May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.
Collect
Lord of heaven and earth, as Jesus taught his disciples to be persistent in prayer, give us patience and courage never to lose hope, but always to bring our prayers before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Confession
Let us confess our sins in penitence and faith, trusting that in God our Father we may find forgiveness, renewal and peace.
Gracious and holy God, when we fail to be good stewards of your creation, forgive us; when we fail to be good stewards of your gospel, forgive us; and when we fail to be good stewards of your gifts, forgive us. Help us to use the time, the talents and the opportunities you give us to your glory and in ways that enrich the lives of those around us. This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The Lord Almighty grant us forgiveness of our sins, and the grace and comfort of his Holy Spirit. Amen.
God’s Word - Ephesians, chapter 4 verse 25 to chapter 5 verse 2 :-
Have done with falsehood and speak the truth to each other, for we belong to one another as parts of one body. If you are angry, do not be led into sin; do not let sunset find you nursing your anger; and give no foothold to the devil. The thief must give up stealing, and work hard with his hands to earn an honest living, so that he may have something to share with the needy.
Let no offensive talk pass your lips, only what is good and helpful to the occasion, so that it brings a blessing to those who hear it. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, for that Spirit is the seal with which you were marked for the day of final liberation. Have done with all spite and bad temper, with rage, insults, and slander, with evil of any kind. Be generous to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. In a word, as God’s dear children, you must be like him. Live in love as Christ loved you and gave himself up on your behalf, an offering and sacrifice whose fragrance is pleasing to God.
John, chapter 6, verse 35 and verses 41 to 51 :-
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.
At this the Jews began to grumble because he said, ‘I am the bread which came down from heaven.’ They said, ‘Surely this is Jesus, Joseph’s son! We know his father and mother. How can he say, “I have come down from heaven”?’ ‘Stop complaining among yourselves,’ Jesus told them. ‘No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets: “They will all be taught by God.” Everyone who has listened to the Father and learned from him comes to me.
‘I do not mean that anyone has seen the Father; he who has come from God has seen the Father, and he alone. In very truth I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, yet they are dead. I am speaking of the bread that comes down from heaven; whoever eats it will never die. I am the living bread that has come down from heaven; if anyone eats this bread, he will live for ever. The bread which I shall give is my own flesh, given for the life of the world.’
Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.
Reflection
I am told it was the writers Jonathan Swift and Matthew Henry who first used the phrase “the staff of life” to refer to bread, in other words speaking of bread as the staple and essential for life. They wrote in the 17th century, but the phrase could be adapted from a Bible verse in the prophecy of Isaiah. As it happens, most scholars would say that the word translated as bread really means food of all kinds, not only loaves of bread - just as it does in “Give us this day our daily bread” in the Lord’s Prayer. But it’s because bread is such a basic food that the word becomes a synonym for food of all kinds. I love good bread; It’d be hard to live without it - but of course I could live without it, so long as other foodstuffs were available. But isn’t there something rather wonderful about the process of converting a cereal grain into a loaf of fresh bread? Like the loaf of bread Jesus breaks and shares, when he says, “This is my body.”
Jesus had previously said, in St John’s Gospel, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains a single grain. But if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.” There’s a sacrificial element to the story of bread, which we’ll come back to later.
The story itself is a very old one indeed. Prehistorically (for this predates any written record) people moved from just harvesting whatever plants happened to grow around their settlements to preparing the ground and actually selecting and sowing seeds; and wheat, the world’s most commonly sown cereal crop, was being cultivated maybe ten thousand years before the time of Jesus, perhaps in the hilly country of what is now part of modern Turkey.
The image of a wheat grain falling into the ground to die makes bread a symbol of sacrifice - grain surrendered to provide us with life. Both bread and wine were thought of as symbols of sacrifice - alongside what Jesus said about the grain falling into the ground to die, in popular thought the trailing vine which needed to be supported on frames had sacrificed all its own strength and vigour in order to feed the grapes. So at the last supper, as he broke the bread and shared the cup of wine, Jesus was in fact using two potent symbols of sacrifice.
Today we’ve heard Jesus call himself, “The bread of life.” Years ago we stayed in a little Greek taberna that was just across the road from a bakery; each morning I’d nip across and buy whatever was fresh from the oven. None of it lasted very long! But if you leave it, bread goes hard and dry and stale, and loses that first wonderful freshness: so Jesus told the people who’d followed him round the lake having been fed with bread and fishes in the story of the feeding of the 5,000, “Don’t chase after ordinary food that doesn’t last - work for the food that doesn’t go stale, but lasts for ever: the bread from heaven only God can give.”
“How shall we do this?” the people asked him. By believing in me, said Jesus. And in today’s Gospel, he hear him say, “I give myself, for the life of the world.” Most people didn’t understand what he was saying; and some were angered by the claims he was making. But as he broke bread and shared it with his disciples at the meal we call the Last Supper, Jesus was joining those who sat round table with him there to what would happen the next day, the first Good Friday, to what only he could do, having, in complete obedience to his Father’s will, chosen to walk the way of the cross for our sake, even though it would lead to his own death. Each holy communion joins us to that event; but how in practice can we be joined to the sacrifice only Jesus himself could make?
Surely by being the living bread God calls us to be, in the day to day of our lives; doing our best to be, for those around us with whom we share this planet, and for our children and grandchildren and the future to come, the staff of life. As life givers, life enablers, and life enhancers. Or, in St Paul’s words, being those who “Live in love as Christ loved you and gave himself up on your behalf, an offering and sacrifice whose fragrance (like that of new bread?) is pleasing to God.”
Statement of faith
We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prayers
Pray for the Church everywhere to be life-giving and life-affirming, bread for the world. Pray for Christians in India, and for the united Church of South India. In our own Diocese, pray for Bishop Richard, and for the churches and communities of the Clun Forest Deanery.
Pray that in the world, those who exercise power may do so with peaceful intent, and for the good of all. Pray that a truly global response to the continued threat of Covid 19 may be developed. Pray too for those who will end this day hungry, and for all that is being done to end human poverty, and to ensure all have bread to eat.
Pray for all who are ill or troubled, especially those we know, and for their help and healing; pray for all in hospital or other places of care this weekend, including those infected with the Covid virus. Pray also for the health, safety and protection of all who care for others.
Pray for our families and friends, and the life of our communities. Pray for all who remain at risk of losing jobs, as the national furlough scheme draws to an end. Pray for our farmers as they harvest their cereal crops, and for a good yield. Pray too that we may continue to act with responsibility and care, looking out for each other, and keeping safe ourselves.
Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Blessing
May God, who no longer calls us strangers and foreigners but has made us fellow-citizens with all the saints, bring us into full fellowship with him; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us always. Amen.
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