The Bread of Life that overcomes spiritual eating disorders

John 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." ⁵² Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" ⁵³ Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."

 

Anorexia and bulimia are eating disorders where a person is terrified of gaining weight. So the anorexic only eats a tiny bit of food. The bulimic binges in frantic periods of uncontrolled eating. Then the bulimic purges that food with vomiting, laxatives or excessive exercising.

Even though anorexia and bulimia have differences, the end result is the same. Since neither anorexics nor bulimics digest enough nutritious food, their bodies suffer from diseases like dehydration, bone loss, poor dental health and heart problems. In many cases, anorexia and bulimia cause death.

Throughout John chapter six, Jesus calls Himself “The Bread of Life.” Today He states emphatically, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” This is obviously a metaphor to teach that no one can live without Jesus, at least not live forever without Him.

Jesus continues, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” And so all metaphors must eventually give way to the real thing. Bread talk must give way to flesh and blood talk. It’s a little bit like the father who sits down with his son and says, “I’d like to talk to you about the birds and the bees,” and the kid looks at his father with this puzzled expression and says, “Birds and bees! I thought we were going to talk about sex.” There comes a point when it’s time to “get real.” And that point for Jesus comes in our Gospel this morning. He truly is the Bread of Life.

Unfortunately, many people view the Bread of Life the way anorexics and bulimics view regular food. Like an anorexic avoids eating, some people avoid Jesus. They never go to church or read the Bible. If someone even mentions the Good News of Jesus, they say, “Hey, quit shoving your religion down my throat.”

We become spiritual anorexics when we become adverse to the sight, the sound, the smell of the message of Scripture. Since you are here this morning, you may think that you aren’t spiritually anorexic. But when you know God tells you, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,” (Ephesians 4:26) yet you go to bed mad at your spouse or your parent. That’s spiritual anorexia. When you know God hates gossip, yet you sit in the stands talking about coaches, teachers or other parents, that’s spiritual anorexia. Though you’ve had it drilled into your head not to lust or commit adultery, it is spiritual anorexia for you to disregard that message so you can spend the night at your boyfriend’s, go too far with your fiancé or watch or listen to inappropriate videos or music.

Likewise, some people are spiritual bulimics. From time to time they get all spiritual. They go to church. They read the Bible. They get involved in church. Then they suddenly stop. They stop going to church. They quit reading the Bible. They push Jesus out of their life.

How often aren’t we spiritual bulimics in the beginning of the school year? You invest big money for your children to receive a Christian education at WLS or Shoreland, but then we don’t see those children in worship or Sunday School or the Teen Class. Spiritual bulimia. You have big intentions to be in Bible studies and increase yours and your family’s faith, but then the first conflict comes up on a Sunday morning – overtime, vacation, athletic tournament – and then you don’t come back. Spiritual bulimia. You may even come faithfully to church and even sit in the same pew every Sunday, but never want to deepen your faith by staying an extra hour for a Bible study. You may appear healthy to everyone, but you may actually be on the verge of spiritual bulimia.

The end result of spiritual anorexia and spiritual bulimia is the same. Just like the physical eating disorders lead to an unhealthy lifestyle and eventually to death, so also rejecting the Bread of Life will always, ultimately lead to an unhealthy lifestyle and eventually to spiritual damnation.

But Jesus came to give us life. Jesus came to feed our faith. Jesus came to fill us with His blessings. Jesus says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. … Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.”

Jesus is a feast of life. Jesus wants you to consume all of Him. You consume that banquet when you come to church and listen to His Word.  You are washed clean and dressed in your finest saintly clothes when you remember the washing you received with water and the Word in your Baptism. You feast on that life-giving food when you read the Scriptures and devote time to Christ-centered devotional literature. You satisfy your spiritual hunger when you participate in Bible Class. You nourish your eternal salvation when you eat His flesh and drink His blood in the sacrament of Holy Communion.

Jesus wants to be united with us in the deepest possible way. He wants us to inwardly digest Him. Jesus says, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.”

Of course, this is not cannibalism. Jesus is speaking somewhat figuratively. He is speaking about faith. He is basically telling us, “To believe in me is a lot more than just head knowledge. Yes, to believe in me certainly means studying my teachings. It means knowing the facts of my life and death. But believing in me also means letting that knowledge sink deeply into your whole life. It means that every fiber of your body and soul will be saturated with me, my Word, my promises.”

