John 6:35, 41-51
Snicker’s Satisfies
Discover Satisfaction – Camel Lights
Coca Cola: It satisfies the thirsty and helps the weary
Our world is filled with companies trying to satisfy every hunger both real and imagined (and lighten your wallet in the process). But there is one Whose satisfaction goes beyond the moment, beyond this life into eternity.
Here’s a new slogan – Jesus satisfies. It’s what He does!
He satisfies our need to get along with each other through practical advice.
Judge not lest ye be judged.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
He satisfies our debts and encourages us to do the same.
Forgive one another as I have forgiven you.
He satisfies our needs for peace.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you….do not let your heart be troubled neither let them be afraid.
He satisfies our need to let go of our worries.
Do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, … Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
And yet, there is a deeper satisfaction Jesus gives us that goes beyond utilitarian advice for our lives. It is something more than practical. He satisfies our need for meaning in our lives.
Most everything in today’s world is nearly impossible to accept whole cloth. There is so much spin both by the media outlets and by personal bloggers that fact and truth has become utterly obscured by the sheer volume of hyper-analysis and communication. In fact, uncertainty appears to be built into the fabric of the universe.
Einstein’s relativity has shown us that we cannot even agree on how long it takes a plane to fly across the country, how old an astronaut is, or how long a moving train is.
For ages people have looked to satisfy their need to know, to be certain; to know if we are alone in this universe or if a force greater than time and matter rules it all.
It is an indisputable fact that for the whole history of humankind, Jesus has satisfied those answers for more people than any other. He has even satisfied those actively trying not to be satisfied.
We all know C.S. Lewis to be the most famous of converts to Christianity in the 20thcentury. For years he balked at what he considered to be fanciful myths of people deluding themselves to gain solace in a meaningless universe. But God chipped away at his unbelief and satisfied his skepticism through tugging on another’s thread of disbelief. Listen to what he wrote of the philosopher and atheist, T. D. Weldon:
Early in 1926 the hardest boiled of all the atheists I ever knew sat in my room …and remarked that the evidence for the historicity of the Gospels was surprisingly good. ‘Rum thing … All that stuff … about the Dying God. Rum thing. It almost looks as if it had really happened once.’ … If he, the cynic of cynics, the toughest of the toughs, were not—as I would still have put it—‘safe,’ where could I turn? Was there then no escape?(Surprised by Joy, 224)
But his satisfaction goes even deeper than answering our deepest questions of the universe. He satisfies our personal needs for a life of value that lives past the four score and seven of this earthly existence.
This ultimate satisfaction comes clear in the sixth chapter of John.
Despite the low-carb craze that swept the nation a few years ago bread is still one of my favorite foods.
Each loaf is something of a miracle to me. The way that yeast, tiny organisms do their work of putting air pockets, texture and taste in every bite is an astonishing reality. The simple ingredients of flour, water, salt and yeast with subtle variations of preparation can become grandma’s country loaf or a crusty French baguette. I am perhaps even more astounded that this deceptively simple food can be so ruinously prepared by those lacking culinary expertise (and I have plenty overly salted burnt and deflated loaves to my resume to appreciate the skill required!).
Bread has the surprising quality that it not only nourishes but also satisfies. It satisfies a hunger we didn't even know we had. One wise scribe, The Boss you might say, observed that there is another hunger each of us has. He wrote:
Everybody needs a place to rest
Everybody wants to have a home
Don't make no difference what nobody says
Ain't nobody like to be alone
Everybody’s Got A Hungry Heart
Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen’s song even spoke to me as a 13-year-old boy. There is hole in each of our hearts when we are born. It makes us cry as infants. It leads to tantrums as a teenager. As an adult it can create all kinds of poor behavior in attempt to satisfy the heart hunger we have. The more we race to fill it up by other means the more futile and out of control our life becomes.
To say that Jesus is the bread of life is to say that He satisfies the soul. He soothes our lives in ways we can hardly believe and satisfies hungers we didn't even know we had. One look into His caring eyes could fill a hole a mile wide. One touch could make a man leap for joy or woman sob with relief.
His power to satisfy all types of hunger is what makes His reach so very wide.
Think about how diverse the people of God are in the world today. There are those who suffer from grave injustice and He has taught them how to fight for equality for all people. There are those suffering from mental anguish, and He has given them a balm of grace. There are those who have lost their purpose in life and He gives a path through service that helps them to get up every day. There are those who have lost loved ones and are utterly bereft, but He gives them hope that they will reunite someday. There are those who have done terrible, terrible things; things that cannot be undone, but Jesus even gives them a gift of forgiveness.
And perhaps at one time or another all of us need His gift to be still, to sit in the presence of the holy. He has promised that wherever two or three are gathered in His name he is there in the midst of them. He sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within all of us.
And perhaps one of the most powerful ways we can access this is through an incredible gift that God has given the world, it doesn’t belong to any other part of the animal kingdom, not truly anyway; it is the gift of music. It has the ability to transcend the physical space in which we find ourselves, the mental condition that we are feeling at any given moment, and to elevate or cynicism into exceeding hope. I would like all of us to take the next few minutes to be still and to use this music, not by Bruce Springsteen, to be still and to let the spirit of God fill your hungry souls…
…The Boss said it; Jesus quenched it. May we satisfy our hungry hearts with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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