August 16, 2009
12th Sunday after Pentecost
Proverbs 9:1-6, Psalm 34:9-14, Ephesians 5:15-20, John 6:51-58
August 16, 2009
The Rev. Ron W. Griffin
“Give it up”
Good morning. In 20 days we will be into the short Salmon fishing season in California. Only ten days long, Charlotte and I are going out twice with John Collins, some of you will be joining us, I am already counting the days.
One of the activities that are always guaranteed to make me sea sick when I am out on the ocean is not watching the horizon in the boat while it moving around in 15 ft swells.
I can work in rough water as long as I keep my eye on the horizon. But when I focus on things close, I pay a dramatic price. That’s a problem when you hook into a fish, because it becomes impossible to keep your focus on the horizon. Your eye is on the end of the rod, you are scanning the water for signs of the fish, and I even stop breathing and have to remind myself to keep calm, keep breathing. Finally after 30-40 minutes if I am fortunate, I am able to net and then place a big Chinook into the fish box. But to do that I haven’t stayed focused on the horizon and the next step is not for the faint of heart or stomach.
You need to do what is commonly known as bleeding the fish.
Charlotte is always up for going fishing, she baits her own hook, ties her own leader, catches and can net fish, drive the boat, and is as determined as anyone I know, to stick with whatever she tries, but she does not bleed fish. But to insure the meat will be the best it can be you must cut the main artery just past the gill plate, and then pour salt water on the fish to cause the blood to drain quickly. For every fish I catch, I can get sick, if the seas are rough. Sounds like fun doesn’t it?
There’s nothing like reality to shake us loose from our comfortable, sanitized, pick it up at Costco preconceptions about the harvesting of a natural resource. But from experience the fish is much better to eat and to stays fresher, if you are diligent about bleeding the fish. Pretty graphic, and for some shocking, you may never want fish again.
Today’s gospel reading walks into the middle of an extended conversation Jesus has been having with the religious establishment of his day. For three Sundays the descriptions from Jesus have gotten increasingly graphic and shocking. First Jesus declared himself to be the bread of life, symbolic speech which, while unusual, still had close ties to known Jewish traditions — most notably the celebration and thankfulness offered by the Israelites for the gift of manna in the wilderness, the gift of life sustaining bread. As Jesus continues however, he adds to the image in ways that are both shocking and insulting to his Jewish audience. Instead of simply describing himself as the sustaining bread of life, Jesus now begins to elaborate on how they should “eat his flesh” and “drink his blood” in order to have eternal life.
This language is difficult even for 21st century readers to stomach. Its graphic words are often dismissed as so much colorful verbiage. The cultural taboos against cannibalism send shivers through us at even at the mere suggestion of such an image. For an observant Jew listening to Jesus’ words, there’s yet another layer of revulsion and insult.
The tradition of kashrut, of keeping kosher, taught that blood was unclean; blood was never to be consumed for any reason. Kosher meats are always drained of all blood, the meat prepared in such a way that the blood flows out from and away from the body. Jesus completely turns this idea of blood as unclean, as polluting to the body and spirit, on its head.
He claims his blood must be consumed in order for one to receive eternal life. Although he lived the life of a pious, observant, first-century Jew, Jesus spent his ministry teaching that those categories were not the defining essence of his being, or of his faith.
Jesus challenged people, to go beyond what was, to what was to come and to feel the living heartbeat of faith in their own lives. Today’s gospel text demonstrates vividly, graphically how Jesus’ fresh definition of faithfulness and his call to discipleship could so unsettle his listeners.
After centuries of celebrating the Eucharist, Christians no longer appreciate the bizarre, insulting, almost blasphemous challenging nature of Jesus’ blood and body language. For Jesus to insist that his Jewish followers must drink his blood would be like the President of the United States insisting that true patriots must burn the flag, or Ben Bernanke arguing that for us to be strong economically, corporations must stop investing and spend all of their profits on the salaries of their employees.
Such words are totally inconsistent with what we expect to hear from our leaders, not to mention from what we understand as reasonable and responsible behavior. All these weeks as we have looked at discipleship, the steps have become a more intentional, and more intensive Disciples are called . . .
· to righteousness, not respectability;
· to actions, not assertions;
· to trust, not tradition;
· to love, not legalism;
· to compassion, not convention;
· to prayer, not profits.
Today are reminded through simple symbols of bread and wine that the ordinary becomes extraordinary. More than mere words, the Eucharist which means thanksgiving, give us nourishment, strength, and life to go into life, with Christ now part of us.
As we pause to pray, to talk with God, as we publicly and in community give thanks to God, for the blessings of every day, we to are transformed, reformed, reshaped into a new people, God’s people. This transformation, is leading us away from being a collection of individuals and into the formation of the church, a community of faith that lives by certain guiding thoughts and principles.
One of the biggest reasons why people stopped following Jesus was because they couldn’t give up their habits and preconceptions, their life was already full, and they didn’t recognize their hunger for something that would really nourish their spirits.
To everything that the world holds up and holds onto as the symbols of success, of goodness, and of power, Jesus declares, to all disciples to, “Give it up!
Give it up! Your illusions of self-sufficiency and then trust in God’s providence and provisions.
“Give it up!” And live sacrificially, not driven by how much you have, but how much you will share.
If you’re dragging around the heaviness of guilt and regret, Jesus says,” Give it up! ”
Hebrews 12 tells us to “lay aside every weight.”
Put it down. Give it up!
Is your life is trembling from fear and anxiety?
Give it up!
Are you overwhelmed and overcome by the weight of your disappointment, by the depression of your circumstance,
Give it up!
Come you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out. Put it down, Give it up.
Christ offers to us each time we gather at this table, Consume my life into yours, let it become yours, be renewed, restored and filled with new energy and strength.
Give up this morning. Give it to Jesus, Give it to Jesus.
Collect of the Day
Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Gospel – John 6:51-58
Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This 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.”
