Sermon, Proper 19

From a very difficult set of readings... (2 Samuel 18.509,15,31-33; Psalm 130; Ephesians 4.25-5.2; John 6.35,41-51)

The Gospel today is a great grouping of really difficult, confusing statements. It's deeply theological - we're getting Jesus giving his people things that they just don't understand.

Sounds familiar? Of course it does. Because life is like that for all of us at times - God is giving us every good thing, and there are things that we just don't understand.

So let's consider the Jewish folks that are chatting with the Christ.

Jesus says " I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

And they respond with something akin to "Huh?"

Then they do everything they can to discredit him. "Wait!" the say. "We know this guy! We know his parents. Mary - lovely woman, great cook, that thing she does with figs - fabulous. Joseph - carpenter, right? He made my table - sturdy, good olive wood, perfectly smooth and level. How does this Jesus guy now expect us to believe that he's not their kid, but rather some world-saving problem-solving supreme being that God Almighty has zapped down for us to learn from? Sure. - what is this guy been smoking?"

Let's be honest here, friends - can we blame these fine Jewish folks for what they're thinking? Imagine is someone we've known as a good local person, grew up in the neighbourhood, we know their parents, they went to school with our kids... suddenly they start saying things like "I am the heaven-sent nourishment that will sustain you in this life and the next."

Yikes. Crazy talk. No wonder they're complaining.

Yet on it goes. The Jews complain, Jesus rebuts.

They make the argument that this simply cannot be true - what Jesus is saying is too scandalous, too absurd, too out-of-this-world. And they know better.

So when Jesus keeps at it, he's not just making a point about who he is, but about how these Jews are treating him - and how they are treating one another.

The Jews are doing a very normal, human thing. They're basing their present interaction with Jesus on every past interaction they've had with him. And we've all done that, haven't we? We've all had times when we decide not to ask someone's opinion because we've already decided we 'know' what they will say. We don't invite someone to something because we 'know' they won't come. We don't talk to someone about something because we 'know' it's not worth our time.

Why do we do this? Why do we presume to know what another person is thinking, based n the past? And, so often, when we presume to know the other person's mind, we're always doing so from a negative perspective...

We don't often hear "I didn't ask her because she I knew she would say yes!" or "I didn't invite her because she AWAYS comes!"

Jesus is giving the Jews a great opportunity to consider their ways - and how they are so focused on the past that they aren't even able to see the present. They are so caught up on what WAS, that they don't recognise what IS. They're talking bread from heaven, and the only reference they can cling to is Moses in the wilderness with the manna - so much so that they need to be reminded that it wasn't Moses that provided the manna, but God. And that the manna was a temporary, earthly food. So Jesus invites them to re-focus on the present, and on the spiritual. He says to them "I'M RIGHT HERE! Surprise!" - but instead of people delighting in the presence of the divine as he literally stands in front of them, they complain about him. They disregard his teachings, despite the miracles he has just shown them all. Jesus is saying to them "Eternal Life starts NOW and HERE! Surprise!" But instead of rejoicing in this promise fulfilled, they reject him, they judge him crazy, they ignore the truth.

Our challenge this week is to recognise the times in our own lives when we have done the same. When we have judged someone else based on their past. When we have presumed to know what another is thinking. When we have put ourselves in such high estate that we can not see the intrinsic value in someone else that we encounter.

But imagine if we didn't do that. Imagine if we took a deep breath of pause before saying "But I 'know'..." Imagine if we took a moment to see the person in front of us for who they are, not who they were. Imagine if we opted to hesitate before casting a judgement of someone else from our limited engagement with their reality. Imagine what would happen.... what Could happen. Imagine if that pause was a sacred space, a holy moment, an entering of the Holy Spirit? Imagine if in that small piece of earthly time, what we were doing was not just waiting, but giving the divine an opportunity to break into our lives, our conversations, our interactions? What if we gave God a moment to reveal Godself into our lives, showing grace and beauty and redemption and salvation and the promise of eternal life?  What if we're not meant to suddenly "find God" in some astonishing, too-good-to-be-true once-in-a-lifetime cataclysmic event, but in the small, daily, ordinary realities when we are willing to open ourselves up to the encounter?

And this, friends, is what the deep theology is all about. It's the invitation to celebrate the presence of the divine in our lives, each and every day. It's the invitation to pause in our earthly judgements, and breathe the breath of God into our conversations. It's the reality that God wants us to see and know and celebrate being the people of God.

Deep theology s not about winning at Bible trivia, it's not about seeing only the human agents in God's historical miracles, it's not about having it all figured out or explaining all the right answers.

Deep theology is the study of the divine. In our hearts, not in a textbook. In our lives, not in an essay. Deep theology is about entering the mystery. It's about deepening our relationship with God on a very unique, very personal level. It doesn't matter how someone else relates to God, it's about how we as individuals relate to God.

So for the Jews in the Gospel, it would have meant them admitting that they didn't fully understand what Jesus meant, but that they wanted to get to know him better, and better apply this 'living bread' concept into their own lives.

And for us, it's the same. We don't have to have all the answers, but we have to want to connect with God, to receive the gift from God. It doesn't have to make sense in this world, just in our hearts . May we trust in this truth; may we believe what Jesus told us: that he and He alone is the living source of life which has come down from heaven, for everyone to take part in. Truly, deeply, May we all eat of this bread forever.