Sermon

What or Why? (Sermon September 2, 2018)

Mark 7:1–8 (NRSV)

The Tradition of the Elders

(Mt 15:1–20)

7 Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, ² they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. ³ (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; ⁴ and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) ⁵ So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” ⁶ He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me;

⁷     in vain do they worship me,

teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

⁸ You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

Mark 7:14–15 (NRSV)

¹⁴ Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”

Mark 7:21–23 (NRSV)

²¹ For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, ²² adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. ²³ All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Sometimes we as humans have trouble with different. Have you ever noticed this? It is something that seems to plague every culture and pretty much every age group within. The kid in the school yard just received new glasses which they are so excited about because they make them look smart older is ridiculed because of them. Why? For the simple fact that they are different. It does not even matter if the day before they were one of the more popular people in the classroom, once something sets them apart people notice and it is not always nice to be noticed.

The disciples of Christ were noticed as well. Jesus was attracting a great deal of attention in today’s passage. To set the seen in the previous chapter, Jesus went home to Nazareth and was rejected because everyone knew him and his family, they knew he was not trained in the rabbinical schools and they did not like the fact that he was teaching them. Jesus then sent his twelve closest friends out into the towns and villages to minister in his name. While the disciples were out and about in the countryside, they were able to cast out many demons, and when they anointed people with oil many were cured of their illnesses. The twelve were amazed at the power they were wielding they could hardly contain themselves. And the notoriety of Jesus increased.

It was getting to such a fervor that the king Herod had heard of him. This king who was essentially a governor granted his position by the grace of Rome but was given this position because of his personal heritage as relative of Herod the Great, who could be the last king of the Hasmonean Dynasty which was the royal family of Israel that fought and gained their independence from the over lordship of Greece. Herod could be the last of this dynasty, not because of his linage but because he married someone within the family, but not of the children of that wife survived to continue line. But this king Herod was a descendant of Herod the Great, but Herod the Great was too powerful for Rome so they broke the kingdom up into four parts and placed one of the relatives over each. And then somehow, they convinced one of those relatives to make Caesar an heir, and another was deemed unfit to rule so Rome had to send troops in as peacekeepers. The King of which Mark speaks is Herod Antipas, the man who married his brother’s wife and under the direction of this wife was seduced by his step daughter who was also his niece into killing John the Baptist. Herod heard of this traveling preacher and was convinced that it was John coming back to haunt him.

The disciples were excited about everything that was going on, they were so active in their ministries that they were to rest, unable to rest even to have a proper meal, and Jesus wisely said come with me to an isolated place to rest. Jesus knew the limits of the human body, not only was he divine and created the body, but he lived within a human body for the past thirty years. He knew that to maintain a healthy spiritual life you needed a holy rhythm of worship, prayer, and ministry. And of those the most important component was prayer. It is in prayer that we have the intimacy with God, where we can be lead, encouraged, and strengthened by the Spirit. So, they went across the sea to an isolated place, but the people saw where they were heading and gathered there as well. A multitude gathered, and Jesus had compassion on them and began to teach them. As time became later, and the crowd was hungry he fed the multitude with five loaves and two fish. This was a meal for one person, a small meal at that feed over five thousand people.

Jesus was gaining a great deal of attention. Even the attention of the religious scholars and Mosaic lawyers. From the central holy see in Jerusalem a contingency of Pharisees and scribes came to speak to Jesus. Jesus had met with a few of these people on previous occasions but now they came with a purpose, they came to distract attention. They came to derail the movement and the influence of this uneducated traveling teacher who was turning the people’s attention away from Jerusalem and moving it to the countryside.

They ask, “Why do your disciples not live according to the traditions of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” Everything that Jesus was doing, all the things that could not be explained by science of today or of ancient times, all the people who had witnessed these feats and they ask about hygiene. Think about this for a moment. People were being healed of illnesses, some of which had would be considered chronic illnesses today. People possessed with evil and unclean spirits were being freed from the chains of bondage. All of this and all they had to say is why do your disciples eat without washing according to our traditions.

