Today we hear Jesus speak of Himself as the Bread of Life The powers that be Think this such an Important concept That the next four Gospels Will also make reference to it. So because we will have Multiple opportunities To address Jesus as the Bread of Life I want to take the time To look backward To be precise I want to look back Six years To July 29th 2009 That was the first Sunday 1
I occupied this space Now since then I did the math: Including weddings and funerals I’ve preached Over 1200 sermons From this spot What was it I said That first Sunday? I’d forgotten So I pulled up that sermon The Gospel was different The story we heard that day Told of Jesus feeding The 5000 by day And then walking on water And calming the storm By night But I think it Still holds up And that’s primarily what 2
I’m going to share with you today This is what I said Six years ago: I’m thrilled to be Standing in this pulpit. In my heart and in my gut It feels very right If I’ve learned one thing, It’s that Worthwhile thingsThey usually Take time. Rather than a sprint race, We usually end up Trudging on the road To happy destiny. So if we can, Let’s take a Long view of things.
3
Let’s operate under The assumption that We are going to be together For a good while. Let’s build relationships Over time through Sharing our lives with one another. I’m going to Ask patience of youIf I can’t accept every invitation; If I can’t make every event right away Know that we’ve got time. And I have to remember that My first priority, Now and always, is To my family, To the loves of my lifeBarclay and my boysGraham and Miles. And how about today’s Gospel? 4
Before taming the wind and the waves. Jesus walks on water This wasn’t the days only Jaw-dropping event Before walking on water, Jesus had fed the 5,000. So not to put any Added pressure on myself I’m not going to speak To the miracles Instead I bring your attention To the initial image of The storm And the disciples being Tossed about Their only refuge being Their fragile boat and Each other Still today, Churches are often built To resemble upside-down boats. 5
This being one I want to take that image of A bunch of people in a boat amid a storm, And I want to expand it To expand upon the idea of A vessel full of passengers Who are on a perilous journey. Texas Children’s Hospital and MD Anderson are Two famous hospitals Next door to each other in Houston. As institutions They are so revered That we consider them Ports of last resortPlaces where people go when They are desperate and Only the best will do. People come from Around the globe 6
To these hospitals So it’s not surprising that Hotels dot the landscape Around the med center Hotels that offer a shuttle van To take patients and their families To and from their appointments Barclay, Graham, Miles, and I Were one of those families A family with high hopes That doctors might be able To diagnoseWhat was A non-life threatening But nonetheless Very vexing and Debilitating condition that Had mysteriously Plagued Miles since birth. That morning we were hoping and praying That this would be the day Miles 7
Would find some relief. But we would not be alone As more passengers boarded At other hotels on the van’s route. As each person got on, Knowing where each was headed, There was a recognition That they too were Hoping and praying For the best but Bracing for the worst. And with each new person To enter the van, A very palpable camaraderie; A solidarity built on Our separate but Shared predicaments, Seemed to build. As we traded glances There was no pretense 8
Only recognition that We were all afflicted; That we were all In the same boat. By the time we approached The various the drop-off spots At the hospitals, These people who were perfect strangers Five minutes prior‌ I mean you just wanted To hug each of them and Wish them well as they disembarked, We got on a van focused Only on ourselves Only to arrive on a boat, As one. Despite not a word being spoken It was, If I can call it this, 9
It was an utterly Christian moment. Not Christian as In “religious” But Christian as in Christ was present All of us in a van togetherThat’s us here too. We come thinking It’s about us and Our personal storm, Only to find we are All together; That we are all in This boat together. We are all in the same boat; And we’d do well to Be pulling and praying For each other, My prayer 10
That we, Amidst our personal storms That we be willingly to Reach out in solidarity To others on our boat With the reassurance that we have A God who knows We need to be fed but Who is also mighty to save. Amen.
11