Jesus Brings Easter Bread
Are you hungry? In today's society we have a multitude of options to feed our stomachs, but what about feeding our soul. In today's gospel from Luke 24:13-25, we learn about how Jesus Brings Easter Bread to hungry people whose despairing souls ache to be filled and how that bread he brings truly satisfies our souls. April 6, 2008.
We had to find something to eat. Not that we were hungry. It’s just that you can’t expect people to come to a Bible class at a Lutheran church and have no food! So Jeanne Carbon, our church administrator, helped me search for something to feed the participants arriving soon for Bible Information Class on Thursday night. We scanned the staff lounge in the Grace Center, and the Lord provided. We found a half-eaten bag of Tostitos, some pretzels, and what looked like a package of peanut butter cookies. So we kept looking. “How about these,” Jeanne asked, pointing to a tray of leftover hot cross buns from the Easter Sunday brunch 11 days earlier. And then she read my mind and wondered out loud, “Unless they’re a bit stale.” A quick poke of the finger confirmed our suspicions. Hard as a rock. They wouldn’t do.
On the drive home that night as I reflected on the class, I realized how appropriate it was that the hot cross buns were cold and crusty. Because the whole purpose of hot cross buns is connected to the special celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection. If it’s not Good Friday or Easter, they lose not only their taste, but their meaning. It would be like eating corned beef and cabbage on the 4th of July or someone making you a birthday cake when it’s not your birthday. Scrumptious enough, but not very meaningful.
Hot cross buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday or Easter. They look like dinner rolls and they contain a special seedless, sweet grape known as a currant, but their trademark is a cross that looks like a big plus sign on the top of the bun. The cross can be etched into the dough before the buns are baked or iced on with frosting. Without the cross, or without their connection to the holy days of Good Friday or Easter, they’re just plain old baked goods that fill our tummies. With the cross, and the celebration of Good Friday or Easter, hot cross buns fill our souls.
In today’s gospel Jesus Brings Easter Bread to hungry people whose despairing souls ache to be filled. The bread that he brings, like a hot cross bun, satisfies our souls. This Easter bread fills us with the faith we are looking for, with a hope we might have lost somewhere along the way, and with a new life freed from past sins and present worries.
With the help of Luke’s gospel, we step in with two of Jesus’ followers walking to a village called Emmaus on a sad and slow Easter Sunday afternoon. Their steps are as heavy as their hearts, burdened by the bad news of Jesus’ death and burial, and the confusing details of his body now missing from the tomb. But why were these two men so depressed? I mean, we could see any other anonymous resident of Emmaus take a quiz and answer 6 or 7 out of 10 questions about Jesus of Nazareth incorrectly, but two of Jesus’ loyal fans? Do they really mean it when they say, “We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel”? Do they have only political hopes for God’s Son, and do they really believe that any hope is now dead and gone? Sure they do, because they had been feasting only on facts that are quick to grasp, convenient to see, easy to understand. They readily admit that Jesus “was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people … handed over to be sentenced to death.” Okay, everybody knew that, because everybody around Jerusalem either saw it or heard about it as much as any of us has easy access to the sports scores, weather reports, stock exchange updates, and other news. True, it was now the third day and they recalled something about the third day being connected to some major kingdom event. But they’ve seen nothing thus far and heard only a confusing rumor or two about some angels and the body of Jesus still missing. Their problem, however, wasn’t what had happened to Jesus but what had happened to them. They were eating cold, crusty, and convenient rolls, not Easter bread.
