Trinity 11 Year B 2015 “I am the Bread of Life”
Proverbs 9.1-6; Ephesians 5.15-20; John 6.51-58
This morning’s gospel is difficult to understand. In the time of the early Church some of those outside the Christian community accused Christians of cannibalism. The central act of worship of this new mystery religion appeared to involve the consuming of their leader’s flesh – and blood.
Of course we know that it’s not like that. But this is, in John’s gospel for this morning, just what Jesus appears to say:
“Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Jesus’ opponents not surprisingly, immediately rise to the challenge: How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
Jesus again asserts that only those who partake of his flesh and blood may know eternal life.It is Jesus himself, not the multiplied loaves the crowds have just partaken of, it is Jesus himself who brings fullness of life.
Jesus’ words take us to his passion and death, and our remembrance of the sacrifice of his life, in the Communion service. His words follow the text of the liturgy of the Seder meal at Passover where Jews remember bread, manna, given in the desert from heaven. And in these words spoken by Jesus we have John’s inauguration of the Last Supper.
So what is the bread of Jesus’ flesh? If we look for other allusions to ‘flesh’, we shall remember that right at the outset of this gospel, John’s Prologue concludes with the declaration that ‘the Word became flesh’ and dwelt among us. Divine life takes on human form and frailty, becomes human flesh. And it is this divine life within Jesus’ ‘flesh’, that is, Jesus’ whole being, that he invites us to take into our flesh – and live. Invites us to receive and live life abundantly. Far more than simply a memorial of his death, the bread and wine, flesh and blood, symbolise the life of Jesus, they are the very food of life, life in all its dimensions, here and now.
It is this fullness of life that Jesus longs for each one. It is such life that he demonstrates in his living,such life that he repeatedly teaches in his sermons and in his actions – The life that we find it so hard to embrace:Love your enemies; do good for those who persecute you; do not retaliate, rather seek reconciliation. Do not sit in judgement on one another – how hard we find that one! To do so seems instinctive to human nature. Jesus sternly warns us, that it is with the measure we use for others, it is by this measure that God will judge us. Oh, and by the way, over all of this, do your good deeds in secret.
Jesus knows only too well we shall find it hard indeed to live by such counter-cultural standards! It is also human nature to hold onto a strong sense of our rights and to shout loudly when they are not accorded to us. Indeed, we see perseverance as a virtue. Which it is. But there is also Jesus’ attitude beyond perseverance. We see in his death that he lets go, completely lets go, of any necessity to win his point, to prove himself right. Rather he looks to his actions – and leaves the outcome with God. Nothing distracts him from taking the message of God’s love out into the world.The consequences he trusts into God’s hands, never allowing any event to sway him from loving action towards all around him.
The cross was not only the most agonising execution – it is where we get our word ‘excruciating’ from, it was also the most shameful. Men were put naked on their cross exposing their utter vulnerability to everyone around. In Jewish society this was shame indeed. So what place pride? As I read the gospels ‘pride’ seems to be a quality totally lacking in Jesus.
Having said this, I do believe pride has a place in inspiring us to our best endeavours! We should take pride in ourselves, in the work we do, but once again, the outcome we trust with God. It is God who will vindicate us – if vindication we need .Our pride should have nothing to do with status – or what others think of us. Our response to any situation, as was Jesus’, can be to remind ourselves of the deepest love in which we are held in God’s heart, and with that knowledge to return love and not grievance, to keep on going – keep on walking, keep on loving. So how can we do all this? How do we receive the Bread of Jesus life? Be transforming our lives into the likeness of Christ? We need to introduce and maintain regular spiritual practices day by day. To let regular attendance at Communion or the Eucharist continually remind us of Jesus’ life and love, God’s love for us personally. We can pray regularly on our own – as Jesus did.
I don’t mean shopping lists of our concerns – though holding our concerns before God is important – I mean spending that time in silence with God so that God is able to speak into our hearts. For God usually speaks with a quiet voice and if we are not still, we shall miss it.
It may sound silly, but the best way to still our racing minds and allow God some space to speak,
is to sit still and watch our breathing, taking longer to exhale than inhale. Sit upright both feet on the floor, our hands in our laps. Start with five minutes and watch as you want to sit for longer. And you will find the stillness you are looking for growing within. It will grow as you practice day by day.
Then, we can choose to fill our minds and our thoughts with all the positive thinking Jesus offers us. And do that good for our neighbour – and, those who do us down. Finally, as Paul suggests let us give thanks to God always – for all things. Love God with all your heart – and your neighbour as yourself.If we remember, as Jesus was wont to remind us, that at times we all fail, we do not always do our best, we are not loving and loyal all the time, and with our best endeavours, we do also make mistakes, if we remember these things – and are kind also to ourselves, then we will find we can be generous towards one another in our thinking and in our acting.
And we will experience the power of the hidden life in the body and blood of Jesus. Amen.