Bread That Endures: Hope When Hunger Is Real by Rev. Gilbert Martinez - Christ Church UCC

Devotional

Day 1: More Than Survival: Seeking the Bread That Endures

Jesus’ words about not working for food that perishes sound sharp, especially when real people are hungry. Bodies matter, and Jesus proved it by feeding thousands before asking deeper questions about the kind of world we are building. He refuses to shame the hungry; he challenges a mindset and a system that make survival the ceiling of what people believe they deserve. He redefines nourishment as doing the will of God—where compassion feeds us, dignity is restored, and hope is not rationed. You are invited to desire more than mere survival and to expect the kind of life where love is abundant. Let that expectation become your prayer today [05:46].

John 6:26–27: Jesus told the crowd that they were chasing him because their stomachs were filled, not because they grasped what the signs revealed. He urged them to stop pouring their energy into bread that spoils, and instead to seek the food that lasts into God’s life—the gift the Human One gives, bearing the Father’s seal.

Reflection: Where have you allowed “just getting by” to set the limits on what you believe God wants for you, and what practice this week could help you receive dignity and live beyond survival?

Day 2: Gratitude as Defiant Fuel for Justice and Hope

Gratitude is not pretending everything is fine; it is a steady, holy refusal to let dehumanizing powers tell the story. When systems try to starve dignity, gratitude grounds us in belonging and keeps compassion alive. Saying “thank you” to God becomes an act of resistance that rehumanizes us and our neighbors. In giving thanks, we declare that love is not scarce, hope is not foolish, and mercy cannot be controlled. Let your gratitude today become a quiet protest that strengthens weary hearts [07:35].

John 6:35: Jesus said that he himself is the bread that brings life. Whoever comes to him will not be left hungry, and whoever trusts in him will not be left thirsty.

Reflection: What specific act of thanksgiving could you practice this week that shifts your attention toward someone whose dignity is being denied, and how will you carry it out?

Day 3: Open the Door to the Bread of Life

Good news often arrives at our doorstep disguised as a knock we didn’t plan for. The invitation is simple: open the door—receive the bread that endures and become a person who brings that bread to others. When people show up at places of pain with presence, prayer, and provision, they become living signs that God still moves toward the hurting. You can participate by making room at your table, visiting a forgotten place, or sharing resources with those pushed to the margins. Let your hospitality be the hinge that swings hope wide [04:33].

John 4:34: Jesus said that what nourishes him is doing the will of the One who sent him and bringing that work to completion.

Reflection: What door—literal or figurative—could you open this week to let hope in or to carry hope out, and what is one concrete step you will take to open it?

Day 4: Hope the Powers Cannot Starve or Silence

When people are denied basic needs or treated like criminals for acts of compassion, the aim is to break the spirit. Yet hope rises, because Christ is nourishment the world cannot ration and strength the world cannot restrain. This hope does not ignore suffering; it grows inside it, insisting that every person belongs to God. You may feel your hope thinning, yet Christ meets you there with bread that endures. Receive that stubborn mercy and let it steady your courage [07:59].

Romans 8:35, 37–39: Who can cut us off from the Messiah’s love—trouble, hardship, persecution, hunger, danger, or violence? No; in all these things we overwhelmingly prevail through the One who loves us. I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither spiritual powers nor earthly powers, neither things present nor things to come, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus.

Reflection: Where do you feel pressure to give up, and what small, faithful action could you take this week that agrees with Christ’s unbreakable love rather than the pressure?

Day 5: Receive and Become the Bread That Endures

Jesus never asks us to choose between feeding bodies and feeding souls—he calls us to both. Name your hunger with honesty: physical, emotional, spiritual. Trust that the bread of life is already here, already rising in places where compassion is shared and doors are opened. Then carry that bread—advocate, serve, pray, and give—so others taste God’s dignity and belonging. Today, let gratitude guide your hands and hope guide your steps [09:42].

Matthew 25:35–36, 40: I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you offered a drink; I was a stranger and you welcomed me; I lacked clothing and you covered me; I was sick and in prison and you visited me. Truly, whatever you did for even the least recognized person, you did for me.

Reflection: Identify one specific physical need and one spiritual or emotional need within your community; what concrete action will you take this week to meet each need?

Sermon Summary

I named the tension so many of us feel when Jesus says, “Stop working for food that perishes.” Bodies matter. Hunger is real. Bread is not symbolic for someone who hasn’t eaten. Scripture doesn’t dodge that tension, and neither can we. Jesus fed real stomachs and also pushed us to ask what kind of world we’re building where some always lack and others hoard. His words don’t shame the hungry; they challenge the systems—and the beliefs inside us—that convince people survival is the best they can hope for.

