White, Wheat, or Pumpernickel? Romans 13: 8-10

In his book, “A Gentle Thunder”, Max Lucado tells this parable about “The Beggar and the Bread”: 

A beggar came and sat before me. “I want bread,” he said.

“How wise you are,” I assured him. “Bread is what you need. And you have come to the right bakery.” So I pulled my cookbook down from my shelf and began to tell him all I knew about bread.

I spoke of flour and wheat, of grain and barley. My knowledge impressed even me as I cited the measurements and recipe. When I looked up, I was surprised to see he wasn’t smiling. “I just want bread,” he said.

“How wise you are.” I applauded his choice. “Follow me, and I’ll show you our bakery.”  Down the hallowed halls I guided him, pausing to point out the rooms where the dough is prepared and the ovens where the bread is baked.

“No one has such facilities. We have bread for every need. But here is the best part,” I proclaimed as I pushed open two swinging doors. “This is our room of inspiration.” I knew he was moved as we stepped into the auditorium full of stained-glass windows.

The beggar didn’t speak. I understood his silence. With my arm around his shoulder, I whispered, “It overwhelms me as well.” I then leaped to the podium and struck my favorite pose behind the lectern. “People come from miles to hear me speak. Once a week my workers gather, and I read to them the recipe from the cookbook of life.”

By now the beggar had taken a seat on the front row. I knew what he wanted. “Would you like to hear me?”

“No,” he said, “but I would like some bread.”

“How wise you are,” I replied. And I led him to the front door of the bakery. “What I have to say next is very important,” I told him as we stood outside. “Up and down this street you will find many bakeries. But take heed; they don’t serve the true bread. I know of one who adds two spoons of salt rather than one. I know of another whose oven is three degrees too hot. They may call it bread,” I warned, “but it’s not according to the book.”

The beggar turned and began walking away. “Don’t you want bread?” I asked him.

He stopped, looked back at me, and shrugged, “I guess I lost my appetite.”

I shook my head and returned to my office. “What a shame,” I said to myself. “The world just isn’t hungry for true bread anymore.”

Why, do you suppose, that this baker was so proud of his bakery and his product? After all, bread is bread, isn’t it? Well, the baker added some things to that basic recipe to make it unique and in so doing he made it his own and now he felt that it was better than anyone else’s recipe. 

So … what kind of bread do you think the beggar wanted?  White bread?   With its bleached flour and soft fragility; you know, the kind that tears when you spread peanut butter on it.  Or did he want wheat bread? Whole grain wheat. The healthy bread. None of that bleached stuff for him! Or maybe pumpernickel?  That dark, coarse, sourdough bread made of unbolted rye flour. No … surely he didn’t want pumpernickel!  You do know what pumpernickel means don’t you? Due to its reputed indigestibility; it comes from the joining of the two words “pumpern” (meaning flatulence) and “nickel” (meaning goblin).  No surely he didn’t want that indigestible, offending, bread. But maybe he wanted a sweet bread?  Oh, yes! How about in the form of a cinnamon roll?  Oh, yes!   All dripping with that sweet powdered sugar topping and oozing the sugar and cinnamon that makes it so palatable. 

But, it sounded to me like the beggar was just hungry and he didn’t care about all the fancy trappings of the bakery or the fancy recipes.  He just wanted something that would make him feel whole again. 

For many people, religion and churches are very confusing. Some of these people would just as soon ignore them as to try to figure out what all the hype is about. Therefore, they go on in their lives, starving for what the bread of life could do for them. Others attend services and participate in Church activities, but do they truly understand what it is about? Or is it all just a social club?

How did we get to this point? So many churches, so many recipes for faith and salvation. There was only one Christian Bible, wasn’t there? Oh, but this one book contains so much material. And all of that material can be translated into so many recipes. And, being the diverse humans that we are, we all have our different tastes and favorite flavors.  As William Barclay says, “ There are still those who make the word of God so difficult that the seeking mind of the common man is bewildered and does not know what to believe or to whom to listen.” 

