When truth is not truth

We live in a time when government leaders tell us not to believe what we read and hear.  We live in a time when 'alternate facts' is somehow a 'thing,' and 'truth is not truth'.  (a quote from attorney Rudy Guliani on national TV).

So we won't find it hard to stand with the crowd around Jesus who is claiming that to eat his flesh and drink his blood will grant them eternal life.  We've heard some outrageous claims in recent history; this is a 1st century whopper.  Yet, Jesus is dead serious as we wind our way through the 6th chapter of John.  "the one who eats this bread will live forever" and "the bread that I give to the world to eat is my flesh".

I don't want to water down this promise of  'eternal life' with some fanciful picture of people with wings living in the clouds.  Our picture of 'heaven' makes for good comics but very poor theology.  I don't want to water this down to 'grandpa is looking down on us' wishful thinking which eases our grief but doesn't provide any vision for living today.

I want us to believe that because Jesus lives, we live too.

.....that, our life, when hidden in the life of Jesus, is likewise hidden in the Divine Creator for all time.

.....that eternal life is not an endless stretching out of days and months and years; it is not a endless succession of seasons but rather it is all time and no time, it is before time and after time, it is eternally now, beginning today.

.....that to abide in Jesus is to enter into the deep mystery of God where our earthly powers of reason and understanding are not useful.

There is nothing out there in the world which will explain this to you.  In fact, I think it is the stuff that is out there in the world that drives us to seek God, to listen for an answer beyond the talking heads and loud politicians.  Hope that is linked to the economy or our personal work ethic or politicians or doctors or even (in this age of rampant sexual abuse) in clergy is hope which will disappoint and betray.  Only hope in a living Lord Jesus will prove faithful beyond this temporary world.

Come to the table to eat and drink.  Come to meet the living Lord.

This bread and wine can be a source of strength and hope or it can be a stumbling block because in this meal we come face to face with Jesus..........

the Jesus who is either strength and hope ..........or a snake oil salesman.

the Jesus who is either full life, all life, with no qualifiers......or he is nothing.

Here there is no compromise.  There is only covenant; relationship; intimacy and trust.

Eat and drink trusting that the living Lord will now become the center of your being, the north star of your life, the one who will hold you and never let go.

Standing at the intersection

Most days we stand at the intersection of "I don't think so" and "We can only hope."  Whether it is a car salesman's claim that this new car gets 50 mpg, or a child's claim that she is perfectly innocent or a spouse's assertion that it was a late meeting with the boss, most days we stand between incredulous skepticism and the chance possibility of our dreams coming.true.  This is especially true when it comes to faith.

So when Jesus says "I am the bread of life" "the living bread" and "whoever eats of me has eternal life," there we are right at the intersection of "I don't think so" and "We can only hope".

You can hear it in the confused crowd who is trying to make sense out of Jesus' words. They are caught between looking like a bunch of fools for believing this guy, and at the same time, not wanting to miss out on an opportunity to be fed forever. It is hard because Jesus is making some outrageous claims.

Some of the folks know Jesus from the neighborhood; he lived right down the street.  They want to deflate Jesus' elevated opinion of himself.  Some of the folk must have thought Jesus was talking jibberish:  I am the bread come down from heaven, and the bread that I give to the world is my flesh.

We are caught at this intersection because we want to believe that Jesus is living bread, that we can taste and experience life eternal, but life has taken us to some deep, dark places were trusting in God is almost more than we can bear.  Did you read about that 5 year old boy whose family was caught in one of the wild fires?  He calls out from the house, about to be engulfed by flames, "Grandpa, come and get me!" as Grandpa stood helpless - in safety but unable to re-enter the already burning home.  This is deep darkness; we must take this reality seriously when we consider Jesus' words.


But what if Jesus is simply speaking the truth?  "I am" he says.  Not 'I will be' or 'I once was' but "I am".  "Whoever eats of me has eternal life"  Has.  Not 'will have' or 'could have' but "has" - the eternal present. The gift of Jesus is not for some distant time but begins the moment you turn towards him. Commit to this Jesus and begin tasting eternal life today.  Who couldn't use a little taste of the eternal on any given day of the week?

So, today, let's begin with now.  Let's believe that today I will taste the eternal; I will see God.  I will experience or witness mercy or forgiveness or grace or love.  I will be given the strength to be mercy or forgiveness or generosity or grace or love to another.  Today.

Today we begin to taste the powerful presence of the eternal in the ordinary.

All that bread

Perhaps the confusion comes when we think that the miraculous feeding of 5000 is just about the bread - literally.  5 loaves and 2 fish become enough to feed 5000 until everyone is full - satiated - and there are 12 baskets leftover.  Got to admit, that's a lot of bread.

But since we are reading about this miracle in the gospel of John, the 12 baskets are far from the end of this story.  As one commentator put it, Jesus fed 5000 and then spent 4 weeks explaining what he just did.  That alone tells you that for the writer of John, bread is more than bread.

But we've all known that, right?  Although it might be miraculous for 5 loaves and 2 fish to effectively feed 5000; and if, in fact, it was a feeding for those peoplen with no implications for now, then it is similar to the George Washington cherry tree incident.  Clever, but not really meaningful.  I am no scholar of John, but you can trust me that everything in John is meaningful, and it is all meant to point us to who Jesus is, not just today, but for all eternity.

