HMR for Life

Now, you may have heard about the mother who called up the doctor and was complaining about her daughter. She got into a really strange pattern of eating. You know, there's all kinds of eating disorders out there and that sort of thing.

She was just really beside herself, worried about her daughter, and called the doctor. The doctor said, well, what's going on? And the mother complained to the doctor. She said that all my daughter does all day is lie in bed and eat yeast and car wax. Boy, that's a different eating disorder. She's lying in bed eating yeast and car wax. And the mother was so concerned, she said, yeah, that's all she did. Doctor, you know what's going to happen to her. The doctor thought for a minute and he said, don't worry. Eventually, she'll rise and shine.

Now, do you know how hard it is to come up with unleavened bread jokes? This is not an easy thing. Now, I did hear one where the minister was reading from the Bible, Matthew 6, that model prayer. It said something like, give us this day our daily, low-fat, low-cholesterol, salt-free bread. And it was obviously very frustrating. He said, I hate these modern translations. You know, I've got a dollar amount I want you to keep in mind for a moment. Keep this in mind and I'll eventually get back to it, I think. $2,787. $2,787. Yeah, it seems like this week we've got food on our mind. Last night, we had a beautiful meal.

Everybody have a nice meal last night? Did you enjoy yourselves at the beginning of the Days of Unleavened Bread? Yeah, if you've met in people's homes, you can be assured the hostess thought a lot about food. In fact, this week we think about bread. We think about what we're putting into our mouths. And we live in a different kind of a world than years and years ago. You know, if you imagine what your life is like today, have you ever been really hungry? You finished work? You're tired? You're stressed? You know there's nothing at home in the refrigerator? It's about as empty as your stomach. What are you gonna do? Well, you could stop just about any place.

You can stop at a gas station and you could get a... well, depending which one you stop at... a fresh panini. You can get your cappuccino, your espresso, and get going, and there you go, off to home. Because who's got time to cook anymore? Any elaborate meals? It seems more and more and more that's the way life seems to be going.

Someone told me the other day, they have the wonderful joy of not cooking, instead of the joy of cooking. And you know, here in our country it's become big business. They call it HMRs. Have you heard of HMRs? They are home meal replacements.

HMRs, they're called. There's a whole growing, burgeoning business out there when it comes to HMRs. Now, you might not think it's that much, but you know what that is worth a year in dollars that are earned? The HMR, we could say, industry in America. A hundred billion dollars a year. A hundred billion dollars a year. And that would include things like, well, you could go to Sam's Club, or you go to Costco, and you can buy that pre-made lasagna.

You don't have to cook it, you just throw it in, heat it up, ready to go. That's an HMR. And this business is growing and growing and growing, because you know, maybe we want to eat it home, but I don't want to cook it, so we just throw it in the oven. There it is. When you begin to think about it, it started very, very small. Do you know when the HMR industry began?

I guess you could say. All the way back in 1879. That's even before a TV. It couldn't even be a TV dinner. 1879, Heinz Company produced the first bottle of ketchup. And do you know how they marketed it? Their slogan was, For the blessed relief of mother and other women of the household. Because that would save so much time. You imagine? Now, you bump up about 75 years or so. This is even pre-Golden Arches. There are no McDonald's yet.

In 1953, there was a lady who was a dietician who worked for the Swanson Company. And she came up with this idea of the frozen TV dinner. Now, how do you think those TV dinners were marketed in 1953? Well, not too much different than the ketchup was. They used to say what once took two hours to make now has been shrunk wrapped into a tidy 15 minutes. And so, TV dinners were born. Yeah, as Americans, we think a lot about food.

What are you doing for dinner tonight? You probably already made some choices of what's happening tonight. But what I'd like to focus on is the food that we choose to eat. How many of us eat those HMRs? You just go and you've got the pre-packaged Oriental stir-fry. It's all done. All I've got to do is heat it up. That's an HMR. You know, those kinds of things are all pre-packed. They're ready. It's easy. And so what's happening is this HMR, these home meal replacements, are taking over people cooking full meals for themselves. And so the food industry is wrecking. In fact, there's a whole HMR industry, magazines.