As I read through these things I thought deeply about where these traditions came from and what they entailed. There is no law of Moses that requires Israel to wash prior to eating, the only people that must wash before eating are priest who must be ritually clean to eat of the consecrated meats in the temple. But this is a requirement for them to be in the temple, so it really does not apply. Why these teachings came about is from a desire to avoid uncleanliness of others. These teachings have their roots in great wisdom from honored people within Israel like Solomon, but they are not part of the law. So, these rules people live by although not wrong in and of themselves and are in fact beneficial in most applications do not indicate any legal requirement. Yet these lawyers and religious scholars are questioning Jesus about these traditions.

There are six hundred and thirteen laws in the Old Testament, that is right six hundred and thirteen of which these lawyers could find some fault in the disciples over. But they did not indicate any of these laws only the traditions of the elders. This is quite interesting if you think about it. Of the six hundred and thirteen four hundred and sixty-four apply to everyone in Israel. Of those two hundred twenty-three are based on reverence to God and of those one hundred and forty-four are based in the temple. Leaving a total of three hundred and twenty laws that the people of Israel need to follow in their daily lives. Of those sixty-three are based on civil codes of basic governance which most people do not interact with on a regular basis, leaving two hundred and fifty-seven. Thirty-eight deal with financial dealing and interest, twenty-eight deal with marriage, nineteen deal with cultivation of land, five deal with the family, fifteen deal with how we treat other individuals around us. Twenty-six deal with food, and of all the laws given in scripture only five deal with uncleanness and purification. There are a lot of laws that they could investigate, but they focus in on the five on purity. Of those five laws that deal with purity two of those were based on purification of the entire congregation of the nation, which is a law that falls on the priest, and three deal with people. One dealing with childbirth, one dealing with bodily discharges for both men and women, and one dealing with pests getting into the food, seed, and water supply.

I tell you this because of everything that a legal and religious scholar could point out in any assembly of people dedicated to a religious practice, they focus on something that God does not give much attention too. Cleanliness is important but what those laws basically boil down to is take a bath after certain activities and don’t drink water that animals have died in. These laws are not that profound, I grew up on a farm, we had well water and I can tell you that it does not take a priest to tell you that you should not drink water that animals have died in. Your nose can pretty much tell you right away that you should stay away from that water. But it is the traditions around washing that the legal advisors focus on.

Which brings us to the elders, who are these people and why are their teachings important. There really was not an office of the elder’s official until Israel returned from captivity, and even then, it really did not become a major institution until after the temple was destroyed. But these teachings of the elders are just that, teachings. They are the teachings of people of whom people respected. This respect was a result of life experience, or because of age. Today in our tradition of faith we would call these individuals weighty friends. Their words carry weight for some reason. These teachings are not all inclusive. They are at best situational discussions. Regarding the washing of hands before eating, the teaching is that if it is good for a priest it should be good for us. If God was requiring one to be that clean why would he allow everyone else to remain unclean, because our uncleanliness could defile that of the priest we contact. The teaching makes great sense, but it is not required, and the legal advisors know this. They were wanting to present to the people that Jesus was leading them away from righteousness instead of leading them to greater holiness. The problem is they are talking to Jesus.

He does not let them off the hook either, quoting Isaiah, “You abandon the commandments of God and hold to human tradition.” This statement struck me as I reflected on the past few weeks. How often do we teach tradition as law? I reflected on many of our traditions and statements among Friends and even among other Holiness groups. I look at dancing, enjoying a game of cards with friends, an occasional drink, or even attending a theatrical performance. These were all things that holiness traditions looked down upon to varying degrees. They have very good reasons to hold to these teachings, but they are not things that if used in moderation will lead to the destruction of the soul. I consider the sacraments that we among the church hold in high regard, the things like baptism, the Eucharist, confession, marriage, confirmation, anointing the sick, and ordination. We teach of these things as if they are God’s law, but they are not. They are traditions. Yes, some of the traditions are good and have grounding in scripture but you cannot prove that scripture requires them as means of God’s grace. The traditions we teach are there to encourage a deeper relationship and heighten our devotion. When we teach traditions as law it fills in the relationship with silty sediment that keeps it shallow and it causes our devotion to become obligatory instead of heart felt.

