8/8/2021 - God Provides Spiritual Food

God Provides Spiritual Food

Christian Education Sunday, August 8, 2021

There are those who live to eat (foodies), and then there are those who eat to live.  Whether your evening meal is a religious experience or you’re throwing down a gas station corndog, the Bible explains that God provides food for body and soul.

There aren’t any verses that indicate whether the Israelites were foodies or not.  More pressing in their minds was starvation.  After they had crossed the Red Sea and faced a rugged wilderness, they wondered out loud how they would survive.  They panicked.  They complained.  They blamed God and Moses, “if you wanted us dead, you could have just killed us in Egypt instead of making us travel to the desert to die.”  To those fear-filled grumbling Israelites, God granted his grace.  He miraculously rained down manna from heaven to feed them every day of their journey.

You’d imagine that the Israelites - who saw the glory of God in a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire and who escaped the Egyptians when God parted the Red Sea - would be so grateful for God’s miraculous manna that they would stop their sinful complaining and replace it with gratitude.  That was not the case.  Their complaining continued.  Paul teaches us in our second reading that God “was not pleased with them and scattered the bodies all over the desert.”  Israel’s history serves a powerful lesson to us who live now:  stop complaining and receive your daily bread with thanksgiving.

Jesus knows we need food for our bodies, but instructs us to pursue meals that feed the soul.  “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”  Later, Jesus calls himself the Bread of Life.  “He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”  Jesus’ promises’ are as true today as ever.

Another old saying says, “Eat your food as medicine before you have to eat your medicine as food.”  Today is education Sunday.  God promises daily bread for your body.  Use Jesus’ promise to recommit to feeding your soul.

God bless your worship.

READINGS:

First reading: Exodus 16:15-31, God provides manna in the desert.

Second reading: 1 Corinthians 10:1-5,11-13, Israel receives grace with grumbling.

Gospel: John 6:24-35, Jesus, the Bread of Life.

Sermon text: Exodus 16:15-31

Sermon theme: “Grace to the Grumbling”

Watch live on our YouTube channel Sunday, August 8 at 10:45am.

Download or view the weekly service folder on our website, redeemertucson.com (under "Sermons".)