Bread of Heaven: To Infinity and Beyond

A Sermon preached at. St. Paul's, Episcopal Church

Georgetown, DE and simultaneously at

Sirach 26:10 Facebook Page

Pentecost XII - Proper 14 B

August 14, 2021

 

So, the thing of it is that we are in the third week of five Sundays in a row and the lectionary is stuck in second gear on the 6^th Chapter of John’s Gospel. And, one more time, we hear about Bread. I have to scratch my head and ask what were the lectionary authors thinking?

 

I confess that it was out of a mixture of boredom and curiosity that I looked up the word “Bread” in the Oxford English Dictionary. Turns out, the word we’ve been using all this time for bread is not the ‘original’ word for ‘bread’. That word was, from the Teutonic, ‘hlaf’ or loaf. 

 

The word ‘bread’ actually comes from the word ‘brod’ meaning ‘piece’, ‘bit’, or ‘fragment’. In fact, the word we use for ‘bread’ to mean a loaf of bread didn’t come into full use until around 1200.

 

So, hold that thought for just a minute and listen again to Jesus say, “I 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.”

 

Makes you sort of wonder what he really meant and what got lost in the translation, right? I know I heard “I am the bread come down from heaven” a little differently after I learned of the origins of the word ‘bread’.

 

So do you suppose Jesus is saying that he’s a ‘piece’ of God? A ‘bit’ or a ‘fragment’ of God come down from heaven? So that one might partake of that morsel from heaven and not die?

Is Jesus using this metaphor of ‘a bit of the loaf’ to explain his identity to the people? I’m not a Greek or Latin or Hebrew scholar, much less fluent in Aramaic, but that’s how I’m hearing it. Jesus is a ‘a bit of God come down from heaven’ – which gives me a new perspective on this passage.

 

Is it any wonder then, that Jesus tells us that when we eat of this bread, it’s not so much that the bread is changed; it is that WE are changed. Something in us is bound to be changed and transformed when we are fed, “The Body of Christ, the bread of heaven.”

 

That transformation sometimes happens at once. Other times, it happens over several years. I can tell you from personal experience – my own and those whose stories I’ve been privileged to hear – that Jesus changes lives. That’s because that little bit of the bread of heaven is love incarnate. And, love in any form changes everything.

 

I believe that with my whole heart and my whole soul. I believe that what we believe informs what we do and who we are and how we see the world as well as how we see ourselves and others.

 

I want to begin to do that by telling you a story of a Hospice patient I cared for long, long ago in another galaxy far, far away. I'll call her "Martha," a 71-year old woman with End Stage COPD. Her husband - I'll call him "Joe" - was, at the time, 81 years old.

When I heard that “Martha” and “Joe” had just celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary, I congratulated them and then asked, “Tell me a love story. Tell me how you met.”

A lovely man with a wonderful sparkle in his eyes, “Joe” looked at his wife and they exchanged a lovely, knowing smile. Suddenly, they were both teenagers.

She looked down at her lap, shyly and he giggled a bit before he said, “You know that cartoon character? What's his name? The guy in the space suit? Oh, yeah, Buzz Lightyear. Remember him? Remember how he always says, 'To infinity and beyond'? Well, he got that from us!”

He laughed and slapped his knee and said, “That's what we said to each other after I asked her to marry me and she said yes."

"'I love you to the moon and back. To infinity and beyond!'”

And then, he looked at his wife, and she looked at him, and for a moment, they had a lovely moment. There was electricity in the air. I heard it softly crackle. So did their two daughters who were sitting by me.

They both smiled broadly as one leaned into me and said, softly, “Aren't they somethin'?”

We had a wonderful visit and, after I said a prayer, “Joe” said he would walk me to the door. It was all of ten feet from the bed but I've learned that there's nothing to be done with a man of that generation than to let him be the gentleman he was brought up to be.

We got out on the porch and “Joe” took hold of my elbow and said, “So, do you believe in 'infinity and beyond'?”

I'm a good Hospice Chaplain. I know Medicare regulations state that I am not to 'proselytize'. Unless pressed, I'm not to state what I believe. Rather, I am to support the patient and family's belief system.

So, I smiled gently and said, “I think 'infinity and beyond' is a wonderful concept that must bring you great comfort and hope.”

I was just mentally patting myself on the back for such a good, innocuous response when he pressed again on my elbow, looked me square in the eye and said, “No, I asked you if YOU believe in 'infinity and beyond.”

I considered myself pressed into an answer.

“If you are asking if I believe in eternal life, my answer would be 'yes'. I do. And, personally, if I didn't, I don't think I could do this work.”

“Joe” sighed deeply and you could see the weight drop from his shoulders. “You know, I've always said I believed that. For 51 years, I've said I believe that. Because I’m a Christian and I believe that Jesus is the Bread come down from heaven. But now . . . you know . . . now that the end (cough). . . now that . ..  the end . . . is near . . . . "

He cleared his throat and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Now . . . I'm not sure. I mean, I need to believe that . . . she needs to believe that . . .  WE need to believe that, if we're going to get through the next few days and weeks, and . . . Oh, God, might it be possible? . . . the next few months."

I held his hands in my hand, looked him square in the eye and said, "I believe anything is possible. And, everything is possible. Things I couldn't even ask for or imagine. My faith teaches me that 'life is changed, not ended'. Science teaches that, too. 'Energy can neither be created nor destroyed.' I learned that in the 6th grade, I think."

 

Joe looked up at me, his eyes brightened and he said, excitement in his voice, "That's the first law of Thermodynamics! Huh!" he said as he looked away and then looked back at me, his face beaming broadly, "I just never heard it connected to faith."

He giggled a bit and said, "That's quite a sucker punch to atheists."

"Well," I smiled at him, "I can't prove anything, you know? I mean, if I were to make this argument in a court of law, I'd probably lose. Badly. Perry Mason would be shaking his head in dismay."

"But, that's not faith!" Joe said. "Faith is not just based on facts. It's what you choose to believe!"

"Yes, of course," I said. "And, I hope you continue to chose to believe in 'infinity and beyond'. Because you're right. As Christians, we choose to believe what Jesus tells us: “I 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.”

 

Choosing to believe that will help you get through this last part of your earthly journey together. Before one of you goes on ahead. Until you meet again."

"Beyond infinity," he said.

"Where love lives," I said.

"To the moon and back," he said.

"Right, because life is changed, not ended."

"And, energy can neither be created nor destroyed," he said.

 

Here’s the real mystery of our faith: That piece of God come down from heaven? That piece of God that Jesus identifies as himself? That is love. As we sing in that great hymn, Jesus is Love Incarnate. Love Divine.

 

It has the power to heal broken hearts and relationships that began in love. It has the power to lift a fallen spirit and make the impossible seem possible. It has the power to change lives in this world and as we transition into life eternal.

 

Or, as my friend Joe would say, “Love incarnate, love divine takes us to infinity and beyond.”

 

Amen.