Rev. David Holwick ZF
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
October 6, 1996
Matthew 6:31-34
OUR DAILY BREAD
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I. We have everything we need.
A. Comment by a missionary from Haiti:
Stephen Sorenson asked a visiting missionary about how
American Christians differed from Haitian Christians.
The missionary told him, "Most American Christians don't
need God."
She continued:
"American Christians have everything they need.
"If they don't pray or read the Bible for weeks, it makes
little difference in their daily lives.
"They still have food to eat, a place to sleep, regular
income.
"They don't need to practice their faith every day."
For many Christians in America, this is absolutely true.
This missionary lived among some of the most impoverished
people in North or South America.
It seemed to give her a deeper understanding of how God
provides.
Sorenson was impressed with her firm trust in God to supply
what she and her villagers needed for daily living.
There are probably some lessons here that those of us in a
more comfortable culture need to learn.
#3854
B. What truths are we missing here?
1) Do you worry about food?
a) A child's allowance can buy a loaf of bread here.
2) Yet the basic issue remains relevant:
a) Do we believe God can provide for us?
b) Do we worry about the future?
II. Lay some bread on me.
A. Bread has a variety of meanings in Bible. Matt 6:11
1) Just like it does for us - food, money.
2) Different interpretations have been given to passage over
the centuries.
B. Spiritual bread. John 6:31-34
1) Communion - eat Jesus.
2) Represents Jesus, or Holy Spirit.
3) "Man does not live by bread alone, but by Word of God." 4:4
C. Millennium bread. Luke 14:15; Isa 55:1-2
1) "Daily" can mean "tomorrow's", a symbol of future kingdom.
2) Banquet of the Messiah.
3) Expectations of people in Jesus' day. (multiplying loaves)
D. Bread bread. Mark 14:22
1) Literal, or more general for food, clothing, and
what we need in life. (John 13:18)
2) Sermon on Mount already instructs us not to be anxious
about daily needs, but commit them to God.
III. The God of all of life.
A. We have needs and limitations.
1) Food cannot be stored for centuries like oil.
2) Security is transient.
B. God is active in every area of our daily activities.
1) He is not just interested in Judgment Day.
a) Jesus sweated the details of human existence: healing,
feeding, giving rest.
2) God is the source of all good gifts, and wants to be asked.
C. What do we really need in life?
1) We need less than we realize.
In the original draft of the Declaration of Independence,
Thomas Jefferson wrote that man had inalienable
rights.
These were to life, liberty, and the pursuit of
POSSESSIONS.
The committee that worked on the document changed the
wording, but our thinking hasn't changed at all.
We all feel our happiness lies mostly with our things.
Jesus says, "No, it doesn't." We answer, "Yes, it does."
#3176
2) Verse is not promise of provision of luxury. Prov 30:8
a) Be satisfied with what you have.
b) Seek God's kingdom first. Matt 6:33
IV. One day at a time.
A. Daily survival vs. long term security.
1) Our inclination is to pray for a year's worth of bread.
a) We want control.
2) Meaning of rare (unique actually) word "daily."
a) "of the day that is coming." (today/tomorrow)
1> If prayed in morning, today's bread.
Prayed at night, tomorrow's bread.
2> Palestinian workers paid on daily basis, enough
for food to survive.
A> (Reason it was evil to withhold wages.)
3) Immediate and not distant future is in view.
a) "Daily bread" meant just that to them.
B. Planning for the future is wise.
1) Anxious preoccupation is not.
a) When manna was hoarded, it spoiled. Exodus 16:16-21
2) Receive, vs. earn.
a) We have to still work for our daily bread.
1> But our ultimate dependence is on God.
b) So we should see it as not just for us alone.
1> "Our bread" points to generosity toward poor.
V. Trust God to provide.
A. God provides, sometimes miraculously.
During the winter of 1940 Josephine Kuntz's husband, a house
painter and textile worker, was temporarily unemployed
because of the weather and a seasonal lay-off.
It was a difficult time for the family.
They literally had no money.
Their eighteen-month-old daughter, Rachel, was recovering from
pneumonia and wasn't doing well.
The doctor insisted Rachel eat a boiled egg each day, but
even that was beyond their means.
"Why not pray for an egg?" suggested a young friend.
They were a church-going family, but the idea of actually praying
for their needs was something they had never really considered.
Josephine wasted no time.
On her knees she prayed that God would provide an egg each
morning for her daughter.
Later that morning Josephine heard some cackling coming from
the hedge fence in front of their home.
Among the bare branches sat a fat red hen.
She had never seen this hen before and had no idea where it came
from.
She just watched in amazement as the hen laid an egg and then
proceeded down the road.
In a moment the hen was gone but an egg sat in her yard.
What do you do under such circumstances but thank God?
The next day Josephine was startled once again to hear cackling
in the hedge.
The red hen came by every day for over a week and repeated this
routine.
Each day little Rachel had a fresh boiled egg.
The little girl got better, the weather improved, and
Josephine's husband went back to work.
