One last look at the Bread of Life...

8/21 

a chocolate castle

In Pittsburgh for family concerns. Staying at a hotel in Canonsburg.  Home of the one and only Sarris Chocolates, located between newly name Frank Sarris Avenue and Bobby Vinton drive.  On Sunday I preach at Oakdale Presbyterian, where 26 years after I served there I still have a home., And one last time explore the Bread of Life.....

Well, a lot has happened since last I was here. I spent ten days in Berlin with my grandchildren. The last time I saw my granddaughter, she was only 8 months old. And now, she is 2/34 years old. Believe me at that age, a lot happens in a little one’s life…like she’s a real person now!…yet another one of those many costs of covid that just doesn’t seem to go away. 

 There was supposed to be a big “welcome back” concert this week in New York City to celebrate the “return to the city" and the “return to normal”…and the reality is, we are nowhere near there. Starting September 13th, there’s a mandatory vaccination for indoor public spaces. Wondering how we’re going to enforce that at our church. Nah, nowhere near normal… 

Speaking of that concert, I was feeling bad that I was going to be missing Paul Simon’s return to Central Park and Bruce Springsteen!…some of my friends actually saw the unannounced dress rehearsal sound check on Friday…but when I saw the notice of the two hour thunder and lightning storm that cancelled the event, I was happy I was sitting in Heinz Field watching the Steelers win. And when I read about Hurricane Henri landing today, hey, I’m, much better off with you…. 

And poor Haiti has guan been devastated by a hurricane and the scenes from Afghanistan, like deja vu all over again…(I read in a new history book about Pittsburgh that we sent a disproportionately large number of young men to Vietnam than nearly any other city…and now 20 years in Afghanistan and …and…

So we’re talking about bread (again) today, When you think of bread, what comes to mind? I think of the dark dense bread my son goes out to get every morning at the bakery on his street in Berlin. And the smell of the bakery my grandfather took me to when I was a little kid. Or the Irish soda bread with caraway seeds and raisins I used to bake on St. Patrick's day. Or cornbread and chili or barbecue. Or the sourdough bread some of us started making during covid. Our basic sustenance…like in the Lord’s prayer, give us this day our daily bread…what comes to your mind? 

Jesus is talking about “living bread”…and he’s talking about himself. And using hard, harsh, graphic language. And yes, deliberately offensive language. Eat my body, drink my blood… It’s hard on the disciples., "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” they say. And Jesus responds that the flesh is useless.. Let’s stop there a second…

Jesus was fully human, flesh and blood…he’s not saying our bodies are no good…what he is saying  that we are never going to get there with our own wits….we can’t think our way there..(although last week in the NY Times Ross Douthat thinks you can…) When I was applying for seminary, my local Presbytery, Washington, was quite upset that I was accepted to Yale. They said that Yale was the kind of place you could goo to saved and come back un..but in my case, the exact opposite was true.,..I had to get to the end of my mind, the end of my reason, before I could give in and open myself to Jesus. … 

Jesus is very clear when he says “…no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” That’s the root of our Reformed Presbyterian faith right there. Even our capacity to “make a decision for Christ,” as they say, is a function of God’s grace…which means you can never, ever judge another. I had someone who was alcoholic, living on the streets tell me about all the time he’d been through rehab and how many times he’d given his heart to Jesus and that it never worked. I looked at his tears. No way I could say, well you just have to try harder or judge his character. We just don’t know…all I could do is reassure him that Jesus loves him and is with him just as he is… 

We even get into some deep stuff about Judas...Talk about mysteries..John tells us that For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. …so why did her choose him? Was this part if God’s plan” If so, was it really betrayal? See what I mean? 

So …back to bread…yes..his language is hard…so hard it seems like everyone but the original 12 leave. They’re done. Makes me wonder…is there anything we do in our faith that is offensive to broader society? Should we be? But more poignantly, we know, this church knows, what it feels like to have people leave us. (Even though there are times we, yes even pastors screw up royally and need critical clarification…but  not angry accusations or defensive denial or walk. aways……every division, every loss hurts, no way around it… 

So what is he trying to say with this hard language? Look I had a Catholic friend who emotionally freaked out at her first communion over the idea that the bread and wine really becomes Jesus. But it’s a Catholic writer, Raymond Brown who says that it means taking all of Jesus in, all of him…so he will abide in us as we abide in him… When he says these eating and drinking words…and eating is literally chomping and chewing, he is saying take him in so that we feel what he feels and walks where he walks …yees even if it leads to the cross…because it is in eating that bread and embarking on that journey that true life in all its fullness is found…and even in small little churches, that’s where our strength is found… 

As we take communion today let is remember that the great Protestant reformer Zwingli said that it is not the bread and wine that is transformed but we who participate in it, in our drinking and eating we, together, become, yes actually become the living body of our risen Lord Jesus..and he will abide with us as we abide with him…let those with ears to hear, hear...  Amen 

Later I will share this sermon with my friends from Beverly Church. On Thursday, my friends from Sabeel in Jerusalem will reflect on this passage. They are celebrating the release of a young woman from their community arrested in an Israeli round up of protesting students. Former Presbyterian Church USA Moderator Fahed reminds us that we are called to preach the Gospel of Peace in the contest of Empire. Naim Ateek reminds us that it is a misconception to think of Allah as the Muslim God.  It is just the Arabic word for God. And there is only one....

Gospel John 6:56-69 

"Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58This 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." 59He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. 60When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" 61But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, "Does this offend you? 62Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But 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. 65And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father." 66Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. 67So Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" 68Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."