A few months ago a girl worshipped with us for the first time. She wasn’t used to the traditions, symbols and rituals of church at all. She also wasn’t shy. That combination made for some interesting, refreshing conversations. She came to me after church and said without any sort of hesitation, “Why do you have this funny robe on?” I said to her, “Oh, you don’t like my robe?” She shook her head and said, “No, it looks funny. Why do you wear this?” Now, I agree with her, church albes are not exactly “cool;” they are not fashionable or what you would call “attractive,” except maybe for some very expensive models. These robes serve the purpose of setting the person apart and emphasizing their role as worship leader, priest, pastor, men and women of God. And for my taste it has always been: the simpler, the better.
But now this girl had confronted me with youthful honesty, and I was still pondering and wondering how to describe the meaning and purpose of those “funny” church robes when I caught myself and decided to use a different strategy. “Oh,” I said, “I am so sad that you don’t like my robe.” And I made a really sad face. She immediately turned around, gave me a hug and said, “No, no, I love it!” But the girl wasn’t done with her critique. Next, she asked me why we eat these little funny round things and why they taste so yucky. Well, I have to say, it’s hard to defend the tastiness of communion wafers. If I conducted a poll asking how many people in our church “like” the taste of communion wafers, I’m afraid of the outcome. I guess they aren’t really meant to be overly tasty and nutritious; they too serve as a simple reminder of God’s presence in the elements of life. And when we eat and drink these elements as part of the Holy Eucharist, we are to taste God and not be distracted by wonderful flavors or be intoxicated by sugars that would make these wafers particularly desirable. For all intents and purposes, the wafer is Holy Food, reminding us of Jesus’ word, “I am the bread of life.” But, my God, how to explain it? How is Jesus the Bread of Life?
The readings over the last few weeks have centered around the miracle of the loaves and fish, and our sacramental understanding of Jesus as Bread of Life, Holy Food, to be tasted and chewed on whenever we come together for worship. It is this part of our faith, which cannot be fully explained – not for kids, not for adults, not for PHD professors, not for people with extraordinary faith and spiritual understanding… – it’s a mystery, so what are you going to tell a little girl? I wonder, would she have accepted the following answer? “Look, God is so close to you that you can chew on him! That’s what this wafer reminds us of…” Or how about this answer? “God is even in the blandest and most ordinary things of life, like this “funny round thing.” Or how about this answer? “Oh, we are just too tired to bake fresh bread every week and we wouldn’t find enough takers for the leftovers and then we would have to throw away God’s food.” Of course, in a way, it’s sinful whenever we throw away any food, which collectively we do a lot, while other people have not enough to eat. Maybe the tiny wafer we eat at communion time is a reminder that we should be more careful with and respectful of the food resources of our planet? There is something nice about the efficiency of the wafer. It can be used and stored again and we don’t have to be wasteful. And it is still: Bread of Life! (This is my official defense of the communion wafer…) Because yes, as a society, we have a problem with waste. As a homeowner and a family member, my family has a problem with waste. And one of the little side teachings of this huge miracle of the loaves and fish is this: don’t waste food! In this story, Jesus orders his friends to collect the leftovers, and honor them as food that sustains us! The disciples collected 12 baskets of leftover food. Is it a stretch to say that this is a nod to the twelve disciples, so that all of those who shared their own food came back with a basket of their own?
The collection of the leftovers and careful use of food, it may be a side lesson of this magnificent story, but for our society, for our times and for the habits we have developed, maybe the most important one!
This following information is according to a news article from the year 2012 and I don’t think it has fundamentally changed since then: “Americans throw away nearly half their food every year, waste worth roughly $165 billion annually… As a country, we’re essentially tossing every other piece of food that crosses our path. That’s money and precious resources down the drain,” said Dana Gunders, a scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s food and agriculture program. The NRDC report said Americans discard 40 percent of the food supply every year, and the average American family of four ends up throwing away an equivalent of up to $2,275 annually in food.” (Huffington Post/Reuters, August 21, 2012)
When we had our annual council retreat in March and we had a conversation about our lives and any interests or callings that council members might pursue, one of them said, “I would like to do something about food waste.” Now, if this council member is here this morning, I just want to say, there is no pressure here. I am not expecting a report from you detailing what you did about this problem since March! It’s a little bigger than any individual or any particular country, although there are countries we can learn from. But anyway, this comment made me think. Of course I knew that a lot of food is wasted in our society, I don’t have to look very far, but honestly, until I looked further into it, I had no idea just how much!
When preparing for this Sunday, I intended to call this Sermon “Holy Food” from the very beginning. And originally this is what I had in mind: the communion wafer, the food we share during the Eucharist on Sunday morning, Jesus’ holy presence in the sacrament. But the more I thought about it, the bigger the concept of “Holy Food” became. How about this: all food is sacred! And we need to re-educate ourselves and think of every food as a sacred gift from God and something that we should eat with great respect. How about this: when we eat together, whether here at church or at home or in a restaurant, God is with us! And whether you pray before your meal to be reminded of that fact – or not – fact still is that the presence of God is permeating both the food and your fellowship. It’s you who will be better off to notice it. Holy Food is not confined to the church and the sacristy where the altar guild ladies store the wafers. It is in your own refrigerator, waiting to be honored, waiting to be shared, waiting to sustain you. And in all of it is the one who said. ”I am the Bread of Life.” And by the way, we have often criticized the “materialism” of society in church. And often times we have encouraged people to become more “spiritual.” But to me this is the lesson of this gospel lesson: to honor the goods and yes, materials, of this world and to treat them with a sense of spiritual awe. If and when we do that, our entire planet will be blessed for it! Amen.