Jesus tells us this very thing, “There is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things coming out are what defile.” And he continues by saying, “For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come.” What does this mean? It is not always the what that matters but the why. Why is a person having an occasional drink? Why is a person playing cards? Why is a person participating in a certain form of worship? Why is a person married or not? It is not always the what that is the problem, but the why. It is not always the what that is the solution but the why. Why are these people so worried about the lack of washing hands out in the countryside where people are eating on the ground on a side of a hill? They are concerned because if people can do this, if they cannot hold their greater devotion over them as a sign of power they have lost influence. The tradition of washing, which by the way is a very good and sometimes important tradition, was being wielded tool of price and envy. It was not out of true devotion but exploitation. This is spiritual abuse and Jesus hates it.

This is the very reason why Jesus went into the temple and became angry, therefore he ripped hair out of a horse’s tail and viciously swung it at the vendors while they conducted their business. They did not care about the truth, they wanted to twist the truth, causing the guilt of others to be translated int personal profit. This causes me to pause. It causes me to consider many things that I do and teach. I may not agree with someone else’s conduct but is that conduct a transgression against my own understanding of the truth or is it an actual transgression. It is what is within us that cause evil, the why not always the what.

You Have the Words of Eternal Life (Sermon August 26, 2018)

By Jared Warner

Willow Creek Friends Church

John 6:56–69 (NRSV)

⁵⁶ Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹ He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

The Words of Eternal Life

⁶⁰ When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” ⁶¹ But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? ⁶³ It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴ But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. ⁶⁵ And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.”

⁶⁶ Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. ⁶⁷ So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

There is much talk about these words that Jesus spoke. It has been debated for nearly 2000 years. Yet still we seem to fall far short of them. This past year was probably the most difficult of the six years I have served on the elders’ board, because in a large, we wrestled with these very words. What is proper worship, what is true faith, what does it mean to be a Christian, and what does it mean to be a Friend? All these questions were raging in my mind, and more. On both sides of the debate there were people arguing from a traditional point of view, both from the universal church’s point of view and that of Friends.

For many the debate gets lost in the symbolism just as it did in the early years of the Friends movement. There are those that will defend the use of symbols saying they are a necessary for worship, yet they will then turn around and say that it is by faith that we are saved not by works. If we were to break this down they are saying in one statement that the elements of a sacrament are required means of grace, if not participated in our faith is invalid. And in the other statement they are saying that it is our faith that grants the grace, and participation in works of any sort are invalid without first having faith. It boggles the mind if you listen to the debates for too long.

So, what is the correct answer? This, I am afraid, will be debated for years if not centuries to come. But while we debate these issues there is something that can be done. We can listen to Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in conclusion to this teaching, “It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”

Imagine if you will that you were sitting or standing in that great synagogue in Capernaum, you had listened to all these words by Jesus. You heard him telling you about the manna from heaven and that the bread that he will give is even greater than this because those that eat of it will never hunger. He even added that those that eat of this bread will never die. You like everyone else have some idea surrounding the Messiah, and you are in an internal debate with yourself wondering if Jesus just might be the one. The reason this is popping into your mind is because of the various ideas of what the messiah will do. One is that he will reestablish the kingdom of David and you are currently living under the rule of Rome. For the kingdom to become independent there would have to be some sort of battle, either politically or physical. The idea of a messiah that can provide everlasting bread to an army sounds amazing. The Idea that those that eat this bread would live forever is even greater. You remember the history of your people, you know that the greatest forces of Persia were call the Immortals, yet they did eventually die at least physically. But if Jesus was the messiah and he truly could provide everlasting life through bread at his disposal, then the armies of Israel would truly be immortal. No army could stand against them.

Think about this. Imagine what you might be thinking of when you hear those words. Then imagine the shock and horror that you might have felt when Jesus continued to speak and said that the bread he must give is his flesh. He says that he will give his very flesh for us to eat to give us this eternal life. Could you do that? Could you for the sake of Israel join with this Rabbi, becoming a flesh eater? The very though turns the stomach, it turns my stomach even today. Because they did not have the gospels like we do, they could not look back at the first chapter of John like we did last week and connect the flesh to the incarnation. They did not have the letters of Paul who explained that the fruit of the spirit are certain things, and that the wisdom of God provided by the spirit is providing that fruit through the very incarnation of Jesus. All you have on that day in Capernaum are words spoken by a traveling teacher, words that are extremely hard to understand, and boarder on heresy according to the traditions of the past. What would you do?

