Coming to the Table

Sermon for Ames

8/19/12

John 6:51-58

 I went through a period when I was becoming Catholic where I just couldn't understand transubstantiation, this is the Catholic belief that the elements become the actual body and the actual blood of Christ and it is a mystical moment. All of communion is supposed to be mystical. I just couldn't buy it. I was a science major, I knew science, and transubstantiation was not possible.  I had prayed about it for several months as I was getting ready for my confirmation and refused to be confirmed if I couldn't get my head around this idea. Then I went to a church service across the Hudson River in this large church and I prayed that God help me to understand. As the priest raised his hands and asked Jesus into the elements, I felt a feeling of God's presence so large, overwhelming, yet all encompassing and loving that it is beyond words. Tears poured out of my eyes and I felt so awed I had difficulty raising myself to go to the altar for a blessing. I did go through with becoming Catholic. I was not sure if that was transubstantiation but God's presence was there and that was good enough for me.

As I have come to understand more about the protestant stands on communion and in particular the United Methodist stance, I have come to understand my experience a bit more. For us the scientific fact of it actually turning into God's flesh and blood is not the case. It is the out pouring of the spirit on those elements, God's presence in that space and our choosing to come to the table. Grace is beyond our choice. God's pull on our lives is always there, but we do have the choice to accept it. To come to the table in eager anticipation of being filled with God's love and in that love trying to walk God's path out of love. As our communion service say - "Make them be for us the body of Christ that we may be for the world the body of Christ redeemed by his blood." (UMH p. 10).

When Jesus used the metaphor of becoming the bread and blood of salvation he meant to be shocking. Some may have understood him to be literal but he was playing off a cultural experience of the time to ingest portions of Holy scrolls to remind oneself of how to live. To take in the Holy in such a way that it becomes part of you and you must live it out. To suggest that he was the Holy was truly shocking, but ingesting the Holy wasn't completely novel.

Jesus calls his flesh and blood to be true food or true spiritual fulfillment, and compares it to the Manna that left you wanting. He is promising here that the new covenant that includes him is going to be different to wandering lost in the desert and being given just enough to sustain life but not really satisfy. Jesus will satisfy our hunger if we choose to accept the grace that is offered us, that is constantly pulling us, causing us to be hungry for something. That restless feeling of needing more spiritually is a call to come to the communion table, to choose to be fed.

The absolute miracle of communion is that when you choose to come to the table truly seeking Christ, truly wanting to be spiritually fed, Jesus has promised to meet you there. Not only has
Jesus promised to meet you there, but he promised to help you live out that life.

So how do you choose to come to the communion table? Is it a process devoid of any real commitment, or are you truly expecting to meet Christ? Are you coming feeling hungry and dissatisfied with your spiritual life or do you not have time to think of such things? What kind of life are choosing to have? A life without Christ, or an eternal life? Are you choosing to have Christ live in you, to answer that pull? To truly believe that Christ came to rewrite our covenant with God, no matter how outrageous it seemed at the time or even today? How do you come to the table?

Jesus the Bread of Life

August 12, 2012

John 6:35-51

I find much comfort in this week's passage by John. It is not so much John's attempt at explaining the mystery of communion, or the resurrection, both extremely important topics, but it is in the disagreement in interpretation. Jesus is speaking to the people, and people are misinterpreting him. Right there, even at the time. It may sound small, petty and selfish, but it gives me a whole lot of hope. God did not give up on us, Jesus did not give up on the people he was preaching too, and although as the many denominations point out, no one agrees completely on communion theology, we are promised in verse 37 that, “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away.” He goes on in verse 39 to remind us that I should lose nothing at all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”

John reminds us that Jesus was sometimes difficult to understand. Jesus made many references that the people would understand but he also used a great deal of metaphor and simile. As any middle school English student can tell you these, literary devices are not always easy to understand. For many years, the Romans believed that Christians were cannibals, citing Jesus telling us to eat his flesh. This is just one example of the misinterpretations that can and have occurred throughout the ages.