It starts in the very beginning.....as the gospel begins with "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God."  No simple annunciation or birth story for this writer.  The writer takes us back to the very beginning, echoing the opening words of the book of Genesis when the Divine Creator begins to move over the chaos.    Somehow this story of Jesus is another beginning, but in perfect harmony with the first beginning.  Somehow this Jesus is more than a prophet, here today and gone tomorrow.... 

 ....and, somehow, bread is more than bread.  In fact, the bread is Jesus' body:  broken and given to all who gather to nourish them into a new kind of life.  Although, this is not a metaphor, Jesus' really does offer his own body for the sake of the world.  Metaphor.  Not a metaphor.  That's John.

Notice - this is not just life like what we currently know but without the stuff we don't like.  It is a new kind of life - a life that is so full it is eternal (in contrast to some of our lives that are so full of struggle and pain that they only seem eternal). 

But this is just week one.  This week we are reminded that people are hungry in every sense of this word, and the work of Jesus and Jesus' followers is to feed them.  Literally.  That is the first step to our call as servants.

But wait, there is more to come.

Hot Dogs in the Kingdom

They called it Hot Dogs in the Kingdom.

One Friday night a month, Pr Herrick would fire up the grill and the people of the Northside of Syracuse would enjoy some hot dogs together.  In all kinds of weather; the sweet glow of a Syracuse summer or the frigid cold of a Syracuse winter, folks had a place to go, share some conversation, some fellowship and some hot dogs.

Although this is a very different picture than the huge crowd who gathered on the green grass of some hillside, it was still a statement of solidarity with neighbors.  That sweet smell of charcoal fire formed community where relationships could develop.  This was no fancy talk about community, it was the act of being community around some hot dogs and condiments.  The People of First English Lutheran made community once a month on the corner of James and Townsend and the people of the northside had one less meal to worry about.

It was an example of ordinary food becoming God’s grace, meeting the universal need to be known, to belong, to have value and certainly not least of all, to be fed.  There on the corner of James and Townsend unfolded one scene in God’s great drama of grace for the world.

Yet, just like our story today in the gospel of John – just like any meeting at any of our congregations, the people of First English had their own disciples named Philip and Andrew.  Philip who always asks “Do you know how much this will cost?” and Andrew who insists we have too little.

 

Hot Dogs in the Kingdom cost about $50 a month, and Pr. Craig would gently encourage disciples from more affluent lives to offer up their 5 loaves and 2 fish, like the young boy in the story.  In the end, there was too little for First English to continue, but at the same time, to the end, hot dogs were served once a month at the corner of James and Townsend.

We are familiar with the story of a miraculous feeding of 5000.  Every gospel has a version and, in each one, Jesus not only feeds the thousands in front of him, he instructs his disciples to gather up the leftovers.  Gather them up so nothing goes to waste. 

Gather them up because even if there are 5000 people reclining on the grass and being fed until they are full - there are others who aren’t here: outsiders: who need to be fed as well.  There is a larger community to be formed.  There is to be No wasted bread; no wasted people.  This is God’s mission in Jesus and God’s mission for God’s church.

And yet, that’s not how we count our ministry successful. In our minds, to be successful we need our own pastor, a beautiful sanctuary, pews and programs filled with people.    It is success by the numbers: easily reported, easily graphed, satisfying to hear. And when the numbers begin to soften, the pews are emptier year by year, our own Philip and Andrew pipe up with “How much will this cost?” and “We have too little”

Jesus, however, is looking to the horizon, looking for the hungry and lost ones, for the outsiders, the strangers. For Jesus there is to be no waste: neither bread nor people shall be lost.

Throughout Gods story, people are being fed.  Who doesn’t connect Moses in the wilderness with the manna from heaven? But we need to look beyond Moses feeding just the children of Israel, or Elijah feeding just the widow of Zarapheth and her family and see Jesus, the Christ who searches for those who need to belong, to be known, to be valued, and not least of all, to be fed.

This is where we come in.  It is our mission: to gather up the leftovers and go into the streets and seek the ones who never heard about Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the nations. To make a new community; develop  relationships centered on the life-giving good news of Jesus.

In the weeks ahead you will hear the call to take up your cross, about being a servant and putting aside riches in order to follow Jesus.  These powerful passages will call you to confession as you evaluate your own discipleship.

But I think none has the capacity to move you to confession more than our story today because this scene of a community gathered around a meal lies right within your grasp.

 

The truth is that too often we say How much? And claim that we have Too Little and our central concern is the future of what we have and not the hunger of our neighbors.  Then, like the Israelites in the desert, we pressure our leaders to make it all right, to bring us manna from heaven. We turn the story on its head, wanting for ourselves and paying no attention to the outsiders.

Today we are being asked some fundamental questions. 

Who is this Jesus whom you confess, to whom you have given your life? What do you expect from this Jesus who feeds thousands and hangs on a cross dying?

Do you truly believe that in Jesus we experience the fullness of life that we call eternal?  Do you believe that God’s bounty is intended to be blessing to all of creation?

Isn’t it time to stop asking How much and claiming that we have Too Little?

And time instead to ask Who is hungry?  Who is lost?

Lord, bless the work that we do in your name for the sake of your people.  AMEN