The whole thing that focuses strictly on that. Now, I was thinking about this in connection with Unleavened Bread because we focus on food at this time. And yet, what kind of food are we focused on? Are we replacing real food for meal replacements? What kind of food is our focus on? Are we spiritually nourished? Where do we fit when it comes to HMRs? During the days of Unleavened Bread, we've been called to replace some things, haven't we?

We've been called out of sin. We have a Savior who died for us and washed us clean. We're to stay clean. We're to walk worthy of the calling that we've been given. And so, in a way, we're to be an HMR. We're to be on that journey. Instead of a home meal replacement, Passover and Unleavened Bread, I think, reminds us that we're to spiritually be an HMR. God has called us for a holistic mindset replacement. An HMR, not home meal replacement, but a holistic and all-encompassing, all-inclusive change of mind, change of heart, replacing that old individual that we used to be that was washed away in the waters of baptism.

And so, we're to be different people. We're to think different. And in fact, we're connected to food because we're to focus on not just ketchup or TV dinners or buns or rolls. Or we're to focus on the spiritual nourishment that those things remind us of.

There's a significant section of Scripture in John 6 that Christ had an HMR.

And in this sense, I'm talking about a meal replacement. In John 6, verse 1, we'll see Christ's replacement for a meal for those who were following Him. I know you're familiar with this story. It's when Jesus fed the multitude. A multitude of people were there. You ever notice when this took place? When did the feeding of the people take place when the loaves and the fishes were multiplied? Well, verse 4, John 6, it says, the Passover, the Feast of the Jews, was near. So it was this time of year. It was this time of year, verse 5, Jesus lifted up His eyes. He saw the great multitude coming toward Him. He said to Philip, where shall we buy bread that these may eat? Christ had to supply a meal to them. Well, Philip says, we don't have the money for that. There's no way. There's no way that that will work. Sam's is closed. Costco's too far away. We don't have any of those kinds of things that are pre- we don't have any freezers yet. We can't do this. Well, what happens? Well, verse 8, verse 9, Peter says, there's this lad here who has five barley loaves, two small fish. But what are they among so many? And of course, we know the story. Jesus had everyone sit down, and there were 5,000 people there. Verse 11, Christ took the loaves. When He'd given thanks, He distributed them to the disciples and to the disciples, to those who were sitting down. And likewise, the fish, as much as they wanted. How cool is that? As much as you want. This never-ending supply of food, of food that would nourish them and ultimately point to a spiritual lesson. And of course, it is interesting, when they gathered up the fragments, what do they have left? More than they started with. It filled 12 baskets of the fragments and five barley loaves that were left over by those who were eaten. And so they began to see something. The people began to recognize, and they said at the end of verse 14, this is truly the prophet who has come into the world. And then that leads into an important section of Scripture that's often called the bread of life discourse. Discussion about the bread of life. Because the story doesn't end there.

Christ feeds the 5,000. What happens next? Well, verse 22, the next day, it says, the people were standing on the other side of the sea. They saw there was no other boat there, except the one which His disciples had entered, that Jesus hadn't entered the boat with the disciples, but that His disciples had gone away. That was confusing. How did that happen?

Well, Christ had walked on the water, an amazing miracle. And so, verse 25, they found Him on the other side of the sea. They said, Rabbi, when did you come here? You see, they began to recognize something is going on here. Christ kind of tells them, well, you're really looking for me for the wrong reasons. He says, you're not seeking me because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. The point is that they consumed the food, but they didn't consume the message of what it meant. Yeah, they got a full stomach, but they missed the spiritual significance of it. And so, Christ tells them, verse 27, do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.

