Why Does God Give Food?

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Pastor Foley

Part IV of our series on Sharing Your Bread

One of the key points we addressed in the last post, related to the Work of Mercy of Sharing Your Bread, is that we should work for food that “endures unto eternal life” which means using our meals for more than just feeding our bodies.

And from where does this food come?  John 6:27 says this:

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.

This is a reversal of the curse of Genesis 3:19, which is the consequence of human sin:

“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

Instead, what Jesus offers us is the invitation of Isaiah 55:1-3 (notice the word “buy” here, which is the word Jesus uses in John 6:5, “Where shall we buy bread?”):

1 “Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.

This means that we no longer work to make money to take care of our bodies! Instead, we work as our reasonable worship, and we trust him to provide food not only for our bodies but for our souls and spirits as well.

There is another verse in Scripture that makes the very same point as John 6:27, and that is Matthew 6:33:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

This is why the main question related to the Work of Mercy of sharing your bread is not “With whom” or “How much do I spend?” but “From where?” From where does your physical food come?

Through Scripture we know that all food comes as a gift from God. As it says in James 1:17:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Does your food come from your own work? If so, it will spoil. If it comes from your own work and points to your own work (e.g., “I spent half a month’s wages on this meal!”) and it is used only to fuel your own work and the work of the others who eat it, then that food will spoil.

That is not why God gave food. God gave food for fellowship with him—fellowship in body, soul, and spirit.

So when we receive all food—meals, snacks, everything—as fellowship gifts given by the Son of Man, when we receive it as bread crumbs that lead us back to fellowship with God and then with God’s people, when we invest it in fellowship that strengthens body, soul, and spirit, then that physical food will endure to eternal life. It comes from heaven and it returns to heaven—God’s provision becoming our worship.

Eating is designed to be a form of worship.

Now let me ask you a question: Do you think you can eat a meal like that alone?

Do you think if you gulp down a Power Bar for lunch in front of your computer that that meal will strengthen body, soul, and spirit and endure to eternal life, spilling out into fellowship with the heavenly Father and all God’s people?

Honestly now.


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Do Not Work for Food That Spoils

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Pastor Foley

Part III of our series on Sharing Your Bread

Why did Jesus feed the 5,000 according to our last post?  Not because they were hungry.  But because he was mirroring his Father’s goodness to them.

Now here’s something interesting: In John 6:2 you can see that Jesus knew that the crowd was there for all the wrong reasons—but he fed them anyway.

Why?

Because God doesn’t react to other people. He always acts in ways that are consistent with his loving, gracious character, no matter how people might distort or misinterpret or misuse those actions.

And he calls us to follow him in acting in exactly the same way. We’re to mirror him and his goodness into the world just as he mirrors the Father and the Father’s goodness into us.

Now look closely at the command Jesus gives us in John 6:27. It will be key to our understanding how to mirror his Work of Mercy of sharing bread into the world:

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.

What exactly does that mean?

Well, first let’s talk about what it doesn’t mean.

Jesus is not saying, “Quit focusing on feeding your body. Instead, feed your spirit.” That’s not what Jesus says in John 6:27. Remember: Body, soul, and spirit are equally important to develop in Christian discipleship. So let’s re-read the verse carefully, focusing specifically on the two different types of food Jesus contrasts:

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.

The two kinds of food Jesus contrasts are not physical food and spiritual food.

Both kinds of food that Jesus talks about here are physical! The difference between the two types is that one kind spoils, but the other kind endures to eternal life. What does Jesus mean by physical food that endures? What kind of food is that?

Consider another Scripture that has to do with things that spoil:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

Jesus is clearly talking here about physical treasures—our money and our possessions. He says that if we store up treasures on earth, they will “spoil,” but if we store up treasures in heaven, they will “endure.”

How do we store up treasures in heaven? By using our money and our possessions to strengthen body, soul, and spirit equally, not just to strengthen our bodies.

So how can we apply that same principle to food that spoils and food that endures to eternal life? By using our food and our meals to strengthen body, soul, and spirit equally, not just to strengthen our bodies.

Jesus said that the crowd was working for food that spoils.

What does it look like to work for food that spoils?

It looks like doing a job in order to get money to meet our physical needs.

This is one reason people have such a hard time tithing, by the way. They think, “Look, I need this money to care for my physical needs.” Bad thinking. If you use your money only to care for your body, it will not endure. It will spoil.

How can you use your food and meals in such a way that your body, soul, and spirit are being strengthened?

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Why Did Jesus Feed the 5,000?

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Pastor Foley

Part II of our series on Sharing Your Bread

From where?

That, as we identified in our last post is the most important question raised by Jesus in his feeding of the 5,000.

And if you answered, “From the little boy, with God’s help,” then you have officially missed the point of the story! So let’s leave the little boy alone and read further and see if we can answer Jesus’ question, “Where shall we buy bread for all of these people to eat?”

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

(John 6:10-15)

Now skip ahead to verse 25 where Jesus explains the sign:

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” (John 6:25-26)

Let’s rephrase verse 26 in light of what we just learned about miracles and signs. We could say it this way:

“Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me”—meaning, you’re following me around and trying to make me king—“in the physical realm because of what I can do for your body. But that’s because you’re focused only on the flesh and what your body needs. You’re missing the sign: the invisible realm is bursting into the visible! Look through me into the invisible realm and behold your true Father, who is providing for all of your needs—body, soul, and spirit—and who is calling you to have fellowship at his table.”

Jesus doesn’t feed the crowd because they are hungry or even because they ask.

He feeds the crowd because he is mirroring his Father’s goodness into the world, and part of his Father’s goodness is that his Father invites us to his table. As we learned last month, the vocation God intended (and still intends) for all human beings is mirroring God into the visible realm.

He doesn’t just want us to do good stuff. He wants us to mirror exactly what he is doing.

Have you experienced God’s invitation to his table?  What physical form did that take? How can you mirror that to others?

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