Then in verse 41 we hear the complaints begin. How can this man claim to have come down from heaven? He is merely human! We know his parents! This is ridiculous.

Jesus refutes them and uses references to Isaiah and Moses to make his point. God draws us to Jesus. We can't do it on our own. We can't just decide to be drawn to Jesus, but rather God draws us to Jesus and all of us who are pulled towards Jesus will have eternal life.

Jesus used the analogy of the bread of life to refer to himself. That is very interesting. At this time period at leas 50% or more of a persons calories were consumed through bread daily. But anyone who has every made bread can tell you this is not a quick process, even today. If you lived at Jesus' time you had to grow the wheat, harvest it, mill it, and then store it without vermin getting into it. Then you have to add the yeast, sugar and water, mix in the flour and let rise, then you needed to knead it, and let rise again. Finally you bake it. This is a lengthy time consuming process. I wonder if following Jesus is not the same. It fills us, gives us everything we need, but is a lengthy, time consuming process.

When Jesus discusses consuming himself he may have also been referencing a traditional practice of writing verses from a Torah and consuming them in order to pull them inside one's self and fully live them daily. By the time Jesus was preaching, it was understood that you did not have to actually eat them, but you had to be with them, be fed by them and spend time with them in order to live them out, just as one has to spend time in food preparation in order to consume it and use it to help sustain their body. We need to spend time with Jesus to sustain our souls.

So why did Jesus choose to be the bread of life? What does it mean that it takes so long to make bread? How are we pulled by God? How are we nourished? What does it mean that every one of us that feels called by God will not be lost? Why all the metaphors? What did Jesus mean then and for us now?

Bread of Communion

John 6:51-58

Communion is one of those things that is just difficult to explain. One of the bloggers I summarized it as follows - there are just some experiences beyond our human ability to match words to them and this would be it. I could not concur more with someone about communion. It is beyond words.

I went through a period when I was becoming Catholic where I just couldn't understand transubstantiation, this is the Catholic belief that the elements become the actual body and the actual blood of Christ and it is a mystical moment. All of communion is supposed to be mystical. I just couldn't buy it. I was a science major and I know science and how could this happen. I had prayed about it for several months as I was getting ready for my confirmation and refused to be confirmed if I couldn't get my head around this idea. Then I went to a church service across the Hudson River in this large church and I prayed that God help me to understand. As the priest raised his hands and asked Jesus into the elements, I felt a feeling of God's presence so large, overwhelming, yet all encompassing and loving that it is beyond words. Tears poured out of my eyes and I felt so awed I had difficulty raising myself to go to the altar to accept the gifts. I did go through with becoming Catholic. I was not sure if that was transubstantiation but God's presence was there and that was good enough for me.

As I have come to understand more about the protestant stand on communion and in particular the United Methodist stance I have come to understand my experience a bit more. For us the scientific fact of it actually turning into God's flesh and blood is not the case. It is the out pouring of the spirit on those elements, God's presence in that space and our choosing to come to the table. Grace is beyond our choice. God's pull on our lives is always there, but we do have the choice to accept it. To come to the table in eager anticipation of being filled with God's love and in that love trying to walk God's path out of love. As our communion service say - "Make them be for us the body of Christ that we may be for the world the body of Christ redeemed by his blood." (UMH p. 10).

When Jesus used the metaphor of becoming the bread and blood of salvation he meant to be shocking. Some may have understood him to be literal but he was playing off a cultural experience of the time to ingest portions of Holy scrolls to remind oneself of how to live. To take in the Holy in such a way that it becomes part of you and you must live it out. To suggest that he was the Holy was truly shocking, but ingesting the Holy wasn't completely novel.

