Spiritual Hunger (Harvest)

There's an old saying that the Bible is not a human book about God.

It's God's book about what it is to be human.

One of the reasons why I find the Bible in general, and the words of Jesus in particular,

so compelling, has to do with the way in which they describe and put their finger on what it is to be a human being.

I think that's exemplified here in the words of Jesus, as he says something that is as simple as it is profound,

and it is a universal truth.

As human beings, we are spiritually hungry.

There is something within us that is restless.

Something within us that is not satisfied, that is not content, that is hungry,

and that can only be met by Jesus himself, the bread of life.

The thing is, is that when we get hungry, we eat food, but then eventually we become hungry again.

Confession time.

I absolutely love Indian food.

That's not the confession bit.

The confession bit is that you put me at a table where there is Indian food set out,

whether that's a restaurant or whether that's a takeaway.

I won't leave that table until it's gone.

I'm that bloke at the end of the meal when everybody else is sat back and they cannot possibly eat anymore.

I can't bear to leave the table and I will reach over and say,

pointing out the last, I don't know, remaining boona or half onion barji,

you're going to finish that.

And it seems that no matter how many times this happens, I don't learn from that experience

that there's a reason why everybody else has stopped eating.

And the times that I've lost count of the times when I've insisted that I will clear the last bit

and then minutes later I'm regretting what I've done.

And it's painful.

And then try and get up from the table and within moments realising how silly I have become.

And it's at those moments when we have eaten to the point where we are literally about to burst,

where it's painful, it seems impossible to imagine ever being hungry again.

Yet we are.

And that is a universal principle that we may eat, no matter how much we may fill ourselves,

eventually hunger returns.

When Jesus refers to himself as the bread of life,

he is putting his finger on something that is fundamentally true of what it is to be a human being.

He is not talking about the physical sense of hunger that I've just described,

but that deep spiritual yearning to be satisfied.

You see, there is a God-shaped hole in every human heart.

And we can try and fill that God-shaped hole with all sorts of things other than God.

And for a while we might feel that we've actually satisfied ourselves,

but sooner or later that spiritual hunger will re-manifest itself.

The thing is, is that we're surrounded by the message all the time,

that however much you've got, you need more.

In some ways our culture is a culture of continual dissatisfaction.

Advertising depends on making us feel unsatisfied.

If only you have this thing that you currently haven't got, then you will be satisfied.

But of course the moment comes when we actually feel satisfied,

then anybody trying to advertise can no longer advertise.

So therefore we're hit with the message all of the time.

That old saying, the grass is greener on the other side.

I read about somebody that tried to literally test out why that was.

They could never understand why their next door neighbour's lawn always looked better than theirs.

It always somehow looked healthier, brighter, less weeds.

And one day they couldn't hold back anymore.

So they actually managed to sneak in an invitation next door.

They went round for coffee.

And whilst they were sat in the garden,

their next door neighbour popped inside of the kitchen to get something.

So at that point, they went and had a closer look at the lawn.

They think, what is going on here?

And actually couldn't see anything that special about it at all.

They then looked over the fence back to their own garden

and thought, hang on a second, my grass looks so much better than theirs.

And they couldn't work out why this was.

So they wrote into this magazine, I can't remember which one it was,

to this columnist and explained the problem.

And the columnist said this,

grass always looks greener on the other side

because you're not close enough to see the dirt and the imperfections.

You see, the reality is, the closer we get to anything,

and indeed anyone,

then the closer we become to those imperfections.

And we can try to fill our lives with all sorts of things,

but that God-shaped hole will always remain.

And whilst we may need to be satisfied in other areas of our lives,

none of them will ever substitute that one thing that we need.

You know, we can say that of ambition.

If only I can accomplish this or that or whatever,

then that'll be it.

It's a story about somebody who, all his life,

he wanted to be a pilot, wanted to fly planes.

Eventually, he grew up, he was able to realise that dream.

He trains to be a pilot.

And after he'd been a pilot for about 10 years,

he's flying a plane over this,

it was a regular trip that he made across particular mountains.

And he always seemed to be working with a particular co-pilot.

One day, the co-pilot said to him,

he said,

I noticed that every time we pass over this particular spot of the flight,

you happen to look down at a particular stream.

And you've always got a look on your face that I can't understand,

but you always look down wistfully, longingly.

What's going on?

The pilot looked at him and said,

well, you're right, actually,

I do always look past, look down at that spot.

He said, because down below us at that spot,

there's a stream and there's a rock on that stream.

And when I was a boy,

I used to go there and I used to fish.

