Sermon Audio

Here is a link for the audio of the message I gave last Saturday at church. It's actually the audio for more of the service--so skip ahead to about 4:20 if you just want to hear the sermon. You can stream it or download it.

http://www.ascensionlutheran-church.org/pages/podcast.htm

-matt

The Scandalous Savior: John 6:56-69

A couple people have asked me if I could post a summary of the message I gave at church last Saturday night. At some point I'll obtain the audio and post it here, but for now here's a (hopefully) little summary. This is obviously a paraphrase of ideas, not the actual words I used.

The sermon was on the text of John 6:56-69. Our church generally (though not always) follows the Revised Common Lectionary, and this was the gospel text for last Sunday. The text (NRSV) follows, but I suggest grabbing a Bible so you can follow the different places in the text that I reference without having to scroll back up.

⁵⁶Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

⁶⁰When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” ⁶¹But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶²Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? ⁶³It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him.⁶⁵And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” ⁶⁶Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. ⁶⁷So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” ⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.

This is the fifth straight week we are in John 6, and in preparation I got to wondering why the makers of the lectionary would have us spend five weeks in this chapter. Perhaps they figured it would take pastors and preachers five weeks to explain this somewhat difficult text! But really, I think it's because this text really contains the heart of the Christian life; the core of what it really means to be a Christian.

John 6 is a turning point in John's gospel. Up until this point, following Jesus has been a relatively easy thing to do. He's the "cool new prophet" of Israel. Earlier in this chapter he fed thousands of people with one kid's lunch. He's already healed some people that were on the brink of death. So if you follow Jesus around, you'll see some pretty cool stuff - rumor has it he's even the life of the party. He even turned water into wine at a wedding!

But Jesus' message in the synagogue at Capernaum changes everything. He said, "In order to be my follower you have to eat my flesh and drink my blood. Earlier, in 6:30, the people want more signs - more proof that Jesus has come from God. But instead of offering more signs, Jesus offers himself. This is a difficult teaching for the people that hear it, and many of them turn and walk away at this point. It's no longer cool to follow Jesus. And before long, people are going to be trying to kill him.

Why are Jesus words so difficult? Well, they're strange for us today, even when we can hear them through the lens of the bread and wine of communion. But here, Jesus is speaking to Jewish people with strict dietary laws. They couldn't even eat meat with blood in it! And here Jesus asks them to drink his blood and eat his flesh? And this teaching would have legs - a few years later the early Christians would be accused of cannibalism. But even if the people can get past the strangeness of his words and call them metaphor, he's committing a worse offense - he is dangerously close to claiming to be the source of life - God himself.

Editor's note: this is getting long already, I'm gonna try to skip parts to shorten in a bit...

Take a look at Jesus' response to the complaint that his teaching is difficult: "Does this offend you?" The word translated 'offend' is a form of the Greek word skandalon, from which we derive english words like scandal and scandalous. It literally means "stumbling block,", which recalls Isaiah 8, which prophesies, "he will be a stone that makes them stumble...and a rock that makes them fall."

Coming to Jesus always causes us to stumble, because we were always expecting something different. The Jewish people learned very quickly that Jesus was not what they were expecting in a Messiah. The religious leaders saw his words as offensive from the beginning. In Mark 3, Jesus' family comes out to take him away, thinking he's gone crazy. In Matthew 11, even the John the Baptist, the one who prepared the way for the Messiah, wondered whether Jesus really was the one who was to come, sending word to him from prison. Jesus is never what we expect.

In the present text, there are two groups of people. Many 'disciples' walk away (v66) - the scandal of Jesus is teaching is too much to bear. But 'the twelve', represented by Peter, profess faith in the face of this hard teaching. Later, of course, they too would stumble, abandoning and denying Jesus as he is led away to die. We, like Peter would do eventually, also try to tell God what is best, consciously or not. We're still looking for signs. And Jesus still offers himself.

The question is not whether you will stumble - you will. The ways of God are not our ways. The question is what happens after you stumble over something unexpected. Will you be like the many who leave, staying firm in your own expectation of how things are supposed to go? Or will you be like the few who, tripping over Jesus, allow your expectations to be broken so that Jesus can rebuild them?

Thanks be to God, it doesn't depend on us. That's the gospel. That's the good news in this story. If it did, we would all walk away. But the good news that it is God who calls us, draws us, and allows us to follow his ways is sprinkled all over this text. Verse 65 is the most obvious--no one can come to Jesus unless it is granted by the Father. But it is also in v63 (flesh vs. Spirit) and v70.

