Rev Gav

How can I find fulfilment?

John 6.24–35

Who is not motivated by a full belly? Dear readers, I fear I am using my Insights as a confessional, for I have yet another confession to make, and that is that I have a slight obsession with food. I cover it up well though, using phrases such as, “I’m a foodie,” or that, “I like fine dining,” but I do need to call it what it is. Gluttony! My children used to call me ‘The Human Hoover’ and I have had to work hard at restraining my desire to over-indulge. I am a savoury boy and my particular weaknesses include wine, cheese, pizza, and curry, but anything yummy for the tummy will do!

In this week’s Bible passage Jesus asserts that he is ‘the bread of life’ and prior to this declaration he had performed the miracle of feeding the 5000. The whole point of that miracle was that it pointed to the superabundance of God. There was enough bread to feed everyone with plenty left over. It was my kind of party! And who would not follow a guy that miraculously produced enough food to feed the entire neighbourhood? I know I would, and people did just that. Jesus was not surprised that because he fed them, people followed him — being moved not by full hearts, but by full bellies — but the point of the miracle was that it was a sign, and signs point to something.

We humans crave fulfilment, and if we are honest, we have a yawning gap or hunger in our hearts that we constantly seek to sate. We do this through whatever means possible. We seek this fulfilment through relationships, food, playing golf, wealth, pleasing others, alcohol, shopping, or technology. In fact, there is no material thing or experience in which we indulge, that cannot be used to try to satisfy our desire to be fulfilled. In this sense, bread, as described by Jesus, is also a metaphor for any and every earthly thing we seek. Jesus is not saying we should not enjoy the breads of this life, for they are, after all, gifts from God for us to enjoy, but what he is saying is that we will never be truly ‘filled’ or ‘satisfied’ by them. Bread gives us life, but Jesus is offering bread that will give us life in all its fullness in the here and now and forever. As one theologian wrote, “It is possible to be rich and yet poor, fully clothed and yet naked, full and yet hungry, or educated and yet ignorant.”

With earthly bread, we need to pay for it or make it with our hands. In other words we have to ‘do’ something to ‘gain’ something. As they said in the 1930s bars where they laid on food to entice customers to buy alcohol, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch!” Doing things in our own strength or by our own merit is ingrained in our culture, and it is no wonder the crowds asked Jesus what they must ‘do’ to receive God’s free gift of life. Yet again, they missed the point, and Jesus replied that all they had to do was accept him, the one sent by God. There is nothing we can say or do to earn God’s free gift to us, for satisfaction comes not from the work we do, but from in whom we believe.

Even after Jesus had explained that all they had to do was accept him, they demanded he prove again who he said he was by performing another feeding miracle. They were out to get whatever they could and it seemed they had still not got out of the mindset that Jesus was there to provide for their benefit. What could God ‘do’ for them? Again, they missed the point, for God’s free gift to us of life in all its fullness is never only about us being the recipient. It is not about our benefits. The crowds demanded heavenly bread and Jesus replied by saying he, himself, was the bread they needed, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

There are echoes with the words from John in the Book of Revelation which talks about how it will be when God’s kingdom fully comes. “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water.”

The presence of God in our lives satisfies our deepest desires because, when we accept Jesus, the Spirit of God fills us. We eat bread to satisfy and sustain our physical life, and we accept Jesus to satisfy and sustain our spiritual life. The miracle of the feeding of the 5000 pointed to the superabundance of Jesus. There is more than enough — an overflowing amount — for everyone. And as that same Spirit fills each one of us, we become connected to God and to each other. The same God who gives the bread of life to each one of us fills us, and we become givers of life to others. This is the natural way of things, and we experience a deep sense of ‘rightness’, and an inner joy and peace that nothing else in the world can give.

Today, if you are feeling an emptiness inside, come to Jesus. If you have a nagging anxiety or unsettledness you cannot seem to shift, come to Jesus. If you fill your days with a quest for things to ‘fill the gap’, come to Jesus. If you have a longing, a hunger, or a recognition that something in your life is missing, come to Jesus. If you sense there is more to life, but just cannot put your finger on it, come to Jesus. Come and be connected to the source of all life, the true bread from heaven.

Amen.