“O taste and see that the Lord is gracious; blessed is the one who trusts in him.”
Well, what a week, no a fortnight, it has been across the world. There has seemed to be an escalation of violence in all quarters of the earth: examples of different groups threatening, attacking, such belligerence! I must admit, I have almost felt forced to watch everything unfolding in front of me in terrifying fascination. And in many ways, whilst watching it all unfold, I have “sought the Lord”, looking for him to answer me and to deliver me from all my fears. I was particularly concerned on Wednesday when the violence seemed to be approaching those I love. I could hardly concentrate on other things. And so, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.” At least, that’s how it seemed. Suddenly something happened. Something was different. Peace, hope and reconciliation took to the streets, sat around the negotiating tables, settled in the midst of the troubles and spoke: “peace.” The expected violence dissipated and in its place people from all walks of life, all backgrounds, nationalities, faiths and none, came together courageously and said: we are one body. And in another corner of the world, the threat of retaliation was eased, even if only temporarily, and the threat of escalation receded. Someone, somewhere was speaking truth to our neighbours.
“O taste and see that the Lord is gracious; blessed is the one who trusts in him.” There is so much going on in our readings today, but they all show us something of what it means to trust in God, to follow Jesus. Jesus, the one who stood up to violence, who in the face of violence against himself spoke the words of love, forgiveness, reconciliation with each other and with God: “Father forgive, they know not what they do.” Jesus, the one who gave his own flesh for the life of the world. The flesh we receive every Sunday in the bread and wine of Communion. “Take eat, this is my body given for you, eat it in remembrance of me”, in remembrance of what I do for you, what I have done for you. Eat it in remembrance that through his body and blood, the bread and wine, we have been redeemed and have eternal life in him who is “the living bread that came down from heaven” and who came and dwelt amongst us, spoke peace, and took away our fear: “Do not be afraid”. Jesus is the living bread, that gives us life: as Malcolm Guite writes: “And then comes One who speaks into our needs Who opens out the secret hopes we cherish Whose presence calls our hidden hearts to flourish Whose words unfold in us like living seeds Come to me, broken, hungry, incomplete, I Am the Bread of Life, break Me and eat.” (1)
But what does it mean to live as partakers of the bread of life? Well, I think we got a glimpse of that this week, and it is spelled out clearly in the Epistle today. This week we saw people speaking “truth to (their) neighbours”, people who saw themselves as members of one another. We saw people coming together to build up the community, each other, not trying to break it down, or divide and sow hatred. We saw people reaching out to those who were being oppressed, who were made to feel unwanted, alone, and offer them hope. We saw people being “kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.” We saw people acting out the love of God in the streets, standing between those who hate and those they hated and speaking peace. I started the week feeling numbed by the violence, confused by humanity’s ability to hate, to destroy. But by Thursday morning I was re-inspired. There was something bigger at work in the world, moving people to stand up and speak out, to come out and build up each other. If the Holy Spirit had been grieving at the beginning of the week, then by the end of it the Spirit was moving over the face of the chaos and inspiring acts of courage, love and hope. “I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.”
Now, I’m not saying it is all over, that universal peace is now established. But I think this week we saw a glimpse of the power of the kingdom of God working in the hearts, hands and voices of people across the world. Because, being partakers of the bread of life, the bread which brings freedom, hope and love, is an active thing, not a passive reception. When we take the bread and wine, we do so to remember an act of pure love, that sacrifice made in love for all upon the cross. For all upon the cross. The sacrifice which brings forgiveness and salvation and hope. From this gift of the bread of life we are to be filled with the Holy Spirit and then go out into the world, taking the bread of life within us, with us, and sharing that broken body with the world by “putting away all falsehood, speaking truth to our neighbours, for we are members of one another.” We are to show in our own bodies and actions that it is possible to put away bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling, malice and slander in order to show kindness to one another, to be tenderhearted, forgiving as we are forgiven: “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”. And this means living these gifts in our daily lives – doing simple acts of kindness; being forgiveness; living the prayer of St Francis and being channels of peace, bringing love where there is hate; turning the other cheek, but also strong to step forward and speak truth into situations. And we do this safe in the knowledge that we are not alone, that we are doing what Christ has already done for the world, for us; that we are speaking into situations that Christ is already speaking into. We are called to join in with the work of the kingdom wherever we see it in action, just as we saw it in action this week on the streets of the UK, rebuilding that which others had tried to destroy, in action anywhere where people stand up together for peace, hope and reconciliation. We are to be imitators of God, the God of unconditional love, “and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God”. Christ, the bread of life, the bread given for us for the life of the world in Christ’s own body. “And then comes One who speaks into our needs Who opens out the secret hopes we cherish Whose presence calls our hidden hearts to flourish Whose words unfold in us like living seeds.
“Come to me, broken, hungry, incomplete, I Am the Bread of Life, break Me and eat.” (1) Amen.
The Revd Jackie Sellin
- Malcolm Guite “I am the bread of life” https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2015/07/31/i-am-the-bread-of-life/