Rev. Betsy Aldrich Garland
July 26, 2009
John 6:1-21

What Are You Hungry For?

A Reflection Offered by Reverend Betsy

?What are you hungry for?? We have come home from work, too tired to cook ? or maybe there?s nothing appealing in the refrigerator ? and the question we ask each other is, ?What are you hungry for?? We Rhode Islanders have multiple choices: What will it be? Italian, Mexican, Portuguese, Thai ? or what? How about just plain American tonight? Or maybe a hamburger at the Edgewood Caf? or chowder at Iggies? What about something quick and easy?

Statistics tell us that we Americans eat a lot of fast food. In his best seller, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser notes that ?[we] spend more money on fast food than on higher education, computers, computer software or new cars. In fact . . . we spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers and recorded music ? combined.? 1

In spite of health warnings about trans fats and salt and make believe food!

I spent six years in Divinity School and used to wish there were a drive-through where I could get a turkey dinner, complete with stuffing and cranberry sauce, that I could eat on my lap while I was racing along route 128. I was tired of Dunkin? Donuts and MacDonalds.

What are you hungry for?

Food might have been better for us in the ancient world ? if one could get it ? locally grown, made with love, not over-processed. Who said, ?If it wasn?t food 100 years ago, it isn?t food today??

Too many people in Palestine were hungry, however. The Roman occupation bore down hard on the common people, sucking up resources in the form of taxes for Caesar?s building campaign on the Mediterranean. And so, when they hear this rabbi-turned-miracle-worker is in the area, thousands come to see for themselves. And they are famished for justice and mercy.

There were no picnic baskets, coolers or fried clam shacks on the beach. The disciples are unprepared and unnerved. But one little boy had brought his lunch ? 5 barley loaves and 2 fish ? and he is willing to share with Jesus. Jesus breaks the bread and shares it with the crowd. And there is enough for everyone and ? amazingly ? some left over.

Jesus feeds their hunger ? and now he is in real trouble! They have heard stories about his healings, about his bringing the dead back to life, about his concern for the common people. The people-turned-mob press forward: Jesus is the king they have been looking for! This is the messiah that will put down the Romans and restore Israel. All our worldly troubles will melt away in his presence! Or so they think! Jesus has a different agenda.

What are you hungry for?

I suspect we crave some of the same bounty from Jesus ? financial security, a satisfying job, a happier marriage, a picture-perfect family, better health, you fill in the blank . . .. What?s on your hunger shopping list?

We busy and harried people have a tendency to look for quick solutions, immediate gratification. And we consume more and more ?stuff? to feed our hungers.

In research ?to understand why French people are skinnier than Americans, despite the chocolate, wine, cheese, pastry and p?t?, Cornell University researchers say it?s because of the different cues that French people and Americans use to tell them when to stop eating. The French stop when they?re full; Americans stop when the plate is empty (or the TV show ends).? 2

What are we really hungry for?

Some Rhode Islanders are really hungry for food. A couple of years ago, about 10 percent of RI households were hungry. Now, I?m sure, from the people who visit soup kitchens and the phone calls that come to churches like ours, it?s much higher.

And hunger is growing across the developing world as agriculture cannot keep up with the growing demands.

But, what else are we hungry for? Attention? Recognition? Love? Life? Vengeance? Justice?

It?s easy for us to misunderstand John?s story about the feeding of the multitudes. We get caught up in analyzing the miracle: How did he do it? we wonder. Perhaps when the boy shared his lunch, everyone else did as well ? potluck on the hillside ? and there was enough hidden under everyone?s cloak to feed 5,000. Maybe so. But when we try to explain the miracle, we miss the real miracle.

Homiletics magazine proposes that,

?Jesus didn?t come to help people get what they want. No, he came to be what we want. He didn?t come to be a sort of ?short-order savior,? there to simply crank out whatever it is that will satisfy our earthly needs. He came to be the food that we feast on.? 3

If we want Jesus to solve all our problems, we?ve got the wrong Jesus.

?I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty,? Jesus says later in John?s gospel (6: 35).

When we follow Jesus, no matter what happens to us, we will never be empty, we will never be hungry! We will have plenty ? and with leftovers ? to share with those who are physically hungry, here at home and abroad ? and the willingness to do so! ?Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled,? says Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:6).

But the miracle about feeding the 5,000 is less about generosity than it is about Jesus? authority and the power of God to care for our needs.

What are we hungry for? In our materialistic society, we are not only hungry but starving for God, for a taste of the divine, for a spiritual meal. Why else would books on spirituality fly off the shelves in record numbers?

Scripture gives us a promise: ?Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled,? Jesus says, according to Luke (6:21). This is the promise: God in Jesus comes to us in powerful ways to give us what we need ? food, faith, grace, salvation, abundance to overflowing ? and God?s abiding presence.

What are you hungry for?

Jesus invites us to sit and eat, to be filled with holy food, to live with hope and trust in God, to practice an attitude of abundance, to be faithful stewards of God?s creation, and to live with generosity.

May it be so!

Amen.

1, Hometics July/August 2009, p. 27.
2. Ibid., p. 30.
3. Ibid., p. 28.