Pastoral Letter 29

Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,

The last few days we felt that summer is almost here, spring will soon end and we are still not convinced that we are ready to reopen our doors for worship and fellowship. We do hope that the day is going to come soon. We pray and seek God’s help to get through these difficult and challenging times. On a positive note, the recent few days brought some good news as the restrictions start to ease, with the possibility of gatherings with bigger numbers, such as at sports games and other functions. It is good to hear that the situation in Victoria is better than what it was in the previous two months.

In these situations, we are called to put our trust in God and believe that He is with us, walking with us, providing us and feeding us, as we will see in our scripture and message this Sunday, how He provided His people with food. He is with us to protect and guide, as He did to the people of Israel in the story of Exodus, that we will look at.

Also, this week and in particular on Tuesday 15 September, our thoughts went back twenty years, when Sydney hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics. We were privileged to be part of that historic sporting event, when a big number of athletes from all over the world came to Australia to compete in the games. The opening ceremony was beautiful, the stadiums were packed with people and we were all excited. Unfortunately, I missed the two events that I was planning to attend with the family, because I had to attend my brother-in-law’s funeral in New Jersey, who suddenly passed away in the same week. But those who were there as spectators or volunteers were excited to be part of that unique and unforgettable experience. Now, after 20 years, we still remember the experience and we give thanks to God for the privilege.

Today we hope to have similar memorable experiences, not necessarily at sporting events, but other programs and activities that we miss so much, including our gatherings as a congregation on special occasions, such as St. Andrew’s Day Luncheon, Birthdays and other celebrations.

We are hopeful and assured that God is with us and will be with us in our journey, regardless of what is happening around us. Let us continue to believe and hope that we will have better days and join the other members tomorrow morning in worship, following the Order of Service. Please light a candle and give a little more time for your personal prayers and pray for others. Especially remember those who are in pain, suffering, isolated, vulnerable, lonely and under constraints. If you have any prayer points, please let me know and I will include them in the next week’s letter.

Be well and safe and if you need any kind of help or support, please do not hesitate to ask and let me know.

Continue to pray and remember the following points in your prayers:

1. Pray seeking God’s help as we go through the difficult time of pandemic.

2. Pray for those who are struggling financially, lost loved ones, in pain, not well and lonely.

3. Pray for world peace and ask for God’s blessings.

A thank you note:

A few days ago, I had a lovely chat with Sarah, our previous cleaner, who was diagnosed with cancer just before the pandemic. Since then, she has been getting treatment and thank God she is recovering but still undergoing therapy. She is grateful for our and her own church’s prayers, that helped her to get through this time. She is so pleased with the information of the doctors that the cancer is getting smaller. Thanks to God. Let’s continue to pray for her complete recovery.

Krikor

Manna from Heaven – The Food we Need

Exodus 16:1-16

Our Old Testament reading this morning recounts the story of the Lord’s providing manna for the Children of Israel as they made their way to the Promised Land.

Have you ever wondered what manna must have been like?

I am not sure if you have had the chance to taste manna, which food manufacturers produce in the Middle East, especially in Jordan. Some of the Middle eastern shops in Sydney and Melbourne have packed products from overseas. They taste good, a little sweet, depending on the recipe and the added sugar. The manna that you can get is man-made and I am sure it is totally different than the food that the people of Israel found every morning in the wilderness.

Some scientists and theologians have speculated that what the Israelites picked up was the hardened emissions of a desert plant. But we who believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, know that this was not some natural phenomenon, but rather it was food from the very hand of God.

But what was it? What was it like?

The fact that it is called bread in the Bible really doesn’t help us, because the Hebrew language uses the word that we translate as bread also simply to mean any necessary food. In Armenia if a friend wishes to invite you to have something to eat, for breakfast, lunch or dinner, the expression used is “Hats Oudenk”, which is literally translated, “Let’s eat bread”.  It doesn’t mean we will only have bread, but have food together and it is usually a traditional table full of variety of food, including bread, different kinds of cheese, vegetables, salads, meat, fish, etc. In our story in fact, even the people of Israel didn’t quite know what God was giving them to eat, but they were sure that it was a kind of food, bread, for them to survive in the wilderness.

According to Moses, when the children of Israel saw this substance that had been left on the ground, they said to one another, “man hu?” – “What is it? What is it?” They were so mystified, puzzled and confused by it, that they called it ’mahn’ or ’manna’, ’what is it’ food, the ’mystery’ food. But, while they didn’t know quite what it was, they did know that it was the food that God had sent, the food that they needed for their journey to the Promised Land. They knew that they still had a long way to reach the land that God had promised them to give and during that time of the travel they needed food to survive and patiently wait for the right time to go in, which was to be after forty years, not forty minutes, hours, days or months. A very long time and also not for a few campers, but for a whole nation.

In our country, the majority of people aren’t concerned about where their next meal is coming from. We simply expect to get our food several times each day. It’s troubling to see how easily people expect temporary physical nourishment, and how readily they neglect permanent spiritual nourishment. Generally, we have the food we desire; but, tragically, spiritually speaking, we often skip the food we need.While we wander in this wilderness of sin, dispute, conflict and trouble we need a Food that comes straight from heaven, a Bread for life that nourishes us unto eternity.

But what was it? What was it like?

I. It is a food from heaven.

A. Food from this world doesn’t last.

The food we need is a food from heaven, a food given by God Himself. We need a food from God, because the ’food’ of this world can never satisfy, will never last.

In the Gospels, we see the people whom Jesus had fed the day before coming to the place where He had gone. They ask Jesus a question, but He doesn’t even waste His time to answer it. Instead, He tells them their hidden motive for tracking Him down was actually that their stomachs were getting empty, and they wanted Him to fill them again.

