The Cup is Full

Pentecost 10

John 6:24-35

For my children’s sermon last Sunday, I presented the children with three cups.  The first cup had no water in it.  The second cup had water in the bottom half.  The third cup had water to the rim.  I asked, “Which cup is the fullest?”   Logically, the first guess was to point to the cup containing the most water.  Wrong answer.  A small boy began to get the point when he pointed to the first cup and said, “that one…  it’s full of air.”  Still wrong.  Finally, I revealed the truth – it was a tie.  Every cup was completely full.  The first was, as the boy said, full of air.  The second cup was half full of water, and half full of air.  The final cup was full of water (with just a bit of air at the top.)  How you look at something determines what you see.

This week’s lesson follows closely on the heels of John’s telling of the Feeding of the 5000 (John 6:1-15)  Following the miraculous feeding, the people follow Jesus around the Sea of Galilee to his home in Capernaum.  They understand that he is a miracle worker.  They see a basket full of bread and want more.  What follows is a fairly complicated discussion involving works and signs and belief and priorities and the misplaced desire of the crowds.  But, when you cut through all the banter the bottom line question is this:  who do you see when you look at Jesus?   This is the central question in the Gospel of John.  It is the question John raises at the very beginning of the Gospel when he declares that Jesus is “the Word made flesh” who “dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.”  How you look at something determines what you see.

Like the people of the First Century, I think many people today – even people of faith -- have a hard time really seeing Jesus.  I know I do sometimes!  We try to domesticate Jesus.  We accept a thin, two dimensional Jesus that is easy to control, and which can be ignored if we have something better to do.  We lift him up as a miracle worker who can grant our wishes and desires if we just pray hard enough and believe faithfully enough.  We reduce him to a great religious teacher, or a moral example or a compassionate man.  But, the revelation of God?  The revelation of one who can feed the hunger within us that is deeper than any human bread can touch?   If we take that seriously it will shake our whole lives!  We’ll start seeing every cup as completely full, and, like Jesus will want to fill every cup up. 

Seeing that, truly seeing that, is not something we can do on our own.  It is the work of God.  But, when we do see it, it changes our way of looking at, well, everything.