Cravings

This week's scriptures are Ephesians 5:15-20 and John 6:51-58.

"What is it that we really crave?" We've used this phrase for three weeks now in our Call to Worship. What is it that we really crave?

The coffee shop where I get my second cup on the way to work (first cup is at the house)...the one I drink on the way to the office...is called Cravings...and I definitely crave that second cup.

To crave: to have an intense desire for; to need urgently; to earnestly long for, to implore; to desire eagerly.

Martin Luther was said to have told his congregation that he wished he could get them to pray the way his dog went after meat. I can relate to that image. At 7 a.m. every morning...sometimes earlier, my dog Moses' craving for breakfast and a trip to the back yard kicks in.

First he jumps up from where he's been sleeping at the foot of the bed. Then he paws me. If that doesn't work, he jumps off the bed and goes to Carole, bopping her with his nose. If all that fails, he begins a noise that's a cross between an bark and a howl....and he keeps this up til one of us gets up, feeds him, and puts him out.

This scene is repeated in homes all over town. Many of you are smiling as you think about your dog doing his/her 'craving routine.'

Now.....
Think about the way you and I pray. How much craving is there to it? How much longing? I'm embarrassed for myself when I ask the question. That I often do not bring as much persistance to my prayer life as my dog does to his breakfast and his morning trip to the back yard; or that I have for my second cup of coffee.

If you're offended by this image, think how Jesus' listeners heard his words. Jewish law forbids the eating of blood...and the Greek words here move from the polite ones about eating and drinking to more visceral onces about chewing and gulping. 'Chew my body, gulp my blood.' 'Crave me' Jesus says to us....do we?

Let's talk about it on Sunday.

Shalom,
Stephen