Proper 14 B                                                                            Deuteronomy 8:1-10
August 13, 2006                                                                      Psalm 34:1-8
St. Margaret of Scotland Episcopal Church                              Ephesians 4:25-5:2
The Rev. Linda McCloud                                                        John 6:37-51 

Tasting and Seeing 

Taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are they who trust in him!  (Psalm 34:8) 

            God provides for us in various ways – sometimes in surprising ways.  When God takes care of our physical needs, there is usually also a spiritual lesson that goes along with it.  When God gave his people manna in the wilderness, there was a lesson that went along with it – that is, God cares for us body and soul. God does not ask us to follow in God’s ways only to leave us stranded.  God will provide ways for us to learn to trust in him. 

            To point out the surprising ways of God’s care for us, I have a brief article from the July 30^th edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 

“A cloudburst over the northern Indian village of Manna unleashed a rain of small fish that sent villagers into the streets to collect them.  ‘Initially, no one noticed it.  But soon, we saw some slushy objects on the ground and noticed some slight movement.’ shopkeeper Abubaker told the Hindustan Times.  Meteorologists agreed that the pencil-thin fish were probably scooped up by a water-spout and carried high into the atmosphere before falling on Manna.  But scientists said they were baffled that many of the fish were alive.  Many incidents of fish, frogs and other small creatures raining from the sky have been reported worldwide.  But ‘live rains’ have been rare.”   

            I am not making this up.[1]  The name of the town really is “Manna.”  I wonder if they ate the fish. As I read this, Old Testament miracles came to mind.  In the wilderness, when the people got tired of the manna (which means “what is it?”), God sent a rain of quail for them to eat.   

            In our lesson from Deuteronomy, we are reminded that God led the people through the wilderness.  God was not just leading them around in circles.  They were actually going somewhere. They were going to a good land that was flowing with milk and honey, but they needed to learn to trust God for that.  When they arrived on its shores, the manna stopped the next day.  But God had brought them the long way around.  Sometimes the joy is in the journey that God takes us through.  Sometimes our job is to learn to trust God, no matter how long that takes.  During these hot days of summer, we sometimes wonder how people could wander in a desert for forty years.  

In the past week, I’ve been catching up a little of my reading with some biographies of the saints, many of which parallel the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites.  Most saints even say they have had spiritual “desert experiences” in which they wandered around looking for God.  For example, St. Francis of Assisi, one of my all-time favorites, went to Rome on a pilgrimage around the year 1205.  The beggars outside St. Peter’s Basilica caught his attention.  In his compassion for them, Francis exchanged clothes with one of the beggars. Then Francis begged alms all that day.  The experience changed Francis forever.  He went back to Assisi and within a few years, he essentially took a vow of poverty.  He got totally out of step with the world around him because he saw life differently.  He began restoring churches.  He gave away his possessions to the poor and broke ranks with his former companions.  Soon Francis’ wealthy father disowned him.   

St. Bonaventure writes in one of his biographies of Francis about Francis’ view of giving alms.  It went like this:  if anyone asked Francis for anything he had, Francis would give it to him or her.  He treated others as if they were Christ himself.  One day when Francis met a poor person with ragged clothes, Francis gave him his cloak.  Francis was ill that day.  It was cold weather, and his companions tried to get Francis to keep the cloak to stay warm.  His response?  This other person needs it, so it does not belong to me, it belongs to him. I can’t honor Christ and keep this other man’s cloak.  That would be stealing.   

Frequent communion was one of the most important things in the world to Francis.  He believed this drew him closer to Christ and gave him a greater capacity to love and care for others.  He wanted as often as possible to taste and see that the Lord is good.  He put his spiritual needs before his physical needs.  It was in this closeness to Christ that Francis was enabled to see Christ in others.  

Those in Francis’ Order were sent on preaching missions for the conversion of souls.  They preached that as God’s people, certain things are expected of us.  Some behaviors are standard in the Christian Community.  As St. Paul reminds us, bitterness, wrath, slander, malice and unforgiveness have no place among us. Yes, I know – these are the “dog days” of summer.  It’s hot, and a lot of people are grumpy.  There are wars breaking out all over the world, and some have never stopped.  The world is becoming less and less polite. In order to be imitators of God, we will often be out of step with the world around us.  The mark of the Christian community is love, forgiveness, and tenderheartedness.  This is why our baptismal vows are so very clear. Those who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good can joyfully pass that on to others.  St. Francis impressed upon those in his Order that they were to “diligently show reverence and honor to one another without murmuring.  They should let it be seen that they are happy in God, cheerful and courteous . . .”[2]  

How do we taste and see that the Lord is good?  How could it be that tasting something would open our eyes to see?  Jesus said that only those who are born again can “see” the kingdom of heaven, but sometimes knowing the spiritual side of God’s love and care is not enough for us.  As human beings, we like to use all our senses, including touching, tasting, seeing.  For some, seeing is believing.  That is not faith, by the way.  Jesus left us a perfect way to taste and see that God is good.  When we receive Holy Communion, Jesus allows a glimpse of the true reality — that is, we do not live by bread alone, but our true food is the Love that God shows us in Christ Jesus.