Jesus calls his flesh and blood to be true food or true spiritual fulfillment, and compares it to the Manna that left you wanting. He is promising here that the new covenant that includes him is going to be different to wandering lost in the desert and being given just enough to sustain life but not really satisfy. Jesus will satisfy our hunger if we choose to accept the grace that is offered us, that is constantly pulling us, causing us to be hungry for something. That restless feeling of needing more spiritually is a call to come to the communion table, to choose to be fed.

The absolute miracle is of communion is that when you choose to come to the table truly seeking Christ, truly wanting to be spiritually fed, Jesus has promised to meet you there. Not only has
Jesus promised to meet you there, but he promised to help you live out that life.

So how do you choose to come to the communion table? Is it a process devoid of any real commitment, or are you truly expecting to meet Christ? Are you coming feeling hungry and dissatisfied with your spiritual life or do you not have time to think of such things? What kind of life are choosing to have? A life without Christ, or an eternal life? Are you choosing to have Christ live in you, to answer that pull? To truly believe that Christ came to rewrite our covenant with God, no matter how outrageous it seemed at the time or even today? How do you come to the table?

The bread of life - metaphor or literal

John 6:35-51

When I read this passage I could not help but think -  this would be perfect for Bible Study!!!  This would be a great passage to gather my 17 different Bibles around with their varying comments and notes and the commentaries and just tear into it.  Ask the startling questions and take notice of the discord in it.  This is one of those passages that illustrate the disagreements in interpretation. Jesus is speaking himself to people, and people are interpreting him in many different ways.  Their understanding of scriptures, of his words and of his use of simile are all different, and Jesus is standing right in front of them.  It may sound selfish, but it gives me a whole lot of hope. Two thousand years later, we are still having the same problem with varying interpretations of the scriptures and different understandings of what Jesus is telling us.  God did not give up on us, Jesus did not give up on the people he was preaching to.  We are promised in verse 37 that “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away.” He goes on in verse 39 to remind us that I should lose nothing at all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”

John reminds us that Jesus was sometimes difficult to understand. Jesus made many references that the people would understand but he also used a great deal of metaphor and simile and as any middle school English student can tell you these literature devices are not always easy to understand. For many years the Romans believed that Christians were cannibals, citing Jesus telling us to eat his flesh. Many people for the first three hundred years of the Church thought Christians were cannibals and deserved death.

Jesus does not give up on his listeners just as he does not give up on us.  In verse 41 we hear the complaints begin. How can this man claim to have come down from heaven? He is merely human! We know his parents! This is ridiculous.

Jesus refutes them and uses references to Isaiah and Moses to make his point. God draws us to Jesus, and Jesus brings us home to God. We can't do it on our own. We can't just decide to be drawn to Jesus, but rather God draws us to Jesus and all of us who are pulled towards Jesus will have eternal life.  Jesus is promising us that if we are drawn to him we will have eternal life!  He loves us too much to let us go any other way.

Jesus continued to explain his analogy to the Bread of Life to his listeners.  He did not give up.  I find the analogy of the bread of life to be interesting. At this time period at leas 50% or more of a persons calories were consumed through bread daily. But anyone who has every made bread can tell you this is not a quick process. If you lived at Jesus' time you had to grow the wheat, harvest it, mill it, and then store it without vermin getting into it. Then you have to add the yeast, sugar and water, mix in the flour and let rise, then you needed to knead it, and let rise again. Finally you bake it. This is a lengthy time consuming process.

Maybe Jesus was trying to help understand a greater truth in this.  Taking in God, understanding scriptures and living a life devoted to God is not easy.  It takes time and trials and a whole lot of work. You can't just go down to Stewart's and grab a loaf, you actually have to put effort in it.  Not only that but the person next to you may be doing it a little differently. They may have different life experiences, different references for those similes and their interpretation could be different. The person in your pew could have a different interpretation.  The point is that Jesus calls us, that he brings back to the father all that is given to him and he does not lose one.  That Jesus will raise up those given to him.  P

Perhaps we should take a few words from Paul's letter to the Ephesians that we read earlier and remember to love one another.  As Paul said in 4:32- 5:2 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.  Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children,and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  We are to remember that love and forgiveness of one another even when we see things differently.  This is the hope that I found in the passage this week.  We have not agreed in 2000 years on interpretation, chances are we won't in the next 2000 either, but we are called to be imitators of God and live in love with one another.  

