Today is the eve of my 26th birthday, one of many that I have celebrated while being somewhere new, not knowing many people. I believe highly in birthday celebrations, I believe strongly in getting dressed up on your birthday no other reason than it's your birthday. But I think this birthday is going to be very low key, it needs to be. And so, I'm going to be working in the office, attending a lunch with some ladies from church, attending the WELCA board meeting, leading our inaugural theology on tap meeting and then going to dinner with a friend or two...maybe go pay a visit a friend at fatso's to enjoy a festive beverage after.
A low key birthday is nice. I like low key birthdays, they give you time to think about all the things you've been blessed with. And I am blessed with 13 people who, beginning tomorrow, will join me on a 365 day journey through the bible. We will be following the ELCA's bible in one year program, complete with weekly optional meetings at Aimee's coffee shop on Mass. Street, a list serve and a blog. It should be a fun and interesting year that I'm very much looking forward to.
And so, I say goodbye to 25...what it was and what it wasn't, and hello to 26, complete with everything it will bring.
Monday, August 31, 2009
A bridled tongue is not an easy feat
Pentecost 13B August 30, 2009
James 1:17-27
Let’s talk about James. Martin Luther did not like the Epistle of James. He called it the “straw epistle,” stating that, in essence…it had the spiritual nutritional value of a bail of straw. He reasoned this because there is no mention of the death and resurrection of Christ in this epistle. Luther also did not appreciate that the letter of James to the Christian Diaspora seemed to counter act Paul’s writings about salvation by grace through faith apart from works. Instead, Luther found in James the temptation towards works righteousness. In fact, Luther disliked James so much that he wanted it removed from the New Testament Canon, along with Revelation.
I would like to go on record as being in disagreement with Luther. Yes, I am a good Lutheran, born and bred to eat jell-o and casserole, drink coffee and celebrate Oktober-fest…but I like the epistle of James. I like that it is not the typical type of form of biblical literature that you would find in the New Testament…and I would agree with one commentator that the Epistle of James is likely a form of Christian wisdom literature, not unlike the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes that we find in the Hebrew Scripture.
In James we find a sort of “how to” manual on being an authentic religious person. What does a religious person look like? is the question he seems to be addressing in this letter to the early Christian community. The author of the letter of James gave these early Christians practical tips on how too be a true religious person instead of being a person who just calls him or herself a religious person…this is something that they needed in their time of persecution and it is something that we still need today, for as one of my friends once said, being at a worship service doesn’t make you a religious person any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. So we have our question, what does a religious person look like??
In our text this morning, we find a reader’s digest version of the answer…one that will be parsed out as the letter of James continues to be present in our readings for the next couple weeks.
But first, what about this word religious? It seems to be a very taboo word in modern day vocabulary. We have books like “how to be Christian without being religious” and “I’m spiritual, but not religious,” is the catch phrase of generations W and Y. It seems that the term religious has gotten the same bad rap that the word Christian has been hit with in recent years…if not a worse one. It seems that we’re not living up to the expectations that James has for us if the word, which was at one time taken to mean someone who receives the word of God and puts it into action, has been turned into an ugly, disliked word, demeaning of those whom it describes and scary for those in the presence of an individual marked by that descriptor. This is not a recent development, however.
In our Gospel text this morning, Jesus reprimands the scribes and the Pharisees who question him about the cleanliness of the disciples’ hands. They were not referring to the actual cleanliness of their hands, but rather their ritual purity. The disciples apparently did not take part in a second washing of hands that was placed in the laws of Moses. You hypocrites Jesus says to those who question them, you have turned away from the words of God and have clung to human traditions.
Before I get ahead of myself, however, we should turn back to the question at hand. What does a religious person look like? What are these expectations that James has for us? And we are given multiple hints to discerning this. According to James, a religious person is quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger…this person is one who receives the Word of God without pride and becomes not just a hearer of the word, but a doer of the word. A religious person is one who bridles their tongue and puts away, in the words of the Bible in Basic English translation, “dirty behavior,” a translation that makes more sense than rank growth in wickedness as the NRSV states. An authentic religious person helps the widow and the orphan and keeps him or herself from becoming unstained by the world.
That’s quite a list of attributes! And it also puts a phrase into my head, “easier said than done.”
How many times have any of us lost control of our tongues or refused to listen so perchance our opinion could be heard and validated in the midst of those that we both agreed and disagreed with? How many times have any of us been merely hearers of the word, choosing to keep it to ourselves rather than share it with others in word and action? How many times have we allowed ourselves to become stained by the world, choosing to cling to human things instead of the things of God? I’m not going to ask for a show of hands, for that’s not important. It happens, though and we’re all guilty of it at sometime or another.
But I do ask you for one thing…think of your last trip to the airport. I was reminded this weekend as I planed, trained, and automobiled my way to Madison, Wisconsin for my best friends ordination that flying the friendly skies…well travel in general, is not always the most conducive environment for tongue holding, quickness to listen and slowness to speech. After boarding our plane headed from KCI to Chicago O’hare on Friday, the passengers on board our flight were informed that we would be waiting at the gate for the next hour and ten minutes so that the traffic at Chicago O’hare could become less congested. The cacophony of sighs and variety of rolling eyes and worried or even angry looks was quite memorable. We had all lost control of our time schedules. Connecting flights were missed, pick-ups had to be rescheduled, and time spent with friends was cut short. I can only imagine some of the words spoken about either the airline company or the air traffic control over this delay.
It’s difficult to bridle our tongues, it’s easy to become stained by the world…influenced by economies of greed and pride that are gaining force as the financial economy still continues to struggle.
It’s easy for us to become like those James describes, those who glance at themselves in the mirror and see what they look like then quickly walk away without giving our appearance another look. But James also tells us that we need to take another look in the mirror…a mirror of perfect law, to get another glance at ourselves…let ourselves linger there. For it’s there that we find ourselves at the foot of the cross, staring our sins in the face as we see the pained expression of an innocent man being put to death in one of the most painful ways imaginable. Our sins hang without decoration, bare and bloody for all to see how vulnerable they make us. They are like blemishes on the skin….we want to scrub and scrub and scrub, but they won’t go away. At least they won’t go away on account of our efforts. For when we linger at the mirror of perfect law for a little bit, there is a change in appearance that takes place. We no longer see the blemishes caused by our sins. Instead we see the face of Christ staring back at us. This is not some painting that we’re staring at…we still see ourselves, but we also see that Christ has come into us and become apart of us.
