{"id":811,"date":"2018-10-07T21:47:18","date_gmt":"2018-10-07T20:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=811"},"modified":"2018-10-07T21:57:31","modified_gmt":"2018-10-07T20:57:31","slug":"daily-food-and-daily-forgiveness-a-sermon-for-harvest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=811","title":{"rendered":"Daily food and daily forgiveness – a sermon for Harvest"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\"\"I was reading a discussion among clergy on Facebook the other day about the Lord\u2019s Prayer. One of them asked an interesting question about \u201cGive us today our daily bread.\u201d When we pray the prayer and ask for our \u201cdaily bread\u201d is that asking merely for physical sustenance or are we asking for spiritual sustenance too?
\nOf course, what we are asking for initially is our bread for today, the food which we need to survive. In Mediterranean countries like Portugal where we went on holiday bread is the food we put on our side plate with vinegar and olive oil to nibble as a starter while we are waiting for them to cook our main course. Here we might have a bread roll to dip into our soup. But in the middle east in Jesus\u2019s time bread was the heart of the meal. It was the knife and fork where each person would have their own loaf, break off a piece and dip it into the shared dishes of meat or vegetables. Bread was the most important staple foodstuff. If you didn\u2019t have anything else you would dip your bread in salt for flavouring and if you didn\u2019t have bread you were starving.
\nSo praying \u201cgive us today our daily bread\u201d is a way of recognising every day that we depend on God for the food we need to live on.
\nIt took the Israelites in the wilderness 40 years to learn just how much they depended on God to provide for them day by day as they were miraculously fed on manna, bread from heaven. Even before they received the 10 commandments, God gave them manna to eat. In the second year after they left Egypt Moses took a census and we know from Numbers chapter 1 that there were 600,000 able-bodied fighting men wandering around the wilderness, not including the Levites. So including all the women and children and teenagers there could easily have been two and a half million Israelites wandering about. And God fed them all, every day, on manna. Two and a half million people. Several thousand tonnes of food every day! Exodus 16 tells us,
\nExodus16:1 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, \u2018If only we had died by the LORD\u2019s hand in Egypt! There we sat round pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.\u2019
\n4 Then the LORD said to Moses, \u2018I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.\u2019 <\/p>\n

11 The LORD said to Moses, 12 \u2018I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, \u201cAt twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.\u201d \u2019
\n13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, \u2018What is it?\u2019 For they did not know what it was.
\nMoses said to them, \u2018It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat. 16 This is what the LORD has commanded: \u201cEveryone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.\u201d \u2019 (an omer was about one and a half kilogrammes!)
\n17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.
\n21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much\u2014two omers for each person\u2014and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, \u2018This is what the LORD commanded: \u201cTomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.\u201d \u2019 <\/p>\n

So God provided the Israelites with bread from heaven, every day and twice as much on the day before the sabbath. He provided them with quail to eat. And at times he provided them with water from the rocks. In the desert they did not starve and they did not die of thirst and the Israelites learned to trust that God provided for their needs day by day.
\nAnd God provides for all of our needs day by day. We may think we are fed by the hands of Sainsburys or Asda\u2019s but the truth is we are all fed by the mighty hand of God who gives us all things richly to enjoy. In our offering prayer I often say, \u201cAlmighty God, Creator of heaven and earth. All things come from you and of your own do we give you.\u201d Those are not empty words. We acknowledge the truth of the words we sang this morning.
\n\u201cHe only is the maker of all things near and far;
\nhe paints the wayside flower, he lights the evening star;
\nthe winds and waves obey him, by him the birds are fed;
\nmuch more to us, his children, he gives our daily bread.
\nAll good gifts around us are sent from heaven above;
\nthen thank the Lord, O thank the Lord, for all his love.\u201d
\nBecause of time we skipped this morning\u2019s Bible reading from Psalm 104 reminding us of God\u2019s gracious provision for our daily needs and indeed for all his creatures.
\nPSALM 104 10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains.
\n11 They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
\n12 The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.
\n13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
\n14 He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate\u2014
\nbringing forth food from the earth:
\n15 wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart.
\n16 The trees of the LORD are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
\n17 There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the pine trees.
\n18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the coneys.
\n19 The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down.
\n20 You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
\n21 The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.
\n22 The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens.
\n23 Then man goes out to his work, to his labor until evening.
\n24 How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. \u2026
\n27 These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time.
\n28 When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.