Now of course if we really did do this passage for Bible study we would have some questions to share with one another.  So I leave you this morning with some questions to think about.  Why did Jesus choose to be the bread of life - why that metaphor? What does it mean that it takes so long to make that bread - what could that mean to your personal life? How are we pulled by God? How are we nourished? What does it mean that every one of us that feels called by God will not be lost? What did Jesus mean then, and for us now?

Unity in Christ

As I read Ephesians 2:11-22 this week I could not help but think that differences of interpretation, differences in understanding, in culture, and in people have always been an issue for the church. There have always been people who disagreed. Think back to when Jesus walked the Earth. As much as Peter loved Jesus they still disagreed – Granted Jesus was right, but Peter came around and understood it later, and it didn't stop them from working together in the mean time.

At this time Paul is writing to several churches in Ephesus. He is reminding them who they are. Sometimes we need to be reminded of that as well. He reminded them that we are one family and one in Christ. In today's multi-denominational world where fragmentation is a whole lot easier than trying to work together in love we forget that. The Presbyterians are Christians. The Catholics are Christians. The Episcopals are Christians. The United Methodist are Christians. The Baptist are Christians and the list goes on. Sometimes we need to be reminded of that. I think last fall that became very clear to us. When we housed and fed the people who came to work in Middleburgh and Schoharie last year we had wonderful conversations with Christians from many denominations. We fed each other, we were one family. We realized the divisions were not as deep as we thought. We do not agree on specifics regarding theology – we have had two thousand years to become divided on some of these questions, but like the Ephesians we can remember who our cornerstone is - Jesus.

Paul is explicitly telling us about the differences between the people in these churches. They weren't little differences they were big differences. There were major cultural and social differences (ie who could eat what, who could talk to whom, how many of the laws did you have to follow...etc) in these churches and they were trying to figure out how to make this new life in Christ work. Paul reminds them that we must put to death the hostilities we have toward each other even when we don't agree. We have access in One Spirit to the Father (v. 18). He doesn't tell us that the differences don't exist, but the hostility has to go.

Not only does Paul acknowledge our differences which still exist today, but he goes further v. 21-22 “in him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.”

This is totally amazing. Jesus is our cornerstone and with him, each other and those who passed before us we are joined together and grow into the temple of the Lord. The temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed at this point, and he is reminding those who knew it and those who only ever knew pagan temples that God no longer exists in a building. God is within in us. We as a people are the dwelling place for God where all are welcome as one family.

We are one people despite our denominational titles. We are one people despite our theological differences. We are one people despite our differences. We are the people of God. We are one family in which all are welcome. We are the temple of God, the dwelling place here on Earth....

Take a minute. Let the implications of that resonate. What does that mean? How does that make you feel? How does that change us? As individuals? As a people? As a Church? As the dwelling place for God?

Great Expectations Great Faith

 Mark  6:1-13

This text is one of the ones that you hear and think that you know what it is all about. You hear the story of the rejection of Jesus' teachings by his home town crowd and hear how he then goes out to do his work in the towns around his home town and sends out his disciples to do the same with no complaint, just the comment that prophets are always rejected at home.

It seems pretty simple, until we pay attention to the details. As my grandma would say the devil is in the details. This time though it really isn't the devil, but a hint, a tiny picture of how God deals with us. The whole battle between predestination theories (those who think God determines everything before we are born), and those who are complete free will advocates gets a little kick in this passage. Of course there is the third road in this battle for all the Methodist out there, we have free will and predestination – God just knows what we are going to choose and works around that. But back to the text.

