Do you feel ALIVE?
That’s not a trick question. How are you feeling this morning? Is it a ‘jump out of bed singing and dancing’ kind of morning? Is it a still-in-the-PJs slog down to the coffee pot kind of morning, to wait… and wait… until that first hit of caffeine kicks in? Is it somewhere in between? Do you feel alive?
Because wherever you are in those feelings of today – whether you’re at home in your bunny slippers, or here in your Sunday best; or even if you’re praying with us at some later time –
You are alive. Do you feel it?
YOU are alive.
You ARE alive.
You are ALIVE!
And here’s how I know that – and this has nothing to do with medical knowledge.
Because I’m not actually asking if you are still existing in this life – I’m presuming, that if we’re praying together here, that you have breath in your lungs – thanks be to God – and a heart beating in your chest – thanks be to God! – and all the other markers of a functional body. Thanks be to God!
But in addition to that – as though that wasn’t enough! In addition to that, you are alive. You exist: and you live.
Because life, we know, is SO much more than what can be measured by the marvels of medical technology. I’m not downplaying the wonders of science – we are all better for the gift of knowledge and research and its application in our lives.
But our LIFE is more than existence.
And this is not talking about our accomplishments, either – though we all have those, and we celebrate them. But who we are – as individuals, as families, as a church – WHO we are is a celebration of life. The gymnast Simone Biles this week reminded us all of this; after she removed herself from Olympic competition, she said “the outpouring of love and support I’ve received has made me realise I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics, which I never truly believed before.”
She is alive. Would that we could all come to such profound appreciation of being alive.
Because we all are alive.
You. Are. Alive.
Alive in body, and mind, and Spirit.
And that’s what we can all benefit from remembering.
We exist: AND we are alive.
And what we DO with that ALIVEness matters.
Because – that aliveness – it’s already been given to us. We don’t have to work for it. We don’t have to ask for it, we don’t have to beg for it, we don’t have to pay for it. It’s ours.
Now, I know that receiving things for free – that’s not always our comfort zone.
We have analogies about this – there’s no such thing as a free lunch!
We should pull ourselves up by our bootstraps (as if that ridiculous symbolism even makes sense – pulling ourselves up would actually pull ourselves tumbling over).
When you get something free, you get what you paid for!
Alas. When we move beyond these trite expressions of our existence, we move into the free gift of grace, the free gift of God’s love, the free gift of LIFE.
And this is what the scriptures assure us of today; what they model for us today; what they inspire us towards today. The gift of life.
In the Samuel passage, David is living his version of the Israelite Dream: well-loved, highly respected, long lasting monarch. Great. He’s victorious in battle, he looks after his people, he is, after all, the one that God chose!
Until his ego gets the better of him; his ego sweeps him into blissful ignorance – he’s happy, and he starts to forget about doing right by God. And, does some wrong by God.
Yet he is given – as we all are – the chance to repent. Nathan (we remember Nathan from 2 weeks ago, the man whose very name means “God has given”) again challenges David to consider if his ways are God’s ways – and David realises that his greed and ego and arrogance has shifted his focus away from the will of God to the will of himself.
And he repents – and we know that God forgives.
Because repentance is not just about saying that we’ve sinned, but about doing a turn-around. Being intentional about turning away from sin; so as to prevent making the same error in future.
So when David hears Nathan’s pronouncement that his sin has been erased by God, he knows that he has been promised life.
He turns away from the sins of the world, and turns toward God’s promise to be ALIVE.
Our Epistle today assures us of the invitation for us all to live into the calling that God has for us – it’s an invitation into that ALIVEness that is assured!
We have been given grace.
We have been given gifts.
We have been given a ministry!
Not because of anything we did – that’s not how grace works – but because God *wants* for us to know that we are alive – that we are part of the family of God – that we are contributing to the building of the kingdom of God.
We are bearers of LIFE. We are bearers of God’s ALIVEness to speak the truth in love, to carry the message of joy, to build up the kingdom through the presence of God’s love.
We are ALIVE!
And yet… we still struggle. We still fumble and bumble through this existence, not fully embracing how gifted we are. How ALIVE we are.
The Gospel passage today shows us this – clearly! as the followers of Jesus get caught in earthly, existence-based stuff. They’re asking what Jesus will do for them now, rather than seeing who God IS through him. They have to be reminded that being a follower of Jesus doesn’t mean an eternally full belly – it’s not about eating the loaves of barley bread to maintain existence. It’s about feasting on the bread of life.
The people ask what work must be done – seems a reasonable question, when talking about eternal life! But they are existing still – and when they are told that the work of God is to believe in the one God sent!
This *should* elicit some hallelujahs and hand-flapping! Believe in God! THAT is the work!
But instead, it brings out more questions.
Earthly, existence, questions, asking that Jesus prove HIS aliveness to them.
Well. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? We’ve had those moments of doubt, those moments of uncertainty, those moments of questions. Because we’re human. It’s what we do.
And how very human, then, for the people, when they receive the answers from Jesus, that the bread of heaven has been coming to them for generations… that the Bread from heaven is right in front of them… that they ask the best question of the day.
Sir, give us this bread always.
Give us Jesus.
Give us God.
Give us LIFE.
Which, of course, is exactly what happens. Jesus assures them that they have already received the bread of life. That they are, in fact, basking in the ALIVEness of the spirit. That their belief is the bread that they crave.
And – taking it further – that their belief will then fuel their ministry: for receiving the bread of life is not about taking and preserving and collecting in secret; the bread of life is about being filled so that the good work can continue.
It satisfies the hunger of the soul; it quenches the thirst of the spirit; and these are the beginnings of mission and ministry. These sustain our engagement with the world. These nourish our life in faith; in thought, word, and deed. They feed us.
We are fed with the bread of life.
We are filled with the gift of being ALIVE.
We are blessed to be a blessing to the world – in the glory of God, in the service of Christ, in the wonder of the Spirit.
We ARE ALIVE! Do you feel it?
Amen.
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