10 Pentecost B John 6:51-58 17 August 2003
Rev. Roger Haugen
Finally, the Old Testament readings turn around! We have listened for weeks now, the story of David and all the trouble his appetites and bad choices have got him into. We heard about Bathsheba and the lust of David that sent her husband off to war so that he might be killed and David could claim her as his prize. We had the story of the birth of Absalom, the apple of David’s eye, the spoiled brat who got whatever he wanted. Absalom who’s selfishness was legendary, the son who learned nothing about loyalty and honour, but turned traitor against his father and country. Absalom, who for his troubles, was left dangling by the throat from an oak tree, only to be run through by swords of his own army. The story is all about choices – choices that are motivated by what was in it for the one choosing and nothing about what God might want. In the story of their greed, it is almost forgotten that God had remained faithful to David even though David often proved less than faithful.
Today,
we have the story of Solomon, who comes to throne at the death of
David. Having seen so many bad choices, it is with
foreboding that we hear the statement from God, “Ask what I
should give you?” Just like when the genie that
appears with three wishes, one’s imagination begins to run
free. Riches, power, long life? The stories of David
would suggest these sorts of things. Solomon begins by
recounting the “steadfast love” that God showed to
David, his father. His request is to “give to your
servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people,
able to discern between good and evil.” God is
delighted that Solomon did not ask for riches, a long life or the
lives of his enemy and gives him “ a wise and discerning
mind” that hadn’t been seen till then and wouldn’t
be seen following him, as well as riches and honour all his life.
Choices
have consequences. David made choices and was forced to
live with the consequences: the judgment of God through the words
of the prophet Nathan, the denial of the privilege of building
the temple, the violent death of Jonathan. Solomon made
choices. Solomon was willing to give up the opportunity of
personal gain in favour of the good of his people and, in the
process, was blessed by God. We make choices every
day and live with the consequences. They may not be as
large as the ones told of here, but always, to say
“Yes” to one option is to say “No” to several
others.
We
have been asked to make choices about what we eat in the Gospel
lessons for the past four weeks. We are offered the Bread
of Life and are asked to make a choice – eat or don’t
eat. There is the old saying, “You are what you
eat.” If you make healthy choices about fresh
vegetables, not just low fat, but the proper kind of fat, food
groups and the sort, you will feel better and live healthier.
Eat at a fast-food hamburger outlet every day and the
consequences will be evident – over weight, lethargy and
arteries crying out for clearing.
Again
today, Jesus offers us the “living bread that comes down
from heaven”, himself. Jesus asks us to make choices.
Jesus sets before us consequences of the choice, “Those who
eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life.” Eternal
life, it doesn’t get any better than that. Eternal
life that begins now, the marvelous abundance that can fill our
lives, a God-filled life bringing peace and joy to all of life.
Jesus asks us to make a choice. Choose life or choose
something else to power your life. This is the same choice
that Joshua was given as he lead the people into the promised
land. His reply was, “As for me and my house, we will
serve the Lord.”
Jesus
says, “Whoever eats me will live because of me.” The
word he uses would be better translated “Whoever chews on
me.” It sounds almost too graphic, but Jesus comes to
us in the most intimate of ways asking us whether we want to
“fish or cut bait.” This is the point when we may
be tempted to say, “Hold on!” Or we may feel like some
of those around Jesus then who said, “Is this not
Joseph’s son? How can this man say…..”
Jesus comes to us in the most intimate of ways and invites us to
share with him all that he has to offer, his life, his death and
his resurrection. It sounds scandalous, too much.
The
story is told of ancient warriors who would eat the heart of
their defeated enemies because they wanted to have that
man’s courage and spirit to increase their own. It had
nothing to do with eating but everything to do receiving all that
made the warrior great. We recoil at the
idea. Jesus’ sense of being with us is also graphic.
He speaks of an intimate union, “I in you and you in me. . .
.Whoever eats me will live because of me. I am the vine,
you are the branches.” Our connection to Jesus as the
body of Christ is not some arms length relationship but one that
permeates our very being. To choose to eat the bread of
life is to connect ourselves with Jesus at the most intimate of
levels. To share in the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper
is to be connected to Jesus at the most basic.
To
come to the Lord’s Supper is to accept an invitation, make a
choice in favour of life. As one writer tells it,
“therein lies the success of Christianity, the force capable
of giving a different turn to human destiny. . . . The story
carries inside it the seeds of resurrection. This is where
Christian life gets the strength of meaning that allows it to
stand firm and not give in to the limitations of history, which
seems to say that life has no meaning or worth.” (Internet
Latinoamerican Biblican Service)
To choose life, to eat of the living bread, is to dedicate ourselves to a life of making choices in favour of life; to exclude that which diminishes life. As Paul says in Ephesians, “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise. . . .So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” To be intimately connected with Jesus in the Sacrament leads us to seek to live out his will in every aspect of our life. It leads to making concrete choices that consciously exclude that which does not reflect our new relationship. Paul encourages us to be “filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” To do so is to make choices. To seek to live powered by the one who lives within us will determine how we spend our time, whose company we choose, how we spend our money and a host of other choices that are not always so easy.
To eat of this bread of life promises the power to make the difficult choices and to live with the initial consequences of these choices. To eat of this bread of life is to be captured by one who promises us life in all abundance. To eat of this bread is to taste the love that God has for us. To eat of this bread of life allows us to become the people we were created to be. To eat of this bread of life is to receive God’s extravagance full measure. Marie-Louise Ternier-Gomers says it this way:
That’s
Eucharist:
in Jesus, we eat and drink God’s love
in big gulps, without reserve,
physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.
In turn we grow free -- as Jesus did -- to allow God
to claim our lives, to bless our lives,
to break our lives in the name of Love,
and to share our lives with those hungering and thirsting
for love, peace and justice in our broken world.
That is why Jesus can make the bold claims
that he is indeed the living bread
that came down from heaven. Preached at St.
Pauls’ Anglican August 10,2003
Think on these things this week. Today when we do not celebrate the Lord’s Supper, hear the words of invitation to eat of the “bread that came down from heaven” and live this week in anticipation of the next time when we will “take and eat”. Remember the great love of God for you that would give his body and blood for you and for me. Revel in this love this week, let it colour all you are and do. Then we will “be careful how we live”, then we will be filled with the Spirit and we will “sing and make melody to the Lord in our hearts, giving thanks to God.”
Thanks be to God.