This week's news
The euro zone crisis may be here to stay for some time. And it may be that it is going to be a case of ‘make or break for UK employers'. These are some of the ‘bread and butter’ issues before us. On the world scene, we are warned of the consequences of rising food prices, and that we are on the brink of another food crisis. Hunger and starvation are the daily experiences for many and how we respond is the question before all of us! What actions will YOU take? Can the feel good factor of Olympics make a significant difference? While bread may be scarce for many in the developing world, their countries' performance at Olympics 2012 suggest they have done well in terms of population and GDP. Can it be that the Hunger Summit may yet be the real legacy of the Games?
Reflection
We eat, therefore we are! More than bread and wine
Being Christian is not just about personal belief and a verbal profession of faith. It is also about faithfulness: the risky business of embodying – day after day – incarnate grace so abundantly given. What is abundantly given must flood our lives and take over our being. So, we feed on this grace – Jesus himself – to the extent that we begin to resemble the one whose life/soul we have consumed. For, we are what we eat.
Embodying bread,living the way of Jesus
It is common sense that we become what we habitually imitate. We become what we make ours, just as the bread we eat. How will the way of Jesus become interiorised and embodied so that we remain in him? How do we embody and pass on the grace that Jesus passes on to us? To feed on Jesus is not only to believe in him: it is also to experience and embody his grace and truth as resources for living in a ‘new’ world that God in Christ desires for all.
Hungering and thirsting for justice
Can the metaphor of hunger and thirst offer an opening into such embodying to help us counter the myth of scarcity with the living bread of abundant life? To share in the grief, pain, and anger caused by the contradictions and injustices around us, we must hunger for justice. We must thirst for something more nourishing than the bitter cup of penury and abandonment that so many across the world drink of daily. We are called to hunger and thirst for a ‘new world’ where there is bread for all and where we can look one another in the eyes and recognise sisters and brothers who are all God’s image.
Eating this Bread – our eucharistic vocation
Whenever we gather around the table, eating and drinking must become a habit and practice that re-presents to all God’s economy of grace in action. This act of sharing in the living bread embodies the shape of our life together as we come face to face with our blessedness and brokenness. Filled with the ‘living bread’ we can then discern the many imitations around us!
Prayer
You may like to use this as a send out prayer.
Go out,
fed by the living bread which comes from heaven!
May we embody generosity fully,
so that its root spreads everywhere.
May you never be hasty in judgement,
but always generous in your response.
May you put away all pretence and meet the other face-to-face.
In the name of the living bread, God in Christ,
whose love has gifted full life with shape, content and purpose.
Filled with the Spirit,
we go out in love to be bread and wine for all.
Amen.
Questions
- Reflect: Does our church life suggest that we are nourished by the bread of life, or have we become wearied by excessive activities?
- If what we are filled with determines what we are: what has to move out for the ‘living bread’ to move in?
Action
Consider the story of these boys from Swaziland.
We can easily take for granted the importance of basic needs such as food, water, shelter or education. What/how can you contribute to counter poverty and food shortage. Here is one example.
Young People
Start a conversation on the statement: ‘We are what we eat’. Using a variety foods that young people and athletes consume, highlight how our bodies respond to our food choices. Using examples from the life of young people discuss the importance of what we fill our minds with. Connect the foregoing with what happens when God takes primary place in our lives. You may find the Communion vessels and a Bible helpful in making the connections.
Further you may wish to discuss this quote from Desmond Tutu: ‘I don't preach a social gospel; I preach the Gospel, period. The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is concerned for the whole person. When people were hungry, Jesus didn't say, ‘Now is that political or social?’ He said, ‘I feed you.’ Because the good news to a hungry person is bread.' What is the link between empty stomachs and empty hearts?
Michael Jagessar, a minister of the United Reformed Church, is secretary for racial justice and multicultural ministry and is moderator of the General Assembly (2012-2014) of the United Reformed Church.
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