Pentecost 9, proper 13-Sermon Notes

I have been very fortunate, through the years, to work with people dealing with significant meaning of life issues. One of the most rewarding and important areas has been the field of addiction. I have known many young and old, male and female, black and white who have found their lives spiraling out of control as a result of alcohol or other substances. The stories are incredibly similar, despite the different backgrounds of the individuals involved. No one plans to become dependent on a substance, but those with a predisposition and enough use, become dependent. The fortunate ones recognize they are in trouble and seek help.

Unfortunately, the first efforts are usually not successful. Health is not to be found by throwing a switch, finding self-discipline or just quitting. Most have to reshape and remake their entire lives. One must become honest about reality. One must recognize the inability to find health alone. One must find a personal faith. One must engage in a constant process of self-examination and be prepared to do what it takes to stay in right relationship with God and fellow humans. Eventually, one must be prepared to share the new life discovered with others seeking wholeness.

Most struggle to get to the place where they are willing to do what it takes to recover. For a time, most cling to the idea that they can control their use of substances. Some do stop for periods time, yet cling to self-will and become what some call “dry drunks”. They continue in the same self-destructive behavior. They continue creating a wake of chaos. They are still marked by character defects and they still practice a slash and burn strategy in life, but they are not using. Dry drunks don’t last, they usually devolve into wet drunks.

The mystery is that often in the dark night of the soul, many become willing to do what it takes, and they accept the invitation to live a whole new life. They recognize that just not using is only a mere shadow of what life can be. In the grand scheme of things, not using is a tiny piece of sobriety.

Jesus is faced with a very similar myopic temptation to settle for the minimum in the Gospel. He has just fed 5000 people, maybe more, he has changed location and is regrouping. The feeding, however, seems to have an unintended consequence. The people that follow him now want to see more of the same.

When your hungry, food must be a welcome sight. When you are poor, abundance must mean everything. When you are powerless and irrelevant, being close to something powerful must be positively intoxicating.

Jesus finds himself surrounded by people seeking more of what he has offered them. They desire him to act again and again. They want him to give them more of what they want. Jesus knows why they are there, so he attempts to shift their thinking to help them recognize the fullness he embodies.


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."

Jesus pleads with them not to settle for the small, immediate and fleeting satisfaction he offers, but to enter into a fuller and richer relationship with God through him.

Jesus clarifies that he offers more than a full belly or a neat trick, but a new life.


We, too, are offered the opportunity to reshape and remake our lives. We will become honest about our reality. We will recognize our inability to find health alone, and know that we are not alone. We will discover, through God’s grace, a personal faith. We will engage in a constant process of self-examination and be prepared to do what it takes to stay in right relationship with God and our fellow humans. Eventually, we are prepared to share the new life discovered in Christ.

It is the fullness of the new life offered us, beyond temporary satisfaction.

Don’t settle for a full stomach. Seek the new life God offers in Christ.