Ordinary 20B – sermon based upon John
6:51-58
When
I sat down to read all four of the lectionary texts at the beginning of the
week, I was struck by how they all pointed to choices we had to make. It was as if God was saying, My love, My
work, My grace are here and now you must choose how you want to participate in
it. And none of the texts highlight that
as much as this passage in the Gospel of John.
But there’s more going on here than just an early sneak peek at a ritual
we call communion. Jesus is pushing back
hard and we should ask ourselves why.
To
start off, we should look at what’s going on here. But to do that, we need to put our minds in a
different place. Pretend for a moment
that you don’t know what communion is.
Pretend that you live in a culture that is very faithful about observing
right and proper ways of handling food as a way of showing thanks to God for
the blessing. Pretend for a moment you
live in a time where superstitious groups outside your culture thought there
was something mystical about blood and practiced odd sacrifices and sometimes
even drank human blood in search of eternal life. Imagine how scary that must be. Imagine how much safer you feel holding tight
to your rituals. Are you there yet? If you are, then you are thinking like a 1st
century Jew.
Now
that you’re thinking like that you’re ready to hear just how jarring and
bizarre Jesus’ words sound. So, what was
going on in this passage?
Well,
in typical fashion, Jesus has drawn a crowd.
He’s already been talking to a group of people, probably religious
leaders, in a synagogue and sharing wisdom and answering their questions. While talking to them, he gets the crowd
stirred up and anxious because he uses some imagery that appalls them. He starts talking about eating his flesh. Even before our passage from today’s
lectionary, he says in verse 35, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me
will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” So, he’s already rolled out this
language. And they’re getting
uncomfortable.
Next,
in verse 41 it says, “the Jews there began to grumble about him because he
said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They said, ‘Is this not
Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say,
‘I came down from heaven’?’” So, they’re
just trying to make sense of this. Has
Jesus, the son of Joseph and Marry whom they’ve seen running around since he
was knee high to a grasshopper, converted to some pagan religion? Who is he to claim the power of God? It would be like one of the young adults from
this congregation going off to college and coming back to say, “I’m the son of
God and if you want to get closer to God, you need to believe in me and eat
what I give you.” If that happened,
you’d think the kid has gone and joined a cult!
So,
when we break into the lectionary passage for today at verse 51, it’s no wonder
the folks are uncomfortable and grumbling.
Jesus is freaking them out. And
in verse 52 when it says “The Jews then disputed among themselves,
saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’” what’s really going on is
not just a argument. The Greek verb is
indicates a certain level of anger and violence on their part.
And what does Jesus do?
He pushes back even harder. He
says “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and
drink his blood, you have no life in you.”
You may think this is just a restatement but it’s not. In verses 49-51, Jesus had spoken about “eating” the
bread from heaven, using the Greek verb “esthio.” But in verse 53 he starts
using a much different verb, “trogo.”
This word is not just to eat. It
means to gnaw audibly. And the nuance of
it indicates gnawing and eating with urgency. It is eating as though life
depends on it.
Now
remember, we’ve imagined ourselves in that day and time. We have no idea what communion is and we’re
very afraid of people who drink blood so hearing this is bizarre and
frightening. Are you disturbed yet? Do you have a good image of what was going
on? I hope so.
Oh,
and one more piece of context we should probably know is that the book of John
is a Gnostic Gospel. If you want to know
more about that, ask me later. But for
today’s purposes, what we need to know is that more than any other Gospel, when
we read something in John, there are always multiple layers of truth. John uses more metaphor, poetic imagery, and
symbolism than any other Gospel.
Now
zoom forward to today. We know the
outcome of Jesus’ life. We hear the
words of institution regularly. We are
probably still afraid of cults that drink blood but it’s not part of our
everyday life. So from here, let’s ask
ourselves, why would Jesus push at them so hard? What was Jesus trying to do by
making them so uncomfortable?
Well,
I’m no scholar but from what I’ve read and understand, I think it comes down to
two things: relationship and participation.
Jesus knew that the people he was talking to needed something jarring to
make them have a different relationship with God and their faith. Remember most of them are likely religious
leaders who are not just set in their ways but also a bit arrogant about their
faith. They are sure they know the will
and mind of God. They know what steps to
take day in and day out to be faithful.
They live by conforming to rules rather than being compelled by a hunger
for deeper knowledge of God. So, it
seems to me that Jesus is trying to jar them into seeking God more fully
because they are not just hungry but famished.
He’s trying to tell them that they can participate in the love and creation
of God here and now… relationship and participation.
A
word of caution: I’m not in any way
calling the Jews a people of flat faith.
As the first people of covenant with God, they hold a richness and
history of incredible faith that has overcome struggle that would make most of
us crumble. I am only referring to the
particular folks Jesus is talking to in this synagogue in Capernaum. Just like I do standing here, Jesus always
tailored his message to the listener so this is not a condemnation of the
Jewish faith. It is a condemnation of
living a faith without hunger and passion.
Now,
why did we just go through that entire context explanation? Well, first of all, if we just read it
without the context, we’re likely to think this is just about communion and
it’s not. But more importantly, just
like people then, we need our faith challenged and jarred from time to time to
remind us of why we come here and what our calling is.
Remember
I said two words, relationship and participation. How often does our faith feel like it gets
flattened out into “do this and don’t do that so God will be happy with
us.”? I suspect more than we would like
to admit. Yet, the language of Jesus
calls us to be unrestrained and unleash our hunger for God in ravenous,
gnawing, messy, satisfying, and mysterious ways. We are invited to gulp until quenched like
never before. A restrained faith is a
faith that has not fully responded to a relationship with God and has not yet
claimed full participation in the ongoing revelation of God with us.
And
what is our reward for living like this?
Why would we let the wildly whirling Spirit of God fill us? Because Christ tells promises us eternal
fullness when we gnaw at the trough of divine food. He tells us “Those who eat my flesh and drink
my blood abide in me, and I in them.”
It’s about relationship and participation.
So
what do we do with all this? Well, I’m
going to suggest some steps that might help jar us out of the flat places in
our faith.
1.
Get really honest about the empty places in our
lives. Where are we hungry, even starved
for fullness that lasts? Where have we
been drinking yet still remain thirsty?
Where have we tried to fill those holes with flat rules rather than
abundant love?
2.
Listen for God’s guidance. In what ways is God leading us to be
filled? What experiences have we already
had of getting a taste of the true divine food?
What can we do to dive deeper into the banquet of love God calls us to?
3.
Make the relationship grow by being open to God’s
outpouring to us. Who can teach us
something we didn’t understand before?
Where have we missed God in our presence? How can we remain open to God even when it’s
scary?
4.
Make the participation grow by sharing the passion
and feeding other’s hunger. Who else can
we join with in growing our faith? Who
can we share abundant love with? Who has
been unwelcome or afraid to come to this table that we can reach to?
Sisters
and brothers, we are not called to be the frozen chosen. We are called to abundant life. Jesus uses jarring language and images to
remind us of the deep hunger that lives in each of us. He invites us to eat and drink as if our
lives depend on it. We are invited into
relationship with God because God sent love to us first. We are invited into participation with God
through the body of Christ. And we are
invited to a feast that will fill us in ways that gives life abundant and eternal. Amen.
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