\nGive us today our daily bread. It is a daily prayer \u2013 in Jesus\u2019s time in the middle east with no fridges bread would only last for one day, they needed to bake fresh bread every day. So quite rightly they needed to ask God for their bread for that day. They realised, in the same way as people living in the Third World today still recognise that the whole of Creation is completely dependent on God for all the necessities of life.
\nI have shared before the important lesson I learned from the six weeks I spent on Sabbatical in Uganda. Christians in Uganda PRAY before every meal, before every drink, before every journey, after every journey, before they say goodbye, every time when somebody is hurt or sick \u2013 not just when it\u2019s something major! For all their problems with water supply and health and transport and survival hand to mouth from day to day, Ugandan Christians consciously depend on God for their daily bread and for all their day-to-day needs much more than we think we need to. Richard Foster\u2019s book on prayer has been teaching us this precious truth. He calls it \u201cpraying the ordinary.\u201d
\nWe need to learn not to take things for granted but to receive them with gratitude., We need to learn to depend on God for all the good things he gives us so richly to enjoy.
\nFOOD \u2013 we can so easily take our food for granted. That\u2019s why it\u2019s good to say grace before our meals \u2013 in passing a meal is technically defined as anything more than a Mars bar. That\u2019s one reason why it\u2019s good to give something up for Lent.
\nWATER \u2013 again we take a free supply of fresh water for granted, never being thirsty, working bathrooms, etc. Floods and homes destroyed remind us just how fragile our lives are.
\nHOME, SHELTER, warm in winter, dry in rains, safe from predators
\nFAMILY AND FRIENDS
\nTRAVELLING \u2013 every journey in Uganda began with a prayer for travelling mercies and ended with thanksgiving for a safe arrival, because for so many people so many journeys are hazardous, if not impossible.
\nCOMMUNICATIONS \u2013 first radio and landline telephones, then TV and video, and internet, mobiles, text messages, Skype, Facebook, Twitter and social media.
\nCHURCH, FELLOWSHIP, BIBLES \u2013 we appreciate these all the more when we learn about the sufferings of the persecuted church.
\nPOSSESSIONS \u2013 luxuries and necessities. Especially living in a society where we regard as necessities things which so many people in the world would view as luxuries, if they had access to them at all, it is very important that we don\u2019t take all these different kinds of blessings for granted but receive them with gratitude. Asking every day for our daily bread reminds us of our complete dependence on God, day by day and into the future. And we need to give thanks!
\nColossians 3 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
\n\u201cGive us today our daily bread.\u201d When we pray the Lord\u2019s Prayer is that asking merely for physical sustenance or are we asking for spiritual sustenance too? Of course we are asking for physical sustenance. But surely we are also expressing our dependence on God for spiritual sustenance at the same time. We read of how Jesus was tempted in the wilderness in Matthew 3.
\n2 After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, \u2018If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.\u2019
\n4 Jesus answered, \u2018It is written: \u201cMan shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.\u201d\u2019
\nWe need more than physical food to enjoy life in all its fulness. We need Jesus who is the true bread of life. John 6
\n30 So they asked him, \u2018What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: \u201cHe gave them bread from heaven to eat.\u201d\u2019
\n32 Jesus said to them, \u2018Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.\u2019
\n34 \u2018Sir,\u2019 they said, \u2018always give us this bread.\u2019
\n35 Then Jesus declared, \u2018I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
\n48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live for ever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.\u2019
\nJesus is the bread of life. Jesus is the real manna, the real bread from heaven. We need to feed on him day by day. So it is no coincidence that the request for daily bread comes in the first half of a couplet. And the second half says this. \u201cBut forgive us our sins.\u201d
\nWe need physical food and we need spiritual food. Above all we need forgiveness.
\nAnd the way that Jesus has given us to remember him is not a coincidence either. He commands us to remember his sacrifice and his cross and his resurrection and the new covenant which his blood has bought for us.
\n26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, \u2018Take and eat; this is my body.\u2019
\nThe bread which we break is truly a way of participating in the body of Christ. So Jesus gives us a way to remember that he is the Bread of Life every time we eat our daily bread.
\nGive us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins. Two simple requests for the essentials we all need. Daily food and daily forgiveness. Our physical needs and our spiritual needs. Recognising that all good things come from God our Heavenly Father and that we all ought to be duly grateful. We depend on God from day to day for everything. So we pray
\n\u201cGive us today our daily bread, and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was reading a discussion among clergy on Facebook the other day about the Lord\u2019s Prayer. One of them asked an interesting question about…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=811"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":816,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811\/revisions\/816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}