Food in the summer can be especially delightful. If you live
in the country or have a garden in your yard, in such a place the ripeness of
the summer crop enriches all the senses; nothing can be more wonderful than a
sun-warmed tomato off the vine or plump berries picked from lush bushes. Even
city dwellers can get fresh food from farmers' markets: sweet corn picked early
that morning from a farmer's field could be on your table for lunch. In the
summer, you can be out-of-doors more, which makes the nature images in
scripture that much more alive to you. Many go on long hikes up mountains that
did not seem so steep on the map?
Hungrier and hungrier, achier and achier, concerned that the
sky will never break through the trees, the hiker longs for the assurance we
read about in Deuteronomy: "The clothes on your back did not wear out and
your feet did not swell these 40 years." Nevertheless, by following the
path -- "walking in God's ways and by fearing him" -- the trail
begins to level out. The summit -- and your picnic spot -- approaches and you
see a vista more marvellous than you could have imagined down there at the track
start. You are tired and relieved when you get there. You are exhilarated and
awestruck by where God has led you. For
the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing
streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, a
land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of
olive trees and honey, a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where
you will lack nothing.
There are other summer images of abundance: I think of
children dancing in the spray of water at a pool, or the ice cream truck that
drives through the neighbourhood right up to your door and has just what you
want. Think of free concerts in city parks and Friday night food stalls and
music. Think of the smell of bread right out of the oven, standing on the
sidewalk outside a bakery. Images like those would be the ones used if the
Bible were written today about places where there were four seasons: images of
abundance and grace, ordinary, simple and ever available.
Jesus' words about the bread of life rang true with his
hearers. Those who long for the knowledge and love of the Lord will find it in
abundance and simplicity. It is no mistake that words everyone understands --
bread, water -- are used to tell us what the wisdom of God is like. Climb that
mountain and nothing tastes sweeter than the simple Vegemite and cheese or pickle
and ham or tomato sandwich you packed that morning, the one that got a little
squashed in your backpack. No vintage wine could be better than flowing water
from the mountain stream. Walk down that sidewalk on a hot day and find
refreshment that no king could equal by plunging into the cold water of the
city pool.
Jesus uses those old images of the messianic banquet, the
abundance of the fruits of wisdom, to say this to his hearers: the banquet is
here now. You no longer have to wait. Wisdom is not in some far-off distant
future; it is here now, in the person of Jesus. "I am the bread of
life," he says. Food is available, lots of it, to all who seek. If you
ever get the chance, enjoy the summer. It is our text for these months, showing
us the abundance of God's unfailing love, the extreme depth and abundance of
the bread of life and the living water Christ offers us. Out of that abundance,
we are called to respond in love. Have another sandwich. Take another drink
from the stream. Get another ice cream. There is more than enough to go around.
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