And I just longed to be a pilot.

And every time a plane came over,

I would look up and just long,

one day,

I might fly planes.

I've been doing this now for over 10 years.

The thing is,

every time I fly over that spot,

I look down,

I see the forest,

I see the stream,

I see the rock.

And I just longed to sit on that rock and fish.

See, ambition is important.

We need to be driven by things.

But if we think that we can fill that God-shaped hole with ambition,

we're kidding ourselves.

And of course,

the closer we get to that ambition

and live with that ambition fulfilled,

the closer we see it to imperfections as well.

There is a God-shaped hole in every life that only God can fill.

We can try to fill it, of course,

with money,

with possessions.

There's a story about an ancient Persian farmer.

And he was extremely wealthy.

He had vast amount of land.

Crops, grains, livestock.

He had vineyards.

There was everything he had.

Or so he thought.

So one day,

he was hosting a guest.

And the guest said to him,

do you know about diamonds?

He went on to tell him about,

if you really wanted to be wealthy,

you needed to own diamond mines.

For the first time in his life,

that farmer went to bed that night poor.

He hadn't lost anything,

except internally.

All he could think about was not what he had,

but what he didn't have.

He couldn't get diamonds out of his head.

Eventually,

he decided he was not going to be satisfied

until he had a diamond mine.

He sold his farm.

And with his fortune,

he went travelling

in search of a diamond mine.

As he travelled the world,

he couldn't find any suitable land

with such a mine.

Eventually,

after a long, long time,

he spent everything he had.

And he died

a broken,

frustrated,

disappointed,

and in fact,

impoverished man.

Several years passed,

and one day,

the man who had bought

the farm off him

was leading his camel

through a field

to a stream one day.

As the camel

was being watered,

so there was something shiny.

He just caught the shimmer of light.

The farmer looked down,

and among the rocks,

he found a diamond.

And it turned out

that there,

right in the heart of that estate,

was an enormous,

rich supply

of diamonds.

The thing is,

the one thing

that that man was searching,

he was actually there

all along.

But it doesn't matter

how much stuff

surrounds us,

as long as that

lack of satisfaction

exists within us,

we're impoverished.

There is a God-shaped hole

in every heart

that neither ambition

nor wealth

will ever fill.

And so we might try

and fill that hole

with relationships.

Relationships

are important.

You know,

we long,

we need,

as human beings,

to flourish as human beings.

We need to love

and to be loved.

Whether we are talking

about marriage

or whether we're talking

about family life,

whether we are talking

about friends,

whatever it is,

whatever form it takes,

we need that connection,

that love

with other human beings.

But we,

we fool ourselves

even there

if we think

that that itself,

as vital as it is,

will ultimately

fill that God-shaped hole.

Why?

Because no human relationship,

no matter how wonderful it is,

will ever be perfect.

And that's not because

relationships

don't matter,

of course they do,

but it is because

no human being

is perfect.

And because no human being

is perfect,

then no human relationship,

no matter how wonderful it is,

can ever quite

be perfect.

And again,

come back to that analogy

with the grass,

the closer we become

to those that we love,

the more we are exposed

to those imperfections.

Perhaps that is why,

that those that we are

most likely as human beings

to argue with

most and most openly

are those that we love most.

But no matter how amazing

a relationship will be,

it will never be perfect.

There's a story about a couple

who have been married

for over 50 years.

They were,

by a notch,

pretty happy.

In fact,

they were very happy.

They really did love

one another.

However,

he was a very quiet man,

a very quiet husband,

and one of the things

that frustrated his wife

was that,

as amazing as their marriage was,

he never really

told her,

verbalised,

that he loved her.

One day,

one day she decided

to corner him on this,

and she said,

look,

I'm not unhappy,

but it would bring me

so much more happiness

if you could just tell me

that you loved me.

Well,

there was a long pause.

He was a quiet man.

And he said,

nothing.

But she knew he was thinking.

So she waited,

and she waited,

and she waited,

and she waited.

And eventually,

after a very long,

very thoughtful breath,

he said this,

on the day that we got married

and we went into the church

and we made our vows,

our promises,

in front of the congregation

and in front of the minister,

he said,

do you remember

how through those words

that we said,

I told you

that I loved you?

She said,

yes,

I do remember that.

Long pause.

He said,

if that ever changes,

I'll let you know.

No matter how much love

there is

in a relationship,

whether we're talking marriage,

whether we're talking a family,

whether we're talking friends,

and it's all important,

it's never going to be perfect.

And that's realistic

because we're not perfect

as human beings.