They grumbled, they complained, just as their ancestors did in the desert. They did not understand why God was leading them through the desert for forty years, it was miserable, it was pointless, why drag it on so long? Why, if they were not able to go into the land, why not just open the earth and let everyone fall in? Why did God allow even their leader Moses get so annoyed with the long drawn out process to the point that even he would sin against God and miss the promise?

There are mysteries in life that we will never fully grasp. When Jesus says that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, imagine how many farmers spend nights laying awake trying to figure out that riddle. It’s just a seed what deeper meaning does it hold? If the answers to the kingdom of God are found in a seed, what else could be held in something like bread, or even more in the flesh?

We do not know what the meaning of an event or moment in life holds, during the moment. For us at that moment the trials we face are torture and pointless. A few weeks ago, I spoke with my brother at length and we discussed the trials we both felt while dealing with the emotions and grief of losing our sister. The discussion was profound to me. I learned things that he experienced that were far different from the things that I experienced. I for a moment hated myself for not being a better big brother for him, I did not see. In fact, I could not see, because it was not for me to see. It was a mystery that could only be revealed by the holder. Over the course of this discussion we realized that while we would never wish the pain and grief we experienced on anyone, that event, that ending of one life, provided the catalysis for our futures.

Those tough trial we experience, are life giving, even when they feel as if they are taking the life right out of us. They give life if, and only if, we face the trials in the spirit of Christ. They give life because the spirit of God is life. Everything that I experienced and will experience in this flesh can and will provide the strength and hope to encourage another to embrace the spirit of Christ in their own lives. I may not see how it works. I may not even be aware that the Spirit is working because I am currently experiencing another mystery in my own life that has yet to be revealed to me. But like a mustard seed that goes into the ground, the seed dies and is transformed into a sprout, a plant, it matures and produces fruit, and once that fruit is mature the plant dies, and we are left with another seed. Yet another mystery. Yet another trial that baffles us, that tortures us. Yet another era of our life’s journey that causes us to question the very point and purpose of our existence and we like the psalmist curse the day we were born because we feel as if the world just might be better without us.

Those people in that synagogue so long ago, listened to the teaching of Jesus they thought about them and said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” They grumble because, the words of the teacher sound terrible, they sound as if he is telling them to turn their back on their ancient traditions and to begin a new life and lifestyle. It sounds as if they would be turning their backs on everything they had ever known and follow him into something they though God would never lead them to. Who can accept it? If we understand God that looks and acts one way and suddenly something else is revealed, how can we accept it?

Jesus looks at his disciples and asks them, “Do you also wish to go away?” Think about that question. Think about it deeply. Think about the many trials you have faced. Think about the times you struggled in faith and even with this meeting. Jesus is asking us the same question. Do you also wish to go away? Would you rather go somewhere else, somewhere that does not challenge us quite so much? Somewhere that might allow us to stay where we are instead of working through a trial that we did not really want to face anyway. There is a reason that many of us have stayed here in this Meeting. And each of us have come to a point where we had to ask ourselves why we even stay, yet we did. Why?

Peter answered, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” There are very few that came to this Meeting, who were born into the Society of Friends. Most of us for some reason chose to attend and to stay. There are numerous other expressions of faith why did we stay here?

Peter and the others stayed with Jesus, even in their lack of understanding, because they believed that his teaching held within them eternal life. Stop there for a moment. Peter said that Jesus’s words held eternal life, after Jesus just gave a teaching of his flesh being the bread of life. Peter acknowledges that even though that teaching was weird and a bit gross, knew that over all Jesus’s teaching, held within them everything they needed to know. It was the wisdom wrapped in flesh that gave the life, it is the wisdom not the flesh that provided the power. It was the spirit, not the flesh that gave life. And the spirit of Jesus is the essence of life. But it is more than just the teaching. He also says to whom can we go? There is a correlation between the relationship and the teaching, as well as belief and faith. Where would they go?

