Sermon for 8/26/18 John 6:56-71

Are you tired of talking about bread yet? These last 5 weeks in John 6 have actually been refreshing for me. As I have the theme “fed to feed” and the verses of John 3:16-17, I have been able to hear these verses in new ways. That doesn’t mean I am anywhere near an expert and that I still don’t have questions regarding these verses. Some of what Jesus has done in these last 71 verses has been amazing and some of it has left me uncomfortable. And it’s tempting for me to want to only hear what I like and ignore the other stuff. But then again, “Lord to whom shall [I] go? You have the words of eternal life!” Jesus asks his disciples an interesting question in this weeks reading. “Does this offend you” (v61)? This could also be translated as “does this scandalize you?” or “anger, offend, shock, to cause one to stumble, or cause one to sin.” Interesting, isn’t it? Jesus asking his disciples and us “does my teaching cause you to sin?”

Well, yeah, Jesus. We get it, you’ve talked about bread for 5 weeks straight. You’ve talked about the bread of life, the body and blood, you’ve fed people. You’ve talked about bread that gives life, not like the stuff  our ancestors got in the wilderness. You’ve talked about eating your flesh and drinking your blood as a way to eternal life. And maybe we’ve struggled with some of this. So does it cause us to sin? Yeah maybe. Because to be a disciple of Jesus, and not just the twelve, but us too means that we are in a relationship with Jesus. And being in relationship with Jesus means hearing him and listening to him. Often through these last 71 verses Jesus has said “whosoever…” and then the command finished with “will have eternal life.” That’s where it gets hard. We may hear those words, but we certainly don’t want to listen. It makes us uncomfortable. When Jesus doesn’t put parameters on his words, it makes us uncomfortable because it leaves room in God’s kingdom for those that we’d rather leave out.

“Whosoever” certainly doesn’t mean those that undocumented, does it? “Whosoever” doesn’t mean those who are undocumented, couldn’t take “no” for an answer, and then take the life of a young, talented, beautiful woman, does it? “Whosoever” doesn’t mean a Colorado father responsible for the deaths of his family, does it? “Whosoever” doesn’t mean those that open fire in school buildings full of students, does it? Come on, Jesus. Certainly you had some exceptions, right? Does this cause us to sin? YES! Because the thing is, we don’t want to share any single part of God’s kingdom with “those” kind of people. Our stumbling blocks, my beloved, to really listening are many and varied. But, what it comes down to is that our main stumbling block is our own sin. We are quick to judge. We are slow to forgive. We hold a grudge like its an olympic sport. So sure, we abide in Christ and he in us. But, we’ll be damned if “those” other people get a chance at this abiding stuff.

Does listening to Jesus cause us to sin? Well, not really. Our own disbelief causes us to not listen to Jesus and thus sin. Because Jesus can’t be who he says he is, right? Jesus, son of God, sent because God so loved the world couldn’t possibly love that much, could he? Jesus certainly couldn’t be the bread of life and cup of salvation, could he? He couldn’t be this bread and cup for the whole world, could he? Jesus couldn’t be God in the flesh, could he? That’s just not possible. We don’t want to believe that Christ is who he says he is because that means that the teachings of Jesus are the ones we should be following and believing. It means that the teachings that have fed us for so long we now must use to feed others, even those we’d rather leave starving in the streets.

We want Jesus to hate the same people we do. We want Jesus to look on the world like we do. We don’t want to proclaim love through word and deed, we don’t want to care for others and the world God made, and we certainly don’t want to work for justice and peace. So it would be great if Jesus could believe the same way. But he doesn’t. Our own expectations of Jesus, the ones we gladly and willfully placed on him haven’t measured up. And that’s not on Jesus. That’s on us. We expect Jesus to fulfil our expectations instead of the other way around. And it doesn’t happen and we are left disappointed. So are Jesus’ teachings difficult? Yes. Jesus’ teachings are so difficult because they are filled with love and grace. If we don’t believe that we are given these things by Christ through nothing that we do, then are we really going to believe that Christ gives his love and grace to those we’d rather not associate with?

And although these teachings are difficult, Lord, where else are we going to go? You, you alone, you are the one who gives us the words of eternal life. We may be tempted to look other places. But it is Christ alone who gives us the words of eternal life. While Christ always abides in us, thanks to sin, we may not always abide in him. Remember that sin is what comes between us and Christ. But the third day shows us it is never too late to abide in Christ. The empty tomb is an ongoing promise and invitation of abiding. The empty tomb invites us to drop our expectations and accept Christ for who he really is: the bread of life and cup of salvation. The bread of life that provides life for 5000 on a grassy hillside. Enough for everyone to get their fill and then have leftovers. The bread of life that promises a life eternal. The bread of life that is a promise of abiding.

