Hunger No More

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday morning, the 8th of August, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is:  http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

A couple of weeks ago, we looked at the account of Jesus feeding over 5000 people using only five loaves of barley bread and two small fishes.  After thanking God for providing them, Jesus broke the loaves and fishes into pieces and gave them to His disciples who distributed them to the multitudes.  And then following the meal, He told the disciples to gather up all that remained so that nothing is lost, and they collected twelve baskets full.

We didn’t look at it then, but the next day the throng again went searching for Jesus and caught up with Him in Capernaum.  At this point, Jesus told them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”  The people asked what they could do, to do the works of God.  Jesus told them to simply believe in Him whom God sent.

Now all of this was recorded for us by the Apostle John in the 6th chapter of his Gospel account.  But of course, there is more, for Jesus has more to say, more to teach, to those gathered there that day and to us, here and now.

Please listen and follow along as Jesus explains to us why He came to earth, continuing in chapter 6 of John’s Gospel account with verses 35 through 51, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

41 The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” 42 And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

43 Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

--John 6:35-51 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for putting Your seal on Jesus and sending Him to redeem us.  We believe He is Your Son and we accept Him as our Lord.  Thank You, Father, for giving us to Jesus so that we will not be lost.  Please help us labor only for that which is eternal.  Help us to do as You will and not as we might want to do.  Please keep us strong in our faith and of one purpose in our service to Christ Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.  And Father, please guard us from Satan and those who do his bidding, whether knowingly or not.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this morning.  Give us this day our daily bread.  Fill us with Your word.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

During the Spanish-American War, Clara Barton was overseeing the work of the Red Cross in Cuba.  One day Colonel Theodore Roosevelt came to her, wanting to buy food for his sick and wounded Rough Riders.  But she refused to sell him any.  Roosevelt was perplexed.  His men needed the help and he was prepared to pay out of his own funds.  When he asked someone why he could not buy the supplies, he was told, "Colonel, just ask for it!"  A smile broke over Roosevelt's face.  Now he understood -- the provisions were not for sale.  All he had to do was simply ask and they would be given freely.

Most of us have something that we truly prize, something that we’d never sell.  To which the cynical man would answer, everything is for sale, at the right price.

Well, Clara Barton didn’t think that way.  To her, the food and medicine needed to help those under her care were not for sale, at any price.  But she would gladly give away what she would not sell, if only she were asked to.

I believe most if not all of us would hate to be stolen from, for someone to come up and steal from us.  And yet, if there were a true need and they would only ask, we would do all we could to help.

Jesus tells us all we need to do is ask, ask in His name, and it will be freely given.  Truly believe, and God will provide.

There was a point a little over 15 years ago when I had simply put on too much weight around the middle.  My knees and hips were killing me and my heart started racing, and this was all long before my recent heart attack.  At that time, and after some tests, my doctor told me my heart was fine but that I could stand to lose a little weight.  So I set out to do just that.

I started counting calories, using an app on my smartphone to figure out how much I could eat to get down to my target weight.  And that, my dear family, was not easy.  I often went to bed feeling hungry.  I actually had enough to eat each day, and more than a lot of the world’s population gets, but I’d lay awake at night hungry.  I grew up working class poor, but we always had enough food on the table.  Yet this experience in dieting gave me a greater insight into what it feels like to be hungry.  My hunger was self-imposed.  World hunger is real, and completely involuntary.

All of this is just to say that there is a definite aching pain when we hunger for something that is just out of reach.  And this is just as true for when that something is physical or spiritual.  Unfulfilled hunger will gnaw at us, eating away at us from the inside out.

Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger.”  Just a little earlier, Jesus and His disciples had walked to Galilee through Samaria, bypassing Jerusalem.  They stopped to rest and eat in the city of Sychar, by Jacob’s well.  The disciples left Jesus sitting there by the well as they went in search of food for their noonday meal.  Hear what happened next, as told by John in chapter 4 of his Gospel account, verses 7 through 14…

7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

--John 4:7-14 (NKJV)

In human form, Jesus understood our anatomy.  He knew that physical food and water will only satisfy our hunger and thirst for a short while, and then we will be hungry and thirsty again.  So He offers us the bread of life, that we may never hunger again.  He offers us the living water, that within us will become a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.  And all we have to do is ask, ask in His name.

Eat of the bread of life and hunger no more.  Drink of the living water and never thirst again.  Jesus came down from heaven to do the will of our Father God who sent Him.  All those that the Father gives Him comes to Him, and none will be lost but shall rise up to everlasting life on the last day.  And all that is required of us is to believe in Him whom God sent.

Believe in Jesus as the Son of God.  Fully accept Him as our Lord and Master.  Put all our trust and faith in Him and Him alone.  Eat of the bread He offers and live forever.  For the bread is His flesh, which He freely gave for the life of the world.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, again we thank You for sending Your only Son into the world just to save us.  This is how much You love the world, how much You love us.  Thank You for wanting us to be with You in paradise forever, and for giving us the only way to be able to do so.  Jesus is the only way.  Please, Father, help us be worthy of Your love and His sacrifice.  Sometimes, Father, we fail to fully trust in You.  Sometimes we think You couldn’t possibly love us as much as You do, we poor sinners.  Please, Father, help us faithfully follow Jesus.  Give us a greater conviction of our faith, encourage us and strengthen us in our endeavors.  Please keep us strong in our spirit, in our faith, and in our service to You and Jesus.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You from our hearts through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, You fed thousands with a few small loaves of bread and fishes.  You saw to their immediate physical need.  And then You offered them, and us, something far greater than a bite to eat.  Thank You, Jesus, for bringing the bread of life and the living water to earth.  Lord Jesus, we ask You to help us understand just what it is You bring.  And as importantly, help us explain to others what it is You offer.  Strengthen our will to do what our Father God wills us to do.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day.  And please help us as we try to show Your love in a world still filled with hatred and distrust of one another.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.