They did not meet the requirements to follow one of the other rabbis of their day. They were passed over for that honor. Instead, when they became of age they were sent out of school to learn the trade of their fathers. They became fishermen, tax collectors, and some joined gangs. They had each left that life to follow Jesus. There was something that drew them to Him. There was something about that relationship with Jesus along with the teaching that caused them to desire something different from the life they previously knew. There was something about the lifestyle that Jesus showed them that caused them to desire it, even when it was challenging. Even when their friends in their hometown center of worship looked at Jesus and said this teaching is hard. The desire to be with Jesus was greater than being with the rest of the world.

This tells us something about worship, and life. Elton Trueblood, a Quaker Theologian once said, “If you have the reality then nothing else is required, if you do not have the reality nothing else will suffice.” What this means is that the reality of faith and life is found in Jesus. Just as Peter said, “To whom can we go?” The reality is that they found more in the life and lifestyle of Christ, in that relationship with Christ than they had found anywhere else. Why would they leave? When Jesus would later say, “Abide in me,” they would begin to understand what the meaning of even these hard teachings would be.

It was not that they needed to eat the flesh or eat the sacred bread that represented the manna of ancient days. It was that they needed to take on the life and lifestyle of Jesus. The needed to reflect that life and lifestyle in all they would do. They needed to die to themselves and let the life of Jesus reflect through them. As Paul would say, “I no longer live but Christ lives through me.” This is eating the flesh of Christ. It is becoming what we eat or consume. If they consume the life and lifestyle of Christ, they begin to reflect him. When they eat of his holy wisdom, the essential ingredients of that wisdom seep out of their bodies, it is in their sweat, in their blood, it provides sheen to their hair. Just like the things we eat in our flesh. When we eat garlic, everyone knows we have eaten garlic. Do people know you have been partaking of the lifestyle of Christ?

About 370 years ago, Fox and other seekers began what we now know as the Society of Friends, or the Friends Church. When they began their meetings for worship they sought to only require the essentials of faith, the things necessary. They observed the traditions and practices of the Churches of their day and they saw many things that caused their hearts to grieve. One being that children and adults were baptized and nothing changed. Another was that people participated in communion services and lived their lives however they wanted. They looked at these things and looked at the teachings of Christ, and they realized that there must be more to faith than just eating bread and drinking wine. And if there is more to it than that behind the symbol is more important than the symbol itself. They studied scripture and they realized that if the symbol of the lord’s supper was so important that Paul would say, “for all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat and drink judgment against themselves.” This means that if there is a symbol that means something more, and our lifestyle does not reflect the deeper meaning we have caused harm to ourselves and the meeting. To partake of the symbols of Christ, means we must reflect Christ and if we reflect Christ anyway the symbols are only there to remind us to continue.

Do we need these symbols? The truth is when we gather together to worship, we as a corporate body encourage one another to take on the lifestyle of Christ. It does not matter if it is a Catholic Church, Baptist church, or a Meeting of Friends. It does not matter if there are sacramental elements or if there are cookies and coffee. When we meet, we encourage, and it is that encouragement that keeps us going. It is the coming together as people of faith that keeps us focused on the life and lifestyle of Christ, and together we help one another discern if we are living the life we say we are living. It comes in the forms of discussion, queries, singing of hymns and praise songs. It comes in a prayer, and in a smile. We partake of Christ when we come together to worship and listen to the wisdom of the spirit expressed through people emboldened by the spirit. That is why we are here and why we have stayed. It is the relationships we have with one another that have helped us through or trials and helped us see Christ through the mystery of life. Even though we may have different understandings, or different ideas each of us in our own way show each other Christ.

