In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

In Monday's edition of the London Free Press there was a story entitled, "Sun sets on tradition". The article then went on to tell of the closing of the Sun Parlour Bakery on Burwell Street. For 43 years, the bakery made bread and buns in the traditional Portuguese style.

But what I found interesting is that the bakery was more than a place where one could have physical hunger satisfied. It was a place where relationships and friendships were built because over that long period of time generations of people had been shopping at the Sun Parlour. There were some people who had started coming as children. They continued to come after they got married and had children of their own. Now they were bringing their grandchildren to the bakery. Try finding that at Loblaws or A&P.

Bread is a necessity. It comes in a variety of colors, styles and flavours including my personal favourite, Wonder Bread- white and doughy with no nutritional value at all. I buy it when Kate is away and then hide the wrappers in the garbage.

Bread is a universal symbol that transcends individual nations and cultures. We need it for life, and God knows we need it. It is no accident that Jesus taught his disciples to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." He wanted us to pray for what we need in life. Bread, it is one of the central symbols of our sacred meal where the Word is made visible so that it can be touched and tasted.

Turning to our reading from the Gospel of John 6:24-35 we find that bread is central to the story. Last week we read of the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes. And now Jesus meets again with the crowd that he has fed. But Jesus is concerned that they are following him only because he filled their stomachs. In an effort to get them to move beyond physical needs and look to heavenly concerns Jesus declares, "I am the bread of life."

Looking at this short simple phrase it is staggering in its profundity. And yet to grasp it meaning depends on how we define that little word, "life". The crowd that followed Jesus primarily understood life through its material aspects. They were hungry. Jesus gave them bread and they were satisfied. Life was good.

And yet we are the crowd or very like them. We have built a society, a culture where life is primarily defined by its material aspects. Our physical as well as our spiritual hunger can supposedly only be satisfied by money and things. A "wonder bread" culture that is pleasing to eye but never satisfies. Why do you think the gospel of prosperity does so well?

Even our security, affirmation and success are closely tied to money and things. I believe it was H.B.C. who captured this well with their ad, "I shop therefore I am." Apologies to Rene Descartes the philosopher. Malcolm Forbes said, "The one who dies with the most toys wins." See how it is so focused on the "I", the "me. Is this your definition of "life"? Obviously not or you wouldn't be here this morning. The cathedrals of commerce would prove to be more alluring. Now it is true there is a material side to life-we are a little lower than the angels and there physical needs to be met. We need bread to live and God realizes this but God through Christ calls us to make our definition of life so much more. A definition that finds its foundation in Christ.

The novelist Rudyard Kipling once gave a commencement address at McGill University. He warned the graduates about making money, positions or glory their life ambition. "Some day," he said, "you will meet a man who cares for none of these things. Then you will realize how poor you are."

Through the abundant grace of God we have realized this truth of which Kipling speaks at least in some small way. But it is a learning process that will continue through the rest of our lives. "He who comes to me will never go hungry…" "But how can Christ fill me?" we ask. What do we mean when we say Christ is real, the food we crave?"

The Russian religious thinker, Nicholas Berdyaev once observed, "Bread for myself is a material question, but bread for my neighbour is a spiritual question." To answer these questions, we need to return to the image of bread and see it as a metaphor-more than literal, for our lives. We must become bread ourselves. Bread is nourishment, food to be broken and shared with others. Paradoxically, when we are broken, when we share ourselves with others we become whole. As Living Faith states, "But rather, in the spirit of humility, as beggars telling others where (bread) is to be found, we point to life in Christ."

In our Canadian context, it is easy to get confused into thinking that the church is mostly about us, that worship is little more than a pep rally to motivate us to do better in our lives, and that the supreme test of Sunday is that we get something out of it. Oh, if I could count the times that someone has said to me that they don't come to church because they don't get anything out of it.

And yet it is not about you. It is not about me. It is about learning to suppress our self concern and to cultivate more God-concern. Today is when we are confronted with God's attitude toward us. It is primarily about Christ, crucified and raised. Worship is a celebration of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. "We point to life in Christ." In a spirit of humility and gentleness, patience and bearing in love as Paul writes.

This is the good news that Christ calls us to share with our neighbour, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry… We may be wonderful people. Our achievements may be impressive, and we may have many good attributes. But the great thing about the Christian story is that it keeps reminding us that it is not about us.

It is about God who in the person of Jesus Christ allowed himself to be broken and shared for the sake of the world. Giving meaning to our lives that we could not have given on our own. Thank God, it's not about me and it's not about you. We simply point to life in Christ. THANKS BE TO GOD, AMEN.