Chasing Sustenance
Recently, I began reading through an old stack of journals that I began writing in during college. I’ve been making feeble attempts to get rid of unneeded stuff in the house, and the journals are taking up space. My plan is to take photos of the few pages I wrote that are perhaps worth keeping, if only for posterity, and then to shred the lot; frankly, the world will be better off with some of the angsty things I wrote lost to history.
I’ve realized some value in reading the first journal, because it’s helped me see that, as much as some things change, some things — like certain aspects of human nature — do not.
Today’s passage from Exodus speaks to some of those things: People can quickly become discontent. We can perceive the past as being more favorable than it actually was. And we often try to acquire more than we need.
Thus the Israelites — who, mind you, were slaves when in Egypt — gripe to Moses and his brother about how much they miss being there. They’re remembering that they had enough food at that time, and their hanger (hang-grr) is doing the talking. They have flocks of livestock with them, but they’re accustomed to having their meals provided. Plus they’ve probably run out of their supply of unleavened bread during the first month and a half of their journey. (Alter)
Bible scholar Walter Brueggemann writes that
what is striking in this assaulting contrast is how present anxiety distorts the memory of the recent past. Egypt is known to be a place of deep abuse and heavy-handed oppression. Here, however, none of the oppression or abuse is mentioned, only meat and bread. The seductive distortion of Israel is that, given anxiety about survival, the immediacy of food overrides any long-term hope for freedom and well-being. (Brueggemann, 382)
Thankfully, the LORD hears them, and puts together a plan. Their desire for meat would be satisfied by quail, who would arrive each evening, and their desire for bread would be satisfied by manna, which would appear every morning. They were to gather a specific amount of manna each day, and double before sabbath. Provided they followed those instructions, they would have enough. And here the human tendency to be dissatisfied with enough appears for some of the Israelites. God had provided adequate sustenance for the Israelites to live, and thus this could have been the end of the manna storyline. But — spoiler alert for those who haven’t read ahead — it doesn’t end there. What happens next? Some gather too much, and others try to horde it. Neither tactic works out. God is trying to teach the Israelites to have faith and be satisfied with enough, and only those who do so experience the peace and contentment being offered.
The Israelites were still accustomed to what Brueggemann describes as “the destructive politics of bread production and the pressures upon which the empire depends for productivity — namely, fear, abuse, anxiety, and exploitation.” (Brueggemann, 385) They were still learning that the production of bread from heaven comes from the excesses of the storehouses there, from a God who has the power to redescribe “the wilderness as a place of life.” (Brueggemann, 382)
I’d like to make a confession: The first few times I made my way through the story of the Israelites in the wilderness, I grew tired of their complaining. How could they yearn for their lives in Egypt? Why do they keep repeating the same mistakes? I used to read the Bible from front to back, and as I would approach the book of Exodus I would dread the long upcoming stretch of pages — Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy — devoted to this chapter of the story of our spiritual ancestors. The book of Numbers can be particularly unengaging — there aren’t a lot of action scenes in Numbers.
As the years of my life have passed, though, I realize that the story of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness is in some ways timeless. Take for instance their yearning for their life as slaves in Egypt, ignoring the negative aspects of that time while complaining about the present. Don’t we sometimes do the same? I’ve been reading my journal from the 92/93 school year, and it suggests we might.
For instance, there are entries about a contentious presidential election. VP candidate Al Gore visited my college campus, and I wrote about the vitriol I saw on display at the rally from both sides of the political spectrum. Some attendees carried signs with shocking images on them, which seem to have made an impression on me. I mentioned not trusting Bill Clinton, but not being enthusiastic about a second Bush term, either. I guess that explains why I voted for Ross Perot, the independent candidate.
Money was also a concern for me. I was trying to save up to buy a car and an engagement ring, and finances were tight since I had recently paid over $200 to upgrade my desktop computer from 1MB of memory to 4MB so Microsoft Word wouldn’t take several minutes to launch. My job prospects on graduation did not look good since I was studying to become a high school English teacher, and the unemployment rate was growing at that time.