Christ has become apart of us in the waters of baptism, the implanting of the Word of God and the taking in of bread and wine each week. Christ enters into us, wiping away our sins with his own blood, and making us to be his hands and feet in the world. This sacrifice was made for us because we are God’s first fruits, the best of what God created. And when we linger in the mirror and listen to hear the words of God saying “look at how beautiful you are, you cannot imagine how much I love you,” we see Christ inside of us and are moved, out of Joy and thanksgiving to give back. We are empowered to serve the poor and the widow, to be quick to listen instead of speak. It is because we listen for God’s voice and are humbled by the extravagant love of God that we become the people that James describes. Take some time to listen for the voice of God and look into the mirror of perfect law, which resides at the foot of the cross, where our sins were washed away, once and for all.
Amen
James 1:17-27
Let’s talk about James. Martin Luther did not like the Epistle of James. He called it the “straw epistle,” stating that, in essence…it had the spiritual nutritional value of a bail of straw. He reasoned this because there is no mention of the death and resurrection of Christ in this epistle. Luther also did not appreciate that the letter of James to the Christian Diaspora seemed to counter act Paul’s writings about salvation by grace through faith apart from works. Instead, Luther found in James the temptation towards works righteousness. In fact, Luther disliked James so much that he wanted it removed from the New Testament Canon, along with Revelation.
I would like to go on record as being in disagreement with Luther. Yes, I am a good Lutheran, born and bred to eat jell-o and casserole, drink coffee and celebrate Oktober-fest…but I like the epistle of James. I like that it is not the typical type of form of biblical literature that you would find in the New Testament…and I would agree with one commentator that the Epistle of James is likely a form of Christian wisdom literature, not unlike the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes that we find in the Hebrew Scripture.
In James we find a sort of “how to” manual on being an authentic religious person. What does a religious person look like? is the question he seems to be addressing in this letter to the early Christian community. The author of the letter of James gave these early Christians practical tips on how too be a true religious person instead of being a person who just calls him or herself a religious person…this is something that they needed in their time of persecution and it is something that we still need today, for as one of my friends once said, being at a worship service doesn’t make you a religious person any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. So we have our question, what does a religious person look like??
In our text this morning, we find a reader’s digest version of the answer…one that will be parsed out as the letter of James continues to be present in our readings for the next couple weeks.
But first, what about this word religious? It seems to be a very taboo word in modern day vocabulary. We have books like “how to be Christian without being religious” and “I’m spiritual, but not religious,” is the catch phrase of generations W and Y. It seems that the term religious has gotten the same bad rap that the word Christian has been hit with in recent years…if not a worse one. It seems that we’re not living up to the expectations that James has for us if the word, which was at one time taken to mean someone who receives the word of God and puts it into action, has been turned into an ugly, disliked word, demeaning of those whom it describes and scary for those in the presence of an individual marked by that descriptor. This is not a recent development, however.
In our Gospel text this morning, Jesus reprimands the scribes and the Pharisees who question him about the cleanliness of the disciples’ hands. They were not referring to the actual cleanliness of their hands, but rather their ritual purity. The disciples apparently did not take part in a second washing of hands that was placed in the laws of Moses. You hypocrites Jesus says to those who question them, you have turned away from the words of God and have clung to human traditions.
Before I get ahead of myself, however, we should turn back to the question at hand. What does a religious person look like? What are these expectations that James has for us? And we are given multiple hints to discerning this. According to James, a religious person is quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger…this person is one who receives the Word of God without pride and becomes not just a hearer of the word, but a doer of the word. A religious person is one who bridles their tongue and puts away, in the words of the Bible in Basic English translation, “dirty behavior,” a translation that makes more sense than rank growth in wickedness as the NRSV states. An authentic religious person helps the widow and the orphan and keeps him or herself from becoming unstained by the world.
That’s quite a list of attributes! And it also puts a phrase into my head, “easier said than done.”
How many times have any of us lost control of our tongues or refused to listen so perchance our opinion could be heard and validated in the midst of those that we both agreed and disagreed with? How many times have any of us been merely hearers of the word, choosing to keep it to ourselves rather than share it with others in word and action? How many times have we allowed ourselves to become stained by the world, choosing to cling to human things instead of the things of God? I’m not going to ask for a show of hands, for that’s not important. It happens, though and we’re all guilty of it at sometime or another.
But I do ask you for one thing…think of your last trip to the airport. I was reminded this weekend as I planed, trained, and automobiled my way to Madison, Wisconsin for my best friends ordination that flying the friendly skies…well travel in general, is not always the most conducive environment for tongue holding, quickness to listen and slowness to speech. After boarding our plane headed from KCI to Chicago O’hare on Friday, the passengers on board our flight were informed that we would be waiting at the gate for the next hour and ten minutes so that the traffic at Chicago O’hare could become less congested. The cacophony of sighs and variety of rolling eyes and worried or even angry looks was quite memorable. We had all lost control of our time schedules. Connecting flights were missed, pick-ups had to be rescheduled, and time spent with friends was cut short. I can only imagine some of the words spoken about either the airline company or the air traffic control over this delay.
It’s difficult to bridle our tongues, it’s easy to become stained by the world…influenced by economies of greed and pride that are gaining force as the financial economy still continues to struggle.
It’s easy for us to become like those James describes, those who glance at themselves in the mirror and see what they look like then quickly walk away without giving our appearance another look. But James also tells us that we need to take another look in the mirror…a mirror of perfect law, to get another glance at ourselves…let ourselves linger there. For it’s there that we find ourselves at the foot of the cross, staring our sins in the face as we see the pained expression of an innocent man being put to death in one of the most painful ways imaginable. Our sins hang without decoration, bare and bloody for all to see how vulnerable they make us. They are like blemishes on the skin….we want to scrub and scrub and scrub, but they won’t go away. At least they won’t go away on account of our efforts. For when we linger at the mirror of perfect law for a little bit, there is a change in appearance that takes place. We no longer see the blemishes caused by our sins. Instead we see the face of Christ staring back at us. This is not some painting that we’re staring at…we still see ourselves, but we also see that Christ has come into us and become apart of us.
Christ has become apart of us in the waters of baptism, the implanting of the Word of God and the taking in of bread and wine each week. Christ enters into us, wiping away our sins with his own blood, and making us to be his hands and feet in the world. This sacrifice was made for us because we are God’s first fruits, the best of what God created. And when we linger in the mirror and listen to hear the words of God saying “look at how beautiful you are, you cannot imagine how much I love you,” we see Christ inside of us and are moved, out of Joy and thanksgiving to give back. We are empowered to serve the poor and the widow, to be quick to listen instead of speak. It is because we listen for God’s voice and are humbled by the extravagant love of God that we become the people that James describes. Take some time to listen for the voice of God and look into the mirror of perfect law, which resides at the foot of the cross, where our sins were washed away, once and for all.