Mark tells us that Jesus could “do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.” So what does that mean? Does God's power depend on our belief? I don't think so. There are stories of God healing unbelievers who become believers. Mark also tells us in verse 7 that he gave them authority over all unclean spirits and later on in verse 13 he tells of all the demons that were cast out. They did not need faith for God to have power over them. God simply has the power and authority to do what ever God wants, so why did he not do the “great works? What is Jesus trying to tell us here?

We are told that Jesus did perform a few healings in the same breathe that we are told he could do no deed of power. What were the deeds of power then? After raising a child from her death bed, and raising Lazarus from his tomb were even the disciples expecting Jesus to walk around pulling people back from the brink of death or even death and everything else was just small potatoes?

Maybe we get that way too. Maybe like Mark we get so used to the way things work for us that we forget to appreciate or even see the miracles we are surrounded with each day. We live in a privileged society where many of us have homes. We may not get to eat gourmet food but we have food. Our children do not need to worry about clean water and shoes, but worry about who to text on their smart phones. We are so used to living in our privilege that we don't recognize miracles when we see them. A perfect sunset, a safe trip home from the store, the smile of an elderly relative, the story of the person sitting next to us at work, on the bus, or even in church.

I think Jesus' warning here is about becoming so familiar so comfortable with him that we lose our faith. Verse 6 he tells us that he was amazed at their unbelief. We have made Jesus very personal in our culture and sometimes we forget, or do not know how to deal with the pure power of God. We are uncomfortable with the God who can calm a horrible storm, but in doing so creates a lot of hard work for us to row to the other side, or the God who can raise the dead but doesn't solve their problems, or a God who controls demons. We like the personal God who cares about us, who provides for us, and can cure our ailments. We like the God who comforts and does not challenge. We like to continue living in the level of privilege we are used to without questioning it. We want our God to solve all our problems with his miracles. We want a pure escape button. But God does not work that way – what would we learn from it if he did. When we are challenged like Jesus challenged those in his own community to look, to repent, to choose a new path we are uncomfortable. When we are challenged to step out of our comfort zone, to consider the needs and justice of our society we can become uncomfortable. When we read about Jesus bucking social norms we have to ask ourselves what would he buck today? The treatment of Latinos by many of our governments in the south west? The denial of civil rights to our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters? What about the race divide between black and whites that still exists although it is routinely denied? Would Jesus challenge us on these issues. I believe so.

Sometimes we are so uncomfortable that we doubt God or God's presence. We loose our faith, or are so afraid of loosing our faith that we block out the modern day applications, we don't question or even think critically about our faith – trying to protect it. But that does not protect it, that simply leaves room for doubt.

I think the challenge for us here is to not forget that God is truly in control, yet we have free will and free choice. To remember that when we are challenged by God's word we should not run or scream back that the deliverer must be wrong because it does not conform to our expectations of God, but listen to the challenge with faith.

Consider the challenges brought to you in and out of the church and stop assuming you know the answers. Stop jumping to your normal conclusion and leave room for questions, leave room for your faith and for God to show you a new truth, a new idea, a new way. Leave room for God to work. If we choose to continue shutting down all that we find challenging like the people in Nazareth did then we will find the same unhappy ending – Jesus unable to do any great acts and leaving to work in the surrounding area. Of course God can work anywhere, with or without your consent, but I like to think from this passage, God desires our consent and we get a lot more out of it when we lay our assumptions

aside and leave room for Jesus to do his great acts.

What are your challenges? What is Jesus challenging us to do today? How do you feel to have free will and know that it is a gift from God? What can you do to make space for God?   

