Deuteronomy 8:3 Moses said, “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”
Lord’s Prayer- Give us this day our daily bread…
So much of Thanksgiving revolves around food. I know that we try hard to remind our kids, our friends and everyone that it’s more about being thankful for all kinds of things, not just food. But food is a big part of the day. It’s the visible, tangible, delicious part of expressing our gratitude. We over-indulge in some of the richest foods we ever eat.
As we gather with friends, family, neighbors and strangers around this food, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is there with us. He puts the part of the body together in such a way that no one else could. I mean really, look at those who gather at your table. What a strange group of people that God decided could fit together. Sometimes they fit together in odd ways and sometimes we struggle with how they fit, yet there they are. And there, Jesus is among them, as we gather in his name. Food for the soul.
Food for the body and the soul. It all comes from God the Father. I know it may seem simplistic to think along these lines, but it is what it is. It all comes from God. He is the creator of all things. The food that we eat comes from God. But… this all comes with some caution. Because we can forget that the food comes from God and begin to think of the food as god, or of ourselves as god because we either grow, work for or purchase the food. What God has provided, we so easily appropriate as our own. How easily does Thanksgiving become about the menu and what people will think of us, our home, our hospitality and soon, “oh, yeah, it’s about God too.”
God has a reminder to remember in Deuteronomy 8. Why did the Israelites go hungry in the wilderness? Because God wanted it that way. Why? Because they were getting too big for their britches and life became all about them. God, the creator of the universe decided to humble them and remind them of who He is. They went hungry. Now this isn’t to say that all those who go hungry are being humbled by God. Sometimes people go hungry because others don’t share. Sometimes people go hungry because they don’t want to be fed. For the Israelites, they went hungry because God wanted it that way. God was starving their bodies and souls for a reason.
Then comes the manna. Then comes the word. God wants the Israelites to know that all that they have comes from Him, but it’s not enough to simply live in the body. God provides what they need to live in body and soul. Food for the body, manna. Food for the soul, the Word of God. Food for now, manna. Food for eternity, the Word of God. You have to be hungry first to know what it means to be truly fed. He let them be hungry in the body so they could know what it meant to be fed by manna. He let them hunger in their souls so that they would know how He feeds them his life giving word.
Food for the body and for the soul. Our bodies get hungry. Our souls get hungry. In the midst of our indulgence, we are still hungry. Our plates may be overflowing, but our souls are wasting away. They waste away because of our sin, because of our lack of gratitude and it’s into that hunger that God sends His Word. His Word comes in the form of Jesus, and it’s Jesus who feeds our souls. It’s Jesus who gives us forgiveness for those sins and feeds our souls for eternity. We are not god. It’s helpful to remember that. We are children, in the wilderness, unable to fend for ourselves and we need that Word, Jesus, to sustain us.
Jesus is food for our souls. Through the Holy Spirit, he brings us together and nourishes our souls. We are fed, not only for ourselves, but also in order to feed others. God gives us abundantly more than we could ask so that we can share it with those in need. We gather our offerings today so that we can share with Lutheran World Relief. We gathered food for the Food Bank in order to share with our community. It is the working of the Holy Spirit that feeds the soul, giving us the energy necessary to care for the “least of these.”
So, go ahead, eat until your pants don’t fit. God has indeed been good to us and continues to feed us in body and soul. In humble gratitude we gather around a full table, sharing in the lives of those around. In the same manner, we share the abundant blessings of body and soul with those who are in need. For indeed, we do not live on bread alone, or turkey alone, or stuffing alone, or cranberries alone, but always and forever, we live on that which comes from the mouth of the LORD.
Amen.
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