Message in the Munchies -- FPC sermon excerpt
Are you crazy for cheese curls? Passionate about popcorn? Nuts about nuts?
What you snack on says a lot about who you are.
In a recent research study, 800 volunteers took personality tests, and then they named their favorite snack. The results surprised me: People who have the same personality type choose the same snack 95 percent of the time.
Lovers of cheese curls have a high sense of morals and ethics. People with a passion for popcorn are the take-charge type. Folks who are nuts about nuts are even-tempered, easy to get along with, and highly empathetic.
This link might sound like a stretch, but it makes perfect sense — biologically. Food preferences reside in the same part of the brain as the personality (Alternative Medicine, May 2007).
It seems that you are … what you munch.
Jesus encounters some serious snack-lovers in the sixth chapter of John. As the story begins, a large crowd is following him, because of the signs that he is doing for the sick (John 6:2). He feeds this crowd of five thousand with five barley loaves and two fish, and then withdraws to a mountain, because “they were about to come and take him by force to make him king” (v. 15).
That evening, the disciples set out for the town of Capernaum by boat, and Jesus catches up with them by walking on the water. The next day, the crowd follows him to Capernaum, and Jesus says, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves” (v. 26).
In other words, says Jesus: “you got the munchies.”
So what does this particular craving say about the people of the crowd? I think it reveals that they are enthusiasts — people whose basic desire is to be satisfied and content, to have their needs met. Afraid of being deprived, they want more than anything to maintain their happiness, avoid missing out on worthwhile experiences, and keep themselves excited and occupied.
Enthusiasts look for Jesus. Why? Because they ate their fill of the loaves.
Now I am all for people being enthusiastic about Jesus, but there is a problem with this personality type. “Do not work for the food that perishes,” warns Jesus, “but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (v. 27). The barley loaves that Jesus used to feed the five thousand is “food that perishes,” and he tells the people that they should not focus their enthusiasm on this kind of bread. Instead, they should work for the food that endures for eternal life.
What you snack on says a lot about who you are.
In a recent research study, 800 volunteers took personality tests, and then they named their favorite snack. The results surprised me: People who have the same personality type choose the same snack 95 percent of the time.
Lovers of cheese curls have a high sense of morals and ethics. People with a passion for popcorn are the take-charge type. Folks who are nuts about nuts are even-tempered, easy to get along with, and highly empathetic.
This link might sound like a stretch, but it makes perfect sense — biologically. Food preferences reside in the same part of the brain as the personality (Alternative Medicine, May 2007).
It seems that you are … what you munch.
Jesus encounters some serious snack-lovers in the sixth chapter of John. As the story begins, a large crowd is following him, because of the signs that he is doing for the sick (John 6:2). He feeds this crowd of five thousand with five barley loaves and two fish, and then withdraws to a mountain, because “they were about to come and take him by force to make him king” (v. 15).
That evening, the disciples set out for the town of Capernaum by boat, and Jesus catches up with them by walking on the water. The next day, the crowd follows him to Capernaum, and Jesus says, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves” (v. 26).
In other words, says Jesus: “you got the munchies.”
So what does this particular craving say about the people of the crowd? I think it reveals that they are enthusiasts — people whose basic desire is to be satisfied and content, to have their needs met. Afraid of being deprived, they want more than anything to maintain their happiness, avoid missing out on worthwhile experiences, and keep themselves excited and occupied.
Enthusiasts look for Jesus. Why? Because they ate their fill of the loaves.
Now I am all for people being enthusiastic about Jesus, but there is a problem with this personality type. “Do not work for the food that perishes,” warns Jesus, “but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (v. 27). The barley loaves that Jesus used to feed the five thousand is “food that perishes,” and he tells the people that they should not focus their enthusiasm on this kind of bread. Instead, they should work for the food that endures for eternal life.
posted by Henry Brinton | 11:35 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home