True Food and Drink

True Food and Drink

Preached at Virginia Theological Seminary

Friday Easter 3C, April 15, 2016

Ho, everyone who thirsts,

   come to the waters;

and you that have no money,

   come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk

   without money and without price.

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,

   and your labour for that which does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,

   and delight yourselves in rich food.

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy? 

These words resound in the hearts of just about every person if not every person that lives today.  We are people who are constantly seeking out that which will truly satisfy.  There is a huge void in our lives meant to be occupied by something…and the best marketing firms know this.  They know how to get us in touch with this deep need.  If you buy our product, you will be satisfied.  Your thirst will be quenched. Your hunger will be satisfied.  It reminds me of the old Snicker’s slogan, which is truly the slogan of all commercialism: Snickers ______  really satisfies.” 

I mean come on, none of us believe Snickers really satisfies.  I mean you eat one, you definitely want to eat another because it might just be the best candy bar ever created.  Who knows what they put in that thing…it keeps us coming back for another and another and another…

And for some of us snickers may not be a problem, but other “fillers” are…somewhere along the line, we buy into the lies of “Our product truly satisfies” and we find ourselves in the midst of addiction.  Food, alcohol, sex, you name it.  When we seek to fill the void with those things which promise satisfaction but cannot deliver, we become enslaved to these creatures … we go for the quick fix and we go back again and again...they may seem to fill the void temporarily but it does not and cannot last. At best they are a parody (an imitation that falls short) of real satisfaction.

We could name all kinds of parodies of the real in this world…that which the prophet named as food which does not satisfy, and that is easy to do.  But never mind the Jones’ and those who try and keep up with them… I wonder how many we could think of within the life of the church and most especially in the context of Christian ministry – clergy and laity alike?  What are those things that we run to for satisfaction…to fill the void? 

They are many…they vary from turning God’s vocation on our life into a career with a ladder to climb….to using the pulpit, altar, and study as a platform for our own ego’s projection…you name it.  It’s easier to play by the rules of the world…to spend our money on gimmicks…on food that in the words of Walter Brueggemann is grudging and expensive that promise that tomorrow will be like today – great beyond measure.   

It is in the midst of such medication, such filling the void that was meant to be filled with something greater than anything that the world can offer…that the prophet calls out to the people of God like a street vendor:  You that have no money come, buy and eat!  Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Do not spend your money on that which does not satisfy!  Come and delight yourselves in rich food…in true food.

But what is this true food?  Where can we find such food and drink that fills the void and brings true satisfaction? 

Many Johannine scholars believe Jesus had in mind just this text from the prophet Isaiah when he looked to the crowds and said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you…those who do eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, on the other hand, do have eternal life, and this eternal life is a pledge of the resurrection to come, as they will be “raised on the last day.”  Jesus says His flesh is true food and his blood is true drink. 

There are many ways the church hears these words.  Most of us here today cannot help but to hear these words in the context of the sacrament of Holy Eucharist. But to what extent?  Is Jesus simply saying, “Want satisfaction?  Come today to the altar rails, receive the wafer that is my body and the wine which is my blood into your body, and abra cadabra, you are fulfilled?”  I know when it is stated like that it sounds absurd, but I will be honest, I have such a high sacramentality at times that I confuse the symbol for that to which the symbol points and participates. 

I think that Jesus is going much deeper here.  What truly satisfies is not receiving the elements as some sort of magical pill, but as “flesh” and “blood.”  Richard Baucum says,  “Flesh is a reminder of the real and vulnerable humanity of Jesus, humanity vulnerable to violence and death. The addition of ‘drinking blood’ to ‘eating flesh’ makes clear that Jesus’ violent death has come into view: blood must be shed before it may be drunk.”  

Thus what satisfies is not arbitrary reception of the wafer and the wine as if by simply consuming them, we receive true food and drink that satisfies.  What truly satisfies is the true humanity received when we approach the sacrament with the expectation to participate in the reality to which the bread and wine both participate and point.   And that is nothing short of incarnation. “And the Word became flesh and lived among us.” This is the flesh that we consume that truly satisfies…the God who has taken our suffering … our longings…our voids…upon himself and lived the life of contentment grounded in trust of the Father who is the source of His incarnate life.  But, as A.G. Hebert says profoundly, “we crucified him because we dared not allow God to come so close.” The incarnate God shared in our suffering to the point of violent death.  And the good news we cannot help but to exclaim during these great fifty days is that love overcame all that evil had to offer. Love truly could not be quenched.  Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs, bestowing life! 

It is this fullness upon which John’s gospel invites us to feed.  Not simply a magic pill but Easter food.  The whole life of Jesus in the flesh and his passion which is what is exalted by the Father and which we participate by the power of the life-giving Holy Spirit and celebrate during these fifty days.

So today, when we come to the altar, may we remember, in the words of St. Augustine, “That which you see passes away: the invisible thing which is signified thereby passes not away, but abides.  It is received, eaten, consumed.  But is the Body of Christ consumed?  Is the Church of Christ consumed/ are the members of Christ consumed?  No. Here they are purified: they are crowned.  The thing signified abides eternally, though to sight it passes away.”    

May we eat this bread and drink of this cup always, the void deep within being filled with the grace and life of God.  Thanks be to God.