The Simple Gifts 

of Lent Series

March 18, 2020

The Simple Gift of Bread

(Give each person a $2 bill as they enter for worship).

It is $2.  Maybe you were expecting a slice of bread at tonight's meditation.  But instead you’ve gotten two dollars. 

Bread – the story of God’s people is a story of bread. 

God set Israel free over bread – the Passover.  It is a meal that features – bread – unleavened bread.  When God’s people eat bread they are reminded of God’s gracious act of liberation – setting them free from slavery in Egypt. 

The story of God’s people is a story of bread.

When Moses led Israel for 40 years in the wilderness God provided bread – manna.  Bread at the table is a constant reminder of God’s faithful care to feed God’s people as they wandMered in the wilderness.

God provides bread for widows and prophets lest they go hungry.

The Gospels contain bread stories.  Jesus provides bread – feeding 5000 people that is in every Gospel. Jesus share bread and eats with outcast people.  Jesus teaches his disciples a prayer that includes:  “give us this day our daily bread.”  Christ’s identity revolves around bread.  He even says, “I am the bread of life” in the Gospel according to St. John. 

The climax of the ministry of Jesus comes at the last supper.  There he gives thanks and breaks bread with his disciples.  He tells them ‘break bread to remember how I have given my body up for you.’

He tells them to ‘drink wine to remember how I died to bring forgiveness to you and all people.’ 

Bread is central to the story of our Judeo-Christian heritage.  God is involved in seeing to it that people are fed both with literal bread and the figurative bread of life.

You have bread in your hands – a $2.00.  It is yours to keep.  Let us talk about the simple of gift of bread and the $2 bill that is in front of you.

According to the United Nations, the World Bank, the CIA Fact Check, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization – half the world’s people live on $2.00 a day.  Approximately 7 billion people inhabit our planet.  It is hard to wrap our minds around the fact that so many live on so little. 

So what do we do?  Throw up our hands in despair?  Go on our way because that is too big a problem for us? 

The church has an answer.  God calls us to be Christ.  God calls us to be bread for the world.  We’ve been blessed to be a blessing to others.  Pray – intercede on behalf of the world.  That is indeed part of our calling.  We are to cry out to God. 

When we pray ‘give us this day our daily bread’ we are praying for everyone. 

The issue is not insufficient bread – God does provide abundantly.  It is how we use our bread as an abundant gift to share or something to hoard.

Practicing the path of Jesus may lead us to evaluate our priorities not simply to give more, but also to look at our consumption and our lifestyle.  Not to change out of guilt – but to be transformed by a gracious God who showed the best way to truly live is in the teachings of Jesus.

So tonight – how to respond?  Take this bread - $2 bill home…put it in a prominent place to remind you of how nearly half the world lives. 

Pray – when you see the $2 – say a prayer

Continue to give generously to our food pantry shopping cart.  We are good at this ministry.

Give voice to the voiceless.  Cutting government spending on the backs of the poor is not a way to take care of our debts.  There are more responsible ways to get that done.  Ask our legislators to do the right thing not the expedient thing.

Pray, give, be an advocate.

One of the prayers in our liturgy after the Holy Eucharist goes like this:

O God, we give you thanks that you have set before us this feast, the body and blood of your Son. By your Spirit strengthen us to serve all in need and to give ourselves away as bread for the hungry, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Simple Gift of Bread makes all the difference in the world.

Amen.