I told a story from right here, right now: clergy went to Broadview ICE Detention Center to bring communion—bread of life to people being denied basic care—and they were met with force, some arrested and portrayed as agitators. This is an old tactic: starve the body to break the spirit. But the gospel insists that compassion is not a crime, and dignity is not negotiable. The bread of life isn’t just a wafer; it’s the promise of presence, belonging, and hope that authorities cannot ration.

Jesus redefines nourishment: “My food is to do the will of the One who sent me.” Compassion feeds us. Solidarity feeds us. When immigrants refuse to surrender their hope, that is bread that endures. When strangers show up for strangers, when a congregation opens the door to the good news arriving on its own doorstep, hope multiplies. This is not escape; it is transformation.

On Thanksgiving, gratitude is not denial; it’s defiance. Gratitude grounds us, keeps us human, and fuels justice. It says to the powers: you cannot starve our dignity, imprison our compassion, or silence our hope. Christ, the bread of life, cannot be controlled. We are not asked to choose between feeding bodies and feeding souls. We are called to receive the bread that endures—and become people who share it: food on tables, courage in the face of lies, companionship that outlasts despair.

So today I invited us to name every hunger—physical, emotional, spiritual—and trust that Christ is already here, already rising in us, already multiplying hope. Thanks be to God, who feeds our bodies, nourishes our courage, and renews our hope again and again.

Key Takeaways

1. Bodies matter; hunger is real. Jesus’ hard words about “perishing” bread do not spiritualize away empty stomachs; they expose systems that normalize scarcity and call it inevitable. He feeds the five thousand precisely because material need is holy ground. Only after meeting bodies with bread does he question the world that keeps people stuck at survival. The hungry are not the target of his critique—our scarcity-shaped imagination is. [00:46]
2. Compassion threatens unjust power. When clergy brought communion and were treated as criminals, it revealed how fragile power is in the face of unqualified dignity. Authoritarians try to starve hope because hope organizes people and unmasks lies. To carry the bread of life is to insist that no one is disposable, and that claim is profoundly disruptive. This is why mercy often meets resistance. [03:33]
3. Nourishment is doing the Father’s will. Jesus reframes what feeds us: not accumulation, but alignment with God’s liberating purpose. When we act in compassion, something in us is strengthened that ordinary bread can’t touch. This doesn’t replace food; it expands our understanding of life to include justice, belonging, and courage. We are most alive when love becomes our daily diet. [05:46]
4. Practice gratitude as holy defiance. Gratitude isn’t pretending everything is fine; it’s refusing to let cruelty define reality. Giving thanks roots us in God’s abundance, so we can resist rationed narratives of worth and hope. From that rootedness, we can keep showing up with food, care, and presence. Gratitude steadies our hands for the long work of justice. [07:35]
5. Become bread that truly endures. Enduring bread looks like solidarity that shows up and keeps showing up. It looks like opening the door when hope knocks—turning compassion into concrete action. As we receive Christ’s life, we become people who nourish others with both provision and presence. This is how hope multiplies in a hungry world. [08:33]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:46] - Wrestling with Jesus’ hard words
[01:28] - Deprivation used to break spirits
[03:01] - Clergy bring communion to detainees
[03:33] - Bread of life as belonging
[04:13] - Why power resists compassion
[04:33] - Opening the door to hope
[05:13] - Jesus feeds real stomachs
[05:46] - Nourishment redefined as God’s will
[06:21] - What endures: acts of solidarity
[06:57] - Choosing hope after despair
[07:35] - Gratitude as defiance on Thanksgiving
[07:59] - Christ cannot be rationed or controlled
[08:33] - Feed bodies and souls together
[09:11] - Prayer for courage and hunger

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
- John 6:26-35

Observation questions (3-4)

Read John 6:26-27. Who is Jesus addressing when he says, “You are seeking me not because you saw signs, but because you ate from the loaves and were satisfied”? What do those motivations reveal about the crowd’s expectations and needs?
In John 6 Jesus feeds the crowd and then asks a deeper question about the kind of world being built. Which verses show Jesus meeting physical need first and then turning to the larger question about systems and scarcity? How does that sequence change your reading of the text?
The sermon recounts clergy bringing communion to people in detention and being treated as agitators. What concrete actions or tactics in that story point to deprivation being used to break spirit and control people? [03:01]
Jesus declares, “I am the bread of life” (v. 35). What images or expectations does that phrase bring up for you when compared with literal bread? How does the crowd’s hunger help or hinder understanding that claim?

