John 6:51-58
We mainline Christians snicker at many (of what we consider anyway) the goofy practices of other religions.
- For example…the Book of Mormon claims there were ancient civilizations in North America…and they believe Jesus Christ came to visit them.
- But it did not take long for me to stop snickering and say to myself:
- Yeah…but the thing is…we claim to eat the flesh and drink the blood of a man who lived 2,000 years ago.
- Who’s crazy now? I mean…all religions are strange…we are just used to ours is all.
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Every three years…the assigned readings during the summer include five weeks of working our way through the Gospel of John…chapter 6.
- And what is called the “Bread of Life Discourse.”
- In the last five weeks we have gone from the feeding of the 5,000 to Jesus walking on water in the middle of a storm at sea.
- A friend of mine says that Jesus walks on water during a storm at sea so often in the gospels that she started thinking it was less about being miraculous and more about just getting in some cardio.
- Anyhow…the crowd chased him down…demanding more bread.
- And then he says that he is the Bread of Life come down from heaven.
- Which angered the nice religious folks.
- And instead of backing off…he makes it even more strange by saying whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood has eternal life.
Which is where we pick up today when some of his disciples say:
- “Jesus…that teaching is hard…who can accept it?”
- And many of them leave. And we do not really blame them.
- This teaching is hard…but Jesus had a lot of sayings that were hard.
- Such as: ” Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”…”You who are without sin cast the first stone”…”Sell all you have and give it to the poor,”…”The first shall be last and the last shall be first”…”If you seek to save your life you will lose it.”
I really do understand the reaction of the disciples who say these teachings are hard.
- But here’s the thing.
- I think what unites us is not a doctrine.
- What unites us is a table…a table that is open to all…
- In which we receive this Bread of Life come down from heaven.
- The body and blood of Christ is what unites us and makes us a church.
- Hopefully not in a prideful see-how-inclusive-we-are way.
- But in a Lord-to-whom-shall-we-go? way.
- In a…You-have-the-words-of eternal-life way.
We all are welcomed each week with the news that we have an open table at St. Andrew for all.
- And that means that everyone without exception is invited to receive the bread and wine.
- Which for us is the body and blood of Christ.
- And we have grown so used to this that we do not realize how radical that is…given the history of Christian practice.
Think about it…consider the difference between Roman Catholicism…speaking in tongues Pentecostalism…polite Presbyterianism…emotional evangelicalism…intellectual Lutheranism.
- And for as much as we differ…the one thing most Christian traditions actually have in common is some form of holy communion.
- And here’s the irony…that the very thing we all seem to have in common is the thing that so often divides us.
A lot of ink and a lot of blood has been spilled in the history of the church over issues of who gets to take and serve communion.
- Sadly…Christians historical response to the gift of the Eucharist is to make sure that we understand it.
- Then to make sure we put boundaries around it.
- And then to make sure we enforce both the correct understanding and the correct boundaries.
- But on the night Jesus was betrayed he did not say:
- “This is my body broken for you…understand this in remembrance of me.”
- He did not say: “Accept this or defend this or boundary this in remembrance of me.”
- He just said: “DO this in remembrance of me.”
- It is a hard teaching.
That God would be made human and walk among us.
- That this Christ would offer his own flesh for the sake of the world.
- That he would do this knowing what scoundrels sat around his table the night he was betrayed.
- That he would do it anyway saying:
- Take and eat…this is my body broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
And when we feel congratulatory about our inclusivity…we might do well to remember:
- The 12 disciples who sat around that table included Judas the Betrayer and Peter the Denier.
- And the reason Judas and Peter make us cringe is that there is the Christ betrayer and the Christ denier in all of us.
- And it is precisely that part of us that Jesus seeks to make whole with his own broken body.
- This teaching is hard. Who can accept it?
It is hard to accept that our enemies receive the same forgiveness and grace and redemption that we do.
- But it is even harder to accept not just that God welcomes all.
- But that God welcomes all of me and all of you.
- Even that within us which we wish to hide.
- The part that cursed at our children this week.
- Or the part within us that suffers from depression or addiction and cannot admit it.
- Or the part of us that is too fearful to give our money away.
All the parts of us we wish Jesus had the good sense to not welcome to his table are invited to taste and see that the Lord is Good.
- All of who we are is welcomed to his table to see that the gifts of God are free and for all.
- This teaching is hard…who can accept it?
As your preacher…I am not asking that we accept it.
- I am only asking that we just do it.
- Because here at this table we bring our brokenness.
- Here we bring the most broken pieces of this world.
- And we receive…with no payment or worthiness on our part…the equally broken body of Jesus Christ.
So…we come and receive life and forgiveness and salvation with all the other broken saints and gleaming sinners.
- For this is what unites us in the love of a powerful God.