And so, Christ pointed to that spiritual food, that spiritual mind replacement that they needed. They needed to have the spiritual vision to understand what Christ was all about. And so, Christ tried to strengthen that lesson with His disciples. He makes the point, verse 32, that Moses didn't give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. So, He makes that connection with the manna. The manna for physical sustenance. But more importantly, the bread of life, Jesus Christ, is the true bread. He's the one that we should ingest, that we should consume, that we should strive to be like. And so, verse 34, they said, Lord, give us that bread, because they weren't quite on the same page yet. What kind of bread are you talking about? Well, verse 35, He lays it out. Jesus said, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst.

And so, Christ draws that comparison. Of course, they weren't real happy about that. They wanted that HMR, give us more free food. That's what we want. Because, of course, as He claims to be that bread, they murmured. Verse 42, isn't this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it that He says, I've come down from heaven? And like the people, the Israelites, at Moses' day, they grumbled at Christ. They complained. They whined about this very fact.

And Christ points out, they just couldn't see. They didn't recognize Him. They didn't identify the spiritual connotation of what the bread of life was all about. They didn't identify the words that Christ said with this ultimate spiritual message. They were blinded. They just couldn't get it. They needed a new outlook. They needed a wholesale change in their life.

They needed a different mindset. They needed to replace their physical outlook with the spiritual one that Christ wanted for them. So they needed an HMR. In fact, a little later, verse 47, most assuredly here, Christ says, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. And so when your eyes are opened and you perceive and you see, you partake of Christ. And it leads to eternal life. And so he says in verse 51, I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. It wasn't about flour and water. It wasn't about yeast. It was about flesh and blood. And so Christ corrected the crowd.

He pointed out the fact that it wasn't Moses that sent manna. It was actually God that was the one that sent the manna. He says it was God's bread. And that manna was only good for the physical sense. So much more important is this spiritual implication about Jesus Christ. And so this time, the crowd doesn't get loaves and fishes. We see that representation of the bread of life.

That represents a different view. It represents a different walk. Connected to Moses, it's a different exodus. It's a new exodus as we spiritually leave sin. We spiritually leave the sin of Egypt, of this world. And of course, as we partake of that bread, over and over and over again, Christ says, I will raise him up at the last day. So he promises eternal life. And so not only does Christ remind us, he is the true bread of life, but that it's eternal life, not just physical life. And so as Christ points out this lesson, he reminds us, well, how often do we need this bread? How often do we have to have our mindset on Christ? Do we recognize? Do we see? Do we really identify with the bread of life? You see, these days of unleavened bread focuses us every day on what we're eating, how much we love matzos, right? How much those things I can't go to the drive-through, I can't have an HMR with that. That's unacceptable. And we have this physical mindset that should help us spiritually. To recognize this isn't just a weak thing, this is a daily thing. We need an overhaul. We need a holistic mindset replacement. We need, as Christ said, daily bread. We need his presence in our life every day, not just to give me some loaves and fishes by the water, not just hoping he'll give us another free meal sometime down. No, this is a daily thing. And so here Christ is identifying himself with something that's pretty ordinary. You know, bread was eaten at every meal. It was common. It was usual. It was accessible. And yet he says, he is our spiritual bread. He is our spiritual food. He is our constant daily source of spiritual nourishment. And Christ pointed to that very thing. And so spiritually, we must be renewed. We must be nourished every single day if we're to be sustained, spiritually speaking. And ultimately, it's the only path to eternal life.

That's what he promised. So are we nourished? Do we see? Do we perceive the need that we have for spiritual nourishment? I have to ask ourselves that very question.

I ran across a survey a while back that was done by Lifeway Publishers, and they surveyed people who claimed to be Christian in America. And in their survey, they asked them quite a few questions about their reading habits. You know, what do Christians read? Okay, it's not just Archer. It's just in general. What do Christians read? Well, of those they surveyed, 37 percent had read the book The Life of Pi. I waited for the movie, but 37 percent of Christians have read The Life of Pi. What percentage do you think have read The Hunger Games? About 25 percent of Christians. These are Christians that they surveyed. 18 percent have read The Game of Thrones. 14 percent have read The Hobbit. And so those may be familiar books, maybe not. But what becomes interesting is they also asked them about their daily bread. They asked them about their Bible reading habits.