Amen
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
These are Hard Words, Jesus
Last week I was reading through the texts with the ELCA's Churchwide Assembly in my thoughts and prayers and realized that there was no way that I couldn't speak to what happened.
Pentecost 12B – Aug 23, 2009
John 6:56-69, Eph 6:10-20
“These are hard words…who is able to hear them?”
I’m not surprised to hear these words out of the disciples as Jesus comes to the conclusion of the “Bread of Life” discourse. These words of Jesus are hard words, in fact they are downright offensive. What do you mean you want to us eat of your flesh and drink of your blood?? We’re not cannibals!! How can you say that you are bread that has come down from heaven? We have seen you grow up under the watchful eye of your parents, Mary and Joseph. Our kids ran around with you when you were little. How is it that a person can even claim to be bread? This does not make sense, and on top of it you want us to eat of your flesh and drink of your blood?
These are truly hard and offensive words. They are as hard for us to hear now as they were for the disciples who walked with Jesus. We say week in and week out “this is the body of Christ given for you, this is the blood of Christ shed for you.” Doesn’t that sound a little weird? And yet every time we gather at this table, we gather to eat the flesh of Christ and drink of his blood.
These words from the “bread of life discourse” are not the only hard and, possibly, offensive words that Christ has for us. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves, we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, we are to be hospitable to the outcast and the down trodden, we are to be last though we wish to be first. Cut your hand off if it causes you to sin, Christ says…give away your possessions and give the proceeds to the poor.
These are hard words…who is able to hear them?
This past week, the Church Wide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America met in Minneapolis. If you listened in to the live feed or watched the videos of the plenary sessions, I’m sure you noticed that some hard words were spoken, especially during the discussion of the formerly proposed but now adopted Statement on Human Sexuality and Resolutions on Ministry Policy which have been in the process of being constructed for some time now.
From those who were both for and against the adoption of the sexuality statement and resolutions on ministry policies, individuals brought scripture passage after scripture passage which they were using as proof texts for their side of the debate. There were confessions of homophobia, confessions of gender and sexual identity, souls were bared, tears were shed, leaving taking and divisions were threatened, hearts were wrenched and opinions debated as amendments were brought before the plenary, and amended and the amendments that had been amended were amended again. And as I listened in, and followed twitter and facebook updates, I realized just how hard all of these words are on a church that is very divided on the topic of human sexuality, on a country and a world that are, for the most part, equality as divided on whether human sexuality is good or bad, what the entire scope of human sexuality is and where we draw the line on what we are willing to agree and disagree and agree to disagree on.
These are hard words…who is able to hear them?
Regardless of what side of the debate on the statement on human sexuality and resolutions on ministry policy people were on, hard words were spoken and ultimately a decision was made by those whom were selected to represent the Church Wide body. Going in, we all knew that regardless of the decisions that were prayerfully made at the church wide assembly in Minneapolis this past week, some were going to be left disappointed by either an amendment, or a resolution or the statement itself. And some did leave disappointed by the adoption and defeat of amendments, the adoption of resolutions regarding ministry policies in the ELCA and adoption of the statement on Human Sexuality.
And this morning we hear Christ’s words echoing in our ears, “is this offensive to you?” “is this a stumbling block for you?” “Do you want to go away too?” And if we’re honest with ourselves and our neighbors, the painful and difficult answer to these questions is yes.
Yes, Christ’s words are offensive to us and difficult for us to hear. It is offensive to be told that we are to eat flesh and drink blood for that is the bread which leads to eternal life. It is offensive to be told that if we become angry with a person that we are in essence committing murder. It is difficult to be told that we are unable to come to Jesus unless brought to him by God. Yes, Jesus, your words are offensive to us.
Yes, following Christ is difficult and it is not always fun and we stumble. We don’t always want to love our neighbors as ourselves, we don’t always want to separate ourselves from things that cause us to sin. We want to trust in ourselves more than we trust in God to make things come out how we want them to. We often are hesitant to give what we have to those in need…we are often hesitant to even give our first fruits back to you, Jesus. Yes, following Christ is a difficult thing to do. And yes, we too want to turn on our heels and go away.
Following Christ, hearing his difficult words and reflecting on the painful realities of our sinful lives is hard work. If it wasn’t hard, Joshua wouldn’t have ordered the Israelites to choose whom they would serve. It if wasn’t difficult to be a follower of Christ, Paul would not have found it necessary to tell the Ephesians to put on the armor of God so that with truth, righteousness, peace and faith, they could persevere in difficult times.
We are in the midst of difficult times. We are in the midst of a time in which a church, our church, has shown a visible division in how it sees the role of homosexual clergy in doing the work of God. We are in the midst of a time in which individuals and congregations are discerning whether or not to remain a part of this church body, while others are finding reconciliation and a new welcome to a place where many have felt alienated for so long. We are in the midst of a time in which people in this congregation are divided on this issue as well as others. This is a difficult time. We are divided.
And yet in the midst of the divisions caused by human hands, we have great unity. We are united in that we have spoken the words of Joshua “as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord.” We are united that we have put on the armor of God, faith, righteousness, peace and truth. We are united in that we are able to hear the difficult words of Christ and still confess with Peter “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Sin and human nature may divide us and cause us to stumble but God has brought us near to Christ and given us the ability to hear the difficult words that he has for us. God has brought us to a place where we share the peace with one another and become reconciled with one another before gathering at the table to receive bread and wine, body and blood and to rejoice that Christ gave of his life so that we can stand in the midst of the saints that have gone before us and for that moment, our divisions do not exist. In the moment we come to the table, we stand kneel next to one another, not caring who thinks what about what for we all come to the table at the urging of the spirit. A Spirit that unites and Spirit that reconciles and heals.
We have a lot of work to do, church. But are off to a good start…for we are united in our service to God, and our confession that Christ holds the words of eternal life, and our presence at the table. Thanks be to God, Amen
Pentecost 12B – Aug 23, 2009
John 6:56-69, Eph 6:10-20
“These are hard words…who is able to hear them?”
I’m not surprised to hear these words out of the disciples as Jesus comes to the conclusion of the “Bread of Life” discourse. These words of Jesus are hard words, in fact they are downright offensive. What do you mean you want to us eat of your flesh and drink of your blood?? We’re not cannibals!! How can you say that you are bread that has come down from heaven? We have seen you grow up under the watchful eye of your parents, Mary and Joseph. Our kids ran around with you when you were little. How is it that a person can even claim to be bread? This does not make sense, and on top of it you want us to eat of your flesh and drink of your blood?
