Fr Mike's Message - 8/1/21

The Gospel: ​John 6:24-35
The next day, when the people who remained after the feeding of the five thousand saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

​Prayer: Lord, you have promised that when two or three gather in your name you will be present with them. We depend on that promise today and pray that you will move among us. Lord, we pray that have you inspired Mike's preparation, that you will enliven his presentation and that you will empower our application.  Amen

The Message: So, here we are again this week in the Gospel of John.

You will remember that last week I said that the Gospel of John focuses on the "who" of Jesus. We talked last week about how important it is to the writer of John to verify and communicate to his readers the identity of Christ. John wants his readers to recognize that Jesus is fulfilling his role as the Messiah.

This morning we find ourselves in a similar situation to the one last week where the people don't understand what Jesus is doing or saying. Jesus explains who he is to the crowd and someone else says: "I don't understand that?" Jesus explains again.

I feel a bit like I am at the "Wack-a-mole" stand at the county fair. Jesus says or does something and then has to explain his answer which means that he then has to answer another question about his answer.

Now, it was interesting studying and researching for this morning's message. The commentators pointed out something, which I must admit, I had not heard of before. The way that John goes about telling each of his stories - and then gets to expand on explaining who Jesus is - happens because John shares the reaction of the listeners.

Now, those of you who have studied literature or have taken a writing course will know that this is is what is called a literary device. In particular, it is called the "literary device of misunderstanding."

So, just in case you didn't take that literature course at the local community college, you may be wondering: "what is a literary device?" This is what I found when I googled: "In literature, any technique used to help the author achieve his or her purpose is called a literary device."

So, what John is doing is having Jesus do or say something and then have someone among his listeners respond by saying "I/we don't understand?"

This process then enables John to go on and write about Jesus' reaction and response. This is a "literary device of misunderstanding."

The commentators point out that John does this, all-the-way through, his Gospel. He does it purposefully and with intent.

I looked at other commentaries on this process in John and found that one article said there are 15 misunderstandings and another suggested there could be as many as 30.

I don't think it really matters how many there are. I think what is important is that John gives us insights we wouldn't get otherwise because he uses this technique.

Perhaps as you read the Gospel of John, from now on, you can look for these examples. You can engage with the text of John in a new way because you will see how John has created this opportunity for you to know Jesus that much better by setting up this "Wack-a-Mole" style dialogue.

The text of the Gospel of John this morning is known as the "Bread of Life" dialogue. Jesus leads the disciples, and the other people surrounding him, into a new understanding of who he is. The people struggle to understand what Jesus is saying about himself. They are asking for signs and wonders and Jesus is pointing out that the greatest miraculous sign and wonder is himself standing right in front of them. The people are caught up in the story of Moses and the mana in the desert. Jesus wants them to understand that he is the actual bread of life. The mana was a foretaste of what was to come.

We read in John this morning: "Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Now, I have to say that we have a greater understanding of what Jesus was talking about because we know what happens later in the story. We know that Jesus faces trial, crucifixion, and then resurrection in fulfillment of all the prophecy of the Old Testament. Plus we have all the words that Jesus said about himself in all four Gospels. Then we have all that is said about Jesus in the other books of the New Testament.

We also know, that as we experience the Eucharist later in this service, we are celebrating that Jesus did become, and is, the bread of life for each one of us.

I would like to take us briefly to another place this morning. Another question or perhaps another application of the Gospel of John?

I was struck this week, in my reading and study of John, that we learn a lot about the character of Jesus in the situation of "question and answer" that we experience with Jesus this morning.

A couple of weeks ago I talked about Jesus' compassion - his identification with the suffering of the people and his desire to do something about that suffering.

This week I was struck by Jesus' patience, or as some of the older translations put it, Jesus' "long-suffering" with the people around him. Jesus must have been tired, Jesus must have been feeling like he didn't have a moment to himself, Jesus must have sometimes wished that his audience was "just a little brighter or a tad more intelligent."

But Jesus, rather than becoming short-tempered, angry, or deciding to cut these frustrating, ignorant people out of his life, expresses his patience with the people and especially with the disciples. When they don't understand he doesn't react, he doesn't lose his cool, he doesn't "slap them up the side of the head." He doesn't decide that they are not worth his time or his effort.

Jesus answers their misunderstandings. He seeks to find a way to help them understand and to help them comprehend what he is saying to them.

So, that made me wonder if there might be a lesson, for us, in this Scripture that is a little more subtle?
 
It made me ask the question:
"What do we do with misunderstandings?" Misunderstandings in our church, misunderstandings in our families, misunderstandings among our friends?

Or if I am truly honest: "what do I do about misunderstandings?" What do I do when I explain something and people misunderstand me? What do I do when I take the time and the effort to explain myself a second time and they still don't get it?

What do I do when I am tired, What do I do when I am feeling like I don't have a moment to myself, What do I do when I wish that my friends or fellow travelers were "just a little brighter or a tad more intelligent."

How can I, rather than becoming short-tempered, angry, or deciding to cut these frustrating, ignorant people out of my life, express my compassion and my patience with people and especially with those closest to me? How can I be sure that, when they don't understand, I don't react, that I don't lose my cool, how can I be sure not to "slap them up the side of the head." How can I be sure not to decide that they are not worth my time or my effort?
​
To end this morning I offer this prayer for us all for this coming week from the BCP Prayers of the Church:
Prayer #14. For the Unity of the Church:
O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior, the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.