What percentage of Christians surveyed read the Bible once a month? 22 percent. Of the Christians that they surveyed, 18 percent rarely or never read the Bible.

How many do you think have read the Bible cover to cover that they surveyed? 10 percent. 10 percent. Do we see the presence of God with us? We have it right here. God is with us. His word is with us. Our sustenance is right here. And I would certainly hope that with us, these percentages are way off. But it does remind us of that daily bread, that spiritual focus that only the Word of God can give us, and that we must partake of His word, His way.

Now, it's also interesting. This presence of God is something that should be close to our heart. It shouldn't be a once-a-month kind of thing, an every-other-day kind of a thing. We can come closer and closer to the presence of God. Christ is to be in us. We're to share that kind of closeness of a meal, a daily bread kind of presence, with God the Father and with Jesus Christ. And when we partake of this bread, and think of that as we go through this week. Think about it as you eat that dry matzo, or as you're buttering your trisquit. This is good word. This is a tasty meal right here. And we can have the spiritual sustenance that we need. And we don't have to be far away. God is right here. We're to have an intimate closeness, a close relationship with God, that comes through eating a meal. Isn't it interesting how many times through the Bible, when people were very close to the disciples, they were eating together. They were enjoying a meal. And we replaced just the physical things with the spiritual understanding that God's given to us. And we can be so close to Him. Seeking out God leads us to an intimate relationship with Him. And so we can be as close to God as we want, because He's given that ability. We can sense the presence of God every day, knowing that He's with us, knowing that He's fulfilling His purpose in our life.

And I think what we find throughout John here is that that is His purpose. That purpose is reserved for those who eat that bread every day. Eat of Christ every single day. And of course, that brings a different perception. It brings a different presence to our lives. It's not normal anymore. It's a whole new diet. It's a whole new way of thinking. It's not regular. It's not ordinary. We have a new set of ideals. We have a new set of standards. We're aspiring to strive to the measure and the fullness and the stature of Christ. And so this daily meal, this daily bread, can give us that completeness. And by His will, God can do remarkable things in our life as we rely on Him. And we trust Him. And we obey Him. And we can face whatever life brings. Good, bad, indifferent. We can face it knowing that Christ is in us and lives His life through us. And it is a powerful presence. It's a presence we cannot overlook. We cannot overlook. And it seems so obvious. We'd never miss this. This makes sense. And yet, even the disciples who lived with Him for years missed it. Example over in Luke 24, verse 13. Luke 24, verse 13.

Now, to paint the scene of where we're going to pick it up here in Luke 24, this is immediately after the crucifixion. This would have been on that following Sunday, which would have been the day that the wave sheaf would have been offered. And as a couple of the disciples are walking down the road, something interesting happens.

Verse 13, it says, Now, behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emma's. Which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And you put this together with other accounts. Cleopas was probably one. Very possibly, some speculate, maybe Peter was the other one. Not sure who the other one was, though. But as they're walking, verse 14, they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was while they conversed and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. So here they are, unsuspecting travelers who, when Christ came near, well, what happened? Verse 16, it says, Now, it's kind of interesting because if you go back to the resurrection, Mary Magdalene was there before Christ appeared to the Father, she recognized it. Well, maybe first thought He was the gardener, but then she recognized His appearance. Then Mary and the other Mary, Christ appeared to and they recognized Him. Now here, their eyes were restrained. They didn't recognize the risen Christ. He was right there before their eyes. They couldn't see Him. They saw somebody, but they didn't recognize Christ. So verse 17, He said to them, What kind of conversation is this that you're having with one another as you walk and are sad? So it seems that they were unaware of the resurrection at this time. So they're standing there face downcast. Verse 18, One of those whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem? Have you not known the things which happened here in these days? Christ said, What things? And it sets them up just a little bit. So they said to Him, The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty indeed in word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all of this, today's the third day since these things happened. He should have been resurrected. And they're downcast. Verse 22, Yes, and certain women of our company who arrived at the tomb early astonished us. When they didn't find His body, they came to say that they had seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women said. But Him, they didn't see. So not everyone recognized Christ. In fact, here they are talking to Christ, and they don't recognize Him.