These are truly hard and offensive words. They are as hard for us to hear now as they were for the disciples who walked with Jesus. We say week in and week out “this is the body of Christ given for you, this is the blood of Christ shed for you.” Doesn’t that sound a little weird? And yet every time we gather at this table, we gather to eat the flesh of Christ and drink of his blood.
These words from the “bread of life discourse” are not the only hard and, possibly, offensive words that Christ has for us. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves, we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, we are to be hospitable to the outcast and the down trodden, we are to be last though we wish to be first. Cut your hand off if it causes you to sin, Christ says…give away your possessions and give the proceeds to the poor.
These are hard words…who is able to hear them?
This past week, the Church Wide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America met in Minneapolis. If you listened in to the live feed or watched the videos of the plenary sessions, I’m sure you noticed that some hard words were spoken, especially during the discussion of the formerly proposed but now adopted Statement on Human Sexuality and Resolutions on Ministry Policy which have been in the process of being constructed for some time now.
From those who were both for and against the adoption of the sexuality statement and resolutions on ministry policies, individuals brought scripture passage after scripture passage which they were using as proof texts for their side of the debate. There were confessions of homophobia, confessions of gender and sexual identity, souls were bared, tears were shed, leaving taking and divisions were threatened, hearts were wrenched and opinions debated as amendments were brought before the plenary, and amended and the amendments that had been amended were amended again. And as I listened in, and followed twitter and facebook updates, I realized just how hard all of these words are on a church that is very divided on the topic of human sexuality, on a country and a world that are, for the most part, equality as divided on whether human sexuality is good or bad, what the entire scope of human sexuality is and where we draw the line on what we are willing to agree and disagree and agree to disagree on.
These are hard words…who is able to hear them?
Regardless of what side of the debate on the statement on human sexuality and resolutions on ministry policy people were on, hard words were spoken and ultimately a decision was made by those whom were selected to represent the Church Wide body. Going in, we all knew that regardless of the decisions that were prayerfully made at the church wide assembly in Minneapolis this past week, some were going to be left disappointed by either an amendment, or a resolution or the statement itself. And some did leave disappointed by the adoption and defeat of amendments, the adoption of resolutions regarding ministry policies in the ELCA and adoption of the statement on Human Sexuality.
And this morning we hear Christ’s words echoing in our ears, “is this offensive to you?” “is this a stumbling block for you?” “Do you want to go away too?” And if we’re honest with ourselves and our neighbors, the painful and difficult answer to these questions is yes.
Yes, Christ’s words are offensive to us and difficult for us to hear. It is offensive to be told that we are to eat flesh and drink blood for that is the bread which leads to eternal life. It is offensive to be told that if we become angry with a person that we are in essence committing murder. It is difficult to be told that we are unable to come to Jesus unless brought to him by God. Yes, Jesus, your words are offensive to us.
Yes, following Christ is difficult and it is not always fun and we stumble. We don’t always want to love our neighbors as ourselves, we don’t always want to separate ourselves from things that cause us to sin. We want to trust in ourselves more than we trust in God to make things come out how we want them to. We often are hesitant to give what we have to those in need…we are often hesitant to even give our first fruits back to you, Jesus. Yes, following Christ is a difficult thing to do. And yes, we too want to turn on our heels and go away.
Following Christ, hearing his difficult words and reflecting on the painful realities of our sinful lives is hard work. If it wasn’t hard, Joshua wouldn’t have ordered the Israelites to choose whom they would serve. It if wasn’t difficult to be a follower of Christ, Paul would not have found it necessary to tell the Ephesians to put on the armor of God so that with truth, righteousness, peace and faith, they could persevere in difficult times.
We are in the midst of difficult times. We are in the midst of a time in which a church, our church, has shown a visible division in how it sees the role of homosexual clergy in doing the work of God. We are in the midst of a time in which individuals and congregations are discerning whether or not to remain a part of this church body, while others are finding reconciliation and a new welcome to a place where many have felt alienated for so long. We are in the midst of a time in which people in this congregation are divided on this issue as well as others. This is a difficult time. We are divided.
And yet in the midst of the divisions caused by human hands, we have great unity. We are united in that we have spoken the words of Joshua “as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord.” We are united that we have put on the armor of God, faith, righteousness, peace and truth. We are united in that we are able to hear the difficult words of Christ and still confess with Peter “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Sin and human nature may divide us and cause us to stumble but God has brought us near to Christ and given us the ability to hear the difficult words that he has for us. God has brought us to a place where we share the peace with one another and become reconciled with one another before gathering at the table to receive bread and wine, body and blood and to rejoice that Christ gave of his life so that we can stand in the midst of the saints that have gone before us and for that moment, our divisions do not exist. In the moment we come to the table, we stand kneel next to one another, not caring who thinks what about what for we all come to the table at the urging of the spirit. A Spirit that unites and Spirit that reconciles and heals.
We have a lot of work to do, church. But are off to a good start…for we are united in our service to God, and our confession that Christ holds the words of eternal life, and our presence at the table. Thanks be to God, Amen
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Sermon, August 9, 2009
Pentecost 10B – August 9, 2009
John 6:35, 41-51
Grace, Mercy and Peace be to you from God our father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the true bread from heaven, Amen.
We are now deep into what is known as “the bread of life discourse.” Week two of four where Jesus talks to the crowds about two kinds of bread, bread that perishes and bread that endures for eternal life. If you tack on the feeding of the five thousand from two weeks ago, that puts us in week three of five that are centered around bread. And I have to be honest with you, I’m feeling a little bit of a carbohydrate overload.
Carbs are tricky business. People who have blood sugar disorders like hypoglycemia and diabetes know that if you eat too many carbohydrates and not enough protein, it is likely to leave you feeling exhausted and weak. And here we are, being fed on a strict diet of bread for five weeks. No wonder I am left feeling exhausted by this text…as two elderly ladies on a Wendy’s commercial once said “where’s the beef?”
Now I’m no literary scholar, didn’t do too well in my English lit classes in high school, but I have a feeling that our text for today is getting into the meat of chapter 6 of the gospel of John. I am the bread of life, Jesus said, whoever comes to me will not be hungry and whoever believes in me will not thirst. It’s the punch line from last week’s text and also the binder between last week and this week, a cliffhanger of sorts. But while last week we were witness to the crowds seeming cluelessness, this week we watch on as a new group arises out of the crowd. This new group is the Judeans, or, as our translation calls them, the Jews. It seems that they are a distinct group from with in the crowd because throughout the portions of chapter six that we’ve heard so far, the people following Jesus have always been called the crowds, (ha ochlos).
