions have been following the yellow brick road to find the Wizard who can help Dorothy get hone to Kansas.  Many adventures and misadventures later, Dorothy and her companions finally find the Wizard of Oz who turns out to be “a good man, but a bad wizard,” or in other words of no use to them whatsoever in helping Dorothy get home. When all hope seems lost, Glinda the good witch appears before them and says to Dorothy “You’ve always had the power, my dear.  You just had to learn it for yourself.”  All Dorothy needs to do to get home is to click the ruby red slippers she has been wearing since she arrived in Oz and say “there’s no place like home.”  She had that power all along, but the power was useless until she knew she had it.

          Our gospel reading this morning reminds me of Glinda’s words to Dorothy.  The people have just witnessed the feeding of the 5000, a story we heard last week, where Jesus took a small bit of bread and fish and turned it into such a feast that there were 12 baskets full left over.  This week, the same crowds are chasing Jesus down and when they find Jesus, Jesus says to 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.”  Last week, Janet Daniels reminded us in her sermon that while in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the feeding of the 5000 is a miracle story, in John’s gospel the feeding of the 5000 is a sign, a sign that points to Jesus as God.  The people have seen the miracle and been fed physically by the loaves and fishes, but they have missed the sign that Jesus is the Son of God who satisfies them with life itself.   Then the people ask Jesus “What must we do to perform the works of God?”  In other words, tell us how to do such a miracle.  But Jesus answers “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”  Finally, they ask Jesus, “What sign are you going to give us that we may see it and believe you?”  This after Jesus has turned a bit of bread and fish into a meal for thousands complete with leftovers. At the end of the reading, when the people say “Sir, give us this bread always,” I hear Jesus heave a big sigh and say to them “I am the bread of life.”  The bread for which they so long, the bread of life, is standing right in front of them but the people are completely unaware.    

          When the people ask “What must we do to perform the works of God,” Jesus’ response is “Believe in him who he has sent.”  On the one hand, we could take this to mean that if we believe that Jesus is the bread of life, then we will be able to create massive amounts of food from almost nothing.  That is not an unworthy goal.  We could solve the problem of world hunger if we could just replicate Jesus’ miracle.  But on the other hand, I wonder if Jesus is telling us that if we believe that Jesus is the bread of life, our lives will become a sign that points to the living God just as the loaves and fishes did.  The reading from Ephesians calls us to live with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, in other words, putting the needs of others ahead of our own wants and desires and living as people who believe in the Bread of Life.  The reading also reminds us that each of us have been given gifts for the purpose of building up the body of Christ and being signs to the world of the love of God.  Some will be pastors and teachers, others apostles, prophets, or evangelists, and still others parents, medical professionals, trades people, business owners, or chefs. And the list goes on and on.  We have been given those gifts as specific ways to show the world humility, gentleness, patience, and love and be signs to the world of the living love of God.   

The truth is that living lives filled with humility, gentleness, and patience, lives that bear all others in love is hard work.  Even when we want with our whole hearts to live that way, caring for the vulnerable and putting the needs of others ahead of our own as Jesus did, and using our lives as a sign that points to the living God, we sometimes fail.  When we are tempted to think that our particular lives cannot possibly be a sign that points to the living God, we only have to look to David, a great king but a very flawed human being, whose sinfulness is on full display in the reading from 2 Samuel.  Despite his brokenness, sinfulness, lust, deceit, and adultery; despite being the exact opposite of the characteristics described in the reading from Ephesians, David loved God and was beloved of God.  God used David to create a great kingdom that, at its best, pointed to the living God.  The story from 2 Samuel is God saying “no excuses, people.”  If God can use David, God can use us.

The people are looking for Jesus to satisfy their hunger or at least teach them how to do a miracle so they can satisfy their own hunger and perhaps the hunger of others.  Jesus is looking for followers who know him to be the bread of life that satisfies their deep hunger and the hunger of the world.  Jesus is looking for followers who want to use their lives as signs that point to the living love of God.  Like Dorothy, we have already been given every gift we need to be the people Jesus is calling us to be.  Unlike Dorothy, we don’t have to learn it for ourselves.  Jesus stands in our midst to show us the way and says time and time again “I am the bread of life.”

                                                                             Amen.