August 4, 2024 

Today's Reading: John 6:22-35

Daily Lectionary: 1 Samuel 18:10-30; Acts 27:27-44

Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:28-29)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jesus exposes the motives of those who sought Him after the feeding of the five thousand. They were chasing after food that perishes. Their primary target was what they needed for day-to-day life. That’s important. You gotta eat! But it can’t be what drives you. We work to put food on the table and have money in our pockets to buy what we think will satisfy us. None of it lasts. Jesus calls us to look beyond our day-to-day needs to our eternal needs, to Him who gives life to the world.

Doesn’t it please God to do our duty each day as we live out our vocations? Isn’t it God-pleasing to work and put food on the table for our good and the good of our families? What could be more godly than that? When Jesus challenges His hearers on this, they ask the natural question: “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” So Jesus tells them what is God-pleasing: Believe in Him! Faith in Jesus pleases God.

When people hear that the Christian faith is about Jesus, believing and trusting in Him for eternal salvation, many of them are disappointed and turn away. Isn’t religion supposed to make you a better you? Shouldn’t the Christian faith make this a better world? You know just how evil this world is. The “religious” Jews put Jesus to death. They rejected Him and His kingdom. You reject Him in your sins, too. God knows how evil it is. In Jesus, God stepped into this world. He became a physical, human part of it. He did this to redeem the world, to redeem you from all the evil of sin, death, and the devil.

Jesus did come to make a better world. His resurrection is the greatest sign that the new creation is upon us. Faith clings to Jesus and longs for the end of this evil world and the dawn of the new, eternal one. Faith in Jesus, the Bread of Life, indeed pleases God. Your faith is nourished by the Bread of Life at His Table. He strengthens you with His Body and Blood to go out and love your neighbor, to provide for his or her needs, driving them right into the loving embrace of Him who gives life to the world. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Merciful Father, You gave Your Son Jesus as the heavenly bread of life. Grant us faith to feast on Him in Your Word and Sacraments that we may be nourished unto life everlasting; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost)

-Rev. Joel Fritsche, director of Vicarage and Deaconess Internships and assistant professor of Exegetical Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

The Lutheran Confessions play a vital role in the church—both centuries ago, and today. But, do they apply to the daily life of a layperson? Pastor Andy Wright offers a resounding “yes” in his book, Faithfully Formed. He quotes, summarizes, and synthesizes key teachings from the Confessions, revealing their relevance in the daily lives of ordinary people.