Jesus Promise of Abundance

I preached this sermon on Sunday August 12, 2012 at St. Paul's Sacramento at both the 8:00 and 10:00 services

Sunday closest to August 10

Proper 14 B RCL

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33

Psalm 130

Ephesians 4:25-5:2

John 6:35, 41-51

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

Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They 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'?" Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It 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. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 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."

Are you tired of bread stories yet?  This week is the third week of bread and it will continue for a few more weeks.  The Choir director at the cathedral complained that he is running our of “Bread” anthems!  We are reading our way through John chapter 6.  It is our summer respite from the gospel of Mark.  We picked up our Gospel reading where it ended last week with Jesus’ declaration “I AM the bread of Life.”  Unfortunately we then skip six verses.  They are important verses that we should not leave out as they set the stage for why the people were complaining. So here are the missing verses  “But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.  Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.’” 

So when we put these verses back in the story we hear that not only are the people having problems with the whole bread thing but also with Jesus assertions that he has come down from heaven and that the Father will draw us to Jesus.  Jesus is making a messianic claim here.  He is promising eternal life through himself and promising that those who come to him will be raised by him at the last day.

Jesus is upsetting the Jew’s world in this passage.  No wonder when we pick up the reading the Jews are complaining.  He is setting himself aside as different and the people don’t buy it.  Their response is one that I think we all would make.  How can this be?  We know his parents?  Mary and Joseph!  Jesus is the carpenters son!

 But Jesus is claiming more.  In these passages Jesus is starting to reveal who he is.  He is using language that would be unmistakable to his audience.  He is claiming to be the new Moses and more.  Jesus relates his own flesh to the manna that God supplied when Moses delivered the people form slavery.  Jesus is not only referencing what happened with Moses but there is the shift to God.  God provided the manna in the wilderness and Jesus is claiming to be the bread from heaven.  Jesus is claiming not only to be the bread but to be God.  So is there any wonder that the people were complaining?

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Jesus said to the people, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. What does this mean for us?  It really is still radical.  Jesus is promising an abundance that we don’t often see.  And may not believe.  Never hungry?  Never thirsty?  How can that be? There is the promise of abundance but an abundance that is different from the worldly abundance that we want to equate with this. It really is still radical.  Jesus is promising an abundance that we don’t often see. 

 Have you ever known someone who seems to live a life of unexpected abundance and grace?  I have been privileged to know several people who epitomized living a life of unexpected abundance.  One dear friend lived in a world that was full of life even when life was difficult.  When her body broke down she did not complain.  The worst complaint I ever heard come out of her mouth was “Oh Bother!” when her body failed to function the way it had in her younger days.  She believed in the abundance of God.  In her infirmity she went out of her way to help others around her.  She ministered to those around her in amazing ways.  For example until the end she would make sure that one neighbor who had lost many of his mental faculties was still able to participate in community meals.  She made sure that he still was at table with his friends and did what she could to help him know that he was still valued. 

My friend looked forward to being fed the Bread of Life.  The abundant gift of Jesus.  Not in a Jesus that will come but a Jesus that came into the world and is still operating in the world.  She operated out of that place of abundance.  Her last meal was the gift of the living bread.  Her last meal was communion.  She died secure in the promise of eternal life.  Not some future eternity but an eternity that is already around us and already here.  I don’t think there was any fear in her departing her failing body as she had tasted the bread that leaves one full and believed in the gift of eternal life.

When the church is at its best we help feed that abundance.  When we take communion we are offered a taste of the heavenly banquet.  That mystical feeding that sustains us with the promise of God’s grace.  For me that is one reason I am so strongly drawn to the priesthood.  I have been fed by the sacraments in times of despair and in times of hope and I feel called to help bring that feeding to others. 

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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."  This radical statement would have set the Jew’s teeth on edge.  The ideal of eating flesh was against all of the purity laws.  It was upsetting.   Jesus was turning the world upside down!  It is still an upsetting image.  Some of my un-churched friends have quite literally been sick to their stomachs in hearing our Eucharistic words “Take, Eat, this is my body!”  These words that we hear week after week have become too tame for us.  We divorce our selves from the radical nature of the words.  Jesus words are not always meant to comfort the world.  They are meant to turn it upside down.  When we partake of the Bread of life our response and our hope should be radical.  Our response to God’s Grace that is present in our Eucharist should be to go out and create the abundance that it promises. Jesus calls us to love God and Love our neighbor.  Yes even the cranky neighbor and the neighbors who don’t look, smell or act like us.  The hope is radical.  The promise is not some future place of abundance but an abundance that is already unfolding in our midst. 

 Dr. Karyn Wiseman Associate Professor of Homiletics at Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia said “I want to be who God calls me to be and make an impact in the world, sharing resources and offering assistance to those in need. Many will call me a socialist and deride my genuine care as a political agenda, but I believe no one should go hungry. Spiritually or physically.

I know that one of the best ways to help is to instill a sense of worth that all are welcome to come to the table – to come to the Bread of Life. All persons deserve to receive the gift of abundant life.

The truth is everyone – in spite of their life circumstances – needs to have hope. They need to see options for a better world. They need to envision a time and place when they are gifted with what God intends for them. This passage reminds me of that hope, that vision, and that gift. It brings us into deeper relationship with the one who is the Bread of Life - the one who feeds us over and over again.” (http://www.odysseynetworks.org/news/onscripture-the-bible-john-6-35)

God is calling all of us to an abundant table.  God is offering us nourishment that will never leave us hungry.  We are called to the Eucharistic feast. We just have to be willing to come to the table.  To acknowledge that we are worthy of the feast.  God feeds us an abundant feast.  In response we are called as God’s agents to bring God’s hope and abundance to our hurting and hurt filled world.

