I have a little quiz for all of you. Now don’t worry, I think you’ll find it very easy. Just tell me what products the following advertising slogans are connected to. For any of you who are not native to this country I give you a pass for this quiz.
“Just do it.”—Nike.
“Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is.”—Alka-Seltzer
“The quicker, picker-upper.” Bounty
“Can you hear me now?” Verizon Wireless
“Let your fingers do the walking.” Yellow Pages
“Strong enough for a man but made for a woman.” Secret Deodorant
“The best a man can get.” Gillett Razors.
“Tough on grease, soft on hands.” Palmolive.
“Easy, breezy, beautiful.” Covergirl.
“Good to the last drop.” Maxwell House.
“Tastes Great, Less Filling.” Miller Lite
Very good. You passed with flying colors. I suspect that almost all of these were very familiar to you. They are familiar to me too. For I grew up watching television, as did probably most of you. I still remember that four out of five dentists surveyed recommended sugarless gum for their patients who chew gum. I can still recall that CERTS is made with a drop of retsin (but I don’t know what retsin IS). And I know that in hardest water CALGON helps detergents get laundry up to 30% cleaner. I did no research for these facts. I remember it all twenty-five or thirty years after I first heard it – just like the advertisers wanted me to.
If asked I will tell you that I was raised Episcopalian, but I really should tell you that I was raised CONSUMERIST. I can rattle off advertising copy quicker than I can passages from the Bible. And I know that I am not alone in this. Consumerism permeates our society and in many ways it is the religion of America. James Luther Adams, a theologian, maintains that all people have a religion whether they realize it or not. “The question,” he writes, “is not shall I be a person of faith, but rather, which faith should BE mine? For whether a person craves prestige, wealth, security, or amusement; whether the person lives for God, country, science, or plunder, that person is demonstrating a faith, showing confidence in something. Find out what he gives his deepest loyalty to and you’ve found his religion.”
Look around at the world we live in. What does the soul of our society seem most deeply committed to? Shopping has become a leisure activity. People owe more money than they earn in a year. Houses are becoming bigger and bigger because we need more and more space to store all of the stuff that we are accumulating. Yet by and large we are unaware of the fact that we are practicing the religion of consumerism. We are unconsciously responding to the value system of the culture in which we live. Its message is so insidious and so effective that we all react to it in ways we may not be aware of. And most Americans have bought without question the idea that to be a good American is to consume, more and more. If you listen to any business report on TV or radio you will hear the same thing. The economy is sluggish right now because consumer spending is down. The economy is growing right now because consumer spending is up. If we don’t buy more stuff, then businesses are going to fail, and salaries are going to dry up, and we won’t be able to buy more stuff. So go buy more stuff! It is the American thing to do.
Consuming stuff has become our reason for being in this country. Getting more and more has become our purpose in life, it is what we are told gives meaning to our lives. We are told that more stuff is what will fill any hunger that we feel in our lives. We need to drive the right car, own the right brand clothes, buy the right brand food, live in bigger and bigger houses. The list goes on and on, and it never ends. And I will tell you that this is not a new issue. Human beings have always been confused about what will really feed their hungers and what will not.
In our gospel reading for today we hear Jesus telling us “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. . . I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Now it is important to say here that Jesus is not talking about the hunger and thirst that comes from not eating food or drinking water. Jesus is talking about the deep hunger that comes from the bottom of our souls. The hunger that when left unfilled can leave us feeling completely alone. The hunger that is a deep part of being human. It is simply a part of being alive. The hunger itself is not a bad thing. In fact it is a good thing if it pushes us to find the true nourishment for it. But unfortunately, more often than not, we try to fill this deep hunger with stuff, or status or things to do. And when we do this we usually find ourselves craving more and more rather than feeling fulfilled and nourished. We find that our need for stuff is never fulfilled, for we have not fulfilled our real need, which is to have a relationship with God. For our deep hunger is not for stuff, but is instead for God. What we really desire from the bottom of our souls is to know and be known by God. Our deepest hunger can only be filled by God.
Jesus is the bread of life not for what he puts into our stomachs, but rather for how he teaches us to live, really LIVE. In the meal of communion he is shaping us into his body and preparing us to give ourselves in the same way as he gives himself. Those who have dared to follow this radical way find life in more vivid color, find purpose and meaning beyond accumulating more stuff.
The hunger that Jesus satisfies for purpose and meaning beyond ourselves, awakens in us other hungers, for peace, justice, loving kindness, and a relationship with God. No matter how often we feast at God’s table, these hungers never leave us. When we eat the bread of life here at the altar each and every Sunday, when we give our time to ministries here at St. Andrew’s and out in the world, when we care for each other, pray and study scripture together, we are allowing our lives to be reshaped by Christ into his own body for the world. We become bread like his bread. And all of this happens not by getting something, but by giving everything as Christ has given to us. Come hungry for life, leave hungry to give life, full of Jesus, the bread of life.
What is your religion? To what are you giving your heart, mind and soul? What are you using to feed the deepest hunger in your life? Jesus is the bread of life. Whoever comes to him will never be hungry; whoever believes him will not thirst. Choose Jesus, choose life!
