If you have been reading along with the lectionary these past few weeks, it might just seem like the 6th chapter of John will go on forever. We’ve been reading it as the gospel portion of scripture for the past five weeks. But, yes, this is the final Sunday we will be studying this chapter.
It has been a long chapter and we have seen lots of changes from the beginning of the chapter to this morning’s scripture and as we come to the end of this chapter, we have not come to a happy ending.
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We began this chapter with a great feast - the feeding of the 5,000 – free food for the masses. The people loved it! The people loved Jesus – or at least they loved the one who filled their bellies. They loved it so much that Jesus had to flee lest they take him by force to make him king.
Even when Jesus and the disciples went across to the far side of the lake, people followed them.
Even across the centuries, we want to call out, ‘Enough! Enough about bread and blood. We’ve heard enough about eating you flesh and drinking your blood!’
And if we have heard enough, imagine the first century hearers who are not only shocked at the idea of cannibalism, but would not dream of even a drop of blood in their food. Jesus is trying to tell them
As we read through this morning’s gospel portion, we are saddened that so many left the side of Jesus, so many went another way and returned to the lives they left behind. But we should not be surprised.
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After the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness the Hebrew people stood poised on the banks of the Promised Land. In just a short while, they would enter the inheritance promised to them by God, the land flowing with milk and honey. For the last 40 years, as the Hebrews wandered in the desert, they were protected, led and fed by the God who brought them from slavery to freedom, from bondage to promise. We might think that after 40 years of seeing the daily faithfulness of God the people would be faithful in their worship - that such faithfulness would go without saying.
But not so: Joshua knows that even after all of that, it is possible for a person to be culturally Hebrew without having the faith of the Hebrews. It is possible to be a Hebrew, and still worship other Gods.
And so Joshua summons the tribes of
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Whenever the going got tough, whenever it seemed that God was not delivering every want and desire, the Hebrews went wandering after other Gods. No children? Sacrifice to the fertility Goddess. No rain? Pray to the rain God. Need a wife? Pray to yet another of the local Gods or goddesses. Need to make a political alliance with a foreign power, sacrifice to one of their gods to make it all seem friendly.
If God says something you don’t want to hear – just go somewhere else.
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If we take a few moments to look closely at the Christian faith, there are probably many reasons we too might go somewhere else.
Jesus asks for a lot from us. When he says that we need to eat the bread of his flesh, he intends that we will take of his nature and make it our own, that we will no longer belong only to ourselves, but that we will become one with Jesus and at one with God.
Two weeks ago, we celebrated the sacrament of communion. When we did, we took to ourselves the body and blood of Christ. No, we don’t believe it’s actually blood and skin, but we do believe that we partake of the mystical body and blood of our God. When we that that spiritual food, we are taking the spiritual Jesus through the gift of the Holy Spirit. We become more Christ-like so that we might be Jesus to one another, to our community and to the whole world.
To belong to Jesus means that we belong less to ourselves. Our lives are not our own because we dedicate ourselves to God. It is a ‘strange and difficult’ calling: to be in the world but not ruled by it. To be a Christian is to have a faith that is more than skin deep. It means having a faith that is more than a garment we put on when the timing is good and take off when being a Christian gets in the way of doing and being what we want. It means having and living a faith that permeates and is inseparable with who we are. It is a difficult teaching and we do well to wonder who can accept it.
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In this morning’s gospel portion, many turn back and no longer follow Jesus. Rather than cater to the growing crowds by watering down the requirements of living in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus speaks these hard sayings and sees the crowds abandon him. Jesus looks at the twelve and asks, ‘Will you leave, too?’
Simon Peter answers, ‘Where can we go? You have the words of eternal life.’
Where indeed? In the 21st century when we live in a ‘me first’ culture we should not be surprised that many are going their own way and following after other Gods. There is the god of the good job and the bountiful crop. There is the god of the good looks and the nice car. There is the god of good health and the bountiful bank account.
Where could they go? ‘Back to family commitments, the business of fishing, the comforts of home, social standing in the town and the synagogue.’
When Peter responses to Jesus’ question, it is not an answer filled with despair. Then as now there was always some other thing they could do if they decided not to follow Jesus. Those of us here this morning, could be sleeping it, or we could be fishing, or even visiting the county fair that’s only a few blocks away.
Then as now there was a choice. They don’t settle for Jesus because there is nothing else for them – they choose Jesus because he has the words of eternal – and genuine - life.
But then as now, there is really no other place to go. To fail to follow Jesus is to go back from following the one true God. To fail to follow Jesus is to decide that this life, our life in the here and now is more important that our life in eternity – more important than God. It is to put ourselves on the throne as we de-throne the creator of the universe.
We don’t quite understand the paradox. We know that faith only comes as God draws us into the Holy Presence, and yet Peter and the other disciples are asked to choose - just as we are.
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At the beginning of this long chapter Jesus’ followers numbered more than 5000. Spirits were high, there was enthusiasm and joy: full stomachs and perhaps even a new king who would provide for all our needs: easy living and good times. At the end of the chapter, Jesus looks after the last of the stragglers as they make their way back to their homes and he wonders if even the twelve will go their own way.
Interestingly, this is the first time in John’s gospel when the disciples are called the ‘twelve’. These few faithful followers have been given the gift of faith, but they also choose not to leave. It is here in John’s gospel that they become a community of faith. It is not their theology, their wisdom, their learning, their sense of mission. It is their decision, their resolve, their dedication and their faithfulness.
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This morning, each of us stands again on the shores of promise: poised to enter into a new day lived in the presence of a loving and faithful God. Like the early Hebrews, we hear the voice of Joshua: Choose you this day whom you will serve. Will we revere the Lord and serve God in sincerity and faithfulness or will we walk away because these sayings are too hard?
My prayer for us is that like Peter we will reply: To whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life’. Amen.
