Sermon

In some of our services shared during lockdown we have ventured into a number of incidents that are recorded in John's gospel.

We eavesdropped on the late-night conversation that Jesus had with Nicodemus in which the need to be born again was expounded. We were also visitors to the wedding at Cana when Jesus performed His first miracle. There we were able to reflect on the amazing transformation which can take place when Jesus becomes involved. Not just water into wine but the testimony of many that their very lives and circumstances have been similarly transformed by the Saviour's intervention.

Last time we popped into the pool at Bethesda and saw how Jesus asked the man at the pool if he wanted to be healed before conducting His amazing act of mercy that would change the man's life forever. I wonder if these incidents resonate with our own experiences of Jesus and if not, why not.

Today I want us to venture into the incident of the feeding of the five thousand which we shared in the reading from John's gospel. I don't know how many years it is since Mick Jagger told us that he can't get no satisfaction, he has tried, yes he has tried but no, no, no, he "can't get no satisfaction". Actually, it is a double negative which means that he can, but that is by the way. In some ways what he is trying to say typifies the age in which we live when so many do not appreciate what they have and are in a persistent quest for more. It is often accompanied by a determination to point out the failures of others whilst denying the imperfections of themselves, and it is no surprise that they 'can't get no satisfaction'.

If confronted with the question of what gives you satisfaction, I wonder how you would respond. Hopefully with positive comments but for many the search focusses on alcohol, drugs, gambling, pornography, violence, the occult and materialism, all of which can offer only temporary respite from the realities of life and the demands it makes upon us. You could say that it is the food the world provides without giving lasting satisfaction. When you dabble in such things you cultivate an appetite for more which cannot be satisfied and invariably leads to feelings of emptiness and disillusionment.

Modern advertising and communication convince us that we need more of this and that, but do we really? In so far as we, the body of Christ here on earth, God's Church are concerned do we undersell or oversell what the Christian life has to offer, and to what extent can we believe the kind of extravagant claims we find in the bible such as the one we have read about today.

A debating society considered this question, 'This house believes that the story of the feeding of the five thousand cannot be true but if it were, it would have no relevance to us today.' The danger with minimizing the relevance and authority of the bible is that we throw the baby out with the bath water. Personally, I do not accept that whether or not a miracle occurred in the sense that the bread and fishes were multiplied is unimportant. I believe that the suggestion that the sharing of the boy's meal prompted others to do the same is simply an attempt to satisfy the mind of the sceptic. The big question Christians need to ask is, could God have multiplied the food and if the answer is no then perhaps as one writer put it, our God is too small, or an even greater tragedy would be to have no belief in God at all.

If we believe in a God who created all that exists then surely nothing is beyond the capability of such a God. If God could not multiply the bread and fishes then He cannot be as powerful as the church makes Him out to be, which would be an unacceptable misrepresentation by the church.

Phillip was on the negative side, the situation is impossible, but Andrew more positive, 'Here is a boy with five loaves and two fish but how far will that go?' In some ways this should perhaps stir our social conscience. Look at areas of famine across the world. It seems impossible to solve, so do we do nothing or we can offer to God what we have available and trust in Him to solve the problem.

This is not just a story about feeding the physically hungry because Jesus went on to spiritualise the incident. He spoke about Himself being the bread of life and in coming to Him the inborn spiritual hunger of every person ever born can be met and believing in Him will satisfy our spiritual thirst. There is no escaping the centrality of Jesus to all that the church and the Christian life is about. We are made up of body, mind and spirit and whatever other ways we may choose to satisfy the needs of our bodies and minds, it is only in Christ and through Christ that the necessity of spiritual satisfaction can and will be met.

There are many good people whose lives are unfulfilled because of a failure to acknowledge and accept Jesus as an essential part of life itself. It is about eating to live, not living to eat. The spiritual food we need is to be found in our bibles, or through the fellowship we share, but at the very heart and centre of everything there has to be Jesus.

In life there is a process of growth from dependant babies where milk is sufficient to meet our needs, we are then weaned on to more solid foods before moving through childhood into adulthood, and it is intended to be a similar growth experience in the life of a Christian, although sadly there are some who never get beyond the baby stage.

The bread of life, as the bible describes it is essential for our spiritual wellbeing. If we neglect the discipline of an active prayer life and study of the scriptures, we are failing in what is expected of us and in consequence fail to know the satisfaction for which a life in Christ is purposed.

"I can't get no satisfaction" typifies life for many today. We have come a long way from the posser and the mangle and still there is no satisfaction for so many people in this age and generation.

There is only one who can provide the satisfaction which people are wanting and that is Jesus, who is the bread of life. As we know Christ as the bread of life, eat and drink with Him, we should be sure to invite others to the feast in order that they too can be satisfied. May we have the determination, will and grace to do so, Amen