August 22, 2021 – Proper 16 (13th Sunday after Pentecost)
After seeing the second reading for today, I was tempted to preach exclusively on it. You see, while taking the General Ordination Examination to become a priest, the question that was posed to me about the canonical area of “The Holy Scriptures” instructed us to respond to the text of the second reading in an essay of “about 1,000 words” to “explicate the text, providing the historical context, literary style, and theological and socio-cultural elements” and “describe the pastoral application of the text as it relates to terrorism.” And while this seemed like an easy way out in terms of preparation, I think that in this “easy way out” is found part of the challenge for us in today’s readings.
Our society today tends to value flexibility. We have cell phones on which we can be called to do “work things” at all hours of the day. We counsel ourselves, “Don’t get stuck; go with the flow. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” is a saying we hear occasionally. But it’s this attitude that makes this passage of Scripture so difficult for us. Here Paul counsels that we must stand firm: “Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” This is the opposite of going with the flow.
So in the spirit of Paul, I want to talk more about the Gospel reading, which probably also feels like I’m going with the flow to you, because we’ve heard the same thing said in different ways four different times now. (Spoiler alert: next week you get to hear something different!) I think at this point, we’ve established that:
- Jesus is the bread of heaven who offers eternal life,
- Christ’s body and blood recall the eucharistic meal,
- Jesus’ relationship with the Father is important and central,
- And many turn away from Jesus’ teaching.
What’s new this week is found in Jesus pressing his closest disciples to decide if they wish to turn away from following him. What is left off of our reading today are the final two verses: “Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.’ He was speaking of Judas son of Simon Iscariot, for he, though one of the twelve, was going to betray him” (Jn 6:70-71). These two verses continue the theme of Jesus’ rejection and his awareness of the one who would betray him.
And so in a sense, I think that the reading from Ephesians about sticking with it through the “wiles of the devil” really is connected with today’s Gospel reading.
As part of my ordination process, I had to sit for many months with a committee who asked me over and over to tell my story. Each time we met (both at my home congregation and the congregation where I served prior to starting seminary), we checked in and we talked about how God was working in our lives. I have to tell you, there were times where I wasn’t sure what would come out of my mouth as an answer to how God was working, times when I wasn’t sure how my ministry fit with being a priest or a deacon, and yet every time I opened my mouth, the Spirit spoke through me and enlightened me about God’s plan.
I met several times with the Commission on Ministry, whose job it is to “assist the bishop in determining present and future needs for ministry in the diocese” and “in enlisting and selecting persons for Holy Orders.” As the “interviewed”, you sit at the end of this bunch of tables formed into a square and simply talk and answer questions. Not at all intimidating…
I attended seminary in Denver, far from home, doing the program mostly online, where I was challenged by people who don’t believe the same things as me, and yet we needed to work together to create services, to talk about how the Bible speaks to its readers, and what the role of the Bible is in our world today. One of the best friends that I made at seminary is a Unitarian Universalist and she doesn’t identify as a Christian, yet I find that her view on God working in our world today really isn’t that much different from what I believe, or I suspect what ________ believes.
And so what I think is important today is to emphasize that sometimes our greatest joys and treasures lie in embracing the unknown, the challenging things in our lives. It’s through getting to watch you live your lives and experience its ups and downs and being part of your life through those — births, deaths, hospital stays, baptisms and weddings — that I have come to understand what my ministry is about. It’s a continual process of learning, for sure, but these things have helped to shape my understanding of who I am. There is no doubt that it’s absolutely TERRIFYING to be on a journey where you don’t know the eventual end. But we must absolutely “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power” (Eph. 6:10). Because today I can look back and I can see how each of those experiences was not a test, but rather a situation that helped me to determine what I believed and how to be able to express it to others.
The disciples in today’s Gospel reading have been offered a great gift which is offered to each and every one of us. They have yearned for home, and they are at the doorstep. Surely — we think — they will embrace Jesus and walk through the door. But many of them complain that the teaching is too difficult and Jesus reminds them that the spirit gives life and his words “are spirit and life” (Jn 6:53). The very thing that they have yearned for is being offered to them, and they still turn away.
Friends, such is life. We are often offered exactly what it is we long for, but it’s not packaged up in the way we think it should be. Our culture tells us that we are in control of our own lives, our destiny, and if we work hard, we will be rewarded. We, like the disciples, are offended by Jesus’ offer of spirit and life. We feel good about serving in the soup kitchen, but we won’t talk to the same person we served when we see them on the street. We refuse to forgive that person in our pew for having an addiction. We make religion about rules because we can control rules.
The disciples are given an out. And Peter answers, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life” (Jn 6:68-69). In that moment, Peter realizes that despite the hard path, he is ready to give up some control in order to accept the gift of life.
When we give up control, we give up the notion that we are better than any other child of God because of our denomination, the color of our skin, our gender, our job, and we turn over to God that which we fear most — trusting that we are loved. When we can accept the love of God that is purely given free from condition, love flows out from us and we love others. We converse with the homeless woman on the street corner. We forgive that person in our pew. And we suddenly value God in our lives more than our religion. And Jesus offers us this each day – by simply giving up a bit of control and accepting Jesus, we can take this journey into the unknown. Let us journey there together.