Sermon: 25 August 2024
Text: John 6.56-69
Theme: Eating Jesus?
Let us pray:
O Saviour Christ, in whose way of love lies the secret of all life, and the hope of all people, we pray for quiet courage to match this hour. We did not choose to be born or to live in such an age; but let its problems challenge us, its discoveries exhilarate us, its injustices anger us, its possibilities inspire us, and its vigour renew us, for your Kingdom’s sake. Amen.
If you are a regular attender at Anglican worship you would be aware that the readings week-by-week are divided into a three-year cycle and each year, a different Gospel is the focus. Year A has Matthew as the focus; Year B has Mark as the focus; and Year C has Luke as the focus. The Gospel of John gets interspersed in chunks across the three years and the important 6th chapter of John gets a full reading in Year B, the year we are in at the moment. Before we leave John for a while I want us to look at the tail end of the chapter.
The chapter begins with the feeding of the 5000 with bread and fish. It continues with a long discussion that begins with Jesus describing himself as the Bread of Life and ends with what we have just heard. The teaching of Jesus (his sermon we could call it) begins after the feeding of the 5000 when the people came looking for Jesus again and Jesus says, (and I am paraphrasing,) “You are only looking for me because you got a free feed – not because you’ve any idea what I’m on about!” Jesus gives the challenge that people shouldn’t bother working their guts out for food that perishes – but rather work for the bread that lasts for eternal life.
Jesus is challenging right up-front any approach to religious life that goes no further than seeking the gratification of basic needs. “Lord – give me a good job! Lord, give me a parking space! Lord, give me a boyfriend, Lord, cure me of my cancer.”
Now it’s not that there is anything wrong with these prayers. We know that when Jesus teaches us to pray, he says, “Give us today our daily bread.” As an aside – it should be noted, for me, as well as anyone, that another translation of this petition could read, “Give us our rations for the day’s journey.” Not give us as much as we can eat at any sitting!
What Jesus is challenging is the type of religion where God’s influence is confined to those areas of our lives! The personal and at times petty concerns that we all have. Ultimately – life is not confined to these things. You can be hungry and lifeless or well-fed and lifeless and while the latter is preferable to the former: both are sad failures of human life.
But this is not what the people wanted. It’s not what people came out to hear and it’s not what they expected. “Make us feel good Jesus; fill us up Jesus!” They wanted the next step in the religious program – how to be a good person and therefore get into heaven.
We need to remember how important it was for the Jewish faith for people to follow the rules. To obey the law was to live the righteous life! In one of the podcasts I was listening to this week I heard about the philosopher Immanuel Kant’s Golden Rule: “Act that you use humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end, never merely as a means.”
If you have difficulty, like I did, on first hearing this, here it is in modern language: “Each person must never be treated only as a means to some other end, but must also be treated as an end themselves.”
Many of us may know the golden rule: those who have the gold make the rule! No, not that golden rule – the other one – treat others as you would want to be treated. I have a close person in my life – let’s call her J for short – whose only rule is – Don’t break the rules!
We sometimes look down on the Jews for being legalistic with an unduly strong focus on the law, as if this were a bad thing. But when you deeply reflect upon it – it is a beautiful thing in its intention: and that we should be as decent!
But it ultimately fails and Jesus is teaching the Jews and us that our righteousness can only take us so far. Jesus is saying that it is, “My Spirit, my life and flesh that is the only thing that will give you life.” Jesus is asking for something far more than we are used to giving – total abandonment to him – his control and leading. He says, “Eat my flesh and drink my blood.”
The crows turned away on mass from following Jesus – it was all too hard – it was too much to ask! So many are attracted to Jesus offer of life but are unwilling to go the whole way. Unwilling to face the challenge of integrating their life with the life of Jesus.
Perhaps they want a religion that is like a beautiful ornament in a glass show case – a treasured possession but only significant when you are looking at the case. Certainly not a religion that is like yeast, to use another image from the parables of Jesus, a religion that ferments its way through your entire life and transforms it! So people walk away – go back to living fragmented purposeless lives – clutching desperately for some easier way.
Jesus calls his disciples not simply to listen to his words; not simply to follow his example BUT to eat his flesh and drink his blood. It sounds like cannibalism and that accusation was fired at the early Christians and church. Some in the church have recoiled from Jesus words and have tried to water down what he meant. Is it a mere memorial or something mysterious?
The fact remands that what Jesus says is perhaps one of his boldest, bluntest, most shocking statements! Consider what he says about eating. The English translations fail us. The original text refers to “munching” or even ‘gnawing.” It describes what a famished person does with a turkey drumstick – and Jesus says we are to do the same with his body!
Jesus says to us, “So you want to live forever. You want to enjoy the true life. Well – you won’t find it eating junk food, or even eating health food. You won’t find it eating at the best restaurants. To live that life – starting now – you need to munch on me! You need to gnaw on me! The Holy Communion – this Eucharist is not just some quaint ritual we enact as Christians. It’s important as the place where we recommit ourselves week-by-week to living in Jesus and Jesus in us. May the Lord grant us our fill today! The Lord be with you