The Sermon
By Rev'd Sue Hammersley, St. Marks Church, Broomhill

Guide me, O thou great Redeemer,
pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty,
hold me with thy powerful hand:
bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
feed me now and ever more,
feed me now and ever more.

I wonder what it means to us to be hungry…
I wonder whether any of us has experienced acute hunger at some point in our lives; or whether any of us has been to a country where people experience poverty as part of their daily reality?

Food poverty is an increasing concern within our own country – it’s much closer to home than we might like to admit. Foodbanks have become an acceptable part of British society and church members are amongst the most generous in offering time and resources to help people who can’t make ends meet, people who often feed their children but go hungry themselves.
Alongside foodbanks there are many other community initiatives which help to empower those people whose self-respect is in danger so that, whilst they might need food in the short term they also learn to grow food on community allotments, or attend classes to share ideas for healthy, low-cost cooking.

But there’s a different kind of poverty within our communities, a poverty of spirit which has made us afraid of each other and less able to reach out to one another, in need or in plenty. In some cultures it would be unheard of to let someone in your neighbourhood go hungry and many of us have visited places where the stranger is fed before members of the family.

When the pandemic first emerged people were keen to look after their neighbours. Many mutual societies sprung up, some of which were run by church-goers but many by those who wouldn’t darken the church’s door.

We are in a season in the church’s lectionary which gives us plenty of opportunity to consider what it means to say that Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus offers food for the hungry, whether that hunger is physical or spiritual. But if we are to receive this sustenance we have to be able to acknowledge our need of God; and when we receive from God’s abundance we have to learn to be generous to others.

Some of us give out so much, to family members or in our work, or voluntary activities, including church, that by the time we reach Sunday we are depleted, maybe even exhausted. Coming to the Eucharist reminds us of our need of God and that God enriches our lives, recharges our batteries and refreshes us on our journeys. We leave church more able to face the challenges which haven’t gone away but which we don’t have to face alone.

Our first reading this morning, from Exodus, reminds us that the people of God have a chequered history when it comes to trusting that God will provide. These people have been released from slavery in Egypt and are now in the wilderness on their journey to a land of plenty.
God has promised them enough to feed their hunger but many of them are complaining because they are hungry. They had more to eat as slaves in Egypt. It would seem like oppression was a price worth paying for regular food.

God, we are told, hears their complaining and relents, giving them meat in the evening and bread in the morning.

This is not the experience of many hungry people. God does not seem to listen to their cries.

I caught a few moments of this morning’s Radio 4 Worship from Beirut. When they experienced appalling devastation from a huge bomb one of the ministers found herself asking, where is God? And then she began to see Jesus at work in the firefighters and people offering hospitality, in those who almost immediately joined the queue at the hospital to donate blood, in those who worked tirelessly in the hospitals and on the streets to care for the injured, in those who began to rebuild communities.

In our Gospel reading we heard Jesus chastising his disciples:
“Very truly, I tell you, 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.”

We gather together at the Eucharist not because we are somehow part of an elite but precisely because we know our need of God. We come because we are hungry.
And as we listen to God’s word, as we open our hearts in prayer and as we receive God’s blessing in the sacrament
we are reminded of God’s kingdom values – where all who are hungry are fed, where all have the opportunity to access clean water, where every person can feed their dependents, where everyone has the dignity of work or the support of a community where those who can’t work retain their dignity and self-respect.

Jesus says,
“…the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” The disciples said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 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.”

But we have a long way to go if we are to transform the values of this society so that we are not simply feeding hungry families but also asking why the inequality in this country is increasing. Churches have an important role to play in serving our communities but we also have a voice and a part to play in bringing about a different way of relating to each other.

As we come to the table today may we ask for courage to see the world as God sees it, to ask the questions which need to be asked, to play our part in becoming the people God is calling us to be so that each person may discover the promise of life, life in all its fullness…

The bread of heaven for which we hunger is readily available but it demands a great deal from us:
that we trust God;
that we act with justice and compassion;
that we speak out against inequality;
that we, as the church, offer hospitality to those who are outside our own community…

And this can be really tough.
We hunger for these virtues and, unless we turn to God, we are starved of the resources we need…
But, as we share this communion, we are reminded that we belong to one another profoundly and, together, we can respond to a world in need of Jesus, the bread of life.

Guide me, O thou great Redeemer,
pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty,
hold me with thy powerful hand:
bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
feed me now and ever more,
feed me now and ever more.