What Are You Working For?

This morning's text is connected to the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. There was that little interlude of walking on the sea, but in our text Jesus continues his interaction with that same crowd of people. It's just that their conversation continues on the opposite shore. As you'll see when I read the text, Jesus gets a little sharp with them. But please remember who they are. They are the people of God, the Church. And Jesus exhorts them as such. Please listen as I read John 6.22-27.

So, here comes the crowd, and they have a question. Did you notice how Jesus ignores their question and instead confronts them? That might seem abrupt and even rude, but not if you bear in mind what Jesus understood about these folk.

You are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

The people chase Jesus down because they want some more free food. They saw the sign, the miracle of the five thousand, but they didn't really see it. They didn't get it. All they saw was a meal that they didn't have to pay for. And that's why Jesus spoke to them as he did. They missed the point of the miracle. And he really wanted them to get it. So, he sets niceties aside and gets to the point.

He is quite clear that what he has to tell them really is that important. We know that because of the way that he begins his comments.

Truly, truly, I say to you.

In Jesus' day, this was how someone would make clear that what he is going to say is a big deal. So, let me paraphrase what Jesus is saying here. 'Hey, this is really important. You need to get what I am about to tell you. So, listen up!'

Now that he has their attention, Jesus speaks.

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.

Do you see what Jesus is doing? The people were focused on free food. Sure, that made life so much easier, especially for people just getting by like they were. But that's not what the miracle was about. He wants them to put first things first, to pursue what's really important. And that's why he exhorts them in the way that he does - abruptly, waving big red flags to get their attention.

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.

So, let's take this apart. Here's one thing. Jesus is doing here what he has done elsewhere. First, he views life in terms of choices, and then he divides those choices into two categories. Listen to this from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Jesus' point is not complicated. You have this choice to make. Will it be the narrow gate and the way that is hard, or will it be the broad gate and its easy way? Choose. But the consequences of such a choice are huge. Will it be good things or bad, life or destruction? Jesus views life in terms of choices, and then he divides those choices into two categories - along with the consequences tied to those two categories.

So, the situations that you face today - both the good and the bad - stand before you because of the choices you made yesterday. That is a basic fact of living that too many miss. We have choices to make, and those choices have consequences.

That's not so complicated, but it's frequently missed. So many just follow whatever is next in their schedule. They don't stop and examine that schedule and the choices made because of that schedule. In some cases, it's a schedule that they have carefully worked on. They are well organized and know what they need to do for each day. Then there are those without any such organization. The day's events are determined by their whims which carry them from one moment to the next, or worse, according to whatever crises erupt. And then, when the exhortation comes to stop and examine their schedules, a common excuse - from both the highly organize as well as those who clearly aren't - is that they don't have much of a choice when it comes to what they do each day. Jesus disagrees.

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.

Or to translate, 'Choose! But choose wisely because there will be consequences.'

Our text is not about narrow gates or wide ways. It's about what you are working for. Just as everyone chooses one gate or the other, everyone is working for one kind of food or the other. It's either the kind that's only for this life or the kind that lasts into the life to come. So, Jesus' exhortation is about being careful in those choices. 'What are you working for? What are you pursuing? What are you investing your life in? Is it something that lasts into eternity or is it what dies here? Work for what lasts.'

We've been using images, gates, ways and food. It's time to get a little prosaic. What are we talking about here? What does a life that pursues what lasts look like? Far too many Christians look at their lives as if it were made up of two parts that are not really connected. First, there is the part of life that is spent here for 80 or so years. And then, there is part two in heaven. It's assumed that these are two separate parts. What happens in the first part doesn't affect what happens in the second part. That's what too many think about this. But that is not what Jesus thinks. It's one life. And so, what a Christian does here, choosing that which perishes or that which endures, affects what he experiences there. There are consequences for later. After all, here or there, it's the same person. So, someone who takes Jesus' exhortation to heart keeps clearly in mind that 'heavenly' part of his life as he lives this 'earthly' part of his life. This is the person who understands that his choices now affect life later. That’s why he chooses to work for the right kind of food.

This doesn't mean that the person who takes Jesus' exhortation to heart spends his days just reading his Bible, saying his prayers and that sort of thing. No. Instead, it means that whatever he does, he will do as a disciple. Jesus is Lord of his life - all of his life. And that is a big deal to this person. Look at the second part of some of Paul's letters, and you'll get a feel for what I’m getting at. He doesn't write much about reading your Bible or saying your prayers. (Isn't that interesting?) Rather, he writes about family life, being diligent on the job, getting along with each other and things like that. And he tells the Church to do those things as disciples. Or to say that a bit differently, they are to do those things as people who are working for food that endures to eternal life.

