Proper 13 B

 In chapter 4 of John’s gospel the woman at the well, after challenging Jesus about why he would dare to converse with her; a woman shunned by all of society; and why—by the way— would he be at a well without a bucket with which to fetch water, says, “ Sir, give me this water, so I shall never thirst again.”
Today we read, in the 6th chapter, “Sir, give us this bread, always.”
Sense a theme here? Besides these two, don’t forget the first chapter of John’s gospel, “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
Water, bread, light are all big themes for John because they are big themes for Jesus.
Jesus tells us that the Son of Man (Jesus) is the light of the world. And the darkness [of this world, no matter how hard the world tries] will not extinguish that Light.
Jesus tells us that ‘Everyone who drinks of regular water will be thirsty again,  but those who drink of the water that He gives them will never again be thirsty.
And today he tells us “For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
    Jesus is our nourishment. Our hunger for the food of this world, the water of this world and the light of this world is fleeting. There is an end—the amount of light, water and bread is finite.
But faith in God through Jesus Christ never ends and as long as we keep the faith we will never hunger, thirst or wander in the darkness again.
Can we think about that for a moment?
Jesus is our nourishment—his life, his teachings, his death, his resurrection, his ascension all contribute to the quenching of our thirst, the brightening of our darkness, the satisfying of our hunger.
But just how do we get that nourishment? Is it magically given to us when we take the bread, break it, eat it, and remember him?
No.
Well yes. But also, no. Yes, we are nourished by and through the act of gathering each week and, most weeks, taking, breaking, eating and remembering Jesus through the act of communion. But also no—-because just doing that, coming here and going through these motions don’t mean anything in and of themselves. It’s when we take the nourishment and realize that it strengthens, encourages and emboldens us to be Jesus in this world, and that by being so strengthened, encouraged and emboldened we then, as those who came before us exclaim: give us this light, water and bread always!!!!
    When angered at the politics of today, remember  the nourishment of Christ.
When discouraged by your lot in life, remember the nourishment of Christ.
When worried about your health, or the health of one you love, remember the nourishment of Christ.
The light, water and bread of Christ is never ending, I pray that our desire for it and our accepting of it, also never, ever ends. Amen.