Excerpts from Minister Jamie's sermon based on John 6:35
Jesus said to [the crowd,] “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
I really love this song (ELW #461) ,“…Taste and see the grace eternal. Taste and see that God is good.” Paul told us in Romans that it is God's kindness that draws us to repentance and into a life of faith.
I used to work at a hotel, and I loved working there - you meet some very interesting people. I remember this one man that used to come and say, “Jamie you're walk walks and your talk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks.” I'm not going to tell you how long it took me to get that down.
Ultimately, we are who we are. Who we are is revealed by how we live our lives. Spirituality is experienced, and spirituality involves how we live out that which we have experienced. This involves all aspects of our humanity: our being, our thinking, and our doing. It’s not just our words that matter in the life of our faith. Our faith must be lived. For each one of your lives, in this place today, and outside these walls today, preaches a sermon. What sermon are you preaching this morning?
It really does amaze me how people argue about literally everything. I've spent way too much time on social media indulging and rubbernecking. I like to listen to what folks on both sides of an argument have to say. I noticed just this last week there was a group of people arguing about the importance of being nice! The argument went something like this: if you are engaged in something that requires correction, mere niceness will not suffice. I believe that many of these people just want to make this argument to justify their rude actions.
In the movie Steel Magnolias, Ouiser has the personality of a porcupine. But in one scene, she felt pleasant that morning because she had smiled at Drum at the Piggly Wiggly. If we read scripture and think, “isn't that nice”, well you probably missed the point. However, if we read that same scripture and read it in a way that demeans others that puts them down, that props us above them, then we have most definitely missed the point.
Yes, people pleasing is dangerous, because it provides temporary fulfillment; a temporary way of being satisfied. But people pleasing is not synonymous with “nice”. I want us to think about “nice” as more like kindness… as more like God's kindness. What is kindness rooted in? What is this true spirit of being “nice” rooted in? It's rooted in respect. “I respect your beliefs, I respect your values, and I respect that you are a human being.” That ought to be the bare minimum. And yet people must argue about that. But we like to argue. While arguing, may we stand on the side that says, “I respect and value you as a human being, whatever you believe, wherever you're from, or whoever your family might be”.
Here's a story that my friend Jim told me about his friend Emily. They met in the busy city of Chicago where Emily was a teacher at a city school. One day she was driving home from school and saw Jim struggling in his motorized wheelchair to get his groceries in. So, Emily decided that she was going to take a few moments to help Jim get his belongings into his car. As she helped him, Jim started to tell her about some of the contents of his life. As they worked together Jim shared stories that allowed him and Emily to bond. This experience led to a lasting friendship.
I think this story illustrates that kindness, being “nice”, and seeing humanity, is how we connect to one another. If we can't see someone struggling and feel drawn, then we need to ask ourselves if we are motivated by kindness. Are we motivated by a spirit that values treating people well?
Last Sunday Jesus fed 5,000 people. As Jesus fed 5,000 people with just a few loaves and a few fish, suddenly people were interested in Jesus. They were interested in Jesus not because of who Jesus is intrinsically, but because he had temporarily fed them while they were hungry.
While providing food and bread to the hungry is our duty, the underlying motive should transcend temporary fixes. The reason that allows us not just to make it through another day, but to develop and lean into a life that allows us to take some risk, to be vulnerable, to know that we can be honest about our struggle. This takes everlasting grace… this everlasting goodness that inspires us to value God's kindness, God's goodness, and yes, to value a “niceness” that is not rooted in a temporary fix. The essence of our kindness should be rooted in the affirmation that every person, every human being, has intrinsic value and worth. The essence of the enduring solutions that help us to navigate through life peaks valleys and everywhere in between.
Consider Stephen, the pommel horse guy. Stephen had made the comment that he wasn't going to allow his eye condition to define his whole life. Was it hard? Yeah. Did it create some challenges? Yes. But it gave him this enduring spirit that allowed him to focus on his event.
By prioritizing what truly matters and embracing our most diligent efforts, we can cultivate profound kindness and an enduring fulfillment that is not rooted in temporary fixes. It is a lasting kindness, a lasting goodness that transcends the temporary things of our world. True satisfaction extends beyond immediate gratification. Jesus, the living bread, calls us to address not only our physical hunger but also to extend to all dimensions of our human existence.
The bedrock of our faith is firmly rooted in Christ, the bread of life, the bread from Heaven, the full embodiment of God for the world. Merely chasing fleeting highs will not fill us with this transforming power that allows us to see and redefine what it means to be human, and to be human together. To value kindness and to value respect, not to just please people, but so others may be filled with bread. With life. And yes, with love.
May our acts of kindness breathe new life and hope into others, embodying a form of “niceness” that rejuvenates and uplifts all that we encounter.
Amen.