Terrorism was in the news. I wrote about the detonation of a bomb beneath the World Trade Center, which killed sixteen people and injured over 1,000. (“1993 World Trade Center bombing”) And not long after that, I have a few entries about a cult called the Branch Davidians led by a man named David Koresh. They lived in a compound in Waco, Texas, and some of their illegal activities got the attention of the federal government. This resulted in an armed standoff, then a fire that destroyed the compound. Ultimately, over 80 people died, including several children. (“Waco siege”)
The contentious presidential election, my financial struggles, and the barrage of bad news made me think I was living in an unusually troubled time. What had happened to the carefree days of the 1980s, when America was great, pop music was fun, and the news was of little concern?
Time allows me to more objectively see those years for what they were. Like most, they were a mix of good and bad, with some aspects definitely better left behind.
There aren’t a lot of chase scenes in the Bible, but today’s passage from John begins with one. Picture this: Jesus has recently fed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish, slipped away when the people tried to make him king, and soon after walked on water as the disciples boated to Capernaum. The crowd he left behind, realizing he was no longer on their side of the sea, boarded some boats and headed to Capernaum themselves.
They catch up with Jesus, and then begins a discussion about true sustenance. The people were excited about the miracle of the loaves and fish. This man was able to make them feel full from what had been just a little bit of food. They wanted to see another such miracle. Jesus seems frustrated because they did not understand what they had witnessed. They were, as Bible scholar Laura Sweat Holmes puts it, “too easily satisfied.” (Holmes, 230) Jesus wanted them to “see beyond the miracle to the significance of the sign [and how] it pointed to the presence of God among them.” (Holmes, 233)
Jesus tells these people, who live within an oppressive system like their spiritual ancestors in Egypt had, not to work for the food that perishes. Does he mean they shouldn’t earn enough to have basic sustenance? Of course not. But pursuit of that food leads only to temporary satisfaction. They will be hungry again. Accumulating earthly goods should not be the focus of their lives. Instead, their most intentional work should be for “food that endures for eternal life,” which God would provide through the Son of Man. What work would they need to perform to receive enduring sustenance? Holmes writes that “here, Jesus defined work in terms of belief . . . This prevents work from being considered a human achievement. It is instead brought about by God. This was consistent with Jewish tradition: Faith and works were not separated.” (Holmes, 232)
Still the people wanted to see another sign. They point to the example of the manna in the wilderness about which we read earlier, while missing the importance of faith in receiving that gift. Holmes writes,
As the crowd focused on Moses’ sign of manna, the irony of Jesus having just given them bread was so obvious that John does not even mention it. Clearly, the significance of the feeding was not only in recognizing who had given and multiplied bread to feed the crowd but also in realizing how it connected to the deeper meaning of God’s gift of manna. (Holmes, 233)
Jesus explains again the source of the bread and that “the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Finally the people seem convinced that another miracle is not necessary, asking Jesus to provide the bread of heaven always. Jesus, who is “both the one who provides the bread and the bread itself,” (Holmes, 235) instructs them, saying “Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Many of us are fortunate in that we don’t have to worry about having enough earthly sustenance to survive. We receive our daily bread and water, and rarely hunger or thirst long enough to be in danger.
That said, some of the tendencies I mentioned earlier come into play when food and beverages are involved. Even if our basic needs are met, we sometimes become discontent with what we have. And we often try to acquire more than we need. That can lead to our becoming immersed in a system that is ultimately harmful to us and our neighbors, even while being convinced it is better.
As an example, I’d like to talk about a phenomenon that was barely known when I was writing the journal I cited earlier. In 1992, if someone wanted a drink of water, they would go to the sink or a drinking fountain to get one. I don’t remember ever seeing someone carry a single-use plastic bottle of water. Nor did I ever hear someone describe that as an issue. Not once do I remember hearing someone say, “if only someone would invent a way to sell us water that is 100x as expensive as what we drink now.” Ah, but we should never underestimate the power of marketing, and its ability to create solutions to problems that don’t exist, then to convince us that we have an unmet need that can only be satisfied by that product.
Actually, there is a need that is met by bottled water, and that is the need for corporations to make money selling something God provides for free. Not only that, but water bottled in plastic also provides an additional outlet for fossil fuel companies to increase profits. When you buy a bottle of water, you’re paying for the plastic, not what’s inside it.