That’s me most of the time.  Seeking, common and bewildered.  So … ,out of self-preservation, when things start getting complicated I am forced to reduce most things down to their lowest common denominator.

How many kinds of Churches do you think that God had in mind when He sent Jesus down here to tell us of His love for us? Well, I don’t know for sure but I have a feeling that He didn’t have any in mind.  Wasn’t he a little put out with the Pharisees and their rules and regulations that really didn’t have anything to do with reality? Didn’t He send Jesus to dispel all of that; to bring us back into check and remind us of His love and the true meaning of faith and obedience to God. 

 And what about now? Do you think God really wants us to jump through all of the religious hoops to prove our love and devotion to Him?  How many of you want your children to idolize and worship you. Wouldn’t you prefer that they do as you have taught them to do. To be good citizens; to be respected and to respect others. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So imitate Christ and you worship Him. 

 No matter how many candles we light, no matter how many psalms we sing, no matter how many hallelujahs we hallelujah, if we don’t understand God’s basic bread of life and His intention for us, we have missed the point. It has been said that “ More people have been brought into the church by the kindness of real Christian love than by all the theological arguments in the world, and more people have been driven from the church by the hardness and ugliness of so-called Christianity than by all the doubts in the world.”  “In the end, we will be judged not by the creed we hold but by the life we live.” (Barclay: Luke pg.140) “The right heart with the wrong ritual is better than the wrong heart with the right ritual.” (Max Lucado, The Angels Were Silent, pg 36)

 So what is the right heart?  It is the kind of heart that follows the two commandments of Jesus that replace and, at the same time, encompasses all of God’s previous ten commandments.  “"The first is, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, “ You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31)

How are we to love our neighbors? What is Christian Love? Perhaps Max Stokes says it best in his book: “Major United Methodist Beliefs”. He says, “ Within the fellowship of the redeemed, it means the eager concern to do God’s work together in the church. It means the desire to bear our part of the load and at the same time to bear the burdens of others. Outside the fellowship, love is the burning passion for God’s best for everyone in the world. It knows no barriers and withholds itself from no one. Christian love does not seek its own way, for it is God’s way. … Its nature is to share. Its opposite is to withhold. Its genius is to show no partiality. To have Christian love does not mean to like all people equally.  Doing that is impossible. It means rather to want God’s best for all people regardless of our likes and dislikes. It means doing what we can where and when we can” 

Ok!  Does that sound easy or what? ……. No, it is not easy. We have a difficult time dealing with others let alone truly loving them. And too many of us pray the “Mac Davis prayer”.  Do any of you remember it?  Goes something like this: 

                        Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
                        When you're perfect in every way
                         I can't wait to look in the mirror
                        Cuz I get better lookin each day
 
                        To know me is to love me
                        I must be a hell of a man
                        Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
                        But I'm doin' the best that I can

 Or maybe you’ve been afflicted by the Tater People, its really tough loving them.  You know, there’s:

 Some people that never seem motivated to participate, but are just content to watch while others do the work. They are called "Spec Taters".

 Some people never do anything to help, but are gifted at finding fault with the way others do the work. They are called "Comment Taters".

 Some people are very bossy and like to tell others what to do, but don't want to soil their own hands. They are called "Dick Taters".

 Some people are always looking to cause problems by asking others to agree with them. It is too hot or too cold, too sour or too sweet. They are called "Agie Taters".

 There are those who say they will help, but somehow just never get around to actually doing the promised help. They are called "Hezzie Taters".

 Some people can put up a front and pretend to be someone they are not. They are called "Emma Taters". 

Then there are those who love others and do what they say they will. They are always prepared to stop whatever they are doing and lend a helping hand. They bring real sunshine into the lives of others. They are called "Sweet Taters".

