John 6:24-35
Proper 13 / Year B
How many decisions
do you think you make in a typical day?
100? 1,000? Well, studies have determined the each of us
makes (giver or take) 35,000 decisions every twenty-four hours. Knowing this makes me feel overwhelmed! Now, many of these choices are
unconscious. You drove here this morning
and while operating your car you made a lot of decisions, but I’ll bet you can
only remember a few.
Most of our
conscious decisions are inconsequential: what to eat, what to wear, what to do
for an evening’s entertainment.
Sometimes these little considerations become bigger deals. Cindy, who is away this weekend at a family
wedding on Long Island, put a great deal of thought into what she was going to
wear to the rehearsal dinner and to the wedding. No doubt it will be some time before she again
needs to put as much effort into getting dressed.
Some of our choices
affect not only the course of our lives, but also the lives of our loved ones. I have always loved the story told by author
and educator Parker Palmer about the time he had an opportunity to become a
college president. He gathered a few
close friends and asked them to help him discern what to do. One friend asked, “What do you think you will
not like about being a college president?”
Palmer thought for a moment and then replied, “I will not like the
constant pressure to raise funds. I will
not like dealing with faculty politics.
I will not like pandering to pompous and pushy alumni. And I will not like fielding all the petty
grievances of the student body.” After
some silence another friend asked, “What do you think you will like about being
a college president?” Again Palmer pondered
the question and then responded, “I think I will like seeing my picture in the newspaper
announcing my hire.” More silence until
a friend asks, “Can you think of any other way to get your photo into the paper?”
This morning we
hear Jesus begin to speak with those he fed with the bread and fish. They are following him because they want more
food and Jesus, who proclaims himself to be the Bread of Life, tells them they
are focused on a lesser thing. “Do not work
for the food that perishes,” he instructs them, “but for the food which endures
to eternal life”; for the food which “abides”.
It is such a basic
teaching, isn’t it. Are you focused on
what really matters or are you fixated on something less? As the author John C. Maxwell put it, “Life is
a matter of choices and every choice you make makes you.” 35,000 times each day we have the opportunity
to choose what will abide or what will perish.
Jesus asks those
who approach him, “Why are you here?
What is it you are looking for?”
These are two good questions.
Mark Twain famously observed the two most important days in your life
are the day you are born and the day you figure out why. When you figure this out then you can begin
to choose what abides.
We all want to discern
a meaningful purpose to life. We all
crave affirmation our life matters. We
all long for an inner peace welling up from a sense we are living our lives the
right way. The world gives us alluring
options to pursue these things. Among
them:
· Move up the
corporate ladder.
· Go for bigger and
better.
· Amass power.
· Stay youthful and
attractive.
Often, however,
these things are nothing more than perishable food. Parker Palmer was seeking affirmation and notoriety,
which are noble goals we all seek. But
notice he is going about it in a way which will make him miserable.
Discerning why you
were born is a lifelong challenge and the answer changes as we age. What feeds us with abiding food during one
phase in our life does not always translate to the next chapter of our life.
Another challenge… abiding
food for one person may not be what you need.
You are unique. You are
special. There is no blueprint you can
purchase to show you how to build your life.
You have to create your own design; the one right for you and only you. One of my childhood friends has gone on to
become the president of a small, mid-west college. He appears to be thriving in a position which
Parker Palmer would have found suffocating.
You have to find your own way.
You have to discover what to labor for that will abide for you.
Two things will
help. First, learn what truly motivates
you, what gives you a sense of meaning and purpose; what makes you happy. Not what others or the world says it should be. What it is for you. And second, define your values. You will never taste abiding food if you are
acting against your core beliefs and principles. I could never be at peace if I was willfully
going against the teachings of Jesus or not seeking to live into the
implications of my baptismal covenant. I
suspect neither can you.
Do not labor for
food which perishes, but for food which endures.
