Sermon Sunday August 11, 2024 Proper 14
Lessons 1 Kings 19:4-8
Psalm 34:1-8
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
John 6:35, 41-51
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
Play Look Down from Les Mis the Movie along with the
Words also. Start at 1:15 to about 3:00 minutes.
All the twenty plus years that the main character from the
book, musical, and move Les Miserables, spent in jail were
over a loaf of bread. Jean Valjean stole a loaf of bread from
a baker in order to feed his sisters’ children who were
starving. I cannot recall what happened to Valjean’s sister
and children, or even if they were ever mentioned again, but
Valjean gets caught and thrown into prison in the late
18 th /early 19 th century in France. By all accounts, this was a
horrific fate as prisons seem to have been in a workhouse
atmosphere, perhaps invoking slave labor. Jean Valjean was
subjected to this system for many, many years over a loaf of
bread, and he became bitter, angry, and hateful, as he labored under the watchful vindictive, and sanctimonious
eye of the police official, Javert.
Jean Valjean is given parole in the opening scenes of the
movie and leaves the prison. But Javert pretty much says
that he personally is going to be keeping an eye on Valjean,
but rather, uses Valjean’s prisoner number instead of his
name. Valjean has a yellow card that paints him as a felon,
and he has regular check-in times with his sort of parole
officer. The only problem is that Valjean can’t get a job
because he is a felon. All of this is over a loaf of bread.
Valjean makes the decision to tear up his yellow card.
He makes his way to the residence of a local bishop. Valjean
stays there overnight, and he tries to abscond with some
silver candlesticks and other valuable items. He is caught by
the local gendarmes who carry him back to the bishop’s
residence. The bishop, knowing full well that Valjean stole
the items, tells the authorities that he gave Valjean the items.
The bishop then exhorts Valjean to go and us the items for
good—to go and sin no more.
All of this is over a loaf of bread. Valjean then makes the
decision, after much agonizing self-examination to do as the
bishop asks. For me, the bishop is the most important character in the story, although he only makes a brief
appearance. Sweet Jesus doesn’t care.
Well, we see in today’s Gospel passage from John, that
indeed, sweet Jesus does care. Bread is life. “I am the bread
of life.” He is the living bread. Jesus cares so much that we
know that he ended giving up his life for us to the Roman
authorities, so that we too would care, so that we would care
to love God and love our neighbor, and for us to act as His
Body in this world.
Today’s Gospel Lesson speaks of both of Jesus’ natures, His
human nature and His divine nature. He tells us that those
who ate the manna that God sent to the Israelites during the
Exodus died, but that his bread is the living bread.
This brings to mind another song that you may have heard of
from back in the days called “Bread and Roses.” It is a song
about women marching so that all have enough to eat, so
that all have enough, but not too much, to live an abundant
life.
At the same time though, the song tells us that to have an
abundant life we need more than physical bread. We need
roses Also! We need the ability to listen to and appreciate all
types of music. We need the ability to be able to express joy
through dance and all the arts. We need the ability to enjoy
and revel in an amazing sunset, or a magnificent
thunderstorm or a colossal full moon, or a beautiful meteor
shower. Give us bread and give us roses.
And how are we to do this? Paul tells us in today’s Letter to
the Ephesians to be imitators of God, as beloved children,
and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for
us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Give us bread
and give us roses.
We have folks throughout the Big Bend region who feed
people physically through participation in food pantries and
food banks. We just had the school supply give away at St.
Paul’s last week. We have church members who make
community theatre, and history presentations, and festivals
available to all. We have given bread and roses. We help
others to know that sweet Jesus does care.
Now it is our task to help others to remember this. We know
that we do act as the Body of Jesus in the world. It is simply
that the world, individuals or groups of people seem to have
amnesia. They forget that we are to love God and love our
neighbor. Others forget that sweet Jesus does care. And we,
who are the Body of Christ are to remind people that we need both bread and roses. We should never be asked to
have one without the other. We are to remind people,
communities and politicians that we are to feed all with
bread and roses. We are to help people to wake up from the
trance that many of all political persuasions seem to be in
that bread and roses are necessary for an abundant life.
We are called to make sure all know that sweet Jesus does
care, that God loves us just as we are, that we are to love
others—no exceptions. We are to remember the bishop from
Les Miserables, my hero. Oh, were I to be like the bishop in
my everyday life. We are to take the silver candlesticks that
we have been given to go into the world to remind all the
sweet Jesus does care. We are to give bread where needed,
and we are to give roses where needed. We are to unite
rather than to divide. We are to remind that we have the
living bread of life in Jesus.
Perhaps we can reflect on the following questions during the
week to help us remember what we are to do. How will I
pray about what I can do this week to show that Jesus does
care? What can I do this week to show that Jesus does care?
How can I be live the bishop in Les Miserables? How can
my actions reflect the living Bread of life? And how will I
carry that out? Amen.