Jesus had met their physical need for food to point them to their spiritual need for food. By the next day, the physical need for food brought them back for more. This shows the nature of earthly food and treasures that they cannot last, cannot fully satisfy our hunger and desires. As Solomon says of the things of this world: “Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is Meaningless”. Another translation reads: “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity!” (Eccl. 1:2) All the treasures of the earth are like vapours which appear for a while, but which neither remain nor satisfy while they appear. Because of this, Jesus tells us: “Do not work for food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you”. Work not for the food which does not last, but for the food which remains into life eternal, the food which the Son of Man will give to you.” (John 6:27

B. The food from heaven lasts forever.

1. The food which God provided Israel lasted until they reached their goal, not another single day, though God gave them and literally the scripture says fell from heaven. The Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you”. God gave it, but still it was for the earthly life and to survive the long journey.

The food that God gives through His Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ is the only food that can last, because only He is “from everlasting to everlasting” as the Psalmist says.

If we have food from Him, we can be sure that it will always endure. While Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years, the manna that God provided never failed. Joshua tells us that only after the children of Israel had eaten of the produce of the Promised Land did the manna cease.

2. The food from heaven endures until we reach our goal.

So also, with the food that our Father gives to us in His Son, Jesus Christ; it is “food that remains into life eternal” as Jesus Himself tells us. As the manna was there for Israel until they reached their goal, the food that the Lord would give us is a food that endures unto eternity.

II. It is a bread for life.

A. The bread of this world is death.

And how good it is that He does supply us with this enduring food, because it alone is a bread for life, while the bread of this world is death. John says in his first epistle: “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:17) If we feed only on the things of this world and put our trust in them, then we, too, must ’pass away’ with the world. This is so because our disobedience of God’s holy commands has not only made us unfit to be subjects in His Kingdom, but it has also made all of God’s creation corrupt. Our rebellion against His righteous laws has brought His wrath upon us and condemned us to eternal death, and there is no food on earth that can give us life in the face of that death. If we continue to feed upon the bread of this world, to follow our own way and put our trust in worldly things, then we are dead, and have only more death to look forward to.

B. The food we need comes down from heaven to give life to the world.

1. The bread of life makes us alive.

God has given us His Bread to feed upon, a Bread for life, the Food we need which has come down from heaven. Unlike the manna (in the desert), which could only sustain physical life, the true Bread from heaven comes down to make alive that which is dead. As Paul says in the Epistle of Ephesians: “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive together with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.”(Eph. 2:4-5) Christ Jesus is the Bread of life, the Food we need. He is the One who has come down from heaven, and by His life and death, He has destroyed death and removed our condemnation. He has made us alive, not in a fleshly sense, but by the Spirit of God. He has washed us in our Baptism, giving us life anew, and removing every spot of death. As Paul tell the Romans: Don’t you know that all of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:3-4)

2. The bread of life also sustains us.

He has raised us from spiritual death and has freed us from eternal condemnation. He has made us alive…alive to bring glory to His name through our words and actions.

He has made us alive, and through His Gospel and Sacrament He sustains us, because when we hear His forgiveness and receive His body and blood, we receive Christ Himself, the Bread of Life. Since we have Him here, in such a concrete, tangible fashion, we receive anew the guarantee that by His death and resurrection our sins have been forgiven, so that we have life and salvation, and the blessing of God in all our endeavours. This food, which is Jesus and what He did for us, sustains us in all things, at all times. He is our spiritual and eternal Food.

III. It is a nourishment for eternity.

A. It is not limited and physical.

1. Such things are momentary and unfulfilling

Physical food and physical pleasures are momentary and unfulfilling; this is why people are often so concerned with getting as much as they can of the things of this world: so they can keep their lives ’full’.
A larger house, a fancier car, a faster boat, a new dress, a new gadget, etc. there is always something more, something better. Yet, no matter what we get, it cannot last forever.

Those who don’t understand the food that God gives, those who don’t see how deep their need is for it, also consider the Gospel and Sacrament as ’fleeting’ lasting for a short time, and they seek some new ’rush’ in worship, desiring an emotional high, no matter how lacking in nutrition such a meal is. It’s like the hospital patient who must be hooked to an IV and absolutely cannot eat; he cries out for the food he wants, but only the food he needs, the food that is so easy to despise, will save Him. As that clumsy IV pole can be our ’best friend’ in the hospital, so the liturgy and hymns during the Lord’s Supper, that exalt it and bring us the life-creating and sustaining Gospel are what we need; like the other things of this world, ’emotional highs’ do not endure.

B. But is spiritual and eternal

(But) Jesus gives us something that will last, and He gives it through this Divine Service: He gives us Himself, the eternal Bread of Life. If we rely on Him, our spirit needs never hunger or thirst, because the fullness of salvation and peace is ours. As David says: “The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” We lack nothing but have a God who has richly provided for us both in this world and in the world to come.

How, then, can we look to the things of this world to give us happiness?

Let us listen to the invitation of our Saviour, as it is recorded by the prophet Isaiah, a passage that we often use and read, when invite people to join us for worship:

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;

and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!

Come, buy wine and milk, without money and without cost.

Why spend money on what is not bread,

and your labour on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,

and your soul will delight in the riches of fair.” (Is. 551-2)

Jesus certainly understood the physical hunger and physical desires of people; He did, after all He fed the 5000. Yet He also knows exactly what we need to satisfy spiritual malnutrition permanently, ‘He’ is the Bread of Life and THE FOOD WE NEED.

Jesus Christ, our Lord, is the only heavenly bread, which has come down from heaven and lives with us, can be the food we need. The food that is free, good, satisfying and everlasting. Let Him be our life and our Lord.

Amen!