In nineteenth-century China and other parts of Asia there was a name that was used for persons who attended church because they were hungry for physical sustenance. It was known that Christian missionaries could provide food, primarily rice. So, people converted, were baptized and attended churches that had been started by the missionaries. They remained active members as long as their physical needs were met. But once their prospects improved through employment or help from family members, they drifted away from the Church. Hence, Christian missionaries began calling them “rice Christians.”
A similar dynamic existed in East Germany and Romania just prior to the liberation of Eastern Europe from Communism. When the Church was standing up to and speaking out against the Communist government, people came out to cheer the Church on and joined congregations. But after liberation from the tyrannical Soviet regime, the crowds dispersed and the churches began to look as empty as they had before the challenges to Communism began.
As we see in today’s gospel lesson, the so-called “rice Christians” of the nineteenth century and those bandwagon Christians of Eastern Europe were really nothing new. The crowds that follow Jesus to Capernaum to track him down after he fed the five thousand are no different from those who see faith and church membership as a matter of expedience, as something they can choose for themselves to use for their own particular needs or to pursue their own particular interests.
The crowd sees Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the five thousand as an end in itself, rather than as the sign it was meant to be, something that points them to faith in the living God and in the Son whom he sent to bring about reconciliation and salvation. Jesus calls them on this: “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life…”
We see a similar dynamic at work in today’s Old Testament lesson. The Israelites, who have so recently been freed from slavery in Egypt, are now complaining against Moses and God in the wilderness because of a lack of food. As long as their physical needs are being met, they are willing to remain faithful and follow God. But when their stomachs feel the pains of hunger, they quickly forget all that God has done for them and they start to turn away from their faith. God responds by sending food in the form of manna, reminding the Israelites that he will continue to provide for their needs.
The crowds that are following Jesus in our Gospel lesson make reference to the miraculous manna in the wilderness, asking Jesus for a similar sign to help them believe that he is truly the Son of God. Apparently the feeding of the five thousand wasn’t enough of a sign for them. Jesus’ response gets to the heart of the matter: “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
There is a clear disconnect here between what the people think they are seeking and what Jesus is actually offering. They are seeking something that will sustain them physically, material food. Jesus is actually offering something much better, something that will sustain them spiritually. Jesus is offering “soul food” in the form of himself. This “soul food” will last forever and will continue to nourish our souls, unlike the manna in the wilderness or the food which was consumed by the five thousand, both of which only nourished physically and only for a day.
Too often, we in the Church have forgotten what really matters. We have too often treated the Church and our faith as just another part of our consumer culture, just one more place where we can go to have certain social, political and even physical needs met. We look for a church that has the “right” kind of worship, or that allows us to enjoy fellowship with the “right” kind of people, or that helps us engage in certain social and political activities. We look for a church that has the “right” kind of programs, and that does the “right” things with our financial contributions. I am not saying, of course, that these are not important aspects of who we are as a faith community, but they are not and should never become our primary emphasis as a faith community.
Our primary emphasis is and should always be on receiving and giving thanks for the spiritually sustaining “soul food” that God offers us in and through Jesus Christ. Otherwise, we become a community of marketers, rather than a community of faithful and grateful witnesses of God’s love and mercy as most fully revealed in Jesus Christ. Otherwise, we become a community that seeks to reward consumers, rather than a community of faith that proclaims a gospel of hope, joy and peace.
Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” This is the good news of our faith. This is the truth that will nourish our souls long after rice and manna have ceased to fill our bellies; long after we have found temporary satisfaction for our physical, social and political needs. Let us no longer be “rice Christians”, but just Christians, living and proclaiming our faith in the one who offers us “soul food”.
