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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost

August 19, 2022

The Invitatory

Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

The earth is the Lord’s for he made it: Come let us adore him.

Reading: John 6:27-40

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’

Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.’

Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones

As the war in Ukraine has progressed, and have thought about: the Ukrainians who fled their homeland to Western Europe, not knowing to what and to whom they might return; the coverage of the missile strikes and their destruction throughout that country; the footage of funerals; interviews with the affected Ukrainians; the threat to the nuclear power plant; the position of the Russian government and Vladimir Putin And I am not insensitive of the cost paid by Russia and its military. In the midst of my deep distress and concern, it occurred to me that I have no idea of what peace here would look like or mean. And then my prayer became Bring your peace, God, for I am confident that God’s peace would be comprehensive with respect to all people and all concerns. That would truly be peace.

Given my thoughts, as I read this passage from John I found these verses intriguing: Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ Then I contemplate this story through the realities of our world. Meeting the needs of these citizens of these two countries one day does not mean that they are resolved for the next. When there is no indication of an end to this war or what peace will look like and cost, one might question the meaning of eternity.

As human beings there are often matters that, out of frustration or helplessness, we place before God. Sometimes, asking God for assurance that God is still with us is understandable, even appropriate. When Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves,” it may not be that Jesus was scolding the crowd for seeking bread because they were hungry. It may be that Jesus was disappointed that the crowd did not expect more, not more bread but something more.

To believe is to trust that God is doing something new that human-created conditions and circumstances cannot undermine or negate. To believe is to submit everything, even our highest-stake issues, to God’s saving work in Jesus. To believe is not so much what we do as being open to what God is doing. And to give ourselves over to this risks that we might not do what is wise, practical, advantageous, safe. In fact, being open to God and letting go means that our doing is less important because we are not in charge, let alone in control. Jesus frees us to embrace God’s redemption and restoration of creation and humanity in accordance God’a intentions. It means putting God rather than ourselves at the center of both. When we do, we can and will expect more.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

   hallowed be thy Name,

   thy kingdom come,

   thy will be done,

       on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

   as we forgive those

       who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

   but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

   and the power, and the glory,

   for ever and ever. Amen.