So here they are at this point on the road. Hopes are dead. Their Savior is dead. The resurrection seems unreal.

And yet Christ was there. The bread of life was right there with them, and they didn't recognize it. So, verse 25, He said to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory.

And so beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. So imagine what that discussion must have been like to go through the Old Testament, beginning with Moses, and all the prophets, and expound and show Scripture how these things were to occur. It must have been quite a discussion.

Seven miles probably went pretty quick from Jerusalem to Emma's. Then, verse 28, they drew near to the village where they were going. He indicated He would have gone farther, but they constrained Him and said, Stay with us, for toward evening the day is far spent, and so He went to stay with them. Now, verse 30, it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.

What significance would that have? So they sit at a table to eat. Jesus takes bread.

He blessed and broke it and gave it to them.

Verse 31, Then their eyes were opened, and they knew Him.

Their eyes were opened, and they knew Him. And so here, an entire day of walking, without realizing whose company they were in, Christ's identity is finally revealed. And it's revealed in a remarkable, in fact, I think a stunning, symbolic way.

What would the breaking of bread have brought to mind to them?

I would think that Passover that they just celebrated, the one that He longed to celebrate with them. And He hadn't appeared to these two at the tomb. He didn't appear to them at the temple. He didn't appear on some mountain.

It was a home. It was a home. He had a little bit of a meal replacement there, didn't he?

Different. An eye-opening meal replacement. Their mindset had to be adjusted. They needed a complete overhaul, a holistic mindset replacement. And so through Christ, we see He took the role of the host. The host should have been the one breaking the bread, but here is a guest breaking the bread. Because of the great significance here, and that moment of the Passover is suddenly recreated. They recall the institution of the bread and the wine and the symbols that that represented. And so finally they recognized the resurrection has truly occurred. It is true. And so they recognized Him. Their eyes were opened.

And I think that's important for us. We eat and drink. Oftentimes, especially this week, different things. We've got the crackers and the matzos and the unleavened items that we all enjoy. The special treats as well. And as we think about those things, as we live our life, not only this week, but how often might we be like these two disciples? Is it possible that we walk through life and we do not see Christ?

Do we live our daily life and we walk our road? Christ is with us, but we fail to recognize He's right here. They didn't see it. The question is for us. Do we recognize? Are there times in our life that we fail to recognize Christ when He comes right up to us, right among us, walks with us, and we don't even see? We don't even see that opportunity to have a different mindset, to talk a different talk, to walk a different walk. I think part of the lesson of Unleavened Bread is to do that.

Walk this walk, but do it with Christ. Recognize, identify our Savior and how He must live His life in us and through us. Paul said, to live is Christ. And we're to be crucified with Christ, but we're to live, but not us. Galatians 2.20 says, Christ lives in us. We walk with Him. We recognize Him in every situation. And so when the disciples finally recognized this in verse 32, they said, didn't our heart burn with us while He talked with us on the road and while He opened the Scriptures to us? It burned within them. It needs to burn within us as well.

How hungry are we for the Word of God, for the character of Christ?

It's interesting, later when they got together, down in verse 44, Christ said, These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me. Then notice what happens. Verse 45, He opened their understanding that they might comprehend Scripture.

