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"FOOD FOR THE BODY, FOOD FOR THE SOUL"
GOSPEL SCRIPTURE TEXT: JOHN 4:31-38
A MEDITATION FOR HOLY COMMUNION

DAVE RING, PASTOR
LOS ALAMOS 1ST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 2, 2008

SCRIPTURE TEXT: 31Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something." 32But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." 33Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?" 34"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. 38I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."

MESSAGE: Today, Nov. 2, 2008 is 25 days prior to the official annual Thanksgiving holiday in our land, but I have no problem with advancing Thanksgiving a bit. It's trite to say, but Thanksgiving - originally a time set aside to give thanks to God - is always in season.

What do you think of when "Thanksgiving" comes to mind? I know what I think of first when Thanksgiving is mentioned: I think of food. My wife, Fran, is a very good cook. So I'm already anticipating that glorious Thursday afternoon, a little less than four weeks from now, when a turkey will be cooked until it's golden brown and juicy enough to melt right there in the pan. And the dressing - and the cranberries - and the candied yams - and the pecan pie - I'm sure you can easily envision how your preacher got this extra bounty of flesh around his midsection. I'm thankful to God for the blessing of food - maybe even just a tad too thankful.

Why would your preacher dwell on such a mundane subject as mere food in a worship service? After all, even though the Thanksgiving season is approaching, God has many more important blessings to offer us than food - spiritual blessings which transcend this transitory, earthly plane.

I'm well-aware that scripture says, "life is more than food and the body more than clothing," but let's not fly off into heavenly realms too quickly. Spiritual blessings are wonderful, but God's earthly provisions for us are, I believe, equally marvelous, and equally a part of His great master-plan for our good, both now and for eternity. The same God created both the heavens and the earth. Every grain of wheat that ripens, every cranberry bush that sprouts, every turkey that grows up to become a "butterball" Thanksgiving delight - is the direct result of God's love for His children on earth.

When Jesus walked this earth, he was a remarkably practical individual. He knew that 5,000 people couldn't sit on a hillside for three days and listen to him speak without some solid food to keep them going. He could preach as eloquently as the angels about God's heavenly blessings, but He wouldn't be heard over the growling of all those empty stomachs. So He also met the bodily needs of His listeners. Do you recall the miracle of the fives loaves and the two fish which fed all those people? A great miracle it was, and a great lesson as well. Almighty God cares not only about spiritual values and realms, but about hungry bellies, too.

If preachers can be classified, as so many folks like to do with their pastors today, I lean toward the conservative side of the theological spectrum; I'm pleased to be called an "evangelical." But I confess that I often get upset with some of my fellow evangelical preachers - who offer a gospel of personal conversion and individual righteousness, but never once mention the need to aid starving millions of God's children in the Sudan or Haiti. That, for them, would be too "social action" oriented.

Christians - what kind of a "gospel" ignores hunger, poverty, oppression, and degradation of precious human life? There's really not a whole lot of "good news" in a Bible handed to a starving child - unless its pages are soaked in cherry-flavored vitamins so they can be chewed. When we give thanks to God in this upcoming season of recalling His blessings to us, let's be sure not to forget the plain things - the simple, taken-for-granted, but absolute necessities of life on earth - like adequate food to sustain us. And beyond mere thanks, let's show our gratitude in more tangible ways, by helping to ensure that others are fed from our abundance as well.

Now let's move on to the "other side" of the Thanksgiving idea - which, depending on your point of view, might or might not be considered more "spiritual" in nature. Our text today says, "Meanwhile his disciples urged him, 'Rabbi, eat something.' But he said to them, 'I have food to eat that you know nothing about.' Then his disciples said to each other, 'Could someone have brought him food?' 'My food,' said Jesus, 'is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.'" This is a further, a second dimension of the good news of Jesus Christ.

For those who already enjoy the earthly blessings of having adequate food, clothing, and other basic needs met, the scripture which says, "life is more than food and the body more than clothing" becomes a challenge. A lot of us - your preacher included - show clear evidence that we've already been blessed by God here on earth. We've got "butterball turkey" bellies. But what about our souls - are they of equal girth? Remember the parable of the farmer who wanted to construct bigger barns to store his oversupply of grain - but who forgot God? God reminded him of the sad fact that, while he might enjoy a fat belly, he had a mighty skinny soul.

How does one go about nourishing his or her immortal soul? I suppose one way might be to go off in a closet and hide - and read the Bible and meditate and pray: "Lord, bless me. Fill me up! Let my soul overflow with your grace until it pops." And, who knows, that may be appropriate for some of us. But that wasn't Jesus' way. Jesus said, "My food - the food that nourishes my soul - is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to finish His work."

Jesus went on to describe the specifics of that work - the labor of planting the gospel in the hearts and lives of others, of tending it and helping it grow, and then, finally, of bringing in the harvest - a harvest of human lives - of precious souls redeemed and made ready to enter God's eternal Kingdom. Have you, perhaps, got a skinny, undernourished soul? Get out and work for the spread of the gospel. Witness to your faith. Give your labor to God's work, your material blessings to be shared with others less fortunate than you. And you'll be amazed - a strange thing will happen to you. The more you give out -- of labor and service to God and His children on earth - the stronger your soul will grow.

Jesus said, "The harvest is great, but the laborers be few." That's still true today. God is looking for workers - laborers who want to bulk up their souls. As we celebrate Holy Communion this morning - as you give thanks for God's earthly blessings in your life - you just might want to ask that He also give you a "butterball turkey" soul. Amen.

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