So now this group of Judeans arises and they begin to complain about Jesus because of what he said. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph? How can he say that he has come down from heaven?” That they were complaining is reminiscent of the complaints of the Israelites as they wandered the desert after the Exodus and our good friend Elijah in today’s Old Testament reading…at the same time, though, I could understand what their questions were about.
You see, back then, a person was strongly linked to their father and inheritance laws ruled the land. So it would have been a disgrace to Joseph’s name if Jesus said that he wasn’t really his son. And also, they had seen Jesus grow up under the watchful eye of Joseph...his earthly father. Their complaining, however, indicates that they are not too fond of what Jesus has to say…maybe this person that they wanted to make their king after the feeding of the five thousand is not the kind of person they really wanted to make their king. And as we saw last week, it doesn’t seem like they get the big picture. They saw the sick being healed and followed Jesus, they were fed by what started out as five loaves and two fish, so they follow Jesus, but then they ask him to show them more signs so that they might believe. The problem is that they are looking at the signs, but not seeing what they point to. And so they complain amongst themselves about this man claiming to be the bread come down from heaven. What kind of King would this Jesus, Son of Joseph, make? What kind of king did they really want, anyway?
Given the time and area in which they lived, it seems that the people wanted a king who would gather them together and lead them against the tyranny of the Roman army that was occupying their land and ruling their government through people like Herod and Pilate, who ultimately answered to the emperor in Rome, who really couldn’t care less about the needs of the people in Judea and Galilee. These people wanted a king who would summon an army, and restore Israel to the glory it had once known. This is the kind of king they wanted Jesus to be, one with military might, one who would feed them until their physical hungers were satisfied, not just once, but time and time again. They were not looking for someone who was claiming to be bread from heaven and instructing them to seek out food that endures for eternal life. They wanted Jesus, son of Joseph to be their king…not Jesus, bread of life.
As I mentioned before, the crowds, and the Judeans in particular, don’t seem to be getting the big picture. They want something that they can see here and now. They want more signs that they can see so that they might believe. But upon seeing their complaining, Jesus brings them back to where this all started…back to God. He brings it back to the one who draws us to Christ, the one who is the great instructor of us all, the one who gives us the bread from heaven. The crowds followed Jesus because they were fed with the loaves, but Jesus reminds them that their ancestors that ate of the loaves ultimately died. Life is fleeting, we are sustained by physical food, but Jesus gives us something better. He gives us bread that will last for eternal life. He gives us bread that feeds our souls. He gives us himself.
Jesus is the bread of life. We have bread prominently present in our gospel text for five weeks for a reason. Not because it’s August and many people are on vacation and probably won’t hear it more than twice, as I heard someone joke the other day. There is a different reason that the creators of the lectionary put such and emphasis on this teaching. We have a problem similar to the crowds and the Judeans. We want to see signs, we want to believe in something that we can see. We have a growing percentage of the population in America that wants to see Jesus come back as a warrior to separate the sheep from the goats.
But what we’re faced with is a gentle, loving Jesus, who wants to feed us with himself…a Jesus who wants to bring all people to himself and give us eternal life. Not exactly the type of king that one would expect. But here we are. Somehow, something has drawn us here today. Somehow, we have listened to God beckoning us to this place, a place where we gather together in community, a place where we receive Christ, a place in which bread and wine, body and blood are consumed.
And this is the protein that we need. God gives it to us, and while our souls do get worn out from time to time, God keeps giving us this protein through Christ. Someone once said that God is like a tow truck for when we run out of gas along the road of life. God picks us up and takes us to the Son, who gives us a quick refill and sends us on our way. “but, I thought Jesus said that those who come to him would never get hungry??” The thing is, when Jesus says, “those who come to me will not be hungry” it was meant in a future sense. But that’s ok, because we need to be hungry now. We need to experience hunger, because if we don’t, we will become complacent and the cries of those who suffer from lack of food, lack of shelter, lack of human rights will be squelched. Our hearts need to hunger now, for peace, for justice, for love in a world that is so full of hate and violence. But the good news is that we are drawn to Christ, and in consuming his body and blood, we become what we eat so that we can be Christ’s hands and feet in this world. A world that is broken and needs Christ to be present in the most ordinary of moments. This is how Christ brings life into the world. Christ has given himself up for us and in taking him into our bodies, we go out into the world to share his love with those we encounter as we work, as we rest and as we play. And this is the protein that gets us through. Therefore, we can rejoice in these five weeks of bread, for they remind us of how God feeds us and then sends us out into the world to be Christ’s hands and feet in the world. Amen.
John 6:35, 41-51
Grace, Mercy and Peace be to you from God our father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the true bread from heaven, Amen.
We are now deep into what is known as “the bread of life discourse.” Week two of four where Jesus talks to the crowds about two kinds of bread, bread that perishes and bread that endures for eternal life. If you tack on the feeding of the five thousand from two weeks ago, that puts us in week three of five that are centered around bread. And I have to be honest with you, I’m feeling a little bit of a carbohydrate overload.
Carbs are tricky business. People who have blood sugar disorders like hypoglycemia and diabetes know that if you eat too many carbohydrates and not enough protein, it is likely to leave you feeling exhausted and weak. And here we are, being fed on a strict diet of bread for five weeks. No wonder I am left feeling exhausted by this text…as two elderly ladies on a Wendy’s commercial once said “where’s the beef?”
Now I’m no literary scholar, didn’t do too well in my English lit classes in high school, but I have a feeling that our text for today is getting into the meat of chapter 6 of the gospel of John. I am the bread of life, Jesus said, whoever comes to me will not be hungry and whoever believes in me will not thirst. It’s the punch line from last week’s text and also the binder between last week and this week, a cliffhanger of sorts. But while last week we were witness to the crowds seeming cluelessness, this week we watch on as a new group arises out of the crowd. This new group is the Judeans, or, as our translation calls them, the Jews. It seems that they are a distinct group from with in the crowd because throughout the portions of chapter six that we’ve heard so far, the people following Jesus have always been called the crowds, (ha ochlos).
So now this group of Judeans arises and they begin to complain about Jesus because of what he said. “Isn’t this the son of Joseph? How can he say that he has come down from heaven?” That they were complaining is reminiscent of the complaints of the Israelites as they wandered the desert after the Exodus and our good friend Elijah in today’s Old Testament reading…at the same time, though, I could understand what their questions were about.
