Readings
Joshua 24:1-2a,14-18
Psalm 34:15-22
Ephesians 6:10-20
John 6:56-69
Have you ever wanted something so bad you could taste it? It consumed your waking thoughts and sometimes even crept into your dreams. Whatever it was, you could say that you were hungry for, even starving for it.
What did you do in the face of that hunger? I know that, if it was bad enough, I would do whatever I could to get it. I would sacrifice other things, I would save, and sometimes I would even borrow for it.
Today we hear Jesus, once again, refer to himself as food. We begin with where we left off last week. He says, “those who eat my flesh and drink my blood dwell in me and I in them.” He also says, “whoever eats me will live because of me.”
Last week we heard the religious authorities grumble against what Jesus is saying. This week we hear his own disciples complaining. Why is that?
Well, it turns out that the word for eat in today’s gospel isn’t quite so mild mannered as it sounds. More accurately it might be translated as “scarf down” or “gnaw at.” It is a word that implies deep hunger. It is a word that would naturally raise the specter of cannibalism. Jesus appears to be literally asking his followers to scarf down his body and blood. He appears to be literally equating his body with food. Who among us wouldn’t be equally disturbed and, frankly, grossed out by such a teaching?
So, it isn’t very hard to see why some of his followers are troubled by his teaching. Hearing them grumble, however, Jesus expands on his teaching for their benefit. First, he asks them if they would still be offended if they saw him ascend to heaven? But then he makes the point that should have calmed their fears. He says, “It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless.”
Jesus, in that one sentence, makes it clear that he is once again speaking metaphorically and not literally. He, as we have discussed in recent sermons, is inviting them to understand that his body and blood are a metaphor for the shape of his life and the content of his living. But he’s not done. He then doubles down on his remarks by saying “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.”
The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. We could easily translate the sentence as “the words that I have spoken to you are breath and life.” That’s what the word spirit means, it means breath. This is akin to the traditional saying in English of “as I live and breath.” Jesus is saying that everything he has taught is about the shape of his life and the content of his living. It is not so much about faith in Jesus as it is about the faith of Jesus. He is inviting those who are listening to him to share in his faith, to share in what he gives his life and his heart to.
But he wants those who come to him to be hungry for a different life and a different world. He wants them to want it so badly they can taste it. He wants them to devour his faith and his teaching.
Now on one level this seems like mom and apple pie to us. But for those who first heard this, it was a hard lesson. If Jesus meant eating his flesh and blood literally, that was impossible to accept. But, even if he meant it metaphorically, Jesus’ approach to life and living was demanding and counter cultural. To adopt the faith of Jesus was for many also a bridge too far. This is why the passage then says, “Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.”
Then we have what I imagine to be a very human moment with Jesus. He turns to his disciples and asks, “do you also wish to go away?” You can almost hear the disappointment and dejection in Jesus’ voice. You can almost hear him wondering if anyone will get what he is saying and follow him. But Peter pipes right up and says “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Now as I said earlier, what Jesus asks of us in today’s gospel, on one level, seems like mom and apple pie. It seems obvious to us that what he is asking is what we want. But is it?
When I examine my own life, do I want the faith of Jesus? Do I want to love what he loves? Am I prepared to make the shape of my life congruent with the shape of his? Are his ethics and morality my own or do I have a different way of understanding the world and how it works. Is the shape of my life more about my parents, the schools I attended, and my friends? And, on top of that, just how hungry am I for the life he promises?
You know, when I’m really honest with myself, I would much rather have faith in Jesus, rather than seek out the faith of Jesus. It’s much easier to put him on a pedestal and worship him. That gets me off the hook in terms of how I live my life. I can then live the life I’m living and simply trust that I’ll be forgiven.
But, doing so is a shallow existence in comparison to what Jesus offers. Jesus offers us a depth and meaning in the shape of his life that is transformative, both for us and for the world around us. It is an invitation to live in the present in a way that verges on touching eternity. If we are to believe him, it is an invitation into eternal life.
So, what do we want? Do we want to have the deep hunger of our lives fulfilled? Are we searching for a sense of meaning and purpose? Do we want our day-to-day existence to have meaning?
Jesus invites us to fill that hunger with the substance of his life. He invites us to feast on him by embracing the shape of his life as our own. He calls us to not simply have faith in him, but to have his faith and love what he loves.
And in exchange we just may find meaning and purpose for our lives. We just may find peace and comfort in the face of life’s difficulties. We just may find nothing less than life so full that it touches on eternity.