Sermon thoughts for 12th August 2012

John 6:35, 41-51 (NRSV)

35 Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

41 Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ ⁴²They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’ ⁴³Jesus answered them, ‘Do not complain among yourselves. ⁴⁴No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. ⁴⁶Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’

This passage is all about why some people rejected Jesus (and probably still reject him today).

Some of the people of Jesus’ time rejected him because they were judging things by human and purely external standards. They said that he was just a carpenter’s son and they had seen him grow up in Nazareth, a rather insignificant village. They could not understand how a person with a background like this could possibly be a messenger from God.

But is it not true that we often get messages from God from the most unlikely people. Mother Teresa used to say how she found Christ in the poor and destitute in Calcutta; others speak of finding God in the most unlikely of places and from the least expected people. Barclay uses the following illustration from the experience of T S Lawrence (of Arabia) to make an important point.

Lawrence was a great friend of Thomas Hardy. Lawrence began his military career as a private in the RAF. When on leave, he used to visit Hardy in his uniform. On one occasion Lawrence’s visit coincided with a visit to the Hardy’s by the Mayoress of Dorchester. She was offended to have to be in the presence of a mere private aircraftman. In French she complained to Mrs Hardy that ‘… never in all her born days had she had to sit down to tea with a private soldier. No one said anything: then Lawrence said in perfect French: “I beg your pardon Madame, but can I be of any use as an interpreter? Mrs Hardy knows no French!”’

We are God’s children not because of who we are or what we have done, but because of Jesus and what he has done for us. It is all of grace. All are one in Christ Jesus our Lord, St Paul reminds us in the letter to the Galatians. The New Testament speaks of the priesthood of all believers.

We must take special care that we never neglect a message from God because we do not care for the messenger. Barclay concludes:

“God has many messengers. His greatest message came through a Galilean carpenter, and for that very reason some Jews disregarded it.”

Some of the people rejected Jesus and his message because they were arguing among themselves. They were so taken up with their arguments that they failed to do what matters most and take the matter to God. They were all too eager to have their point of view made known, but did not seem to care to deeply about what God had to say.

This is so much part of human experience. Quite often, arguments abound because people are not really listening to each other. When they are not speaking, they are thinking of their reply rather than what the other person is trying to say. Often, what is needed is a time for quiet and reflection on what has been said.

There are arguments and debates abounding in the Church around issues of unity and leadership and sexuality (to name but a few). I wonder how much listening to God comes into things sometimes? For me, the issue of sexuality proved particularly difficult because I find homosexuality so repulsive as a sexual act. I struggled to see how it could ever be something good and uplifting – until I met some wonderful, holy and obviously Spirit filled homosexual Christians. I still have difficulty with the act, but am less concerned about the how and the why and more open to be accepting and affirming because some obviously have the Spirit of Christ within them. Was it not this – the presence of the Spirit – that made Peter see the importance to accept Gentiles?

Perhaps in our Churches, we need to have fewer debates and discussions and seek rather to discover the voice of God in the silence?

Perhaps the secret is to talk less and listen more?

Barclay adds that one needs more than just listening, one needs also to hear and learn. He suggests that there are different kinds of listening; there is the listening of:

(i) resentment

(ii) criticism

(iii) superiority

(iv) indifference

(v) the person who is only silent for the moment because they cannot get a chance to speak

Barclay concludes: “The only listening that is worth while is that which hears and learns; and that is the only way to listen to God.”

Barclay reminds us that the word John uses here is ‘helkuein’ and is the Greek word for the Hebrew word used by Jeremiah when he speaks of God speaking to the prophet and the KJV translates the experience as God saying: “With loving-kindness have I drawn thee …” There is an implication of resistance because it is the same word used for drawing to shore a heavily laden net filled with fish. (John 21:6 and 11) It is used when explaining how Paul and Silas were brought before the Magistrates in Philippi (Acts 16:19) Barclay gives other examples as well.

What is interesting is the fact that God can draw us, but our resistance can ‘… defeat God’s pull …’ This is another reminder of why I originally lost patience with Barclay, because as a young Calvinist, I was of the view that no human could thwart the will of God. But we know that – especially in the shorter term – this is not only possible, it is the default setting. It is probably true that the ultimate purposes of God cannot be thwarted – but this side of the grave – we will never know.

For me the big issue here is the question: “Are we allowing God to draw us to Him?” If we do, then we are blessed beyond measure. Other questions follow: “In what ways are we resisting God?” and “What is God saying to us?”

This goes back to some earlier reflections where I have contended that the Bible is vital and essential, but it is just part of the process. We need to use our reason, we need to confer with others in study, fellowship and prayer, and this ignites the intuitive meeting of Spirits, God’s Spirit with our spirits and the conviction, the peace and the joy that results.

This is too rare an experience for me and the busyness of life so often takes over and I do not find time to allow myself to be drawn to God. This is especially true as we go through the frantic time of packing and setting up accounts for water and gas and electricity and telephone and e-mail and …. the list seems endless. To make matters worse, there is a problem with our plumbing in Moffat and so repairs have needed to be in place (the plumber has owned up that it is his responsibility as he installed it! and so the cost ought not to be too great.)  In addition, a disturbing noise in the front of our car seems to be £1500 worth of repairs – but then I purchased an extended warranty and so this too ought to be covered. But the things of this life can be the resistance that strops us from being drawn to the presence of God where we receive our deepest nourishment.

Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is near …

Jesus referred to himself as – ‘the bread of life …’ In the days of Jesus, bread was the staple food and so Jesus is saying that He is essential for life and as Barclay adds: “… to refuse the invitation and command of Jesus is to miss life and die …”

John links this famous saying with a reference to the experience of the Israelites during the Exodus (as recorded in the book of Numbers). The people did not need to wait 40 years before entering the Promised Land, they just refused to face the dangers after the reports of the returning scouts so they were condemned to wander in the wilderness – so they missed all the blessing that was waiting for them.

To reject Jesus is to miss out on life – in this world and the next but to accept Jesus and his ways means to find real, meaningful and blessed life in this world and glory in the next.