What causes you to stumble? Is there something in your life causing a crisis of faith? Whatever it is, let it go, and fall into the arms of Jesus. You don't have to have it all figured out. In fact, if you think you do, that's when you know you're in trouble. You're holding on to your own expectations so tight that when you stumble over something unexpected, you'll be falling onto that rock instead of into the arms of Jesus. Sometimes you have to give up faith in order to gain it - faith in yourself, in your own ideas of how things are supposed to go. And Surrender into a deeper commitment with Christ, a deeper trust in Him.

Peter says, "Yeah your teaching is difficult, but where else are we gonna go? We have come to believe and know that you are the holy one of God" The word "believe" is a form of the Greek word pisteau, and commonly means "to believe; to have faith in, to trust." But another meaning, and the one I like best in this context, is "to be committed to". The text mentions that Jesus knew who would betray him, and pisteau can be seen here as the opposite of betrayal - total commitment. In effect, Peter is saying, "We have come to being committed to you and knowing that you are the Holy One of God."

So how do we surrender into this deeper commitment to Christ, this deeper trusting relationship? Jesus has already told us in v56: "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them." Here in this verse is the core of the Christian life: Word and Sacrament. "Word and Sacrament" is not boring church-speak, it is the dynamic, living presence of Jesus. Jesus wants to get inside of us, and the two ways he does that is through our ears - through hearing the Word - and through our mouths - through the receiving of his body and blood through the bread and wine at communion.

In John 1, Jesus is called the Word. Here he says that in order to be his follower, we must eat his flesh. We must consume theWord of God. In a Jewish worldview, blood is the seat of life. That's why they weren't allowed to eat meat with blood in it - that would be taking in the life of another being. But here Jesus, says, "I want to be your very lifesource." In drinking his blood, Jesus is asking us to make the deepest-level commitment possible.

The Word is the voice of God, and the Sacraments of baptism and communion are his presence. To read the Word is to hear God’s voice, and to participate in the Sacraments of Baptism and Communion is to be filled with the very life of God. So when you stumble over something unexpected that doesn’t fit with your idea of what it means to walk with God, don’t hold onto your expectations so tight that you fall onto them. Instead, surrender. Fall into the arms of Jesus, and fall into the arms of grace, a grace communicated and experienced through God’s life-giving Word and through the dynamic, powerful Sacraments.

Rob Bell/Revelation

I found a video of a message very similar to the one Rob Bell gave the first time I heard him speak, at a Youth Specialties conference in 2003. This is at Willow Creek Community Church outside of Chicago that same year.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1465663627958239828

This is why I enjoy listening to Rob Bell.

Preaching

I'm preaching at our church next Saturday night. If anyone wants to make the trip up, we'll get together afterwards. 6:00pm @ Ascension Lutheran in Thousand Oaks (www.alcto.org)

2009 ELCA Youth Gathering

So the destination of this little excursion Becky and I recently took with the youth group from our church was the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans. This was the second such national gathering for which I have helped chaperone a group, the prior being the 2006 Gathering in San Antonio.

There were definitely many great things happening during the event, not the least of which was the fact that over 36,000 youth and their adult leaders went out into the community and served during the course of the week. Past youth gatherings have included opportunities for service projects, but this time service was made the focus of the entire event. The theme of the gathering was "Jesus Justice Jazz", with particular stress being placed on the "Justice" aspect. I am very grateful that I am part of a church body that places such emphasis on justice, as this is something Christians have been known to lose sight of from time to time - especially in the modern era. And I believe that when we lose sight of justice, we lose sight of biblical faith. In scripture, God is constantly calling his people toward justice in caring for the poor--for those that have not. One could argue that the entirety of the law in the Hebrew scriptures orients a person toward care for those who don't have the resources to care for themselves, whether it is because they are poor, widowed, foreign, or otherwise disadvantaged. And in the gospels, Jesus extends this orientation of generosity as far as possible to those whom society looked down upon the most - prostitutes, tax collectors, and the like. So when we allow anything to get in the way of caring for those who are disadvantaged among us - whether by their own doing or that of society - we are not following Jesus. All this to say how much I value the Youth Gathering's focus on justice and the living out of justice.