You see, back then, a person was strongly linked to their father and inheritance laws ruled the land. So it would have been a disgrace to Joseph’s name if Jesus said that he wasn’t really his son. And also, they had seen Jesus grow up under the watchful eye of Joseph...his earthly father. Their complaining, however, indicates that they are not too fond of what Jesus has to say…maybe this person that they wanted to make their king after the feeding of the five thousand is not the kind of person they really wanted to make their king. And as we saw last week, it doesn’t seem like they get the big picture. They saw the sick being healed and followed Jesus, they were fed by what started out as five loaves and two fish, so they follow Jesus, but then they ask him to show them more signs so that they might believe. The problem is that they are looking at the signs, but not seeing what they point to. And so they complain amongst themselves about this man claiming to be the bread come down from heaven. What kind of King would this Jesus, Son of Joseph, make? What kind of king did they really want, anyway?
Given the time and area in which they lived, it seems that the people wanted a king who would gather them together and lead them against the tyranny of the Roman army that was occupying their land and ruling their government through people like Herod and Pilate, who ultimately answered to the emperor in Rome, who really couldn’t care less about the needs of the people in Judea and Galilee. These people wanted a king who would summon an army, and restore Israel to the glory it had once known. This is the kind of king they wanted Jesus to be, one with military might, one who would feed them until their physical hungers were satisfied, not just once, but time and time again. They were not looking for someone who was claiming to be bread from heaven and instructing them to seek out food that endures for eternal life. They wanted Jesus, son of Joseph to be their king…not Jesus, bread of life.
As I mentioned before, the crowds, and the Judeans in particular, don’t seem to be getting the big picture. They want something that they can see here and now. They want more signs that they can see so that they might believe. But upon seeing their complaining, Jesus brings them back to where this all started…back to God. He brings it back to the one who draws us to Christ, the one who is the great instructor of us all, the one who gives us the bread from heaven. The crowds followed Jesus because they were fed with the loaves, but Jesus reminds them that their ancestors that ate of the loaves ultimately died. Life is fleeting, we are sustained by physical food, but Jesus gives us something better. He gives us bread that will last for eternal life. He gives us bread that feeds our souls. He gives us himself.
Jesus is the bread of life. We have bread prominently present in our gospel text for five weeks for a reason. Not because it’s August and many people are on vacation and probably won’t hear it more than twice, as I heard someone joke the other day. There is a different reason that the creators of the lectionary put such and emphasis on this teaching. We have a problem similar to the crowds and the Judeans. We want to see signs, we want to believe in something that we can see. We have a growing percentage of the population in America that wants to see Jesus come back as a warrior to separate the sheep from the goats.
But what we’re faced with is a gentle, loving Jesus, who wants to feed us with himself…a Jesus who wants to bring all people to himself and give us eternal life. Not exactly the type of king that one would expect. But here we are. Somehow, something has drawn us here today. Somehow, we have listened to God beckoning us to this place, a place where we gather together in community, a place where we receive Christ, a place in which bread and wine, body and blood are consumed.
And this is the protein that we need. God gives it to us, and while our souls do get worn out from time to time, God keeps giving us this protein through Christ. Someone once said that God is like a tow truck for when we run out of gas along the road of life. God picks us up and takes us to the Son, who gives us a quick refill and sends us on our way. “but, I thought Jesus said that those who come to him would never get hungry??” The thing is, when Jesus says, “those who come to me will not be hungry” it was meant in a future sense. But that’s ok, because we need to be hungry now. We need to experience hunger, because if we don’t, we will become complacent and the cries of those who suffer from lack of food, lack of shelter, lack of human rights will be squelched. Our hearts need to hunger now, for peace, for justice, for love in a world that is so full of hate and violence. But the good news is that we are drawn to Christ, and in consuming his body and blood, we become what we eat so that we can be Christ’s hands and feet in this world. A world that is broken and needs Christ to be present in the most ordinary of moments. This is how Christ brings life into the world. Christ has given himself up for us and in taking him into our bodies, we go out into the world to share his love with those we encounter as we work, as we rest and as we play. And this is the protein that gets us through. Therefore, we can rejoice in these five weeks of bread, for they remind us of how God feeds us and then sends us out into the world to be Christ’s hands and feet in the world. Amen.
The spiritual side of bread baking...
Yesterday we had our monthly communion coffee gathering. It is a gathering of the older members of the congregation who are not always able to attend church on Sundays. So we get together once a month for a communion service, followed by coffee and snacks (mostly sweets, of course). During the coffee time, I sat next to June. In the middle of that time together we overheard Lola talking about making noodles every year and I mentioned to June that two things I want to do are learn to make noodles and bake bread. "well it's easy to bake bread, pastor" June said. "I guess, but I'm not always the most patient person when it comes to recipes." June laughed for a second...and I realized in that moment the irony in the statement I just made.
It was ironic because certain 'recipes' I love...especially the 'recipes' we use during the liturgy. That ordo is sacred to me, and while I'm good at going with the flow when something happens, I am most comfortable when I know what is supposed to happen...how the recipe is supposed to turn out. And then there's music, I love improv now and then, but singing or playing a piece exactly as it was written...according to the recipe...it very enjoyable for me. So how come I have no patience with recipes in the kitchen. I've gotten by without them for the most part, but that also means that I don't bake. Cooking you can fudge with, baking you can't. I spent part of yesterday afternoon pondering these things and then I went to the grocery store to pick up food for the week. I was on my way out and said to myself "oh, the heck with it," turned down the baking aisle and bought a box of 9 grain bread mix and a loaf pan. I took it home and followed the directions...here's what I discovered
Baking bread is amazing. And not just because the house/apartment smells wonderful when you bake it. But there is so much to baking bread that is out of your control. You follow the directions, cut in the butter/oil, activate the yeast, mix the wet and dry ingredients and then you let it alone for atleast an hour. Then you kneed it for five minutes, put the dough in a loaf pan and let it alone for an hour and then it goes in the oven. The majority of the prep time involves leaving it alone, waiting for the yeast to activate, the dough to rise, the bread to bake. What an amazing exercise to do in the midst of the "bread of life discourse" doing what you can and then letting go and watching what happens in the mean time. I think that says a lot about life.
We can follow a certain recipe of things that we are supposed to do, things we are supposed to say...but in the end, the important part is letting things happen. If the dough is going to rise, it will rise...if not it won't. It's about being, rather than doing. Letting God in instead of doing it all by ourselves. Cause in the end, it's not about us...it's about the bread of life. Even though sometimes, letting go and letting God do the work is not the easiest thing to do.
