Interconnectedness of heaven and earth, of things spiritual and physical.
4th August 2024
Reflection with readings below
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we ask that God’s kingdom (or reign or rule) and God’s will be done on earth as in heaven – a request that assumes that the rules that are followed in heaven can equally be followed on earth; that what happens in heaven can happen on earth; that the way things are done in heaven as are equally the way things can be done on earth; that what is true in heaven can be true on earth. It is a request that presumes connection and communication – that we can know, can learn, what happens in heaven and can expect to apply that knowledge to the way we live on earth.
Our readings today in different ways show this certainty.
The story from Exodus reveals that God’s desire to satisfy people’s hunger crosses over between the heavenly and earthly domains, such that God rains down bread from heaven for them to eat. Whether in heaven or on earth, it is God’s wish that all are fed. Here on earth that wish is sadly often waylaid by human greed and folly not because there isn’t enough food but because we don’t distribute fairly what is produced, because we allow some people to indulge in unsustainable diets, and because we fail to nurture the soil.
The passage from the Letter to the Ephesians reveals how heavenly shaped gifts have been bestowed on us through our relationship with Jesus, how this flow of gifts from heaven to earth-bound beings has created a body that transcends boundaries and forming us into the one body we name as Christ. These gifts – humility, gentleness, patience, love, peace – are often overlooked or spurned by we the recipients. Often we are either too sure that we know better or too scared to risk using these gifts, that we are reluctant to pray the Lord’s Prayer in earnest. The world could be a radically different place if our behaviour was radically different.
The reading from John’s Gospel equally tells us that it is through our oneness with Jesus – following his example, following his teaching – and feeding on what he gives us, that what can happen in heaven can happen on earth.
It is hard to always take this on board, to live this way – to live this gospel. It is often hard to see how life on earth can become heavenly in character, that our human capacity to destroy the earth could be the capacity to heal the earth, to enable things to happen on earth as in heaven. But that is the gospel message which is our hope.
Exodus 16.2-4,9-15
The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.”
Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’“ And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’“
In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.”
Psalm 78:23-29
23 So he commanded the clouds above *
and opened the doors of heaven.
24 He rained down manna upon them to eat *
and gave them grain from heaven.
25 So mortals ate the bread of angels; *
he provided for them food enough.
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens *
and led out the south wind by his might.
27 He rained down flesh upon them like dust *
and winged birds like the sand of the sea.
28 He let it fall in the midst of their camp *
and round about their dwellings.
29 So they ate and were well filled, *
for he gave them what they craved.
Ephesians 4:1-16
I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said,
“When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive;
he gave gifts to his people.”
(When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.
John 6:24-35
The next day, when the people who remained after the feeding of the five thousand saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
The Green Tau 