However, there was something missing at the gathering, an omission that greatly concerns me. Scripture. The Bible. How, you ask, could a national gathering of over 36,000 Lutheran Christians be missing the very thing that should stand as the core of their identity? I was asking myself the same thing. But it's true. Sure, the Gathering had a theme verse (a portion of Philippians 2) that flashed on the side screens before every mass gathering in the Superdome, but never once did I hear it mentioned from the stage. Some of the speakers (whom the Gathering directors have no control over once they hand them a microphone) mentioned passages from the Bible, but there was no way in which scripture was built in to the gathering. Three years ago in San Antonio, they at least had a bible study led by a young pastor each day in the dome. Now, I recognize that the focus of this gathering was different; that the amount of mass gatherings were cut down in order to enable us to get out into the city and surrounding area and "get our hands dirty." But is that a good reason to leave scripture out of these gatherings?

Friday was our day to attend workshops, so I took the opportunity to attend a wide sampling of them to see how scripture was being utilized and studied in this area. What I'm about to say may sound harsh, and is definitely sobering. In an afternoon spent sampling workshops, I witnessed nothing that indicated I was attending a gathering of Christians. Good people with a concern for peace and justice in the world? Definitely. But a people who gather around a book we call the word of God, which points to the Word, God's son Jesus? Nope. I'm not saying opportunities to run into scripture didn't exist. I'm only saying that I spent an entire afternoon looking for them, and did not find them.

A couple examples: I walked into a "self-guided" learning experience called "Peace One Day" with the following description: "In this center you will explore images of peace that are found in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible." Sounds scriptural enough. I couldn't find a a single mention of scripture in the entire room. There were opportunities to make origami peace doves, to write on a peace wall, and do a few other activities that hippies might have done in the '60s, but no mention of God or the Bible.

I attended a workshop (one that actually had a leader) called "Level Playing Field" intended to open our eyes to "different experiences of privilege and oppression." The workshop consisted of a game in which participants took a step forwards or backwards based on their answers to various questions regarding economic status, race, and experiences of prejudice." We were then asked about how we experienced this game. At no time were we encouraged or instructed to "discern what God is calling you to do to level the playing field," as the description indicated we would.

Another self-guided workshop was "It's Not Easy Being Green," accompanied by this description: "In this center you will think about biblical concepts of the relationship between the church and environment." The room contained a pile of paper and other trash surrounded by tables filled with students' creations made from said trash. But no evidence of any guidance by "biblical concepts."

I don't doubt that the planners of the workshops, and the directors of the gathering in general, had good intentions. But unfortunately the following through of these intentions was less than adequate. Others in my group had similar experiences.

This is a problem. As I've said, a focus on Justice is great. But if we forget who we are in the process, we may as well just join a non-profit organization with no religious affiliation. We have nothing different to offer. And if we encourage our youth to participate in justice but fail to ground that service in the truth of scripture in an event of such magnitude, that is effectively what we have done.

N'awlens

New Orleans is a cool city. If you've never been there, I highly recommend it. And if you go, find a way to invest yourself into a community while you're there, whether painting a house, volunteering at the Ashe Community Center in Central City, or anything else you might find. The people in New Orleans are amazing, and this is a way to truly get to know a few of them.

Becky and I just spent two weeks on "tour" with the high school youth from our church, driving on a school bus to New Orleans and back. The ELCA (Lutheran) National Youth Gathering was in New Orleans, and a big focus of the Gathering this year was service--this involved over 36,000 youth going out and volunteering in the community over the course of three days. Our group ended up at the community center mentioned above, and we got to participate in the ongoing revitalization of the central city neighborhood near downtown.

Speaking of downtown, what a fun city New Orleans is. I have to admit, after Katrina--having never been to New Orleans--I was one of those people thinking, "are we sure we want to rebuild a city that is pretty much built on swampland below sea level in the middle of hurricane territory?" But now, having been there, I realize that besides being completely unrealistic, the idea of not rebuilding is culturally irresponsible. There is so much of worth here. And I'm not talking about Bourbon Street. Proceed there at your own risk (although you will find a lot of good music there if you can handle the rest). The rest of the French Quarter is indicative of the rich history of the city in general. Such a fun place to walk around, and not completely overrun by tourism in the way many of the most beloved parts of American cities have been. And again, the people are amazing. Walk into any shop, any bar, and the people will make you feel like you've lived there your whole life--even if you talk like a Yankee (and a Californian is a Yankee).

More on the trip later - just wanted to say a bit about New Orleans for now.