Bread Becoming Light: 8 August, 2021
John 6:35, 41-51
The debate that has raged in the Christian church from the first century C.E. all the way to the ecumenical dialogues at our present time as divergent views on eucharistic presence and sacrifice has kept not only Eastern and Western churches apart, but Protestantism from Orthodox and Roman Catholics.
. . . In the midst of these theological and ecclesial-political controversies, we need a word of healing, a word of hope. Jesus says, ‘‘I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’’
St. Augustine preached in sermon 272: “Be what you can see, receive what you are. If you are his body and members of him, then you will find set on the Lord’s table your own mystery.” . . . There is something in that sermon for us. What our text tells us, what Jesus tells us, and what the bread embodies so vividly and tangibly is that we, the members of Christ’s body, must begin to be Christ’s flesh, Christ’s visible presence in the world, to one another, to all.
. . . We are joined to his flesh, united to him, and therefore take on his agenda, his concerns, his very purpose of coming to the world in flesh and blood. Now we, having flesh and blood, blessed by God and the Spirit of Christ, are to be that visible, tangible flesh and blood to the whole world. –– Sara Webb Phillips
Ephesians 4:25––5:2
Paul focuses on the light in verse 32: “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.” This is transmitted light—the light of God not turned and reflected from us, but passing through us and seen in us. We may seem to be a source of light, but only because God in Christ is transmitting light through us. Christ has already forgiven us; we can forgive others. Our goodness is not our own, but a shaft of divine light shining through us.
Whether we are reflecting or transmitting divine light, as windows of grace, we are not much good in storage, unable to shine without a Light source.
. . . Those deceptively simple qualities of kindness and a forgiving nature are in reality a call to let membership into the body of Christ change the sinful heart of humanity into a commitment to selfless, sacrificial love. Ephesians celebrates the oneness in the Spirit that unifies believers and makes them into a new creation—a living body with Christ as its head, being light to the world. –– Sara Webb Phillips
1 Kings 19:4-8
At the height of despair and approaching the point of giving up, Elijah had the solution to his difficulties placed squarely in front of him by God. Indeed, Elijah asked for his travails to be ended by God and God responded appropriately, albeit with somewhat of a non sequitur to what Elijah was requesting. Do we keep an open mind to allow God to fashion a solution to our problems? –– Daniel Lund III
Sara Webb Phillips is a United Methodist minister serving Grace UMC in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a former co-editor of the journal Liturgy published quarterly by The Liturgical Conference.
Daniel Lund III, is a lawyer who holds an MA in theological studies from Duke Divinity School.
Homily Service 42, no. 3 (2009): 111-120.