Are these teachings difficult? Yes. But you know what isn’t difficult? God’s love through Jesus Christ. We are witnesses of this love through the waters of baptism. We are witnesses of this love through bread and wine. We are witnesses of this love when our expectations are crushed. When we see how God really loves the world, that is, with no exceptions, our expectations are crushed. And we are reminded that Jesus keeps his promises. Everything that Jesus has ever promised us will come to fruition, 5000 fold, abundant life. For you, for Emerie, for me. I think what makes these teachings so difficult is that love is maddening and so rewarding. We are freed from our expectations. We are filled and fed. We are fed to feed others. Even in the midst of knowing one of the disciples would betray him, Jesus promised a life to all, and a life abundant. Are these teachings difficult? Yes. But, thanks be to God we have the waters of baptism to wash away our expectations. Thanks be to God we have the third day and an empty tomb. Thanks be to God we have a God who so loved the world. A world that will be saved through Jesus. And that includes us. When Jesus says “whosoever believes this” I pray you include yourself in this, my beloved. And if you find these teachings hard, well, there’s grace for that. There’s always bread for the journey. And we are fed with an abundance. Grace upon grace is a real thing. Make that your expectation. Make Jesus  your expectation. You’ll never be disappointed.

Sermon for 8/5/18 John 6:24-35

Welcome to week 2 of what I jokingly call our “carb loading” series. I say this because last week, this week, and the next 3 weeks all speak about bread. Last week, I laid a little bit of groundwork for the rest of the weeks. If you missed it, you won’t be far behind. What I hope you remember, or what I want you to remember, is that we are fed to feed. We are fed by God through Jesus Christ in order to feed other people. This feeding is done with food, yes, but with other things as well: a phone call, a visit, a quick text, a letter, a card, a casserole, and on and on. And the great thing is that while we are being fed by Jesus to feed others, others are being fed by Jesus to feed us. This is what the body of Christ looks like. I also invited you to remember or have the verses of John 3:16-17 going through your head as well because I am going to continue referring back to those verses. Luckily for you, I have made this handy-dandy poster cheat-sheet so that you can remember those verses.

Our text for today comes right after the feeding of the 5000 where we had a feast of loaves and fish and enough left over to fill how many baskets? (12) A crowd continues to follow Jesus and when they finally catch up with him, he asks them a question. He says (basically) “are you looking for me and following me because I gave you something to eat and now you want more? Or… are you looking for me because you finally understand I am the son of God and I offer more than bread?” Jesus tells the crowd gathered who he is. He tells the crowd that they must “believe in him whom [God] has sent.” It seems simple enough. But the crowd isn’t pleased with that answer. They say Moses gave us bread in the wilderness. What are you going to do to prove you are who you say you are? The nerve of these people, right? I always believed that when someone shows you who you are, you believe them; or when someone tells you who you are, you believe them.

Then Jesus, meaning no disrespect to Moses, tells them it wasn’t Moses that fed you, it was God! And continues to say “For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Because remember, “God so loved the world… Indeed” God sent the Son into the world in “order that the world might be saved through him.” And I love the crowd’s reaction. They say “Sir, give us this bread always.” But, I often hear it more like this “sounds good! Where can we get us some of this bread??” And I have to also imagine Jesus rolling his eyes and wanting to say “guys!! I’m right here!” But instead, we have the very first instant in John where Jesus identifies himself as the “I am.” And what an incredible statement he makes following that “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

So! Wait! Wait! WAIT! The bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. AND THEN! Jesus says he is the bread of life! Whoa! We should probably believe Jesus when he says who he is. God, the all knowing, all powerful, all loving, all encompassing being that we profess our faith to week after week, is the same God that sent us Jesus. God is the source of the bread from heaven. And the bread of heaven is Jesus. And God gives us Jesus why? Because God so loved the world. I know this sounds like some kind of crazy circular argument, but I just think that when we see the relationship of God to Jesus and then Jesus to us and this relationship is all because God loves us, then I am going to figure out all the different ways that I can say this until you start to believe it. I am going to keep saying it until I believe it.

Jesus Christ is God’s love letter to the world. Let’s take a brief step back and remember last week’s reading. Jesus fed the 5000, right? If Jesus fed the 5000, and Jesus is from God then wouldn’t the feeding of the 5000 just be another sign of God’s tangible abundant love? God so loved the world that God loved the world and then kept loving the world and then kept loving the world and then…. But there must be a catch, right? There is no way that God can love us that much. I mean, God created us, right? So God must know all of the things we try and hide. God knows our deepest darkest secrets. God knows all of the times we’ve messed up. God knows the depths of our sin. So there’s no way God can love us. There’s no way God should love us. There must be a catch. We feel like there has to be a catch because that is the way we humans love one another.