No one is.

You know,

it's important

that we do fill our lives

with love and relationships

in the same way

that ambition matters

and, of course,

financial security

is important.

But none of those things

will ever fill

that God-shaped hole.

And so,

we turn to

what we might call

religion.

You know,

wherever you go

in the world,

at any time in history,

in any culture,

any place,

there will always be religion

or spirituality

of some kind.

We see it in art,

we see it in music,

we see it in the way

we live our lives.

but even religion

as that human activity

by which we try

to connect

with the divine,

the spiritual,

whatever we call it,

that sense of innate

human reality

by which we reach out

and we aspire to higher,

greater, bigger things,

deeper things.

We may not even believe

in God,

but somehow we have

that sense of the spiritual

and we try to connect

with it,

whether that's through

saying prayers,

whether it's through music,

whether it's through

kneeling or standing

or closing our eyes

or opening them,

covering our heads,

uncovering our heads,

whether it's through the clothes

that we put on

at a particular point,

whether it's through

ceremonies that we engage in,

whether it's through

rituals that we practice,

whether it's through

coming to a place

of worship,

whether it's in our own home,

whether it is in the name

of an institutionalised religion

or whether it is something

that is very,

very informal.

Whatever it may be,

those things may matter to us,

but they will not

in themselves

fill that God-shaped hole.

Why?

Because they're human.

And the only thing,

the only one

that will ever

fill

that God-shaped hole

is Jesus Christ.

No matter how much effort

we may put into it,

no matter how hard we try,

only he will satisfy,

which is why he says,

I,

I am the bread

of life.

And only when you come to me

will you never be hungry.

C.S. Lewis

said this,

or wrote this,

in Pilgrim's Regress.

Listen really carefully

because these words

can very easily pass by.

Lewis said this,

what does not

satisfy

when we find it

was not the thing

that we were looking for.

Think about that.

what does not satisfy

when we find it

was not the thing

that we were looking for.

We may have thought it was,

but no.

At the very depth

of our being,

we are all,

all searching

for just one thing.

Only one thing.

other things may be important,

but there is only one thing

that can fill

that God

shaped

hole.

Jesus said,

I am the bread

of life.

He is saying this

just after he's fed

on the previous day

5,000 odd people

with bread and fish,

a few bits of,

and walked on water

and brought people

back from a storm.

And understandably,

people are searching

after him,

wanting to hear

what he has to say.

But they're wrapped up

on the things

that he's done

in the signs

that he has worked,

the miracles.

And the word sign

is a recurring theme

in John's Gospel.

When we read

about the miracles,

the things

that Jesus does,

whether he's walking

on water,

whether he's feeding

5,000 people,

whether he's healing

somebody,

whether he's raising

the dead,

the word that John

uses over and over

again is a sign.

Now a sign

is something

that points

beyond itself.

The miracle itself

is amazing,

but it always

points beyond itself

to a greater,

deeper reality.

You know,

there is an old

ancient Buddhist

proverb that says

that when the finger

points to the moon,

the fool looks

at the finger.

When we see

our own hunger,

when we see

our own

dissatisfaction,

when we see

that yearning

within ourselves,

whether it is expressed

through anxiety,

through frustration,

through dissatisfaction,

through discontent,

whatever it may be,

more positively

when it is expressed

through expectation,

through anticipation

and through hope,

or whether negatively

through fear

and through worry,

whatever it may be,

let's harness that

and let's look at the direction

in which it points

to the one

and the only one

who can ever

truly

fill

that God

shaped

hole.

Let's pray together

as we do that right now.

in the stillness

of this moment,

let's just

spend some time

reflecting on

whatever it is

that represents

that yearning

for us right now.

Whether it be

worry over something

that lies ahead,

whether it's a sense

of

dissatisfaction

or disappointment

right now,

whether it's a sense

of frustration,

allow that thing

to point

to Jesus

as the one

who says,

come to me

for I am

the bread of life.

Lord Jesus,

we thank you

that you

come to us

and that you

meet us

in our place

of spiritual hunger,

in the searching,

in the yearning,

in the questioning,

in the craving,

in a way

that perhaps

most of the time

we tend

not to recognise

or to pay

much attention to.

But you

are there

and you

are there

as the one

who can

and will

and does

fill that

God-shaped

hole.

Lord,

we pray

that right now

and each day

in these coming

days,

whenever we

sense any

kind of yearning

for anything,

that that yearning

would point us

to you.

so Lord,

feed us

now,

each day

of our lives

and through

all eternity.

In your name,

Amen.