An interesting encounter

Today I took my children to a wonderful event at one of the local libraries.  We had a great time and found books and they were very well behaved.  The library happens to also house an art museum.  Since John and I had seen the exhibit that was currently being shown several years earlier and the paintings were all up high I decided to take the kids so they could check it out.  They see art that we do, they see what is in books or a few pieces on a wall, but have not really experienced an art museum in their memory.  This is when the journey went down hill.

The woman behind the counter reminded me to not let them touch anything.  Silly me assumed she met the art work.  Of course I gave her my word they would not.  Then she commented that my son needed a tissue.  He has a speech issue and he drools quite a bit, especially when his allergies are in full swing.  I already had one, and took care of it.  Then we began to look at the exhibits.  I noticed the woman looking in the window as we looked at the first room of exhibits. Then she came in and walked around several times.  We moved onto the second room of exhibits and then she came in again and walked around a bit.  We were playing a game to get them to notice details in the paintings.  They had to stand under their favorite and then share why it was their favorite, and then their second favorite and so on.  Caleb touched the wall as he stood under his favorite.  The woman scuttled over and said you really must not touch anything.  I explained the children had not touched any art work, at most they may have touched the wall.  She emphasized that was not acceptable.  They were to touch nothing.  I told her I would make sure the touched nothing and she left.

I was so angry I teared up.  I told the children we were no longer welcomed and needed to leave.  We left and as I was packing up the kids in the car, the words from Chris at Bible Study came back to me as we studied Acts 18: 9-10, "Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent: for I am with you....."

I remembered Chris telling me that some people have difficulty in doing that and that is why it is part of my job to do it.  I need to stand up for those who are too afraid.  Between that and my anger about being followed around just because I had young children I went back into talk to the woman.

All though I did not get through it without tears, I did explain to her that her behavior and comments made me feel like a criminal and it was very degrading.  I shared my frustration at wanting to share great works of art with my children so that they could learn to love art and if they were not acceptable then the institution should clearly state that.  She said she did not mean it that way and was very flustered.  Then we left.

I have been running it through my head afterwards today.  I was thinking I had a taste of what all those other groups who are routinely persecuted feel.  I could have just as easily felt the feelings of anger, resentment, judgement and frustration for simply being me that a young black man may feel in a white area, a gay person holding hands with her partner in a public square, a homeless person making my way on the street, a Latino in Arizona, a woman in an all male board room, or a poor person shopping in an upper middle class store may feel.  The incident took away my "white, middle class privilege" for the briefest of moments and I hated it. The funny thing is I am not usually aware of that privilege until it is taken away.

The feeling of uneasiness, of not belonging, of threat could be present in any of those situations for any of us.  The hurt, the rage, the anger at being unjustly accused of something that did not harm was there.  I wonder how will I feel going into another art museum.  I know I won't go back there for some time, as God is still working on me and I have way too much pride for my own good.  But the question is still there will I go back?  What about those other groups who don't have a choice?  What about all the other people who experience that level of prejudice daily?

This then made me think about our churches.

How do you think people who usually do not attend church feel when they come into our churches?  Are there comments that seem unobtrusive but are really biting and hurtful when combined with actions that we exhibit to new people?  Do we make people feel unwelcomed without asking them to leave exactly but with out behavior, and words?  What about those kids who run screaming through the sermon to the pulpit - are they and their parents welcomed?  The gay couple holding hands while listening to God's word next to the straight couple who have been doing the same thing for the last ten years - are they welcomed?  What about the homeless person who could not shower?  The man in his work clothes because he does not have time to change?  What about woman whose husband has died and although young and able bodied can't force herself to stand when she is supposed to because her body is just so heavy with grief?  Do you know her pain, or are you assuming she is just choosing not to respect God?

I wonder sometimes how much my assumptions affect my behavior.  I think this little experience will help me to focus on when I begin making judgments and assumptions so I can at least be aware of what I am doing.  Hopefully catching myself before any actions or words of harm leave me.  So I can truly try to be simply God's love and not pretend to know how to pass judgement, since I can't do it right either.