Parable of the weeds among the wheat.

I preached this at the final Eucharist for our two week Anglican Immersion Program as part of the HyCAS Program  at Church Divinity School of the Pacific.  This was done as part of my preaching class.  

Homily For Friday July 27, 2012

Matthew 13:24-30 Parable of the weeds among the Wheat 

What kind of crazy farming manual did we just hear in the gospel?

Its crazy  At least to our modern sensibilities.  In our time we want to do everything to maximize our yield.  With todays technology we do things differently.  As a botanist who spent some time in my life working on genetic engineering of crop plants I would look for round-up resistant seeds to plant so I could use round-up to kill the weeds.  Or I would look at better living through chemistry to find a selective herbicide to kill the weeds.  After all if we let them grow along with the wheat they will compete for space, nutrients and water and reduce our yield.  Thankfully this parable is not a guide to modern farming practices!  But more importantly God’s farming practices and God’s economy is upside down compared to ours. 

How many of us as leaders in our congregations or in our denominations look out and see the weeds growing with the wheat? How many of us see the evil in the world and want to do something to eradicate it?  We ask ourselves what could we have done as a society to prevent the shootings in Colorado last week?  How can we prevent murderous dictators from creating genocide?  We really do want to help God and help Society.  But how?  Surely it must be ok to lock away evil.  To go about our societies and make sure that we are safe.  The problem is that evil – like the tares in the parable – look an awful lot like the wheat before it is ripe.  Who and how do we judge?

In addition to looking at societal evils, or weeds, we sometimes look into ourselves and see that perhaps there are parts of us that we should excise and burn.  Am I too impatient with those around me who read scripture literally when in comes to same gender blessing.  Or do I, as a gay man, not pay enough attention to what scripture says in regards to relationships – so much so that I don’t look to see what good news might be part of that scripture?

As we all gathered here these past two weeks we have learned about scripture, congregational leadership tools, liturgy and preaching.  We have set at the feet of some of the leaders of the church to hear what they have to teach us and we have sat with each other to hear what our different contexts can teach each other.  There have been some wonderful discussions in classes and over an adult beverage or two!  We are probably all zealous to go back and put into practice the things we have learned this week.  To tell our fellow worship leaders what they are doing wrong.  Or to use some of the practical theology tools to fix our dysfunctional congregational systems.  As Susanna is fond of saying “Do try this at home”  and I agree with that with one little caveat.  That what we are called to do is sow good seeds in our endeavors to fix the church. Not to go home and rip out the tares and to throw them in the fire. 

Elizabeth Johnson , a preacher from Luther Seminary , said “Jesus' parable makes clear that any attempt to root out the weeds will only do more damage to the crop. This has played out far too many times in congregations and denominations, with some determined to root out anyone who does not agree with the "right" interpretation of Scripture, liturgical practice, or stand on a particular issue. There are also those who pronounce judgment on people outside the church -- on people of other faiths, for instance -- declaring them to be destined for eternal damnation. Whether judgment is focused within the church or without, it does serious damage to the church and its mission.” (http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=7/17/2011&tab=4)

 It is our job to plant the good seeds not pull up the tares!  It is, however,  our job to occasionally shake up the system.  To jolt ourselves and our congregations or other systems out of the status quo.

When the slaves asked about pulling up the tares the farmer told them to let them be lest they also destroy the wheat.  You see the weeds that are translated as tares look very much like wheat until they are mature.  It would be easy to mistake a stalk of wheat for a tare before it is ripe.  Likewise I think it is very hard to judge who or what is evil in our midst or even sometimes what is evil in ourselves before it is ripe.  It is not that is does not matter.  It is important to call out evil and dysfunction when we see it.  But it is not our jobs ultimately to judge.  That is for God.  God in the fullness of time, as our liturgy says, will be the ultimate judge.  That annoying cranky person sitting in the pew may look a lot to our eyes as a tare that needs to be plucked out of our congregation but perhaps we are wrong.  They may well have a good reason to be cranky.  If we wait for the harvest at the end we may discover that they have characteristics that actually help bring God’s reign of justice and peace to the earth.  Even if they are annoying to us.  Likewise we should take care of suppressing too soon the parts of our own selves that we want to excise.  What looks like weeds now may indeed be a skill or a characteristic that will ultimate help in our leadership. 

What a strange farmer our God is.  So unlike ourselves especially in the 21st century.  We want to use all of our tools, especially the ones we have learned about this week, to help bring in the kingdom of God.  We want to rip up the tares and grow our church.  But that is not our job.  Our job is to sow good seeds and to try and not worry too much about the weeds that inevitably sprout up with the good.

 As we return to our local contexts I hope there is one tool especially that we will continue to use.  That we will continue to have conversations with each other.  To bounce ideas off our fellow classmates – the new friends that we have made and the friendships that we have strengthened over these past two weeks.  Let us use our technologies not to find ways to rip up what we perceive as weeds but to reach out to each other.  To find ways to plant good seeds.  To help each other with the tools and patience to leave it to God to make the ultimate decision as to what is a weed in our congregations, our denominations and in our own lives.  We may just be surprised that the weed is actually wheat once it ripens.