Just like the body eats and then digests the food, so also when we listen to Jesus and study His Word, our faith inwardly digests all of this. Our faith derives its life, its strength and its entire being from Jesus. In other words, there is no such thing as a half-hearted, part-time relationship with Jesus.

But, so often, we want less than a full-blown, all-consuming relationship with Jesus. It’s so easy to say, “Sure, I love Jesus. And yes, I trust Him as my Savior from sin, death and the devil. But, I am so busy. I’ve got work. I’ve got the kids and the grandkids. I have to juggle my social life, my school work and my two jobs. So, yes, I want Jesus in my life. But is there a microwave version of Jesus for busy people like me? Is there a drive- thru version of Jesus where I can order a few quick blessings and be on my way?”

If you try to reduce your relationship with Jesus to a microwave, drive-thru version of faith, then you are in danger of spiritual anorexia or spiritual bulimia. Receiving a superficial dose of Jesus does not give your faith the necessary nutrition it needs to live and grow strong.

You can’t just nibble on Jesus. You may nibble on Jesus by attending a worship service once in a while or reading a three-minute online devotion or listening to a Christian song on the radio. A snack or tidbit of Jesus might make you feel better for a while. It might make you say, “Well, I feel all spiritual now. I feel closer to God. But a bite of Jesus was all I needed. I don’t need any more.” Simply nibbling on Jesus does not penetrate deep into your life and soul to wipe out the real problem — sin and the death it causes. Don’t cheat yourself of the rich banquet of life.

Throughout history, people have cheated themselves out of this rich banquet because what Jesus saying was hard. The Jews who heard Jesus preaching asked sharply, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Remember, Jesus had said to them, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” The Jews were used to eating the flesh of the bulls or lambs sacrificed to the Lord. But the blood was forbidden for eating! For the Lord had said, “None of you may eat the blood” (Leviticus 17:12). “The blood of your sacrifices must be poured beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat the meat” (Deuteronomy 12:27).

The key to understanding these words is John chapter 6 is contained in John chapter 1. “The Word became Flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). These are hard teachings. This is “in your face incarnation” (God in human flesh) as one person put it. Offensive and scandalous. It was offensive and scandalous to Jesus’ 1^st century hearers in the synagogue in Capernaum. It was offensive and scandalous to the 2^nd century Roman world that wrongly accused Christians of cannibalism. And it remains offensive and scandalous to sophisticated and scientific 21^st century Americans who “ought to know better.” This sermon cost Jesus His following. His numbers dwindled. Many of His own disciples drew back and no longer wanted to be seen with Him. And this is a scandal that is repeated every Lord’s Day in our country.

But, I pray, not so with you.

Jesus said, “The one who feeds on me will live because of me.” Rather than drawing away from Jesus, sit down for a meal with Jesus. When you hunger for relief from guilt, Jesus feeds your faith with the forgiveness of sins. When you are starving for attention because you feel lost and alone in this world, Jesus nourishes your soul with the assurance that nothing can ever separate us from our God.

You can eat of the Bread of Life in worship as Life is announced to you from the altar in the Absolution, read to you from the lectern in the Word and explained to you from the pulpit in the Sermon. This Life is poured over your head at the Baptismal Font. It is placed on your tongue at the Lord’s Table. We mature spiritually from baby’s milk and kiddie menus to solid food and a full, adult menu arrayed with all kinds of options and opportunities for healthy, spiritual growth.

Enjoy the whole banquet of Christ’s Life-giving Bread in Bible classes offered at Epiphany. You can enjoy the “milk” of God’s Word in the Bible Inquirer’s Class. You can sink your teeth into the “meat” of God’s Word in our Sunday morning Bible Classes. Plus, bring your children to Sunday School and Teen Bible Class. They are hungry, too.

Develop healthy habits for growing spiritually. Get into God’s Word more often – at church, at school, at home, privately, with the family, on the computer. Discover newfound joys in worship whether it’s the text of a new hymn in church or loading your iPod with Christ-centered, Christian music – both classic and contemporary. Read more books or blogs about Christian life or church history or Lutheran doctrine. Have daily personal and family devotions. And then make it a priority to sit at the banquet feast of the Lord with your family … every week.

With healthy eating habits, you may reduce your risk of many chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and certain cancers, and increase your chances for a longer life. In the Bible Jesus says, “The one who comes to me will never go hungry” (John 6:35). Jesus doesn’t just increase your chances for a better, longer life. Jesus is your life. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Amen.