The Bread We Eat

Music by Ron Klusmeier
Words by Walter Farquharson
Tune Name: BALCARRES

Lyrics as Poetry

The bread we eat is Jesus’ bread
and it is sweet and good.
The bread we eat is Jesus’ bread,
so now we share our food.
For Jesus came to open doors,
to help set prisoners free.
And when you’ve eaten Jesus’ bread,
it changes you and me.

Now, Jesus came to help the poor,
to cure the sick and lame.
And when you’ve eaten Jesus’ bread,
you’re asked to do the same.
For Jesus came to give friends life,
to teach us each to give.
And when we’ve eaten Jesus’ bread,
we know that’s how to live!

The bread we eat is Jesus’ bread
and it is sweet and good.
The bread we eat is Jesus’ bread,
so now we share our food.
For Jesus came to show God’s love,
to name God’s family.
And when we’ve eaten Jesus’ bread,
our hearts begin to see!

Words by
Walter FarquharsonCopyright © 1984 by Walter Farquharson
Administered by Hope Publishing Company
Carol Stream, Illinois • USA

Comments About Song

A Reflection by
WALTER FARQUHARSON

Gathering around the family table to share a meal is perhaps one of the most significant things we do.  It should not be surprising to us that that very thing became a central act/action of the Christian Church.   Most branches of the church moved away from the sharing of a common meal and replaced it with a symbolic act that was formalized and regularized until it bore little resemblance to those breaking bread and who, in that eating together, remembered the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

The church talked of being the body of Christ.  Again, at first, this would not have been a theological or ecclesiological statement of belief.  It was the recognition that the body of believers, in both individual and corporate life were literally to be the hands, feet, heart and mind of Christ.  Nurtured and nourished at the table, they were to go into all the world healing and proclaiming in word and action a liberating and empowering good news.

Each part of the meal is important. We gather. We gather intentionally, freely, expectantly. This is a place of welcome and inclusion. Ancient and new barriers are broken down. Humanity is celebrated. Amongst other things that means that burdens are laid down, forgiveness is possible, the worth of each is affirmed.

We gather. We greet and are greeted. Trust in God and in one another is acknowledged. Inter-dependence, accountability, and caring for each other becomes the basis of our ethic, our call.

We eat. We dine upon food from the bounty of creation. Whether food is abundant or scarce it will be shared- and those with greatest need, those most vulnerable, will be the first, not the last, to eat. The ratings and rankings of the world are to be set aside.

After all, Jesus had told his closest followers that there would be no reserved seating at his right hand when the new day of God arrived!

We share our lives. As at a family table we celebrate our victories, complain about our afflictions, discuss and laugh, and sometimes cry together. There is no call to “keep up appearances”. We know and are known, we forgive as we hope to be forgiven, we seek to understand as we hope to be understood.

We share the good news of God’s love. We speak our gratitude and acknowledge our need for strengthening, healing and grace.  We recall the story and the stories of our faith. We feed also upon the word of God as we find it in our scriptures and seek its implications and applications for our daily living.

In speech, in silence, in the singing of hymns and songs, in the conversations we have together, perhaps in the gentle touch or embrace of one another, the vocalizing of the peace of Christ, we prepare to leave this sacred place and time.

We go forth. That’s a beautiful way of saying we leave, we go on our way. We go forth. This is movement with intention. It speaks of vigour and energy. We have a task to fulfill, ministries to live. We go to walk and live the Way.

The bread we eat is Jesus’ bread. It is sweet and good. Has this not been your experience? Thanks be to God.  Amen.

Scripture References

  • Genesis 1:30
  • Deuteronomy 4:29
  • Psalm 51:10
  • Psalm 103:3
  • Psalm 146:7
  • Psalm 147:3
  • Isaiah 53:5
  • Isaiah 55:10-11
  • Jeremiah 31:33
  • Jeremiah 51:46
  • Hosea 14:4
  • Matthew 6:25
  • Matthew 10:8
  • Matthew 10:42
  • Matthew 12:10
  • Matthew 25:35
  • Matthew 26:26
  • Mark 14:22
  • Luke 3:11
  • Luke 4:23
  • Luke 18:1
  • Luke 22:19
  • Luke 24:13-35
  • John 6:1-3
  • John 6:27
  • John 6:33-35
  • John 6:48-51
  • John 8:32
  • John 14:1
  • John 21:1-17
  • Romans 6:23
  • 1 Corinthians 10:16
  • 1 Corinthians 11:18-29
  • 1 Corinthians 12:9
  • Revelation 22:2

Season, Theme
or Subject

  • Bread
  • Care, Caring
  • Change
  • Children∶ music for
  • Communion
  • Door, Doors
  • Eucharist
  • Heal, Healing
  • Intergenerational
  • Share, Sharing

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