Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15/ Ephesian 4:17, 20-24/ John 6:24-35
We are in the midst of one of the greatest sporting events, or should I say the greatest sporting event, and I am sure you know I am talking about the Olympics – the 2012 London Olympics.
Across the media, there are live telecasts of the sporting events, and medal updates and the record-breakers.
To be in this spectacular sporting event is every athlete’s dream; to get through the qualifiers and to be in the finals means that you are among the best.
To win a medal, and especially a gold medal, is not just something – that would be everything.
Yes, the Olympics is no ordinary sporting event; the athletes are also no ordinary athletes.
It is the time to show the world how good you are among the best; and for some, it is now or never ever.
That’s why the Olympic motto is – Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, Higher, Stronger)
The Olympic Creed is longer and maybe more inspiring, and part of it goes like this – The most important thing is not to win, but to take part.
That is indeed a very noble Creed, and it is an expression of the true spirit of Olympic sportsmanship.
It may be noble, but is that possible? To be in the Olympics just to “take part” sounds incredible, because all the athletes would go for “Faster, Higher, Stronger”.
We can say that for ourselves too. We won’t be contended with just having a life. We want to be “Faster, Higher, Stronger” than the rest. And we would want even more; we want to win!
And we can say the same about the people who were looking for Jesus, the people that we heard about in the gospel.
Even Jesus pointed it out to them by saying – I tell you most solemnly, you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs, but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.
In other words, the people were just concerned with having enough to eat, and not just enough, but that there will be more to eat, more food, a never ending supply of food.
And hence Jesus brought the people back to the sign – it is not just about more food.
Jesus said : Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for food that endures to eternal life, the food that He Himself is offering.
And so what kind of food is that? And how to work for that kind of food?
Jesus gave a very intriguing answer : The work that must be done is to believe in the one God has sent.
Well, to believe in Jesus is indeed very hard work.
It may mean that we have to give up the food of this world, and the glittering medals of fame and success.
In the Olympic arena, if you can be faster, higher and stronger than the competition, and get those gold medals, then you can be assured to be fed with fame, popularity and money.
Let me bring you back to the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin, Germany. At that time, Adolf Hitler was using that great sporting event to show the world a resurgent Nazi Germany, and that the German athletes would dominate the games and win the medals, so as to propagate the so-called superior Aryan race.
It was the qualifying round for the long jump event.
The German long jumper Luz Long was the European record holder, whereas the American Jesse Owens was the world record holder.
It was an event to watch, because it was like Germany vs America.
Luz Long had qualified for the finals ,and even set an Olympic record during the qualifying round.
But Jesse Owens had surprisingly fouled on his first two jumps (he stepped over the line) and he was getting quite desperate and nervous about his last jump. It’s either he qualifies or he is out.
It was then that Luz Long went over to Jesse Owens and advised him in halting English, to jump from a spot several inches before the line, and he would easily qualify for the finals without having to try so hard.
And of course, a calmer, steadier, Jesse Owens took his third jump and qualified for the finals.
And in the exciting finals of the long jump event, Jesse Owens out-jumped Luz Long to win the gold medal.
Luz Long took the silver medal, and in true Olympian sportsmanship, he was the first to congratulate Jesse Owens on his victory.
They posed together for photos and walked arm-in-arm to the dressing room.
Jesse Owens said later: It took a lot of courage for Luz Long to befriend me in front of Hitler. You can melt down all the medals and cups I have won, and they wouldn’t be a plating on the 24-karat friendship that I felt for Luz Long at that moment.
So in the greatest sporting event, where everyone, including your own countryman is your competitor on the track-and-field, there was true sportsmanship, and even fellowship.
Indeed, the most important thing is not about winning, but to take part.
For Luz Long and Jesse Owens, they took part and they became good friends and also became a part of each other’s lives.
And that is what Jesus said in the gospel – that He came down from heaven, to be the bread of our lives, to be the living bread that will give us life and everlasting life.
So for us, life is not about being faster, higher and stronger. That would only leave us being thirsty and hungry for more and more.
The 2nd reading would call that an aimless kind of life that is corrupted by illusionary desires.
That kind of aimless life is fed with the bread of slavery, and yet we will be tempted by that kind of bread which makes us want to go faster, higher and stronger, and go for more and more, and yet we will still feel hungry and thirsty for more.
Jesus offers us the bread of life, the bread of freedom, the bread of fellowship, the bread that makes us a part of Jesus and also a part of each other.
One more thing about Luz Long and Jesse Owens. After the Olympics, they continued their friendship through correspondence.
But war broke out in 1939, and Luz Long was drafted into the German army, and was killed in action in 1943.
In his last letter to Jesse Owens, Luz Long had a request. He asked Jesse Owens to look for his son in Berlin, and to tell him about the friendship between a tall blond German gentleman, and an Afro-American son of an Alabama farm worker.
The letter ended off profoundly with this statement: Tell my son about how things can be between men on earth.
Luz Long and Jesse Owens may have jumped to win the silver and gold medals. But they won more than that.
They won each other’s respect, and won a great friendship.
We may never have a chance to take part in the Olympics.
We may not win any silver and gold medals.
But we have Jesus, our bread of life, so that we will never be hungry or thirsty again.
So silver and gold we may have none, but let us give each other what we have.
Let us give each other Jesus, and with Jesus, let us also give a part of ourselves.