Living in the Spirit
August 15, 2015

Scripture Reading: John 6:51-58

51 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. –John 6:51

My Spanish class in college was assigned the task of writing a poem. This was the beginning class so none of us were very proficient at the use of the Spanish language. I fancied myself a bit of a poet, in English, so I wrote a poem in Spanish using the sun as a metaphor for God. When we turned in our poems the professor simply passed them out randomly to the other class members and our assignment for the next day was to translate them into English. The poor guy that got my poem could make no sense of it. I am not sure the professor could either based on my limited Spanish skills. The student was so new at the language he was not ready yet for its abstract use.

Obviously the Jews in the conversation of our scripture today were not ready for Jesus’ metaphor. They most likely were a little insulted this man was speaking with authority when he was just a carpenter’s son, simply educated. I have seen that attitude in working with the poor. Employers want diplomas and degrees. They cannot see the potential in someone who dropped out of high school to have a baby, but spoke eloquent English, and managed well a minimum wage job and a home with small children with a come and go father on an income that most likely would not pay the employer’s utility bills. How do we find the way to channel raw talent into marketable skills?

Jesus understood the common people. They knew the importance of bread. They linked the sharing of food with the love at a meal in a family where the breadwinner and the bread baker had worked hard for what they were eating. They comprehended sacrifice.

Prayer: Lord, make us seers of raw talent and show us the ways to convert it to marketable skills as we move among your children seeking survival. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.