Interpretation questions (3-4) — third person objective

If “food that perishes” refers to short-term, survival-level provision, what does “food that endures to eternal life” likely mean for how a community orders its priorities and imagination? [00:46]
The claim “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me” reframes nourishment as mission and solidarity. How should this redefinition change what counts as “feeding” in a local congregation’s life and ministries? [05:46]
The arrest of people offering communion reveals that compassion can be read as a political threat. What does this suggest about the relationship between mercy and power in public spaces, and why might compassion unsettle authorities? [03:33]
Gratitude is described as a form of resistance rather than denial. What theological logic supports gratitude being an act of defiance, and how might that shape public witness? [07:35]

Application questions (4-7)

Identify one place in your neighborhood or city where people are kept at the level of mere survival. What is one concrete, time-bound step you can take this month to interrupt that pattern (deliver food, volunteer a shift, write a letter to an official)? [05:13]
Compassion can be read as political because it insists on unqualified dignity. Who could you show up for in the next 30 days (a detained neighbor, an immigrant family, a lonely person), and what will “showing up” look like in practical terms? [06:57]
“Gratitude as defiance” means giving thanks while refusing to let cruelty define reality. Name two simple practices you can adopt this week that will root your gratitude and sustain you for long-term justice work (daily gratitude list, communal meals, public thanksgiving). [07:35]
When doing mercy meets resistance, safety and wisdom matter. Who are trustworthy partners or organizations you could connect with before acting (legal observers, advocacy groups, other congregations)? What would your first outreach to them be? [03:33]
If “doing the Father’s will” is nourishment, what one habit will you begin to make compassion your daily diet (regular giving, a recurring volunteer commitment, a Sabbath practice focused on presence)? Be specific about frequency and measurable signs of growth. [05:46]

(End of guide)

Sermon Clips

Some were arrested, wrestled to the ground. And authorities tried to portray them as the aggressive agitators. But here is the truth that refuses to stay hidden. They were trying to bring communion to those inside. They were carrying, of all things, the very bread Jesus speaks about in today's gospel. The bread of life. The bread that promises dignity, presence, belonging, and hope. The bread that declares, you are God's and you are not forgotten. [00:02:56] (44 seconds) #CommunionForAll

We imagine it like this. When immigrants at Broadview refuse to surrender their hope, this is the bread that endures. When strangers show up for one another, this is the bread that endures. When clergy bring communion and are met with violence, this is the bread that endures. When a congregation refuses to look away from suffering, this is the bread that endures. When the good news arrives at our doorstep and when we open the door, this is the bread that endures. When we allow ourselves to hope again, even after despair whispers that hope is foolish, this is the bread that endures. [00:06:26] (50 seconds) #BreadThatEndures

When strangers show up for one another, this is the bread that endures. When clergy bring communion and are met with violence, this is the bread that endures. When a congregation refuses to look away from suffering, this is the bread that endures. When the good news arrives at our doorstep and when we open the door, this is the bread that endures. When we allow ourselves to hope again, even after despair whispers that hope is foolish, this is the bread that endures. This bread is not an escape from reality. It is powerful to transform it. On this Thanksgiving Sunday, we practice gratitude, not as denial, but as defiance. [00:06:36] (55 seconds) #GratitudeAsDefiance

This bread is not an escape from reality. It is powerful to transform it. On this Thanksgiving Sunday, we practice gratitude, not as denial, but as defiance. We give thanks because gratitude keeps us grounded. We give thanks because gratitude keeps us human. We give thanks because gratitude fuels justice. We give thanks because gratitude says to the powers of this world. You cannot starve out our dignity. [00:07:16] (37 seconds) #GratitudeKeepsUsHuman

We give thanks because gratitude keeps us grounded. We give thanks because gratitude keeps us human. We give thanks because gratitude fuels justice. We give thanks because gratitude says to the powers of this world. You cannot starve out our dignity. You cannot imprison our compassion. You cannot silence our hope. Because Christ, the bread of life, cannot be consecrated or controlled. Christ is nourishment the world cannot ration. [00:07:31] (38 seconds) #GratitudeFuelsJustice

You cannot imprison our compassion. You cannot silence our hope. Because Christ, the bread of life, cannot be consecrated or controlled. Christ is nourishment the world cannot ration. Christ is strength that rises in us when hope seems impossible. Jesus does not ask us to choose between feeding bodies and feeding souls. He asks us to do both. He asks us to receive the bread that endures and to become people who offer bread that endures. [00:07:53] (40 seconds) #FeedBodiesAndSouls

Christ is nourishment the world cannot ration. Christ is strength that rises in us when hope seems impossible. Jesus does not ask us to choose between feeding bodies and feeding souls. He asks us to do both. He asks us to receive the bread that endures and to become people who offer bread that endures. Today, may we give thanks with honesty. May we name every place of hunger, physical, emotional, or spiritual. And may we trust that the bread of life is already here, already rising, already multiplying. [00:08:05] (47 seconds) #BreadOfLifeIsHere

He asks us to receive the bread that endures and to become people who offer bread that endures. Today, may we give thanks with honesty. May we name every place of hunger, physical, emotional, or spiritual. And may we trust that the bread of life is already here, already rising, already multiplying. Thanks be to God, who feeds our bodies, who nourishes our courage, and who renews our hope again and again. [00:08:24] (38 seconds) #GodFeedsAndRenews

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