1 Sunday, August 24, 2012 13th After Pentecost B 2012 Pastor Dena Williams The Holy Gospel according

to the community of St. John in the Sixth Chapter Glory to you, O Lord Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 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. He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, This teaching is difficult; who can accept it? But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones who did not believe, and who was the one who would betray him. And he said, For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.

2 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, Do you also wish to go away? Simon Peter answered him, 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. The Gospel of the Lord Praise to you, O Christ Words So Jesus discourse on bread in the Gospel of John comes to an end. For six weeks in a row now, we have heard Jesus explain in as many ways as he can think to do so, we have heard him explain that he is the bread of life for the world. Now today he says once more: Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Jesus has also explained a couple of times now, that this bread is not like the bread, the manna that the ancestors ate in the wilderness and died. . . . the one who eats this bread will live forever. Jesus has presented the metaphor and explained the symbolism. Hes acknowledged that there is change involved, that the old way of thinking has been replaced with something new. Hes preached the sermon, delivered the good news. proclaimed the Amen. announced the Hymn of the Day and sat down!

3 Now his listeners get to respond. And so they do. They begin to complain . . . to grumble is probably a better translation. They begin to grumble! Did you hear what he said? He said that the old ways are not good enough! Who does he think he is? Who, indeed? Jesus hears the followers grumbling. Does this offend you? he asks. I can hear him sigh heavily as he tries one more time to explain. Well, he says, If you think these are hard words, what are you going to do when the Son of Man ascends? When the Son of Man ascends . . . those words mean only one thing in Johns Gospel, for in this Gospel when the Son of Man ascends, he ascends on a cross, he ascends on a cross to die. And so Jesus says to his followers: You think these new ideas about life are difficult to hear, what are you going to think and do when death becomes the reality of the day? What are you going to do when you must consider death mine, yours, those you love? When death comes, then you will know what difficult is all about! Many of his followers were not convinced by his words. They turned back and no longer went about with him. People turned away and left Jesus. Jesus, fully human, must have been discouraged. When there was healing and miracles,

4 there were huge crowds of people. Thousands were made well and fed. Then, when things got challenging, when the words spoken pointed to change, and the accompanying pain, the people turned back and no longer went about with him. So, discouraged, Jesus asked the twelve, Do you also wish to go away? It has been my experience that people who want to leave off following Jesus as a member of a community of faith, can generally find a reason. And, by the way, that is often the order if which things happen folks decide they no longer want to be bothered, theyre too busy with school and sports, or the children have finished confirmation, or they have something else they want to do on Sunday mornings, or they just dont want to do the work involved in being in relationship in a community, in spite of the joy they find there, so they find a reason to leave their community of faith. They find a reason . . . its not hard, most anything will do, particularly if there is change afoot! This is what Jesus said to his followers: You can get angry about this new way of thinking, this new way of doing things, this change, you can find a reason to leave off following, a reason to go away, but if you cant tolerate the change that is a natural part of life what are you going to do about death?! It is one thing to leave off following when you and those you love are healthy,

5 when life is going well, but what are you going to do when the hard times come? The times when you need the faith community when there are family struggles, lost employment, out of control teenagers, serious illness what are you going to do when someone dies?! So, Jesus asks: Do you also wish to go away? Hear Simon Peters answer: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God. My husband John and I were riding our bikes this week. He asked how my sermon was coming? Now, he is generally interested in what I write and preach, but more importantly, he knows how much easier life is at home once the sermon gets finished. I told him it was in progress. He asked me what the Gospel was for the week. He knows that if I talk about the Gospel out loud it often speeds things along. So, without pointing out that I know his motives go beyond an interest in Scripture, I told my husband the Gospel story for today. His response, So thats where those words come from! Yes, thats where. And, yes, he proceeded to sing the Alleluia as we pedaled along, he sang those words that have been said and sung as a part of the liturgy of the church from the very earliest days in the second century: Lord, to whom shall we go?

6 You have the words of eternal life. The words of eternal life . . . We We We We We get bored with them dont we? plod through the Apostles Creed. dont pray, but only say the Lords Prayer. half listen to the Words of Institution. cringe at the length of the Sunday lessons.

Lord to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life. Simon Peter did not say Lord, to whom shall I go . . . He understood the words as we words, words spoken together in community, words spoken in relationship with others, as the community of faith comes before God. Many of us learned the words as children in a community of faith, but now we dont seem to care whether our children learn the words or not. We sleep in and they miss the Sunday School lesson. Confirmation Class is inconvenient. And Bible Study for grown ups, who has time for that? Is it really so important that we worship together every Sunday? We feel no urgency for ourselves or for our children, no urgency to know and internalize the words, to hide the words in our hearts. I was working as a chaplain some years ago. I took a phone call from a man in California. His mother had a stroke and was in the hospital. He asked me to go and see her, to take her this message: Tell her that I will be there as soon as I can, in just two days.

7 But tell her also that if she is in pain and wants to go before I get there, tell her its ok. Say that I love her and that I know she loves me. I went to see this elderly woman in her hospital room. I talked to the nurses about her condition: Shes had a serious stroke. Shes non communicative. Shes unable to speak. We dont think she hears or understands what we say to her. I stood by her bed and held her hand. Her eyes were closed. I talked to her about her family, delivered the message of love and concern from her son, told her he was on his way. I spoke of Gods love for her, of Gods presence with her. She did not respond. I prayed for her and then I began: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Suddenly her eyes flew open. Her voice joined mine in prayer: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. Stunned, I looked at her in amazement. Her eyes met mine for a moment, then closed

8 and she drifted off again. I called her son. I told him the story. Then together we prayed across the miles: Our Father who art in heaven . . . Why do we need to hide the words in our hearts? Why? Because sometimes in the course of our lives, and most certainly at the end, all we have left are the words. Amen