Did you know that what began 40 years ago with a handful of modest hot dog and hamburger stands in Southern California has exploded into an industry that permeates American society? Fast food is now served not only at restaurants, but airports, college campuses, high school concession stands, Wal-Mart, gas stations, hospital cafeterias, and, yes, even churches. In 1970 Americans spent about $6 billion on fast food. Today – $150 billion. We spend more money on fast food than movies, books, magazines, newspapers, and videos combined. We buy more Big Macs and Domino’s pizza than Australia, Britain, Canada, China, Germany, India and Japan combined. Despite serious warnings about the health concerns like bad cholesterol, diabetes, and obesity (with which we don’t argue)! So when we wonder how the souls of Jesus’ followers can be so sad all we have to do is ask ourselves why our arteries are so bad. Sometimes our human hunger just takes over and we crave what we know isn’t good. It’s the first thing that crosses our minds, it’s so convenient, and it doesn’t feel like it hurts us; everybody else is doing it and it tastes good! Human hunger is a powerful appetite, and – if you let it – it will feed on the poisonous apple. Read and heed the warning labels on any sin that you crave. Because it can kill you.
Instead of letting us poison ourselves Jesus Brings Easter Bread just as he did with the Emmaus disciples walking on the road. “What are you discussing together as you walk along,” he asks them. This new companion brings more than questions, however. He brings Easter bread. That, after all, is what the word “companion” literally means, “with bread.” A supplier of need. A source of nourishment. Here, a Savior from Nazareth who kept his promise – he died to pay for their sins and rose to give them new life now and eternal life later. Jesus Brings Easter Bread to these two “foolish” and “slow of heart” followers even before they recognize him. There is some good news. For those of us who get confused about Jesus or sometimes aren’t sure about our path in this life, we don’t need to be afraid. We may not recognize him, but Jesus still comes to us, walks with us, and guides us on new paths. He comes to these confused followers and walks along with them, their companion, their Bread of Life. And then he stays with them for supper.
“When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us’?” The two now recognize this companion, this “bread bringer wither,” as Jesus their risen Savior! And their recognition comes not from seeing the baker but from eating his bread. Their hearts burned already on the road when their hunger found its satisfaction in the words of the Scriptures describing the death and resurrection of Jesus like a detailed menu. Their eyes were opened at the table when their hunger found its satisfaction in the prayer of thanks Jesus offered to his Father like a waiter describing the culinary skills of a master chef. Our hungry hopes find their satisfaction, too, not in seeing Jesus but in believing that the words and works of Jesus all culminate in his resurrection from the dead. This is our Easter bread!
Easter bread tortured, crucified, and killed by an enemy that – because of the resurrection – has now become our ally: death. Easter bread first baked for three days in the stone oven of a tomb that rises afterwards, now multiplied enough to feed thousands and billions of starving souls for days and years and eternities to come. Easter bread kneaded and worked by the hands of a Creator who has in mind not just bringing people into existence but shaping our lives in this world. Easter bread that sustains and strengthens us for our ultimate destiny in heaven. Easter bread sometimes distributed in small crumbs that fall from the Master’s table with a wink in his eye so that sinful beggars can have a taste of his grace, and that is as much as we need. Jesus Brings Easter Bread. He says, “I am the Bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry … Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life” (John 6:35,27).
There’s better bread than fast food. At least that’s what Panera Bread is discovering. The name is taken from the Latin “panis,” meaning “bread,” and the word “era,” for time. And it’s their time indeed. In the last eight years the company’s stock has grown thirteen-fold and over $1 billion in shareholder value has been created. All their breads are handcrafted and baked on site with a commitment to quality more than convenience. A significant part of the company’s mission is the companionship customers can enjoy, reflected in their slogan, “fresh bread makes friends.” The concept of actually sitting down and enjoying a quality meal must be catching on because Panera Bread opened a new store almost every other day last year.
Fresh bread makes friends. Jesus knew that a long time ago. He doesn’t need to tell his followers that the word “companion” is taking from the Latin, “panis,” for bread and “co,” meaning “with.” Instead he just does it. He dies for our sins and rises for our new living. He walks with us on the path of life and talks with us by opening the Scriptures to our understanding. He strengthens our faith with his forgiveness and sustains our hope with his promises. Jesus Brings Easter Bread. Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (http://www.gracedowntown.org/) on April 6, 2008
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