Daily Manna

Our text comes from the Lord’s Prayer. It’s just one sentence. ‘Give us this day our daily bread’. I’m sure that it’s already quite familiar to most of you. However, even though that’s true, there is more here for you to enjoy. And, God willing, that’s what’s going to happen. The key to the sermon is a question that I’m going to raise. First, I’ll explain the basic ideas of the text, then I’ll raise the question and then move on from there.

Our text is pretty straightforward. Jesus teaches that we are to ask the Father for our daily needs. He uses the word ‘bread’ because food is one of our most basic needs. Asking for that includes all the rest. I think it is very helpful to keep something clearly in mind before you make this request of the Father. We don’t pray because we need to overcome some reluctance in the Father to provide for our needs. It’s an obvious fact, repeated throughout the Scriptures, that He is already committed to meeting our needs. He has already promised to provide. There are many places where the Bible reminds us of this. One of the best pictures this is the manna.

Let me remind you of a little Old Testament history. Israel, led my Moses, had escaped Egypt, crossed the Red Sea and now was in the desert wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. And after all the cheering and songs of rejoicing and praise, the people got hungry. And instead of cheering and singing, the people began to complain. ‘…and the people of Israel said to [Moses and Aaron], “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” God hears the complaint and He responds. He promises bread from heaven. He promises that each day He would provide enough food for that day. It took a little while for the people to trust Him in this. Some of them gathered more than just enough for one day. They must have figured that it would be good to have a little in reserve, just in case. But the leftovers spoiled, stank to high heavens and was filled with worms. The people needed to learn how to trust their God. He also wanted them to be able to enjoy a restful Sabbath, so He told them to gather enough on the day before the Sabbath for two days; no need to gather on the Sabbath. When they did this it didn’t spoil and there were no worms. So, for forty years in the wilderness, God provided food, daily bread from heaven. He never missed a day. There was manna every morning. This picture of God providing manna to His people lies behind our text. It’s why Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, ‘Give us this day our daily bread’. Those disciples could expect their Father to provide what they needed each day.

This teaching would have been of great encouragement to many of Jesus’ listeners because so many of them were poor. This was Jesus’ gift of hope to the impoverished. Here, let me remind you of the Bible’s definition of ‘poor’. It’s rather different from the modern American definition. The poor are those without resources. And that includes not having the resources to get what is most basic: food. Think about the lame man that Peter and John met on their way to the temple. He was asking for alms, begging for money. He was without resources. And he was not alone. There were many just like him. But Jesus teaches people like this, ‘Ask the Father for daily bread. He who faithfully gave the manna will also give you bread.’ Jesus gives hope to the poor.

That’s the basic idea of the text. Now, we’re ready for that question. And it turns on this obvious fact: no one in this room is poor. We all have resources. We all have food to eat, enough for today’s meals and for tomorrow’s also, and probably lots more than that. And before you completely run out of something to eat, you’ll be at Giant Eagle or Aldi or your favorite store to get some more. We are not among the poor. We have resources. We have food to eat. In fact, we have a surplus of resources. Some of us have more of a surplus than others, but we all have a surplus of resources. Just to be clear let me remind you that there is no sin in this. Abraham had a huge surplus of resources. But it is a fact that we all have a surplus of resources, and it’s important to recognize that. So, here’s the question. Should we skip over this part of the Lord’s Prayer? We already have daily bread – and lots more. Does it make any sense for us to utter this part of the prayer?

I hope that we are all agreed that it’s really not a good idea to edit Jesus’ teachings. I think that it’s clear that all of this prayer is for all of Jesus’ disciples. That means the part of the prayer that we are looking at is meant for us also. But if we are to pray this part of the prayer, we will need to think about how we are to do that. If we aren’t careful, we’ll be offering up an empty phrase to the Father, and Jesus has been quite clear. That’s a really bad idea. So, this is what the rest of the sermon is about: how do we pray this part of the prayer so that it is real?

Let’s start with this. We need to acknowledge that none of us is poor, that is, none of us is without a surplus of resources. But we also need to acknowledge that none of us has enough resources to deal with life. You could multiply what you have – multiply it by a large number if you like – but you would still not have enough. That is a basic fact of life in this world. However much you have is not enough. A really good example of this is Job. He woke up one morning with surpluses all over the place. But he ended that day without money, without health, without children and without friends. He had a surplus of resources, but even that enormous surplus was not enough to deal with what happened to him.

Many today are trying to create a large surplus of resources. They do this in the hope that that surplus will be enough for whatever happens – that it will be enough to deal with the surprises of life. But that is foolishness. Having a large enough surplus to deal with life is an American myth. To have enough would require you to be God. Your ability to deal with life really does depend on the Father providing what you need in all the different situations that you will face. That becomes abundantly clear when you realize that this is not just some accident of history. It’s the nature of this reality. Listen carefully to this next sentence. Even if Adam and Eve never fell into sin, even if we were living in a sinless world as sinless people, we would still need to depend on the Father to provide what we need for each day. So, this is not about dealing with life in a fallen world. This is the way God created His universe. So, do you see why I say that though we may have a surplus of resources, we will never have enough? God created us to be dependent. In the new heavens and the new earth we will still be praying, ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ So, the real problem is not trying to have enough so you can deal with life. The real problem is being able to trust the Father to provide since not having enough is simply the nature of life.

