Gospel Reading for Sunday of Proper 13; Year B
“Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves:” (John 6: 26)
Jesus has just informed them that they witnessed a sign of who he is in the increased amount of food, both fish and bread. After which, he walked on the water but granted, all of them did not see that. Yet, as they locate him the next day, they demand a sign from him and they use God feeding their ancestors the manna. So they said to Jesus, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing?” (John 6:30)
I wonder if we too are standing in the middle of miracles and yet can’t see them. Our Lord Jesus taught the people, healed the people, and fed the people. Are we sometimes so fixated on one kind of miracle that we can’t see other signs that our Lord Jesus is doing right in front of us?
The people were all about food miracles even remembering the manna of Moses. Perhaps they should have been more focused on what they believed. Jesus tells them and us, the work that pleases God is the work of believing. It is not body sweat, but rather, soul sweat. Believing is work. It is the work of the heart. What you believe shapes everything you do.
Now having said that, I must say that what we believe does not necessarily mean it is true. We believed at one time that the earth was flat, but it is not. We believed that the Sun moved over the earth, but in truth, the earth moves around the sun.
So, can we control what we believe? We say that we believe in God, and that we believe in Jesus. But does that translate into loving our neighbor, not as we love ourselves, but rather, as our Savior Jesus, loves us and our neighbors, and asks us to do likewise?
We are fed with faith by the hand of God and set forth to do the work of believing in God. We should not so much be concerned with facts, but rather with truth. God is Truth and has brought us into being in ways that science is trying to figure out. We are in search of the God of Truth, hopefully, not because we were filled with the loaves, but rather because we have seen the signs.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and our schools. And, as we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray:
Lord God of our Fathers; God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: Open our eyes to see your hand at work in the world about us.” Amen. (Taken from BCP 372 Eucharistic Prayer C)
onewhoponders 