So which one of these are we?  I know …. we’re all Sweet Taters and we all try real hard to give all of the other Tater people the benefit of the doubt. And we don’t lash back at someone when they lash out at us. We hold our tempers and our tongues. And we don’t pass judgment on others because that’s God’s job. And we are considerate of the feelings of others. And when we fail to do these things,…and we all do,… continually,… we remind ourselves to try to do better next time. And maybe next time we will. Let us continue trying to be Emma Taters of Jesus.

Jesus loved his parents. He loved his disciples. He loved the little children. He also loved the tax collectors. He also loved the dreaded Samaritans. He also loved the sinners and harlots of the world. He loved lepers. And Jesus even loved his crucifiers, for they knew not what they did.

Let’s get back to the subject of bread. What did Jesus mean when he said that he was the bread of life, sent down from heaven?  In the time of Jesus, bread was the staple of a person’s diet.  It was the simplest, most important food on their menu. The Bread of Life offers a basic recipe for living our life, for respecting our Creator and each other.  Paul gives us that recipe in 1 Corinthians chapter 13:

                                                              Read 1 Corinthians 13

 So … we have our faith.  We have our faith in God, our Creator. We have our faith in Jesus, our Savior. And we have our faith in the Holy Spirit, our Companion. With this faith we have hope.  We have hope for better lives here on earth and the hope of an eternal life promised and proven by our Savior.  And we have love. Love is the fire which kindles faith and it is the light which turns hope into certainty. We have the love of our God for us.  That love evidenced by the sacrifice made by our savior, Jesus.  And we have love for each other.  For while we remain on these earthly plains we must assist our God in bringing as much Heaven to earth as we can. We can only do this by loving and helping each other, no matter how much it hurts. Mother Teresa once said, “I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no more hurt, but only more love.” Wouldn’t that be perfect?

So let’s refine our recipe for our Bread of Life; a recipe whose ingredients are easy to obtain and hard to forget. Let see… lets start with some oil of truth, add somesugar of faith. How about some brown sugar of stained glass?  No, not necessary for this recipe. How about some cinnamon of candles? Nice touch, but let’s keep it simple. Now add some yeast of hope, a little water of humility, a touch of the salt of patience. Now … go get the scoop shovel. We’re going to add the flour of love next. Scoop in that flour until it hurts, then add one more scoop. Mix it all together until you’re satisfied; it doesn’t have to be perfect, just do the best you can.  Now knead it and knead it because we all need it.  Next put the dough in the oven of your heart to let it rise.  Don’t let it rise so much that it bursts but let it rise as much as you dare. Now turn up the heat and bake it to perfection.

If mixed correctly, you’ll only need to make this one loaf of bread.  It will be like that episode of “I Love Lucy”.  You know the one … where Lucy and Ethel are making bread.  They open the oven door and this GIANT loaf of bread just keeps coming and coming and coming out of the oven.

Carry this bread of love in your heart always and cut a slice for everyone you meet.  Cut it into a slice of compassion, a slice of understanding, a slice of hope and a slice of love given freely to everyone that you meet or even think about.  For as it says in 1Peter 4:8-10:  “Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.”

So … is love the lowest common denominator in our faith? When everything in the Bible and theology and the doctrine of all Churches is boiled down to one thing, what have we got. Perhaps the answer is in a story told by a first century Christian named Jerome.  He tells the story of the last words of John. When he was dying. This is the same John who was the “beloved disciple” of Jesus. This was the same John that was perhaps the closest friend and companion of Jesus. This was the same John who wrote the Gospel of John, 1^st and 2^nd John, and the book of Revelation.   This man knew Jesus first hand and devoted his whole life to him.  When John was dying, his disciples asked him if he had any last message to leave them. “ Little children,” he said, “love one another.” Again and again he repeated it; and they asked him if that was all he had to say. “It is enough,” he said, “for it is the Lord’s command.”

So, if this beloved disciple of Jesus could boil down his own tremendous life and the life and commands of his savior and ours into the simple yet oh-so-powerful statement, “love one another”, then that should be enough, it should be enough for all.  In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit! AMEN and AMEN.