So, this is my first thought. We don’t have enough. We can’t have enough. And that’s because of how God has created this universe.

Let me add a second thought here. Having a surplus of resources can be very dangerous. Moses spoke to the people of Israel just before they were to enter the Promised Land. In one place he warns them. ‘Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.’

Moses warned the people because he thought that the danger was real. Prosperity can lead to pride and then to idolatry. And the history of Israel shows that he was right. A good example of this is the rich, young ruler. He came to Jesus with the right question. ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Here’s a young man who feels the lack, who knows that something is missing. And he knows that Jesus has the solution. So, he asks his question. And Jesus gives him the solution. ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ What did the young man do in response. He walked away. He loved his possessions more than he loved eternal life. They were his idols, and he was sure that he could not live without them. Having a surplus is be dangerous.

So, here’s a thought to ponder. I present it to you because I really do think it’s something worth considering. I also present it to you because it’s the kind of thing that is heard so very rarely these days. It might be a good idea not to aim for a surplus. It might be better to actually avoid having too much. I know it sounds odd, and it is definitely un-American. But I have a verse! Actually, I have two verses. ‘Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.’ ‘… be discerning enough to desist.’ There are all sorts of qualifications and conditions that someone might want to add here. I’m not going to take the time except to say this. This makes absolutely no sense unless there is the promise of daily bread. And since there is that promise, there is something here to consider.

So, this is my second thought. Having a surplus of resources is dangerous. Some people can deal with that danger, but some can’t.

Now, let’s pull all this together. Having a surplus of resources does not mean that you will have enough to deal with life. And having a surplus of resources exposes you to danger. Jesus knows this and so He teaches you to pray, to ask the Father for daily bread. The promise behind the command to pray is that you will have what you need for every day of your life. Remember how Israel in the wilderness had manna for every day for forty years. For the person who knows and believes all of this, issues about having enough disappear. They disappear because on the one hand he knows that he can never stockpile enough to deal with life. This world is just not built that way. On the other hand, these issues disappear because he knows that the Father will always provide enough. Daily manna.

Now, having said all of that, I want you to know what my agenda is in all of this. It’s not about your money. It’s all about your freedom. This sermon is about your freedom from fear so that you can answer God’s call. There are far too many Christians these days who fall into a trap. Something happens, and they think they might be hearing the Spirit calling them to something new. But what is their first thought? ‘But if I do that, will there be enough?’ So, they do not consider what may be God’s calling. And why? Because they are afraid. They hear what may well be Spirit call, but they do not examine that further because their fear has won. Their fear has enslaved them. This sermon is about your freedom from that fear.

Let me be clear. I am not saying that you need to quit your job and give away all your money. Remember, the sermon isn’t about your money. This is what I’m saying. When Jesus commanded us to pray, ‘Give us this day our daily bread’, He included this promise: as you ask the Father for daily bread He will provide it. There is no maybe about it. He will provide. He might provide by means of the job that you now have. He might provide by dropping a million dollars out of the blue right into your lap. He might provide by telling you to walk out your front door each morning and pick up whatever it is that He puts on your front step. There are a multitude of possibilities. But one way or other, He will make sure that you have enough. The point here is not about the means that God might use. The point is that you can bank on Him providing what you need. Daily manna. And as a result, this whole area of having enough becomes a non-issue. And let me add this. We know that even if we blow it, He will still provide. Even then, there will be enough. I would remind you here that Israel in the desert was not a model of faithful discipleship. In fact, they were quite the opposite. There was a lot of sin in their lives during that time. And yet, the manna always showed up. God never missed a day. So, even if you make a really bad decision, even if you sin terribly, that doesn’t change anything. The manna will always show up. So, we don’t sweat it. We’re not anxious about having enough. Daily manna. And as a result, we are free to respond as the Spirit points us in this direction or that. The sermon is not about money. It’s about freedom.

So, what do you do now? That’s simple. You obey Jesus and pray what He told you to pray, ‘Give us this day our daily bread’. You may need some help so that your prayer isn’t an empty phrase. But dealing with that is easy. You pray about it. You ask Him for the faith to believe the teaching of the Scriptures, including the things I just told you. As you do that the Spirit does His amazing work. You faith grows. You trust Him better. You become more and more assured that there will be daily bread. And then, when it sounds like the Spirit is saying, ‘I want you to turn left up here’, you find yourself freed from trying to make sure that there is enough. You are free to discern what the Spirit is telling you to do, free to obey His calling. And out of that comes a life that does really well at making Jesus look as good as He really is. And that is a life that is full of peace and joy and love. It is a life that is worth living.