The Gospel: John 6:56-69
Jesus said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” 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, this morning we are back in the Gospel of John and focusing on Jesus' statements about being the "Bread of Life." As I said last week this is a central theme throughout John. So, here we are right in the middle of Ordinary Time, dealing with another aspect of "Jesus as the Bread of Life." We are faced with and challenged by another difficult scripture passage. Today's reading is difficult because it not only challenges us to think about what we understand about Jesus being the Bread of Life but it also raises the question: "who or what is the central source of our understanding of truth and hope?" In the other Gospels, Jesus asks the disciples directly: "Who do you say that I am?" Matthew 16: 15; Mark 8: 21; Luke 9: 20John deals with this question in a different way. But we hear that same question as we read John this morning. John presents for us some of the foundational truths of our Christian faith and life. In John 6: 56-58" Jesus said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” Then in John 6: 60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” Then John 6: 64 But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. Then John 6: 67-69 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” Here is John we see three major points laid out for us:1. Jesus understood it would be difficult for people to understand what he was saying about being the Bread of Life.2. He knew that someone would betray him.3. He also knew that some people would leave. Then Jesus speaks directly to the Disciples and asks them: Where do you stand?" Peter speaks for the disciples and I believe he speaks for us as well when he says: “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” I have to admit that I needed this Scripture this week. There is a lot going on in the Parish at the moment. Even if we ignored all that has happened in the last 15 or 16 months I would say that there is a lot of activity going on. That is both positive and challenging. We have already seen several things accomplished in our Planting for Tomorrow phase II project. There will be a number of other things happening soon. I have heard that generally people are pleased with what we have done. Personally I think the flooring around the Altar is particularly beautiful. I know that Jim and the choir members have been greatly encouraged by the change in the flooring in the choir area. We all know I am not a musician but I believe there is a deeper resonance to the quality of the organ. I can't wait to hear the choir sing when they come back after the Summer. I know that change can make people nervous or anxious but I believe we are moving forward in the refurbishment of the Sanctuary, and the education wing, in a way that will help us flourish as a parish. I also know that I will need to be involved in more than one meeting to talk about how this process is going to continue and how we can achieve the best result for all concerned. Now, we also have a number of people who have, or who are facing, some serious health issues in the parish. Bill Balduff died this past week, Anne Harjar is in a rehabilitation center, Mim Olmstead had a stint in rehab as well. Jim Schweifert spent some time in hospital this week. There are a number of people dealing with ongoing health issues from cancer to debilitating or declining health. I have to admit I was feeling weary a couple of days this week. And if I am really honest I had a couple of days where I felt anxious. Last Sunday evening we had Brad Purdom with us for our Sundays@Five service. I would really encourage you to go to our Christ Church Facebook page and to watch and listen to Brad's message. It was what I would define as a "message from the heart." Brad spoke on our theme: "How do we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" He made it very personal and relatable. At one point he talked about how he found it helpful to substitute the word "trust" for the word "believe" when he came across it in Scripture. I believe what he said was or at least this is my paraphrase of what he said, "when it comes to times of struggle, when I have a hard time saying I believe, I say "I put my trust in" instead." So he would say I put my trust in Jesus, rather than saying I believe in Jesus. Now, I tried that this week and I have to say it really helped. But I still was having difficulty. So I was grateful for Emma who sent me a Max Lucado devotional she had listened to. Max was talking about anxiety. He quoted that scripture, from Philippians, which I am sure we are all familiar with: "Be anxious for nothing...."What I heard Max say was really helpful to me. Because he went on to say: "We are human, we will be anxious." I had always heard the scripture almost as an ultimatum - like it was spelled out in capital letters and with an exclamation point at the end: DO NOT BE ANXIOUS! Max said we will have anxiety or we will be anxious but don't allow that anxiety to dominate our thinking. Then I also read the SSJE sermon this week from Br. Jim Woodrum:"While we may never face the reality of martyrdom in our faith journeys, most of us will endeavor to engage in what the church fathers called sanctification. Simply put, once Jesus comes into our lives and we profess to be disciples, then we adhere to the task of working out our salvation, that is, practicing the tenets of our faith in order to become more fully who God has created us to be." So, I found myself with all these divergent thoughts and influences and had to do some evaluation. I found myself remembering an acronym I learned in AA. The acronym H.A.L.T. as many people in recovery know means hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. AA folks will often say to one another you need to H.A.L.T. To stop and consider. You should never make a decision when you are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. Well, I was weary and I was feeling like I was ready for a change. When I thought about Brad's trust concept and Brother Jim's sanctification concept I was glad for AA's H.A.L. T. Because what I really was thinking about doing was AA what calls: "doing a geographical." I wanted to go somewhere else. In AA terminology that just means I would move on or move out. The only problem with that response is that I would still be in the picture or the circumstances or the location. What I really needed to do was look and see what was provoking me? What was the underlying issue or challenge that I needed to resolve within myself? Truth be told I found myself asking the question Peter asked on behalf of himself and the other disciples: "Where else would I go.....?" Now he did it more eloquently than that. “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” So, I had to ask myself how willing am I to adapt and change? How can I express my trust in the Lord? How can I exercise my understanding of what Br Jim was saying: "Simply put, once Jesus comes into our lives and we profess to be disciples, then we adhere to the task of working out our salvation, that is, practicing the tenets of our faith in order to become more fully who God has created us to be." I rediscovered something important. Church, the community I belong to, and my spiritual practices are the source of my ability to once again take up my cross and follow Jesus. Church, this community, needs to be more than a place I come to. A place I find familiar and may draw some comfort from. Church, this community, needs to be the place where I/we can find our sustenance. As we read in John, Jesus says it straight out, unequivocally: "Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me." So, this morning can I encourage you to consider Peter's words from John: “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” Where else can we go and where else would we find the sustenance we should find here? "O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him. Psalm 34: 8" Comments are closed.
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