As a product of fossil fuels, plastic causes harm in a variety of ways. Its production pollutes the air and water, and hastens the warming of the planet. The resulting air pollution leads to pregnancy complications, low birth weight, respiratory illness, cancer, and cognitive impairment, among other things. It can’t be effectively recycled, so ends up filling our landfills, polluting our oceans and watersheds, and clogging our sewer systems. Eventually, some of it even ends up in our bloodstreams as microplastics.
Sadly, when we buy bottled water, we help subsidize the fossil fuel companies that are already being subsidized more than any other industry by our tax dollars. They then use that money to buy influence with our legislators to weaken regulation that would protect our health and well-being.
But the fossil fuel companies aren’t the only ones who benefit from bottled water sales; we should also concern ourselves with the corporations who fill the bottles. Water is an essential component of life freely given by our creator, but it is increasingly being privatized. Water that is local to communities is being sold to the highest bidder so it can then be sold back to those communities at rapidly-increasing rates.
What does this look like in our state? Maybe you’re like me and you recently received a letter from your water company announcing a price boost. My letter from Veolia says ours will be going up by 22%. When I received it, I thought “golly, things must be tight at Veolia,” so did a quick search on their financials. It turns out Veolia, a French company, turned a profit of 7.5 billion euros in 2023. (Yahoo Finance)
You might be asking yourself how a “Big Water” corporation based an ocean away can make so much money selling us our own natural resource. Turns out there’s a story behind it. “In 2016, the Pennsylvania legislature passed ‘Act 12,’ making it easier for Big Water companies to buy municipal water and sewer systems.” They lobbied hard for the bill, assisted by a former house speaker who now works as a lobbyist for one of those companies. “Now, Pennsylvania has some of the highest water and sewage rates in the country.” (March on Harrisburg)
I say all this to illustrate how we can become immersed in a harmful system contrary to our well-being, and to have that occur without realizing how far we’ve strayed from the way of living God planned for us.
What comes down from heaven and gives life to the world? Water, for one thing. It’s a sustenance that shouldn’t require a high cost of entry, and — like manna — should be available to everyone. The Apostle Paul references today’s passage about manna in 2 Corinthians, when he “suggests that equity in the Christian community results when the ones with abundance and the ones with need live in generosity to each other.” (Brueggemann, 385) Such a manner of existence does not allow space for those who would accumulate wealth from selling — or poisoning — God-given resources any more than it did for a Pharaoh who demanded the enslaved Israelites gather their own straw to make bricks.
Speaking of those who follow Jesus, Brueggemann writes that “this community continues to believe that bread that is broken and shared has power for life that bread does not have when it is unbroken and unshared — when it is guarded and hoarded.” (Brueggemann, 385) We can leave the hoarding to corporations and corrupt politicians; we don’t need to participate in a chase to encounter what is most important. The sustenance Jesus provides requires only that we accept the truly fulfilling well-being and freedom he offers.
Siblings in Christ: Is it possible that what we need to survive and flourish is already in front of us? Is peace and contentment already within reach? The Son of Man suggests it is, and a better life awaits us when we accept that gift.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
If you are troubled by political corruption in Pennsylvania and would like to learn more about how to oppose it, consider joining a group like March on Harrisburg.
Works Referenced
“1993 World Trade Center bombing.” Wikipedia. Accessed July 30, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_World_Trade_Center_bombing
Alter, Robert. The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary. New York City: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2019, Kindle edition.
Brueggemann, Walter. “Exodus.” In New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume I. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.
Holmes, Laura Sweat and George Lyons. John 1–12: A Commentary in the Western Tradition (New Beacon Bible Commentary). Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press, 2020, Kindle edition.
March on Harrisburg (@endpacorruption). Instagram post. July 31, 2024. https://www.instagram.com/p/C-GtlbGJoWu/.
“Waco siege.” Wikipedia. Accessed July 30, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waco_siege
Yahoo Finance. “Veolia Environnement SA (VEOEY) Financials.” Accessed August 1, 2024. https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VEOEY/financials/.