I think I'm going to bake some more this week. I think I'm going to bake a loaf of bread for a friend and bake a loaf or two for tomorrow's work day. It will take a lot of patience...but in the end, it will be worth it.
It was ironic because certain 'recipes' I love...especially the 'recipes' we use during the liturgy. That ordo is sacred to me, and while I'm good at going with the flow when something happens, I am most comfortable when I know what is supposed to happen...how the recipe is supposed to turn out. And then there's music, I love improv now and then, but singing or playing a piece exactly as it was written...according to the recipe...it very enjoyable for me. So how come I have no patience with recipes in the kitchen. I've gotten by without them for the most part, but that also means that I don't bake. Cooking you can fudge with, baking you can't. I spent part of yesterday afternoon pondering these things and then I went to the grocery store to pick up food for the week. I was on my way out and said to myself "oh, the heck with it," turned down the baking aisle and bought a box of 9 grain bread mix and a loaf pan. I took it home and followed the directions...here's what I discovered
Baking bread is amazing. And not just because the house/apartment smells wonderful when you bake it. But there is so much to baking bread that is out of your control. You follow the directions, cut in the butter/oil, activate the yeast, mix the wet and dry ingredients and then you let it alone for atleast an hour. Then you kneed it for five minutes, put the dough in a loaf pan and let it alone for an hour and then it goes in the oven. The majority of the prep time involves leaving it alone, waiting for the yeast to activate, the dough to rise, the bread to bake. What an amazing exercise to do in the midst of the "bread of life discourse" doing what you can and then letting go and watching what happens in the mean time. I think that says a lot about life.
We can follow a certain recipe of things that we are supposed to do, things we are supposed to say...but in the end, the important part is letting things happen. If the dough is going to rise, it will rise...if not it won't. It's about being, rather than doing. Letting God in instead of doing it all by ourselves. Cause in the end, it's not about us...it's about the bread of life. Even though sometimes, letting go and letting God do the work is not the easiest thing to do.
I think I'm going to bake some more this week. I think I'm going to bake a loaf of bread for a friend and bake a loaf or two for tomorrow's work day. It will take a lot of patience...but in the end, it will be worth it.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Carbohydrate Overload
We are deep into week two of the "Bread of Life" discourse...week three if you count the feeding of the 5,000 and already I'm feeling overloaded on bread.
And it's a strange coincidence that we started in on the bread stuff as I began a new low-carbohydrate, high protein diet in order to get my blood sugar in check and my body feeling better. And so I've been doing a lot of thinking on this text, especially in the context of how a slight change in diet (white pasta and bread to wheat pasta and bread, etc) can make all the difference in the world. I have spent the past 12 years with a hypoglycemic type response to too many carbs and not enough protein. I have also spent the better part of the past 12 years constantly exhausted. That's kind of how I'm starting to feel about these texts, too. Too much bread...too abstract content...not enough protein.
We have this text for four weeks. There probably was not a mistake in this decision on the part of those who put together the lectionary. This is tough to hear. It is, in the words of Peter, "difficult to hear/accept" As we get into next week, it becomes downright offensive. Eating flesh and drinking blood???? What in the world is this about? Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all about the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but can you imagine what ran through the heads of the people as they heard this? no wonder so many turn away and leave. Jesus teaches some pretty audacious and offensive stuff!!
But Jesus also tells us this, that whoever is coming toward him (erchomenos pros eme) will not be hungry and whoever is believing in him will never thirst. I think this traslation of the text better than the NRSV, and not because it's my own translation. I like it because there's continuous action involved, it's not an end goal. But after reading Brian Stoffregen I like it even more because Stoffregen suggests that the end of hunger and thirst will come later...both in the physical and spiritual sense. We live in a world that needs hunger and thirst...for justice, for love, for peace, for equality. We need to be hungry, our hearts need to be hungry for these things so that one day peoples bodys will no longer hunger for food or shelter or basic rights. If Jesus were to take away this hunger, we would become complacent and the cries of the disenfranchized and impoverished would go unanswered. But why are we hungry for these things? I have never experienced war or poverty first hand...but I hunger for peace and thirst for justice. I think that our hunger comes from God. I think that God teaches us the need for justice, whispers in our ear the need for peace and non-violent solutions to arguments. but then the question becomes, why then, are there so many people out there...many of whom call themselves Christians, that do not hunger for justice, who do not feed the poor, who do not love their neighbors, who spread hate? What is going on? If God is the one who pulls us towards Jesus, like either a fish in a net or a car being towed...why are there some who do not believe? why are there some who say they believe but do not act like people who believe? my list of questions can go on and on and on. And yet, it all comes back to Christ, the living bread from heaven. The one who feeds us with himself so that we can have strength for the journey. Jesus is our spiritual protein.
I'm preaching out in Topeka, KS this week, covering for the pastor at First Lutheran, who is recovering from an illness. Topeka is also the home of Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist, which is located 1 mile away from where I will be preaching and leading worship. I am tempted to drive by there, stop and say a prayer that their hunger for the vengence and wrath of the Lord will be turned into a hunger for peace and love.
And it's a strange coincidence that we started in on the bread stuff as I began a new low-carbohydrate, high protein diet in order to get my blood sugar in check and my body feeling better. And so I've been doing a lot of thinking on this text, especially in the context of how a slight change in diet (white pasta and bread to wheat pasta and bread, etc) can make all the difference in the world. I have spent the past 12 years with a hypoglycemic type response to too many carbs and not enough protein. I have also spent the better part of the past 12 years constantly exhausted. That's kind of how I'm starting to feel about these texts, too. Too much bread...too abstract content...not enough protein.
We have this text for four weeks. There probably was not a mistake in this decision on the part of those who put together the lectionary. This is tough to hear. It is, in the words of Peter, "difficult to hear/accept" As we get into next week, it becomes downright offensive. Eating flesh and drinking blood???? What in the world is this about? Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all about the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but can you imagine what ran through the heads of the people as they heard this? no wonder so many turn away and leave. Jesus teaches some pretty audacious and offensive stuff!!
