John 6, 7

John 6, 7

Jesus feeds a large crowd and walks on water.  He talks about himself as the bread of life.

Couple of mentions of the temple police in chapter 7.  That always catches my attention and brings a smile.  My mind speculates on who the temple police might be in 2011.  It always seems a shame to me that Pentecost is the one Sunday where red is the color and I have a stole that I love that is red and was a gift from my youth group back in Missouri.  I will often press my luck and where it for a Sunday or two beyond Pentecost.  I will tell the congregation that we will go ahead and worship and hope the church police don't show up.  So far, so good.
Jesus talks a good bit about himself as the bread of life here.  This comes just a short time after he has talked about himself as living water and after he has miraculously fed a large crowd.  All of this puts me in the mind of the sacrament of communion.  I have always attended and then been pastor of churches that had an irregular communion schedule, usually celebrating the sacrament around eight times a year.  When called to Hebron I found myself at a church that celebrated communion on the first Sunday of each month.  I wondered at the time how that would feel over the course of time - whether it would seem like it was too often.  It has not.  I love the rhythm of starting each month with communion which keeps ever before us the bread of life that we need to feed us and nourish us and sustain us for the journey.