Striving for the Imperishable - John 6:24-35 - 10th Sunday after Pentecost, Aug 2, 2015

“Striving for the Imperishable”

John 6:24-35

Ms. Sherbert is in her fifties and lives alone with no family, friends or other support groups to help her with day to day activities and chores.  She is blind in one eye and partially blind in the other, only able to see partially in darkness.  Light bothers her so much that she had to have her windows blacked out.  Due to complications from past medical issues, including cancer, Ms. Sherbet is barely mobile with severe arthritis making it almost impossible for her to stand even with a walker for more than minutes at a time. 

As if her situation isn’t already bad enough, the entrances to her home are not handicap accessible.  There is a front porch with steps that she cannot use, and the back porch is a simple cement three steps to the ground.  In order to go to the doctor, Ms. Sherbert has to call an ambulance service which eats up much of the little income she receives.  She knows she needs help.  She needs a ramp built from her back door out to the front of the house so that cheaper public transportation and other services can come and pick her up and take her to the doctor and to run other important errands.  She prayed…she hoped.  She heard about a small Episcopal church in town who is known for helping folks in the local community.  They call their ministry “Beach Towel Ministry.”  She’s not sure why it’s called that, but she would love to have some help. 

So Ms. Sherbert called the church and asked how to sign up for help.  She was told that the church receives many requests, and they would accept her application for help  as well, but they could make no promises, as they are only able to help a few households per summer. 

Ms. Sherbert isn’t alone.  She represents so many others who cannot help themselves and need the loving and caring support of others.  If someone doesn’t act, these peoples’ lives will only get more difficult and almost unbearable.  Could you imagine that period of waiting?  You have no one else, you desperately need help.  You put your faith and trust in God that his church will come through and do what you cannot do on your own.  Will it happen or will life continue to be grudging and difficult? 

Back to Ms. Sherbert and company in a little bit. 

Enter today’s Gospel Lesson.  Just yesterday Jesus had everyone sit down on the grass, asked a young boy for his lunch of barley bread and fish, and multiplied that offering into more than enough to meet the needs of every person gathered on Galilee’s shores that day.  But today Jesus is nowhere to be found.  Many of the people began searching for him.  They want more … they want to know more, they’re curious about this one who offers thanks to God and turns meager offerings into extravagant feasts! 

Eventually they find Jesus - over on the other side of the sea in Capernaum.  They rush to him - “how and when did you get here?!”  Before they could get another word out, Jesus tells them, “…you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life…” 

Work - now that’s something to which we can relate!  We live in a culture that is consumed by work.  When we meet someone, we ask not who are you? What makes you tick?  What are your hobbies?  Tell me about your family?  No, instead we ask, “What do you do!?” …we define others by their work and they define us by our work.  Work is a god in our culture; we bow to it.  A five day work week has become a seven day work week with little time for anything else.  It’s like we are in a competition on who’s the busiest.  We love to tell folks how busy we are.  How was your day? busy! How was your weekend?  Busy!  If we’re not careful, being busy and working will become an end in itself. 

But why?  What is the point of the rat race?  Does it ever stop?  What happens to our relationships?  Our families?  our spouses?  our children? 

Jesus looked at the crowd and said, “Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures for everlasting life.”  The word here translated as ‘work’ is best understood as ‘strive for.’  Do not strive for that which is perishable, but instead for that which is imperishable. 

For what are you striving? How is your energy being spent?  For self gain, security, prosperity?  Miraslov Volf says, “We diminish ourselves when we let prosperity claim most of our energies.”  He’s right.  We diminish ourselves because our lives are not meant to be primarily turned in toward the self.  When they are, they become destructive.  Relationships fall apart, and we fall apart.  

In response to Jesus’ words the crowds asked, “What must we do to perform the work of God?”  That’s a good question. But fortunately, the answer is nothing. That’s the whole point of Jesus.  The work of God is, as Jesus responds, simply “that you believe in Him who He has sent.” Basically what Jesus says here is - “stop taking yourselves so seriously. You’re good at working…but this is not something you can earn. It is a gift. The Son has gifted you with life that is imperishable.  And he has done it by turning away from the self and toward the other in love, laying down his life for the sake of those he came to save.  By his sacrifice and resurrection, we are gifted with everlasting life - that which is imperishable. Strive, Jesus says, for this…not only the gift, but the means through which the gift was given - self giving love. 

What if more of your energy went into striving for the imperishable rather than the perishable?  What could happen?

Well, I can actually testify to did happen.  When God’s children accept God’s free gift and begin striving for this new way of self-giving and other centered work called love in God’s world, those who before only saw obstacles begin to receive life more fully. 

I couldn’t be any prouder of our seventeen sr. high missioners who made the decision to focus their energy on the imperishable a couple weeks ago in Swansboro, NC for Mission Possible 2015.  Because they turned their efforts away from self-gain, joining in Jesus’ work towards and for the sake of the other, Mrs. Sherbert and many others like her received good news.  Love was coming to their homes.  The ramp was going to be built.  The leaky roof was going to be sealed.  The rotted out bathroom was going to be restored.  Their lives, rather than becoming gradually harder and harder were about to get just a little bit easier.  All because a few teenagers decided to sacrifice making a few extra dollars or spending a little more time on the beach or playing x-box and instead focused their energies, by faith, on the work of God! 

I wish you all could have seen the face of Ms. Sherbert the day we finally were able to wheel her out onto her newly constructed back porch and push her around her house on her wrap around wheel chair ramp!  She will not have to call an ambulance to take her to the doctor again.  Because our youth made the commitment to strive for the imperishable, Mr. and Ms. Cambell’s door was widened so that her walker can easily fit through. They, too, were the proud recipients of a new wheel chair ramp. Ms. Laird’s back porch was so rotted that she fell through it on multiple occasions.  Now she has a new porch with sturdy boards. We also sealed her roof to stop the leaks and did other needed painting and repair work in her home.  Ms. Sutton’s trailer was power washed, her deck was painted and sealed, and her front and back steps were repaired and resurfaced.  Mr. Washburn’s bathroom floor had rotted out …it was so bad that one of our missioners actually fell through upon entering!  He now has a brand new bathroom!    Ms. Pridgen recently lost both her husband and her son.  Her yard was in disarray and many things needed to be done inside the house.  Her house was repaired and her yard was cleaned up.

Besides the physical improvements to the homes and quality of life of each of these children of God, they received the loving support of the body of Christ. Our team did a fantastic job spending time not simply building ramps and painting walls, but most importantly, building relationships, listening to stories, praying and eating together, and so much more.  The overwhelming amount of gratitude demonstrated by each of the households was more payment than any of us could have ever asked for.  It’s amazing how focusing our energy away from the self and toward the other for the sake of the other is such a blessing for us.  You’re never blessed as much as when you’re sharing the love of Christ with others. 

How will you strive for the food that does not perish?  How will you join in God’s work of self-giving love in the world?  It will make you a happier and more joy-filled person, because you were created to love outwardly, not turn inwardly.  Join our amazing youth here at St. Thomas and take a giant leap of faith, believing God is at work in the world and join Him in it - you will be amazed at the work he accomplishes through your hands.   Amen.