Title: Daily Bread

Date: 2009-10-18

Reference: Exodus 16: 4-6

Jesus taught us to pray saying: “Give us our food for today.” In teaching us to pray for daily bread, Jesus is reminding us of our absolute, total, dependence upon God. Every breath we breath is borrowed air. Every moment we live is a gift from God. Our primary response should always be gratitude.

When we lose our sense of wonder at all of God’s gifts including our daily bread we begin to take the gifts for granted. We begin to assume we are entitled to these gifts from God. Too often in life, we begin to feel self sufficient. We take credit for the success we enjoy. And we fail to ask god and to thank God for our daily bread. In those times we cease depending on God and start depending on ourselves which is a dangerous place to be. The Lord’s Prayer reminds us we are utterly and entirely dependent upon God who created us and who sustains us.

We often take our daily food for grated just assuming it will always be available. Very few us of us live from hand to mouth...although there are many of us who remember a time when we did. For anyone who has ever gone to bed hungry this petition for daily bread is full of meaning.

Many people suffer famine in the world today. The latest United Nation Report says there are now over one billion persons in the world who don’t have enough to eat. Most of these persons are in South America and Africa. For them hunger is a way of life. They have no assurance whatever that there will be bread today much less tomorrow. They too are taught to pray for daily bread.

For our part, it is so important for God’s people to share what we have with others around us. The Lord’s Prayer does not say: “Give me all I can consume myself daily.” Rather it says: “Give us our bread.” We have been blessed with much in order to become a channel of blessing. We are called by our faith to share the bounty God has given us with others who need our help. Feeding the hungry is so important in God’s sight. Helping those in need is what we are called to do. Today is the Crop Walk and tonight is our Watoto Concert. In both instances we are trying our best to help those who don’t have enough.

My mother has always been a person of great faith. She was raised in dire poverty and learned at an early age to trust God for daily bread. Mom raised her family alone and there were times when we didn’t have enough food in the house. I now realize there were nights when Mom didn’t eat so we could. One night it was getting close to supper time. Mom had us lay out the plates and set the table. We didn’t see anything but a jar of jelly, crackers, and a can of corn. Mom says this was a low point. As she was praying a knock came at the door. A group of Eastern Star Ladies from the local Masonic Lodge had served a banquet and were led to bring the leftovers to our home. Roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls with butter, even desert. That was a lot better than jelly and crackers.

God heard my mother’s prayer and used His attentive people to become an answer to the prayer. We are our fill that night. We had potato pancakes for breakfast and food to take to school the next day. Mom never let me forget that night and the many other nights those good people shared with us.

Today she and I both belong to The Order of Eastern Star and last week Mom received her fifty year pin. I learned at an early age the importance of sharing what I have with others in need.

Asking for daily bread is not asking for a hoard for the future. God’s people have always understood the difference. When Moses was leading God’s people through the wilderness it looked as if they would die of starvation. The people actually wanted to return to Egyptian Slavery. “At least in Egypt” they said, “we had a pot of mean and cucumbers to eat.” God fed the people daily with manna, bread from heaven. God told them to depend on Him daily and to gather the manna daily. They were told to gather just enough for one day, no more. God wasn’t saying we shouldn’t plan for the future; God was and is saying we should never misplace our trust. God placed manna on the ground and the people had to go out of their tents to gather it.

In the Old Testament book of I Kings God sent the prophet Elijah to a poor widow’s home. God told Elijah she would feed him. When Elijah arrived she was gathering a few sticks to make a fire to fix a last meal for herself and her son before they died of starvation. She had just enough left to fix one last simple meal. Elijah told her to trust God. He then asked her to share what she had with him.

How did Elijah know God would provide? How could he make such a promise? Because Elijah had walked with god and proven God faithful. It is impossible to talk like Elijah unless you have walked with God and trusted God daily.

The widow gave Elijah all she had. Because she did her part God made sure that she had all the food she needed until the drought ended.

She was faithful and God honored her faith. God gave them what they needed. They had food from God three times a day. Had Elijah and the widow not trusted God the three of them, the widow, her son, and Elijah would not have survived. As it was, God provided daily bread for his faithful prophet, for a faithful mother, and for her son.

We need to remember everything belongs to God. And everything will stay here on this earth long after we are dead and gone. I hope we learn to trust God and to use God’s money and resources to insure that all of God’s people have daily bread.

Today 36 million people in the United States alone don’t have enough to eat. Millions more around the world are literally starving to death. God uses the generosity of His people to provide daily bread.

This day members from our church will join others in the community in the CROP Hunger walk. Tonight we will welcome African Children into our midst who have been given a chance in life because of the Watoto ministry. Times now are difficult and the economy is not good. Even so, we have been blessed so richly. And God calls us to share what we have been given with those who are hungry. I am proud of this congregation. You are faithful and generous. But nationally the average United Methodist gives only 2.1% of his income to the church which is among the lowest rates among Protestant Churches. Maybe it’s because we are not as passionate as we should be about what we are doing.

Jesus taught us by example to work hard, pray daily and stop fretting over the provision of bread. God will give us what we need. God will give us more than we need. God will give us enough to share with others who are in need.

God is the source of life. Our daily bread must never come at the expense of another. There is more than enough for everyone. And there are many creative ministries designed to help people in need. The Society of Saint Andrew coordinates the distribution of 40 million lbs of salvaged food in the United States each year. St Andrew has gleaning operations in twenty states. They glean whatever is good food that might go to waste. The United States produces plenty of food to feed our population. It’s a matter of getting the food to the people who need it. Gleaning has been practiced since Bible Days. God commanded the Israelites not to reap to the very edges of the field but to leave some for the hungry. Grapes and olives that fell to the ground were to be left there for the poor. God said: “Share in this way and remember that once you were hungry and I provided for you.”

Ruth and Naomi returned to Bethlehem as poor widows. The barley harvest was just beginning and Ruth gleaned in the fields to provide food for herself and her mother in law. There in the fields Ruth met her husband Boaz and they became the ancestors of King David and of Jesus, who came to be the bread of the world.

There are dozens of examples of persons who are led by God to help make a difference. God has blessed us so richly. And God calls us to share what we have been given with those who are hungry. God works in this world through our efforts. In the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus took a bit of bread and fish, blessed what had been given him. Thanked God for it. He gave what he had to his disciples who shared it with many hungry persons.



If anyone of the disciples had decided that he should eat first or should save up for later, the flow of fish and bread would have been stopped and there would not have been a miracle. If anyone of us is not willing to share what we have there will be no miracles today. Jesus will provided what we need. Jesus depends on us to share what we have with others. Give us this day, our daily bread.