As we enter this time of open worship and communion in the manner of Friends, I encourage us to consider what we are showing each other and those around us. Are people seeing Christ or are they seeing us? Can people tell that even if we are broken in some way that we have been feasting on the lifestyle of Christ? In our brokenness and in our trials, in our pain and in our pleasures do we say like Peter, “To whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Fruit or Pods (Sermon August 19, 2018)

John 6:51–58 (NRSV)

⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
⁵² The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵³ So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; ⁵⁵ for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶ Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

I have mentioned several times over the past few years that I love to study the bible. There are times that if a friend sends me a text message I will unknowingly write a ten-page term paper on the meaning of a word in Greek that just opened scripture to reveal something I had not fully realized. At times these friends would not expect the enthusiasm and would find themselves trying to figure out how the deeper meaning of bread might possibly coincide with a question of when I am scheduled tomorrow, or if I would be interested in going to an event. If you are wondering how it might possibly tie in, it does not. I just get supper excited about studying at times and it just gushes out.
There is a problem with the study of scripture. Sometimes there are some strange passages. Like Ezekiel’s wheel, or Daniel’s vision of the statue of gold, bronze, silver and stone. Then there is this passage. At first look this passage is almost scary. Imagine if you were an upstanding member of the Jewish religious community, and you had just listened to this statement from a charismatic traveling Rabbi. You hear him speak of the manna of ancient days, and how He is like that bread that came from heaven. You understood that to an extent, because even the prophets spoke of the Messiah as possibly providing miraculous bread like that epic era. You remember that Jesus just days before demonstrated the power over foodstuffs and could multiply a meal fit for one small boy to feed thousands.
You are hanging on his every word, he has you hanging there on every syllable. You hear bread of life and those that eat will not hunger. You begin to salivate for this bread because there are days where you have not eaten a full day’s ration because you may not have earned enough one day to feed fully feed your family. I hear never hunger and you think, “yes this is the guy I want to follow. I will do what ever he needs me too because then I would not have to worry about anything.” But then he gets even better. Not only does he say he is the bread, but he says believe in me and you will never be thirsty! And you remember that one time the disciples told you about, where Jesus turned one hundred and eighty gallons of water into wine. This was not just any water, it was the dirty water used for washing your hands, and he made it into the best wine anyone had tasted. If he could do that what else could he do.
Jesus has the crowd at this point. He has their complete attention and sure there are some people grumbling about the manna reference, and you understand why they are grumbling, because what today resemble such an amazing thing such as daily food for a forty-year stretch. I mean really Moses had a good record, and Jesus has only been teaching for a couple of years. Sure, he has some good statistics but a few thousand people eating bread and fish is nothing like feeding a nation for forty years. So, you guard yourself a bit. What does Jesus have to say?
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever…” You are leaning in closer. Just moments ago, he said that you would not go hungry, now he said you will live forever. You are really getting into this presentation, and you are beginning to wonder if he is going to hand out some samples. You might be thinking how much of this bread you must eat to get the full effect, is it just one meal or is it like a week worth? Or is it something you must eat everyday for this everlasting life and if you continually eat it you will not age. What if you eat too much will it make you younger? If that is the case how much would you have to eat return to your prime condition? You are dreaming and licking your lips and getting ready to be the first in line after Jesus begins to bless this bread, when Jesus finishes taking a breath and begins to speak again.
“…and the bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Everyone is silent. Even Jesus paused at this time. Your eyebrows raise, and you look up and ask yourself, “Did he just say flesh.” You look over to your brother who was standing next to you and he turns to you at the same instant. Your sister whips her head around to look at you both, each expression reflecting the same questioning gaze. “DID HE JUST SAY FLESH?”
After a few moments there is a rumble in the crowd, first it begins with those among the religious orders and it spreads. Your own tongue finally loosens a bit, and everyone is asking, “Flesh? How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” How indeed. Even the mention of this is probably the greatest taboo that could possibly be imagined. To the faithful members of Israel, it is criminal to take a life, even if the life was taken in self-defense there are social and civil consequences to contend with. To be in the presence of a dead body would make you ceremonially unclean to the point you could not attend worship for a set amount of time. The thought of consuming the flesh of another human being is unthinkable, to even mention the concept is beyond sickening. But Jesus does not stop.
“Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” And he does not stop there, he continues this same theme four more times. To repeat something once usually means it important, to repeat it a third time means you better not forget this, to repeat it that many times means that this is probably the most important thing Jesus has ever said.
Think about it for a moment, imagine yourself in the sandals of these first century people. It was against the laws of Moses to consume the blood of an animal, because the life of that animal is sacred, and life to them was found in the blood. If it was unlawful for them to consume the blood of even the most sacred of all animals, why would they possibly consider the consumption of the life force of a human being?
And this is where Jesus began to lose his followers. In fact, so many departed that later in this chapter Jesus looks directly at his twelve closest friends and asks, “Do you also wish to go away?” Bible study is the most exciting and often the most challenging task to pursue. After 2000 years we still struggle with this passage. Some take the words quite literally; the whole concept of Transubstantiation revolves around this passage. And that concept is that when the Mass is performed the bread and wine offered at the alter literally and miraculously become the body and blood of Jesus. And when you participate in that worship you are literally consume and are given the very life found in Jesus. This is a teaching within the universal church, and it is this teaching that started some of the greatest persecutions of Christians in ancient times.
In the centuries following the assention of Christ there were several points that caused the pagan majority to oppose the teachings of the disciples, the first was there was no idol, so they believed that Christians were atheists, because they did not revere a physical god. The second and probably the most problematic was that many caught a mention of this passage, the practice of the followers of this religion, and they believed that the followers of Christ were eating someone during their worship. It did not help the situation a bit that the practices of many of those ancient churches was to close the doors during this most intimate portion of worship and only allowed confirmed and baptized members in, to participate and observe these rituals. So, it was a seen as a sacred secret, and the imagination would go wild trying to connect the scriptures to the perceived practices. We have the privilege of 2000 years of history to know what went on behind those closed doors, and we have the scripture printed before us in digital and paper format, and in languages we understand so we can see into the mystery.
We can see into the mystery but even still the mystery remains. I am not here to speak on the correct theological understanding of the elements or means of grace. Every denomination within the church has their own understanding of this and quite frankly I find many of their statements both inspiring and lame. I even say this considering our own traditions because if we are focused only on the tradition we can often lose sight of the reality behind and within. We can get so caught up in our traditions that we, like the Jews or dissenters of ancient times, can miss the true life-giving message from Jesus. And if our traditions do not give life or promote a changed life they should be questioned.
What do I think Jesus is saying? I believe Jesus is being sarcastic, humorous, edgy, and shocking. He is giving them each a hard reset to their religious thinking. I mentioned last week that it was at this point that the gospel writer of John began to use the reference of the Jews as an indicator, not of anti-Semitism, but as an indication of division. That division is between those that follow the teachings of Jesus and those that held to the traditions of the established religious orders (the Jews). Jesus is saying in such shocking terminology that you are what you eat. Or more accurately you reflect the things you consume.
Last week we looked at the idea of bread in depth. The bread Jesus was speaking about was not the everyday bread made from cheap grains, but it was the sacred breads made from the costlier grains, the lighter grains like wheat. It was the bread that the head of a family would break and bless to begin their weekly sabbath meal. It was the bread that sat on the table before the alter in the temple. It was the bread that most closely resembled the color of that mysterious bread the ancient Israelites consumed in the wilderness, manna. We spoke about how the name manna has a root in the question What? And when Jesus said that he was the bread, he turned that question of complaining what is it, to the excitement of WHAT IS THIS? It is the difference of a child forced to eat broccoli and the response of the same child opening their Christmas gift. The same word, what, is used. But the punctuation behind the word is different.
The idea around bread is that bread is the staple of life, basically if you do not have bread you will not live and if you have bread you will survive another day. So, bread is the essence of life. Jesus is saying he is life, if you do not have what he freely offers you do not live. If you do not share what Jesus has to offer you do not promote life in any form. Bread is life.
Jesus takes this one step beyond bread, and he brings it to the flesh. Yes, the words he uses here actually mean flesh, the soft meaty parts of your body. There is not another possible translation associated with this, it is as creepy and gross as it looks and sounds. Jesus is saying that his flesh is life. And if you do not take his life and consume it you will not have life. But the question that remains is if this is literal or figurative? And what that means either way? You are what you consume.
His flesh gives life. But this word flesh begins this testimony of John as well.
John 1:1–5, 14 (NRSV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴ in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

