Pentecost 10

The Reverend Martha Frances
Year B, Pentecost 10, Proper 14
9 August 2009

Text:  John 6: 35, 41-51; Ephesians 4: 25-5: 2;
Others:  2 Samuel 18: 5-9, 15, 31-33; Psalm 130

       Last week we ended our Gospel lesson where we begin this week, with
Jesus' first great "I am" statement in John:  "I am the bread of
life."  Throughout the 6th chapter of John, Jesus talks with his
disciples about what it means for Jesus to be the bread for the world.
 As is usual in John's gospel, multi layers of meaning intertwine, &
Jesus uses several expressions to remind us that bread is a very basic
building block of a healthy diet.  For example, when we say we're
going to break bread together, we know we're going to have a meal, not
simply bread.
       Today, Jesus continues his conversation about bread & about being the
Bread of Life.  Jesus' focus on the first part of this scripture,
however, is on his close relationship with God & God's acceptance of
all those who believe in him.  He says those who come to him will
never be hungry or thirsty.  Jesus continues that he came to do God's
will.  Now I think we all want to do God's will, at least on our good
days.  But the closeness with which Jesus lived with his Father had to
have been awesome.  I find it equally amazing to hear Jesus say it is
God's will that all who believe in God will have eternal life.
       Now I don't know exactly what eternal life is, at least the part that
comes after our death, & I don't believe any of us on this earth know
eternal life in its fullness, but notice that Jesus isn't talking
about the future here as much as the present.  Jesus says all who see
the Son (notice the present tense—right now), all who believe in
God—right in the here & now, may have eternal life.  Eternal life
begins when we begin to believe.
       Do you remember the man who asked Jesus to heal his daughter?  Jesus
told him all he had to do was believe.  The man answered, "Yes, Lord,
I believe.  Help my unbelief."  He told Jesus he already believed yet
also realized his belief wasn't completely formed.  He knew he had
some growing in faith to do.  His daughter was healed, not because of
her own belief, but because of her father's incomplete belief.  How
many of you think you believe as much as is possible for you?  Hmmmm.
There don't seem to be any hands up.  Remember that Christian
formation is a lifelong proposition.  We start with a kernel of
belief, & it grows to deeper faith if we nourish it.  This fall we
will be offering several opportunities for you to grow in your
Christian faith, & you'll learn about them at the Ministry Fair on the
30th of August.  I hope all of you are here that day to join others in
our faith community who are likewise living out eternal life in the
present.
       Back to the gospel passage: Are the Nazareth folks happy to see that
a hometown boy made good?  Absolutely not.  We're told that
familiarity breeds contempt, & these folks figure they've known Jesus
all his life, so they figure that's just ole Jesus.  We knew his dad,
& his mom is around town much of the time when she isn't off with this
small band of Jesus' followers.  Perhaps we've even said ourselves
that his dad didn't amount to much & neither will he.  Well, some
authorities around Jesus said the same thing.  They were complaining,
this text says, but the better translation is that they were
"grumbling."  They couldn't believe what Jesus was telling them about
being the bread that came down from heaven because, after all, they
knew he was just old Joseph's son, the carpenter's son, & who could he
be that amounted to much?  They grumbled about Jesus, even after he
had fed over 5000 men & who knows how many women & children with bread
that was miraculously multiplied, because he was too familiar to them.
       Do you remember the Israelites who grumbled in the wilderness whom
God humbled by letting them be hungry & then fed them manna?  Then,
even after they received the God-given manna, they grumbled that there
wasn't more variety.  Isn't it true that we'll find something to
grumble about if we don't already have something?  We humans are
pretty ungrateful if we're not careful, aren't we?
       Jesus tells us no one can come to him unless the God who sent him
also sends others to him.  Jesus tells us straight out that God takes
the first action.  God reaches out to us first & earnestly hopes for a
response from each of us.  God can't do all the reaching, though.  We
have a responsibility to respond & to act on the belief that we begin
to develop in Jesus.
       And Jesus is clear in the last paragraph of our gospel today that he,
the Bread of Life who comes down from heaven is not just like ordinary
bread & isn't even like the manna the Israelites ate in the desert,
but is what he calls living bread.  This bread feeds people who need a
renewal in their own personal lives, but we'll we're told he also
gives his flesh as bread for the world.  Once more, Jesus reminds us
this precious bread which he must give is not just for one person or
even for a small group of people but is for the whole world, that the
whole world will live life more abundantly.  We're all called to
support & uplift the community just as Christ did. (family beyond our
community??)
       There are hints in this passage of Jesus' life being a sacrifice, &
that is spelled out in the reading from Ephesians today, Christ loving
us so much that he gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering & a
sacrifice to God.  And what are we to do?  We're told we're to be
imitators of God as beloved children.  We're to live in love, to
experience Christ's love & then pass that same love on to others.
Watch small children as they play dress up.  They're being imitators
of their parents or the other adults around them.  Kids learn more
from what we do than what we say, of which we're all reminded when we
see a small child put a cigarette in her or his mouth just like the
adult members of the family.  But we have all seen the adoration with
which small children mimic adults around them.  That's before the kids
get to be 12 or 13 & all of a sudden the adults become the stupidest
people in the world.  We are to imitate Christ with just that same
intensity.  And is that in order to build ourselves up?  No, not at
all.   We're to build up the body of Christ & make the members
together stronger.
       This part of the 6th chapter of John wanders around the subject of
the Eucharist, but Jesus guides us back to it at the end of this
passage.  Jesus says, "Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; &
the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
Today you have the opportunity to share in the precious meal of the
body & blood of Jesus Christ right here at this communion table.
Jesus invites you.  In fact, Jesus summons you & tells us all to do
this in remembrance of him.  All are welcome.  Come to be fortified
for the journey.  After all, this is our altar call in the Episcopal
Church, & all are welcome to respond to that call which God puts to us
through Jesus Christ.
       What about the children?  Last week we baptized 2, & they both
received from Christ's body & blood because I never want these
children to remember a time when they were not welcome at Christ's
table.  We don't make them memorize the whole digestive track before
we feed them a meal.  Neither does our belief have to be firmly in
place & settled in order for us to be nourished by Jesus' body &
blood.  We are in the process of growing in belief, & Jesus calls us
to take a leap of faith & receive his own bread for the journey.
       How do our actions change because we are practicing Christians?
There's a rather amazing story with which I'll close.  It was April of
1940, & German tanks rumbled across the borders of the peaceful
country of Denmark.  The Nazis already possessed control of Austria,
Czechoslovakia, & Poland, & soon other countries fell to the Germans:
Norway, Holland, Belgium & France.
       The Germans announced that every Dane of Jewish origin would be
required to wear a yellow Star of David just as they'd done in
Germany.  Any Jew who failed to comply would be put to death.   The
Star of David, proud symbol of the Jewish faith & culture, would be
used to mark them as undesirable—to rob them of possessions & dignity
& even their lives.
       The Danish government & its people were in no position to do battle
against the powerful Germans, but their leader, King Christian the
10th, made a bold move.  He called for all of his country's citizens
to wear the Star of David, for every Danish household to stand as
partners with their Jewish neighbors.
       Tremendous fear must have gripped the hearts of those first Gentile
citizens as they ventured from their homes the next day.  Would they
be the only ones who had heeded the call?  Or would they be singled
out?  Would they be executed with the Jews?  What they saw was nothing
short of a miracle.  There were Stars of David everywhere.  The Jews
among them wept when they saw the people's love & support.  And
because the people stood together, the Nazis' full plan of persecution
against the Jews was never carried out in that country.  May we find
just such courage to stand for what we believe.