They could see it. They could understand it. And I think for us, the special significance, especially this week in our meals, in our unleavened bread, is it possible to have our understanding opened even more deeply, even more fully? Can we more fully see our Christ, our Savior, our Lord, our Master, our High Priest? Can He be vitally an important part of our life that we can't even sustain life without Him? You see, we can ask God for an HMR. We can ask God. We can pray for a holistic mind replacement that we can continue on the path to be more and more like Christ. And we can petition God to be with us and walk with us and help us to recognize His presence in our life as He gives us the true bread of sincerity and truth. What a remarkable opportunity God has given us in this great calling. In fact, a little bit later here in John, if you turn over to chapter 20, chapter 20, verse 26, we're still in this same time frame. We're still during the days of unleavened bread. It seems that by the time we get to chapter 20 here in verse 26, we're at the last day of unleavened bread. John 2026, it says, after eight days, the disciples were again inside with Thomas with them. Of course, the doors were shut. Here comes Christ. It comes right through the door, right through the wall. He says, peace to you. They were probably scared to death. And He said that, Thomas, reach your finger here. Look at my hands. Reach your hand here. Put it into my side. Don't be unbelieving, but believing.

And so we see this special occurrence. It seems almost just for Thomas. Thomas answered, verse 28, and said, my Lord and my God. You see, Thomas saw. He could recognize Christ. It took that physical presence, that physical manifestation of Christ, to convince Thomas. But for us, we can be convinced as fully as Thomas was without seeing, because God's given us spiritual eyes to truly see. So verse 29, Christ said, Thomas, because you've seen me, you believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Have faith. Have trust. Believe without a shadow of a doubt that Christ is the Savior. God is our Father. And so it says, verse 30, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which aren't written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

And so it points out the fact that this daily bread, this unleavened bread that we eat this week, is a believing kind of a bread, a faithful kind of bread. It's an expression of our faith. We recognize and we see it. We see it so clearly that Christ is our Savior. And without Him, we are nothing. It helps open our eyes so we can have the sight to see ourselves, to see the need for change in our lives, to help us to see the need to grow and to serve each other, to serve the body of Christ. We see the need. Our eyes are opened so that we must obey. We want to obey. We strive to obey. And recognizing that bread of life and partaking of that bread of life puts us into a total different mindset. And so we watch what we eat. We watch what we take into our mouths. We watch what we consume. We watch what we absorb. And we focus on taking in Christ, abiding with Him, communing with Him, sharing, fellowshiping, all of those kinds of things.

We take time. We take time. And that's the challenge. Because the pace of this world is so crazy. It's so frantic. The frenetic pace of this world just gets to us all the times.

And oftentimes, where does that show up? When we're running around and we can't have time for much of anything, sometimes our eating pays for it. We're so busy and so hectic, we don't watch what we eat. We dash from this event to that event. Maybe even we skip a meal. Well, unleavened bread reminds us we can't skip a meal with Christ. We can't skip a meal. We can't eat and run.

That's not what God wants for us. He wants us to sit down at the table. He wants us to be in His presence. He wants us to recognize His presence in our everyday life. Paul wrote about this in 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 10 reminds us of this amazing Father and great Savior that we have. 2 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 10 Paul was inspired to write, And that's what we're about. We're striving to grow that much more like our Heavenly Father, like our Savior Jesus Christ. We want to increase in His attitude, His character, His way of thinking. And so in verse 11 he says, Verse 12, And so he goes on in verse 13 Well, God has given us an indescribable gift. He's given us His Holy Spirit. He's given us the presence of Jesus Christ, not only just walking with us along the road, but He's given us that presence in us that it changes everything. And so in a way, on 11 bread poses the question, what kind of food is it going to be? Is it going to be fast food? Is it going to be the junk food or the right food, the proper food, the good food, the bread of life? It is another opportunity that we have to recognize how much further we have to go. We're closer than ever, but we can even strive more to be like Christ. It is time for an HMR.

So this week as you maybe look at the ingredients, take special note of those kinds of things, watch what you eat, never forget the spiritual significance.

Let's always remember as we're striving to live the kind of life God would have us, that we're ultimately striving for the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

And so let's recognize Him, and let's recognize we're still striving for that complete, holistic mindset replacement, that spiritual HMR. And it's made possible one way.

It's made possible through our eye-opening, life-changing bread of life.