"The next morning I waited by the window and watched," Josephine
says, but the little red hen did not return.
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B. Be thankful when he does.
1) Saying grace at McDonalds.
a) People tend to stare.
2) Many are appreciative - and God is.
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I. Discipleship Journal #62, p. 29, Stephen Sorenson. #3853
A. The God of all of life.
1) Bread represents what which is essential to sustain life.
a) Food, clothing, shelter.
2) God is active in every area of our daily activities.
3) Jesus sweat the details of human existence.
B. The source of all good gifts.
1) Food cannot be stored for centuries like oil.
2) Security is transient.
C. My bread, your bread, our bread.
1) Communal needs in view here - "our" bread.
2) As we eat we should think of less fortunate.
a) Man who hired shelter people to renovate house.
D. One day at a time.
1) Daily survival vs. long term security.
a) Our inclination is to pray for a year's bread.
b) We want control.
2) Let faith be faith. Heb 11:1
a) Everything good comes from God's hand.
3) Planning for the future is wise.
a) Anxious preoccupation is not.
b) When manna was hoarded, it spoiled.
E. Back to the basics.
1) God doesn't want us to live with abundant wealth.
2) Be satisfied with what you have.
3) Seek God's kingdom first.
II. Carson.
A. God's needs come first, then our needs.
B. "Daily" is rare.
1) Definitely found only here, maybe once in papyrus.
2) They were to trust their heavenly Father to provide.
C. Larger principle at stake.
1) Everything comes from God. James 1:17, 1 Cor 4:7
2) He does not owe us these things.
3) Our ingratitude is an insult to the Deity.
D. We are rich.
1) Our wealth has contributed to our thanklessness.
2) God's judgment may soon follow. (drought in Europe)
E. God is able to answer our needs.
1) Example of George Muller.
III. Guelich.
A. Focus turns from God to us.
1) Central request within the prayer.
B. Bread.
1) Literal bread. Mark 14:22
2) Food in general. Luke 7:33; John 13:18
3) Spiritual nourishment. John 6:31-34
4) Messiah's banquet. Luke 14:15;
Isa 55:1-2, 61:1-6, John 6:33-34
C. Rare word, seems to refer to a daily ration.
1) Important teachings of Jesus:
a) Concern for future.
b) Mission instructions on provisions.
c) Dependence on God when necessary rather than in advance.
2) Prayer for a day's advance does not mean less faith nor does
it mean stockpiling to guarantee one's future.
a) Rather, on the basis of one's prayer stemming from a
trusting dependence, one can function free from cares
and place one's priorities at God's disposal instead
of pursuing one's own personal interests.
IV. Stott.
A. Ancient commentators allegorized it to spiritual bread.
1) Normal bread seemed too mundane following God-focus.
2) Eucharistic interpretation given.
B. Reformation commentators rejected this.
1) Necessities rather than luxury in view.
C. Give, vs. earn.
1) We have to still work for our daily bread.
2) But our ultimate dependence is on God.
D. Daily.
1) Either today's or tomorrow's bread.
2) Immediate and not distant future is in view.
3) Live one day at a time.
V. Jeremias.
A. "Daily" means "tomorrow's" bread, or bread of eternal life.
1) Jerome sees it as "the future bread."
2) Entire prayer has an eschatological slant.
B. Interpretation is not a spiritualization.
1) All earthly things were hallowed by Jesus.
a) (Breaking bread with disciples)
2) We ask that in the midst of everyday secularity the powers
and gifts of the coming world may be effective.
VI. Michaels.
A. "tomorrow's bread today"
1) We must trust in God's ability and desire to provide for us.
B. Real food.
1) Not spiritualized as Word of God (despite 4:4).
2) Not Holy Spirit or Christ.
3) Not eschatologized as the "bread of the age to come" or
Messianic banquet.
C. For Jesus, prayer is the key to trusting God for day-by-day
material needs.
1) Builds upon "don't be anxious" passage in Sermon on Mount.
VII. What God can provide. (general Bible verses)
A. A sacrifice to take our place. Abraham - Genesis 22:8,14
B. He provides more than we deserve or have earned. Deut 6:11
C. Love God, and we'll eat and be satisfied. Deut 11:13-15
D. Process: God provides grain by sending rain. Psalm 65:9
E. He provides a great fish to rescue Jonah. Jonah 1:17
F. He provides a bean stalk to shelter him. Jonah 4:6
1) Also a worm, to emphasize point. Jonah 4:7
G. God's provision should be a testimony to pagans. Acts 14:17
H. He richly provides us with everything for our ENJOYMENT. 1 Tim 6:17
I. Do good, be productive. Titus 3:14
1) Don't work, don't eat. 2 Thess 3:7-10
J. Not poverty or riches, but only daily bread. Prov 30:8
VIII. Example of preacher starting church, gets $37.50 in mail.
A. (Church growth book)
[for documentation of illustrations, download database at
http://illust.holwick.com]
First Baptist Church; Ledgewood, New Jersey
This document last modified May 16, 1999