Difficult Teaching
John 6:56-69
August 27, 2006
Church of the Redeemer
I heard a story recently on National Public Radio that maybe some of you caught, about the Annual Samish Bay Mud Run. This is a 250-yard run at low tide at a shellfish farm near Bellingham, Washington. The story talked about the strategies of the runners, including going barefoot and spraying their feet and legs with PAM so the mud doesnÕt stick or duct-taping their shoes to their feet. The reporter spoke with one man who said he didnÕt follow any of that advice, lost his shoes in the first few steps, and ended up falling in the mud, struggling to finish the race. It sounded like a great good time to me!
It also sounded like a great metaphor for what happened in these conversations reported in John between Jesus and the Jewish leaders and his own disciples. Some of those following Jesus after he had miraculously fed 5000 people were there for the celebration. Kind of like the feeling evoked by the Psalm we heard this morning, they thought being with Jesus was like a lovely dwelling place where he would take care of them and speak loving words to them and feed them all they needed. Then he started talking about the need for them to eat not just bread, but his flesh, to drink not just the wine he had made at the wedding at Cana, but his very blood. There were stories of religious groups around that practiced cannibalism, and the laws of the Bible made very clear that Jews were NOT those people. If Jesus was speaking literally, this was blasphemy! Even if he was speaking metaphorically, this was a bit too graphic for comfort. ÒWe want a nice, poetic, loving leader, Jesus, not someone who talks about difficult things, keep it simple,Ó they said. And when he wouldnÕt, they sprayed PAM on their legs and climbed out of the mud.
Then Jesus looked at the other group, the folk who earlier had been ready to make him king. They wanted him to be fleshy, deeply involved in the matters of the world. To them he said, ÒIt is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is useless.Ó Yeah, but Jesus you just said about eating flesh and we thought that meant you were going to become one with our flesh and its political problems. WhatÕs the deal here? But Jesus knew that the solutions to the problems not just of the Jewish people, but of all the nations, would never come from politicians, even well-intentioned and faithful ones. ÒThereÕs more to God than politics,Ó Jesus said, Òand there needs to be more in you than that. Be open to the Spirit moving in you; listen for God; hear all my words and not just the ones that further your personal political agenda, especially hear the ones that might challenge that agenda.Ó But they decided Jesus was running the race on the wrong path, so they slogged off in the mud another direction.
I think the most offensive thing Jesus did that day was to say that it simply wasnÕt that simple. For the person who truly wants to enter deeply into a relationship with God in this world and with other human beings, there is mud to struggle through and there is tough stuff to talk about. Sure, Jesus didnÕt want to be king; the people only wanted that because they thought he would give them whatever they needed and take away the burdens of the Romans or the Pharisees so they could live in peace. He knew what they needed was much deeper than politics and that the ultimate solutions to their problems were not political ones. Sure he told them to eat of his flesh in the ritual meal we call Holy Communion, but then he told them that rituals, no matter how wonderful they are, will also not be the ultimate answer. Celebrating sacraments and singing sweet hymns in church alone will not bring in the realm of God. ItÕs more complicated than that.
So the crowds thinned considerably, and folk went off to find the next promising desert prophet, one who, perhaps, would tell them what they wanted to hear and make it simple and beautiful or one who would take on their political cause and lead the troops to battle.
Here in the United Church of Christ, and in Church of the Redeemer specifically, we face the same challenge Jesus laid before his disciples. If we donÕt always present a savior who is always beautiful, comforting, hopeful, giving us what we think we need, if we donÕt always worship or sing with language that is lovely and poetic, simple and free of controversy, will we leave? If we donÕt always present a savior who holds up a specific political agenda and sees everything in the world in clear-cut right or wrong, good or evil, liberal or conservative terms, will we leave? Will we either spray our legs with PAM and climb out for the eternal sunshine of the spotless mind or slog barefoot but with great integrity ever deeper in the mud away from this place?
There is another alternative, and it is the one I believe is in the best tradition of this congregation and our denomination at its best. We can get out the duct tape and wrap our sneakers closely around our feet and run through the mud together, growing stronger as we run. We are at a point in the history of the church, of this nation, and many of us at points in our individual lives where we are surrounded by tough stuff, difficult matters that cry out to be wrestled with by people of faith. As we move more deeply into our journey together as pastor and people, I hope to be able to talk with you about some difficult teachings and wrestle a blessing out of them, even when we may not come to consensus on what it all means. This is a place where I hope we will not run away when we donÕt understand or when we feel challenged or when we think it is all too tough, where we will not escape into easy answers on either political or theological matters. This is a place where I hope we wonÕt get stuck in the mud of talk and talk and talk or think we need certainty and total agreement before we can move forward and act on our faith. After all, Jesus did feed the hungry people before he engaged in this long theological discussion with them. This is a place where I hope that though we may lose our shoes in the mud, we may also reach out to find the hand of someone on firmer footing who can pull us forward.
When Jesus asked the disciples if they, too, would run away, they did not respond by saying, ÒNo, Jesus, we fully understand exactly what you are talking about here and we all agree with you and each other one hundred percent!Ó We know enough about the disciples to know that simply would not have been true. No, they responded that they would stay because of the relationship they had found with Jesus. ÒTo whom can we go? You have the words that give us life.Ó I think they meant by that not just the promise of eternal life, but that they felt more fully alive with him, swimming in the deep end, being invited in to think about and act on the most important things in the world even though they were, for the most part, uneducated, working class folk. Jesus believed in them, and they believed in him, and in that relationship they felt more alive than they ever had.
ThatÕs what we are ultimately about here, being alive, entering into a relationship with Jesus who has been deep in the mud and can pull us along through it to the end of the race. That relationship is spirit and life. Together, if we seek to grow closer to Christ, we grow closer to one another, and then we can work on all the tough stuff surrounding us with energy, joy and life and not get sucked into the mud holes of disagreement, apathy, political divisiveness, self-righteousness or personality cults. If we seek to join our flesh to JesusÕ flesh, our spirits to JesusÕ spirit, speak our words after listening to JesusÕ words, then together here we can handle lots of difficult teachings, and I do really want to do that with you, in word, in prayer, in action.
Having exhausted the mud race metaphor, let me leave you with the metaphor Jesus used of himself. Many years ago, when I was in theological seminary at Princeton, William Sloane Coffin came and met with the UCC student group there, (and at that Presbyterian heaven, we were a small group). He encouraged us to think of ourselves as leaven in the loaf, both at Princeton and in the wider world. He hoped we would feed on each other and on Jesus, as yeast feeds on sugar, and be the catalyst to make the bread of life, of hope, of justice, of spirit, rise. May we at Redeemer be the leaven in the loaf of the whole New Haven area, running with perseverance the race that is set before us, always keeping in sight Jesus, the one who feeds us, confounds us, disturbs us, and gives us life. Amen.