Not by Bread Alone

Devotional Reflection, Friday, January 7, 2022

The week of the second Sunday after Christmas

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:

3He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 941)

AM Psalm 103; PM Psalm 114, 115

Deut. 8:1-3; Col. 1:1-14; John 6:30-33,48-51

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), Page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Office Old Testament Reading, Deuteronomy 8:1-3

8:1This entire commandment that I command you today you must diligently observe, so that you may live and increase, and go in and occupy the land that the LORD promised on oath to your ancestors. 2Remember the long way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. 3He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

David’s Reflections

Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be filled.” (Luke 6) As in the words of Jesus, so in the sermon of Moses, physical hunger takes on a deeper significance. Our physical hunger gets linked to our heart hunger. Just as God fed the Israelites every day during their desert wanderings with bread from above that fell like dew on the grass, so he met their heart hunger for spiritual reality and connection with the divine presence and activity in their lives. Today’s reading preserves Moses’ teaching to that effect, a passage Jesus quoted in the dessert when Satan tempted him to turn stones into bread (see verse 3 and Matthew 4 for his quotation of that verse).

James Hollis, a Jungian psychologist, in one of his books observes that we all are on a quest for three basic needs: connection, transcendence, and transformation. Deuteronomy reminds us that those most basic needs find their ultimate fulfillment in response to God’s word.

How simple! Yet, how profound. Does it not strike you that God has created us with certain hungers, hungers that give definition to our existence? Those heart hungers draw us toward the true bread that slacks hunger. The smell of baking bread can remind me that I am hungry and draw me toward the kitchen. In a similar way, spiritual appetizers awaken my heart hungers and draw me toward God.

God not only has created us with the capacity to hunger for a relationship with the divine, but God hungers for us as well. What an humbling and refreshing feeling to know that my creator treasures me, wants my seeking heart to be filled, and hungers for my presence as well. How else do I explain the reality that God persists in speaking to me, even when I am not listening. God calls me to Godself not only because I need God but also because God wants and needs me.

Prayer A in The Book of Common Prayer gives voice to this divine desire with the words, “Holy and gracious Father: in your infinite love, you made us for yourself. . . .” BCP, 362).

As the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber put it:

"That you need God more than anything, you know at times in your heart. But don't you know also that God needs you--in the fullness of his eternity, you? How would man exist if God did not need him, and how would you exist? You need God in order to be, and God needs you--for that which is the meaning of your life.”

[Martin Buber, I and Thou. A new translation, with a prologue and notes by Walter Kaufmann (New York: Scribner's, 1970), p. 130.]

Collect of the Second Sunday after Christmas Day

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 214)

A Collect for Grace

Lord God, almighty and everlasting Father, you have brought us in safety to this new day: Preserve us with your mighty power, that we may not fall into sin, nor be overcome by adversity; and in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100)

Of the Incarnation

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 252)

A Prayer for Light

Lighten our darkness, we beseech you, O Lord; and by your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of your only Son, Jesus Christ, Amen. (BCP, 111)

A Collect for Mission

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100, 257)