But Jesus also tells us this, that whoever is coming toward him (erchomenos pros eme) will not be hungry and whoever is believing in him will never thirst. I think this traslation of the text better than the NRSV, and not because it's my own translation. I like it because there's continuous action involved, it's not an end goal. But after reading Brian Stoffregen I like it even more because Stoffregen suggests that the end of hunger and thirst will come later...both in the physical and spiritual sense. We live in a world that needs hunger and thirst...for justice, for love, for peace, for equality. We need to be hungry, our hearts need to be hungry for these things so that one day peoples bodys will no longer hunger for food or shelter or basic rights. If Jesus were to take away this hunger, we would become complacent and the cries of the disenfranchized and impoverished would go unanswered. But why are we hungry for these things? I have never experienced war or poverty first hand...but I hunger for peace and thirst for justice. I think that our hunger comes from God. I think that God teaches us the need for justice, whispers in our ear the need for peace and non-violent solutions to arguments. but then the question becomes, why then, are there so many people out there...many of whom call themselves Christians, that do not hunger for justice, who do not feed the poor, who do not love their neighbors, who spread hate? What is going on? If God is the one who pulls us towards Jesus, like either a fish in a net or a car being towed...why are there some who do not believe? why are there some who say they believe but do not act like people who believe? my list of questions can go on and on and on. And yet, it all comes back to Christ, the living bread from heaven. The one who feeds us with himself so that we can have strength for the journey. Jesus is our spiritual protein.
I'm preaching out in Topeka, KS this week, covering for the pastor at First Lutheran, who is recovering from an illness. Topeka is also the home of Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist, which is located 1 mile away from where I will be preaching and leading worship. I am tempted to drive by there, stop and say a prayer that their hunger for the vengence and wrath of the Lord will be turned into a hunger for peace and love.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Sermon, August 2, 2009
Pentecost 9b – 8-2-09
John 6:24-35
Previously on “as the bread multiplies,” we found Jesus and the disciples going up to a mountain only to be followed by a large crowd of people who had seen the signs Jesus had done for the sick. The multitude are fed from what began as five barley loaves and two fish and as the crowd seems ready to take Jesus by force and make him King, he withdraws up the mountain while the disciples ready a boat. Then, the disciples embark on their journey across the
I’m starting to wonder what Jesus is thinking of the crowds that follow him so closely. They follow him up the mountain because of the signs they had witnessed him performing on the sick. And, the morning after they had all been fed with more than enough food to satisfy all 5,000 appetites, they realize that neither Jesus nor his disciples are there on the mountain anymore. Maybe they all slipped into food comas on that grassy patch when Jesus went up on the Mountain to be by himself and the disciples got into a boat to return to
When they find Jesus, though, I’m not sure they know what to do. They’re like a person who is really excited about talking to a celebrity but when they actually get to talk to them they clam up. “So Jesus….umm…how long have you been here?” Brian Stoffregen, a pastor from
It would seem that Jesus might want to lose patience with the crowd, but instead of doing that, he just moves around their question..."you have not come looking for me because you saw signs, but because you were fed, don't go after the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life.” Basically, he's saying "don't follow your stomachs, you're just going to keep getting hungry...but seek out what nourishes your whole body." That’s hard, though, isn’t it? It’s hard to seek for only what nourishes the whole body when we live in a society that is obsessed with stuff. And I’m not talking about food, though that can be part of the equation. I’m talking about stuff. We’re a society that likes stuff. We want good stuff, new stuff. None of us are totally immune to this. In addition, we live in a society that is dominated by prosperity gospel. It might not be as effective as it was before the economic crisis hit, but last I checked, Joel Osteen and Creflo Dollar are still preaching that if we do not have the things we desire, it is because we lack confidence in God.
Now, I’m not knocking stuff. I like stuff. We work hard to get stuff. The problem occurs when we lose focus on other things in life and concentrate on stuff. Getting stuff feels good at the time…that feeling doesn’t always last. How often do we put things up on a shelf, or in a closet, or a box, only to discover those items years later...oh, I had that? In the end, stuff perishes…we’re left hungry again. When we hunger for stuff, our hunger muffles the cries of those who do not have stuff. When we make stuff the focus of our lives, it becomes incredibly easy to forget those who hunger for basic necessities, for food, for shelter, for fundamental human rights.
But then we have the second half of our exhortation from Jesus in which the instruction comes to seek the food that endures for eternal life. He’s not talking about food with a really long shelf life. He’s speaking about the things that feed the soul. And what’s more, this bread that endures is what the Son of Man will give! It is a gift, there isn’t anything that needs to be done to receive it. God is pretty good like that, giving us the things that we need to feed our souls. God has always been good with that. God gives us the gifts that bring us life.
The crowd just doesn’t seem to be with it, something is just not clicking. They have been raised and trained to live according to laws and customs that required they do works. This was not a bad thing, it helped make their society to be what it was and helped the people to live with each other. But that’s what they get transfixed on, works. What must we do to perform the work of God? What work are you doing Jesus, so that we might see and believe? They rely on works. That’s how things worked back then. That’s how things work quite often in our current time and place. We say “I won’t believe it until I see it” or “unless I had seen it for myself, there’s no way I would have believed what I saw.”
But God is gracious and giving. Like God provided manna in the wilderness to sustain life, so too, God gives the things that sustain us to eternal life. God gives us the food that will not perish…the bread of life. This bread of life is Christ. The one whom God sent to be among us, live with us, cry and suffer with us and, ultimately, die for us. We receive the bread of life when we come to the table to partake of bread and wine, body and blood. But Christ is not confined to this place and these elements. Christ still is in our midst, living in us and among us as we go about our everyday lives, working and playing. We are fed with the bread of life when we seek out things that feed our souls. When we study scripture, when we pray for friends, when we take walks around town and marvel at the beauty of the trees and flowers. We are fed when we feed those who do not have food, when we donate clothes and school supplies to those who cannot afford them…when we smile at a co-worker or classmate who may be suffering from a case of the Mondays. There are so many other ways that we are fed with the bread of life and I invite you to think about what activities of your daily life fed you…and possibly help others to be fed as well.
And remember, the bread of life, the food which sustains to eternal life is not something we work for. Yes we should work not for food that perishes, but receive the food that endures, which God, through the Son of Man…the bread of life himself, give us. Jesus said “I am the bread of life, whoever comes toward me will never hunger, whoever believes in me will never thirst.” There is so much in this last verse, in this proclamation of what the bread of life truly is. And yet one little word makes all the difference. The New Revised Standard Version of the text, as well as many other translations read “whoever comes to me will never hunger” but, going back to the greek, it actually says “whoever comes toward me” or “whoever is coming toward me.” This one little change means a world of difference in what Jesus is saying. Jesus is saying that what matters is that there is movement towards him, even if there are bumps in the road. It also means that the bread of life is open to all who will receive it, no matter where we are in our journeys. And I think that this is the greatest piece of good news that we hear today. And so, until next time on “as the bread multiplies,” we are fed at the table and then sent out. And as we are sent, we are able to ponder the bread of life, where we find it in our every day lives and how we can share it with others. Thanks be to God, Amen
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