The Word was with God in the beginning and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh. Repeating words are important. In the first segment of this gospel, Word is mentioned four times. In the very first sentence it is mentioned three times. Word is an important word, it carries with it knowledge and wisdom. Which means that this wisdom of God was there in the beginning, it was with God, and this essence of divine wisdom was God. This wisdom created everything, and in this wisdom was life. And that life was light to all people. Light is also mentioned several times and it represents revelation, or divine revelation. This revelation shines in the darkness, which represents chaos and sin, and darkness did not overcome it. And that this essence of divine wisdom was not only an abstract concept but a personality. A personality that had form, that became flesh, and lived among humankind.
This flesh that Jesus speaks, is the incarnation, Emmanuel, God with us. It is the wisdom of God that dwells among us, it is the revelation of God, that is made most perfect in the incarnation of the one that is being reveled. You are what you consume, Jesus says. In the desert your ancestors consumed manna, but it did not fully satisfy because they were complaining, and grumbling people filled with darkness and unwilling to see the light. If we were to read the testimony of Moses, we would see that they grumbled nearly every step of the way for those forty years. All we have is bread, couldn’t we have some meat occasionally? The grumbling got so bad that Moses himself got fed up with the people and struck the rock to give them water and complained himself. That complaining became a darkness that consumed them. And the Jews of which John speaks are the people that chose to identify with the grumbling wanderers instead of the people of hope that eventually stepped foot in the land of promise. Of all the people that left Egypt only two entered the land, all the others died in the desert. Those two were the one that stood before Israel and said as for me and my household we believe in God. Joshua and Caleb, the two that looked at the people of Canna and plagued with fear but filled hope. They were people of light and not darkness. And the name Joshua means God saves, which is the Hebrew equivalent of Jesus.
Jesus is the wisdom of God in flesh, he is the light or the revelation of God in flesh, he is life and all that believe in him have life. You are what you eat, you are what you consume, and what you consume will either fill you with light or darkness. It will either give life or death. I ask are we feeding the light? There is an old native American proverb about the two wolves that live inside everyone, one that seeks to do good, and the other evil. You become the wolf that you feed. This proverb is filled with truth because truth is always truth. If we are filling our lives, if we are consuming the thing of this world that promote love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control we are consuming what Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit. These are also the things that promote life, that give life, and make life worth living. This life is the light of God, that shines in the darkness, which is the light that comes from the Word of God which was made flesh in Jesus. If we are consuming these things we are consuming the flesh of Christ, we are participating in the life of Christ because we are what we eat.
But if we are feeding the other wolf? If we feed on darkness we are consuming the pods of the adversary: hate, sorrow, conflict, annoyance, malice, depravity, disloyalty, callousness, and indulgence. These things may satisfy us for a moment, but they choke life. They sow the seeds of death not only in our individual souls, but in our communities and our world. When we promote faithfulness, we promote companionship and mutual respect those around us, when we promote disloyalty we are always seeking our own interests and often that comes at the expense of others. When we live at the expense of others this breeds conflict, and other seeds of the pod. When we live in companionship and mutual respect we will encourage the growth of fruit. Life gives life, and death breeds death. You are what you eat.
Jesus says these things in many ways at many different times. He once said that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. A small and insignificant seed, the smallest of seeds used by the farmers of Israel, yet that small seed grows to something great. The kingdom of God is like a treasure, it is like a pearl, its like a sower sowing seeds in a field. Both fruit and pods have seeds, that will grow and take hold in the soils of life. The meaning of life is found in the seed. It goes into the soil, it grows, it matures, it reproduces, and bears fruit, then it dies, and the fruit it bears begins the cycle again. We are what we eat, we are what we consume, and what we consume promotes life or death. The flesh of Christ is the revelation of God dwelling among us, it is the wisdom and teaching of all the laws and all the oracles of the prophets lived out in complete perfection for us. Jesus God made flesh, came to dwell with us, he lived a complete life for us, he died to take on the wages of our sin, he was buried to overcome our separation from God, and he rose again to give us life through him. Jesus is the seed of life, he is the bread of life, he is the source of life, and he is the essences of life. Without him there is nothing but the pods of the adversary. Fleeting moments that bring momentary pleasure but no joy. Will you consume fruit or pods? Will you bask in the light or shiver in the darkness? Will you promote life or hasten death?