Joshua D. Walters
Proper 16-Year B
John 6:60-69
“But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, ‘Does this offend you?’” +John 6:60-69
I can’t help but imaging that Jesus is asking that very same question this morning to all of us, in these difficult words before us in our leaflets: “Wives be subject to your husbands”. Do these words before us offend you? I have to say that they take me aback. They make me think twice about my own faith. But I urge you to not turn away. Don’t turn off your spiritual radio quite so quick.
Is all of this bread from heaven hard to swallow?
The Salesian Priest and Roman Catholic Scholar, Francis Moloney’s commentary on today’s Gospel lesson: “It is not information that makes a disciple, but a spirit-filled response to the Father made known in the word of Jesus”(Moloney 229). For those who walked away from Jesus, for those who found the words of heaven indigestible or dyspeptic, there was an in unbridgeable chasm in what they heard and what they could take to heart. The information of Mosaic Laws, the Torah, and all the prophets were easy, until their faith was confronted by The Fulfillment of the Law. They were great to taste and contemplate on their tongue, but hard to swallow. Their faith was an easy one, until they realized that thousands of years of their Spiritual aspiration was standing before them, face-to-face in the form of Jesus Christ. When Moses came face to face he was forced to either turn away from God’s powerful, blinding light, or he was forced to wear a veil. But when God came in human form, in the form of Jesus the Christ, without the need of veil or blindfold, the faith of their fathers become harder to swallow. Isn’t that often the case, that when our faith comes before us, in the mundane or in the every day, it is all the more jarring than when contemplated in the abstract.
The bread of heaven, the new Manna in Jesus, was too much, the words of Jesus were too offensive. Jesus as God in flesh and as the living Torah challenged the Jewish Traditions to the very core. Most of the crowd who had been so steadfast departed, the crowd was content to taste, but when it came time to see and honor the God before them, they couldn’t stomach it. But the Twelve stayed. Did they stay out of desperation or fear? Maybe. First Peter answers Jesus’ question with another question. Lord, to whom can we go? But then, there seems to be a real moment of gravitas where Peter’s mind become more certain even as the words of doubt or perplexity are issuing forth. Finally, Peter’s gumption is mustered up and makes the first confession of Jesus as being The Holy One of God. Finally!
Peter’s confession is telling for it demonstrates that our faith is one that requires wrestling. It requires digestion and chewing. We must eat the words and use them as sustenance over a long period. Bread’s provisional properties become realized only after it is absorbed into our very fabric. It tastes great, but it only works until it is taken in and wrestled with; there are no quick fixes in the scriptures. Quick fixes lead to quick responses. Quick fixes lead to further problems along the way.
Let’s look back to these word’s before us--these words that cause murmurings and grumblings. Do they offend you? Don’t throw them out…dig deeper. Look further, read just a little further. That thing in our text that bother’s you, might be the Holy Spirit calling you. The Holy spirit constantly calls us to go further. To not merely to balk at offence or discomfort, but the Holy Spirit calls each of us to use our Spiritual gifts and correct the ills we see before us. I won’t tell you explicitly when it all means—that’s your homework—but it all has to do with eliminating barriers. In actuality, this text was very progressive for its time, but that’s all I’ll say. I’ll be happy to lend you a Bible!
This past week I was offended, at least my eyes were offended by what I saw and my ears pained by what I heard. I watched a portion Spike Lee’s documentary on HBO When the Levees Broke: A Requiem for New Orleans. I thought that after a year the images before me would be alright—I thought that somehow that nearly 365 days after this disaster, only 945 miles from the steps of our Parish, the time and distance might sanitize this disaster. I am sorry to say that the injustices and horrors experienced by thousands and thousands of fellow human beings became as raw as they ever were—maybe even more so because of my own complicity in wishing to forget about it. Maybe that was where I took the greatest offence, in my desire to wish this problem away.
The horrific destruction of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast is not the only great destructive offence to take place in the great history of humanity—those affronts are myriad in this broken world—Katrina is not the only great Affront that we seek to sweep away from out eyes and minds. The time in which the Gospel of John was written was similar. Perhaps most devastating to first century Jews was the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE by the Imperial Armies of Rome—remember Christians were still considered Jews, at least their unwanted step-children of Abraham. The Temple was the focus of their faith, it was the place where they could localize the presence of God, where offerings were left, and where identity resided it was all gone. And the faithful were forced to make a choice. They were forced to move beyond offence and to take action—whichever way the spirit Chose. That is why Belief in Jesus was so critical. He was their Spiritual Temple, and in his absence we, his followers, became his presence. The Holy Spirit was present when all seemed lost. It was there in the Guise of Memory, Reason, and Skill.
Here is that same Spirit. It pushes us beyond information and offence and propels us into action. Whether it be to look beyond the first glance at troublesome words of scripture, or as our inspiration to heal the broken world—the Holy Spirit of God is the means that makes all things new and that we become whole. And if you think about it the two aren’t divorced from each other. If we take the words of Christ, and digest them, we will move beyond initial fancy or offence and become a dynamic force of Christ in the world. Baby steps—baby bites. God knows that some things are hard to swallow, but thanks be to God that God’s grace and God’s mercy is wide enough to let us come to taste, chew and inwardly digest these Holy words. So that our actions become visible signs of the Bread of Heaven and the Cup of Salvation, and that our daily life proclaim Jesus as Our lord and our God. I have to say that my great offence this week has compelled me to take action. In seeing the grotesque images of post-Katrina, I wrung my hands and my heart thinking how I could make someone’s life better what could I do? I was one year late and 945 miles away? And then I received a check as an ordination gift from my home diocese, it was the collection taken at my ordination date back in June. Now, I don’t think the Holy Spirit moves in the form of money, but I am certain that the Holy Spirit given me in my baptism can move me to help the helpless. May we have the strength to move beyond offence and say with all our hearts as for “us, as for Christ Church, we will serve the Lord.”