So, the person who takes Jesus' exhortation to heart understands something important. It isn't about what you do; it's about why you do it. That's really important so I'll repeat it. It isn't about what you do; it's about why you do it. Take some of the virtues of our corner of the world, the evangelical church. The common list includes those things on Paul's list: family life, being diligent on the job, getting along with each other. Good things, right? Well, that depends. Why are they done? There are plenty of church folk today, just as in Jesus' day, who do those sorts of things and are known for doing those sorts of things. But they are still working for food that perishes. They do those things according to the spirit of the age, the superficial and self-centered spirit of the age. They don't stop and ask, 'Why am I doing these things? Am I doing these things because I have decided to pursue what endures into eternal life? Am I doing this because I want to follow Jesus in this area of my life along with all the others? Or is my life just a matter of following the schedule that I don't have any choice about?' They don't stop and ask, 'Why am I doing this?' It isn't about what you do; it's about why you do it.

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.

So, what kind of work is Jesus thinking about? Well, he did talk about denying oneself and carrying a cross. Or, to translate, he talked about saying 'No' to yourself, even when it has to do with things that are fine in themselves. Have you ever noticed Jesus never enjoyed the close companionship of a good wife? 'It is not good that the man should be alone.' Not Good. And once he began his ministry, Jesus never had a place he could call 'Home' with all that that word means? 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.' Self-denial for the sake of the Kingdom takes work, especially in a self-centered, comfort-oriented culture like ours. And then there's cross-bearing. The point of those words was clear enough to Jesus' original audiences. It was no metaphor. It meant being ready to die a very physical and very painful death. It still means that, as well as all the other ways that we may need to die. Choosing self-denial and death is not easy. It calls for work, and it is work of the most difficult kind. It calls for soul-work. It calls for developing a soul that gives itself to self-denial out of love for Jesus. It calls for developing a soul that is ready to lay down its life, in whatever way needed, just because Jesus asks for that. That's hard. It will take work. But Jesus never said that following him would be easy.

Now we're ready to ask the, 'So, what do we do now?' question.

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.

So, what do we do so that we work for what is lasting? What we do is pray. You see, the problem is not that you've always made the wrong choice. It's not that you've repeatedly told Jesus' that you won't work for the food that endures. How could that be if the Spirit of God lives in you? The problem is more subtle. The problem is that we live mixed lives. We are all a little of one way of living and a little of the other. You have, at different times, consciously chosen to pursue what endures. You may not have identified that choice with those words, but, at different times, you have said to Jesus something like, 'I really want to follow you. I want to do whatever you want me to do.' That's really good. As a result, the Spirit has made some changes in your life. You're working for the right kind of food. It's just that there are areas of your life where you are still choosing to pursue the wrong kind of food, the kind that perishes. We live mixed lives. And to make it all the more complicated, you can't see those bad choices for what they are.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

So, you need some help. And that's what prayer is all about. Aware of your weakness, you ask for some help. So, it makes sense to me for you pray for two things. First, ask that the Spirit would show you those bad choices that are hidden from you. You want him to reveal your heart to you so that you can know what to repent of. That won't happen all at once - and that's actually a good thing. It's a process, step by step, one bad choice revealed and dealt with and then the next. And on we go. So, this is an ongoing prayer. The other thing you pray for is that once he shows you some bad choice that you would be willing to repent of it. You see, some of those bad choices are deeply ingrained. And let's be honest. Some of them make life feel good. Some of them make life work - at least for a while. Repenting of them, giving them up, will not be easy. Short term, life will feel worse. Repenting will take some hard work. And that's why you pray that the Spirit gives you a willingness to do the hard soul-work of repentance. And you ask for that so you can turn away from what perishes and pursue what endures. So, what do you do now? You pray.

You need to see this in the right framework. And that is the framework of grace. Jesus exhorts you to make wise choices, to choose what endures, to choose him. At the same time he knows that there will remain areas of your life where you will still choose foolishly. You will choose something other than him. He knows all about that. He knows all about your sin, and he knows that it isn't going to disappear by tomorrow. So, he doesn't expect perfection from you. There is much hard work to be done, but if you don't understand Jesus' expectations you will be crushed and will likely give up. So, what does he expect? Well, I think if you prayed something like this, he would be fine with it.

Lord, I have no clue what to do next. I don't see my bad choices. I can't make the needed changes so that I can make good choices. I'm not even sure I understand all of this about stuff that perishes and stuff that endures. But I really do love you. I want to follow you. I want to do what you tell me. Help me. I cannot do this without you.

When you get to utter reality, it's all about grace. When it comes to following Jesus well, we're all thumbs. We can't do it. And he knows that. So, what he looks for is not our working hard at these things. No, what he looks for is our depending on him so that we can work hard at these things. Our hope is not that we'll do it well enough so he won't get mad at us. Our hope is that he will, once again, be a faithful Savior. Our hope is that he will, once again, rescue us from our sin, rescue us from our inability to get it and do it right. And that's why we pray. It really is a matter of his grace.