How many in the community this morning play Wordle? How many are Wordle players? Okay, Wordle is phenomenal. You have six tries to guess a 5 or 6 letter word. And it all depends on how you guessed that first word. How many vowels and consonants you get right. So there really is a strategy to this. But you know, it’s not just Wordle.
I love all word games because you can do amazing things with words. You know, it really is amazing. For example, if I say bread, what is the first image that comes to your mind? So where are the crunchy crusty? They fight with you and scratch the roof of your mouth. Italian bread people. Where are those people? Now where are the kinder, gentler French croissant people?
You know, buttery chocolate ham and cheese, maybe. Where are you? The kinder, gentler people? and then, of course, there are the all American favorite buttermilk biscuits. You can never go wrong with the biscuit. Where are the biscuit people? bread. But how many of us. And I will admit, we may be some of the older members of the community.
Remember when bread also met money? You know I don’t have enough bread today. you know money. That which we long for, we work for. We seek interesting bread and bread. Now, we could do something really tricky, too. And say, if I use the word hole, how many of us consider an empty space and the ground hole? Empty space.
But all we have to do is add a W and we get hole and entire complete united, if you will, in and of itself. Interesting bread. Nourishment. Or that for which we long seek and work. Hole and emptiness. Or a completion. Now let’s put it all together. And consider the word holy. What does holiness really mean? Is holiness that quality of being empty like a hole in the ground?
You know holiness. Or is it that sense of spirituality, completeness? Being united in Christ Jesus, you know, holiness. And when we put it all together is holiness. That which is nourishment come down from heaven. That we see long and work for Christ Jesus in the Eucharist, and is the Eucharist, that which makes us wholly united, entire and complete.
Words. Aren’t they interesting? And today Jesus says, I am the bread of life. I am the bread. Come down from heaven. Jesus says to us, I am the nourishment. I am the one for whom you should learn. I am the one for whom you should seek. And I will make you whole. Entire. Complete with holiness. The goal of religion.
Every religion is union with God. Holiness. And that includes us. The only way to become holy is by becoming whole. Which means a real, genuine, lively encounter with Christ. And so we’re here today at the Eucharist to have just that, an encounter with Christ that makes us whole, complete that for which we strive in the Eucharist. Now there is a common mistake we all make when it comes to the spiritual life, and we think that the spiritual life has everything to do with spiritual.
It does, but at the same time it doesn’t. We have to approach it as our everyday lives. Now, in the first reading, how many of us have ever felt like the prophet, you know, oh God, take me now. I’ve had enough. The despair is overwhelming. Take me. Have we ever had that feeling? Well, what does the Lord in his tender mercy do?
He gives the prophet food and drink. He takes care of his physical needs. True spirituality means that we are dependent on God for that which we most need our everyday physical lives, but also our everyday spirit. UAL prayer life. How many of us every day realize we need to talk to the Lord? Christian faith is really all about that.
Christ Jesus was made flesh just like one of us. And in order to be truly holy, we have to be like the word made flesh, aware of what we need, and also aware that this life is not it. That we believe in the bright promise of everlasting life. We heard that today in the gospel. The bread that I will give you is life forever.
Truth has it. That faith, then, is a combination of our everyday lives and our dependance on God to give us that which we most need. The readings today, today make it very clear that God nourishes and sustains us. But the food God gives us is to do one more thing. It is to be nourishment for the world. Our service God sends us into the world, strengthened by the Eucharist to serve one another.
To build our church. To be, if you will, the prophetic voice, even on those days when we say, Lord, I’ve had enough, and it’s all those days that we need the Eucharist, the bread of Life more than ever, the deeper we are drawn into the mystery of faith, the deeper we are drawn into the Eucharist, the deeper we live Christ Jesus.
Caring, serving. Forgiving. Trusting and most of all, loving. Now, like Elijah, we have bad days. And like Elijah. God nourishes us. If we allow God to do that. So today, how are we going to allow God to nourish us? Paul writes and tells us that we should pray that God removes all bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, reviling, and malice.
Clearly, Paul never drove in downtown Brooklyn. Be that as it may, how today are we going to pray that the Lord removes all bitterness, fury, anger, anything that separates us from one another? And today we have heard the words that Jesus will never reject us, never forget anyone who comes to him. So today, how are we going to have a real encounter with Christ, not just here in the Eucharist, but out there through service, mercy and love?
How were we going to trust God in His tender goodness? So words there, amazing words like bread come down from heaven. I am words like whole and holiness and encounter. How are we going to use these words today when Christ has said to us, I am the bread of life. I am the food. Come down from heaven. Because this is the same Christ yesterday, today, and forever.