What was
your last prayer request? Can you remember?
Hopefully,
somewhere in the recent past was a prayer of thanksgiving - an intercession - a
confession.
But the
last time you made a petition - this is a prayer where we ask God for help for
ourselves. Can you remember what you asked for?
And -
more specific to today's scriptures: can you remember what the circumstances
were that inspired you to ask?
The thing
is, we tend to be good at asking God for help when we're in need. When we're in
trouble. The 9-1-1 prayer OH GOD HELP! We're good at that.
And we
tend to be good at asking God to grant our wishes- Lord, please give me X. Even
though we know that our prayers should not look like a Christmas list, and that
our Almighty Lord is not a sparkling fairy godmother waiting to
bippity-boppity-boo our pumpkins into carriages.
But we
ask for help from God when we are in need. This is normal.
So here's
the next ponderance. When was the last time you asked for God's help when things
were going well? When it was all rainbows and butterflies and cartoon
characters singing and dancing?
Hmm.
Because this is where and when we slip. When things are going well, we shift
the focus again to earthly realities instead of divine relationship.
And this
is why our scriptures today remind us that we need God's help at all times -
the good and the bad and the neutral - if we want our prayer life to be healthy
and heavenly. It is when things are going well that we should be connecting
with God the most. And not just with thanksgiving - as wonderful and important
as that is. But humbly, recognising that with good things comes responsibility;
a duty of care.
It's why
Solomon begins his reign with prayer; he's living an intentional and careful balance of humility and confidence, of the
earthly "I've GOT this!" and the heavenly "only with you can I
do this." That the world is not about titles but about how we walk with
God. Solomon understood that as David's successor he had BIG shoes to fill! As
guardian to the Ark of the Covenant he was duty bound and honour-filled to
demonstrate his faith through prayer.
This
theme continues in the lesson from the Ephesians. God wants us to be
faithful and strong in our faith; but to remember where that strength comes from.
God does not want to be a supporting character in our lives, but a starring
role; that we are strong in the Lord and in the Lord's power, equipped for
ministry not by our own doing but by the gifts and graces that have been
lavished upon us. Paul is clear that this comes through perseverance in prayer
and supplication, a commitment to service in the Lord. A heavenly focus of how
to journey through the earthly realm.
The Gospel passage today again details this difference. Jesus says
he IS the living bread from heaven. And the folks don't have any point of
reference: while our minds immediately go to the Eucharist, that's not yet a
thing for the followers of Jesus. The last supper hasn't happened yet in the
narrative.
So the
people try to dispute, and who can blame them! The closest reference of
heavenly bread is a loose and long-ago reference to manna. Yet this is clearly
not what Jesus was talking about. Manna, as we know, served the period of the
exodus as an earthly form of relationship builder between people and God. Of
the earth, for earthly purposes: empty stomachs and starving souls. God is
providing a divine gift of earthly substance: the bread from heaven; without
which people would perish. TBTG many, if not all, of us here today have never
known that type of desperate dependency for basic food.
But Jesus
is speaking of something else: bread from heaven. Spiritual nourishment. Soul
food - quite literally. A shared experience of divine revelation. A mystical
presence of the divine, manifest here - NOW! - in this realm. The boundary or
division - veil - between this world and the next are so thin that God comes
here.
Clearly,
a divine gift. A WOW moment for anyone who could look past the improbability ot
it, and receive. Because Jesus is offering to a huge crowd of seekers something
amazing. This is not just a hint of deity, just barely enough to get you
through the day. This is God's holy abundance. Eternal heavenly nourishment.
Overabundance. A literal buffet of grace and salvation: at any time, and for
any one. For every one. For all who would seek it.
But it's
not easy: it's no wonder that so many rejected what Jesus was offering - why so
many continue to reject what is continually and continuously offered. It's too
hard.
Because
receiving this heavenly bread means giving up our earthly status. It means
refusing to believe that we can go it alone, that we're self-made people, that
the good days are our own doing. It means asking for help when things go well,
and deferring to God's power in our lives. It's admitting that our best, our
very best, is not because of our own doing.
It's
humbling. It's dependence. It's deference. It's not what culture says - and
always says - we should want.
But we
know that this is how we will be truly fed. When we come to the table, asking
to be fed with the bread we need for today, we are coming with humble and
contrite hearts. We are coming as beloved creature; prayerful, expectant,
delighted.
And
trusting. Because God does not let us down. God does not let us be spiritually
starved. The bread from heaven is there that we may see it, know it, and feast
upon it.
So I pray
that we all will have open eyes and hearts to acknowledge our hunger. I pray
that we will live in gentle humility to ask God to help us through this earthly
time. And I pray that we might have the faith to declare our confidence in
Jesus: the one with the words of eternal life. The one to whom we have come,
and believe as the Holy One of God.