People have to work to earn our love. You love me and then I’ll love you. Do x,y, and z for me and then I’ll love you. And if we screw it up, we write one another out of each other’s lives. Just like that. But that’s another reason why God is God and we are not. God doesn’t just stop loving us. We may think that God can, should, or even does stop loving us. But it just doesn’t happen. Last week I talked about the idea that we are fed to feed. This is another one of the ways that we are fed: we are fed by the love of God through Jesus Christ. We are so filled up with this love that we then love others. Sometimes that looks like actual love: a hug, a light touch on the hand, the promise of accompaniment. Love can look like forgiveness and reconciliation. Sometimes love sounds like this “I don’t know the answers, but I’ll stick with you until we figure it out.”

God fed us with abundance through Jesus Christ. God fed us with baskets of love. Enough love that there is left overs. We can never have too much love. Then, just when we think we’re full, God, through Jesus Christ, reminds us that Jesus is the bread of life and that we will never hunger or thirst. We will never hunger or thirst for actual food or the food that fills our souls. When we are told God so loved the world, there is no catch. God feeds us with abundance. We do nothing to earn it. We believe in the one who sent us Jesus who continues to offer us love until we really do believe that it is for us and that it really never will run out. When everything around us is chaos, when it feels like the world is coming to an end around us, when we don’t even know right from left, the one thing we can know for sure is the love of God through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sermon for 7/29/18 John 6:1-21

This Sunday starts the first of five Sundays that we will spend in John, chapter six. The first of five Sundays that will talk about bread. Or, as I like to think of it, carb loading. I am telling you this now because if you start to think that the scriptures are sounding a lot alike its because they do. But, I am hoping to run a few themes through my sermons over the next five weeks. I want to invite us all into thinking about and conversation surrounding what it means to be fed so that we can feed. I also want us to have the refrain of John 3:16-17 in the back of our heads as we discuss these readings each week. Just in case you forgot, let’s refresh our memories on the verses of John 3:16-17, which I believe to be the heart of the Gospel of John. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” I am going to be referencing this a lot over the next few weeks.

This feeding of the 5000 is probably one of the best known Biblical stories, in my opinion. It is one of the only stories that appears in all four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, AND John. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus tells the disciples “you give them something to eat.” And then Jesus does the greatest party trick ever since turning water into wine: he takes 5 loaves and 2 fish and makes them a feast. There was more than enough for everyone. There was so much in fact, there were how many baskets left over? (12). An abundance of bread and fish. More than those gathered could even eat. In fact we are told that Jesus told the disciples to gather up the fragments left over after everyone was satisfied. Jesus didn’t let everyone have just a few bites and then declare the party to be over. Nope. Those 5000 gathered were satisfied. Can you imagine 5000 people being satisfied with something? I find it hard to please one tiny person…let alone 5000.

Another interesting detail in this story is the setting. In all of the other gospels, we are told that those gathered are in a grassy area. In the Gospel of Luke we’re told that they are gathered in a desolate area (Luke 9:12). But, as we look at verse 10 in this reading we are told that there is a “great deal of grass.” Once again, this is an abundance. Remember last week’s psalm reading? Psalm 23. He makes me lie down in what? Green pastures. Additionally, if Jesus is the good shepherd and we are his sheep, the abundance of grass provides for plenty to eat in a very literal sense, right? Because what do sheep eat? Grass! (Thanks to Rev. Dr. Karoline Lewis for inspiring this line of thinking.)

But now I want to turn to the piece of this scripture that I think really makes it different. It’s a small detail and it can easily be missed, but it is crucial, so I don’t want you to miss it. Look at verse 11. Let’s read it again. “Then Jesus took the loaves, and when HE [emphasis mine] had given thanks, HE [emphasis mine] distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.” Who fed those gathered? Jesus! This is the only version of this story where Jesus himself feeds those gathered. The other gospels have the disciples doing the feeding. The crowd is receiving the bread of life from the bread of life himself. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son….”

Before we get too wrapped up in additional details, maybe we just need to step back and call a thing what it is. This is called being a theologian of the cross. Luther said that sometimes we just need to call a thing what it is. And while it’s all too easy for us to say “look! This reading talks about communion. This reading is like what happens at the last supper. This reading is about this or that or whatever. What if this reading is as simple this: people were hungry and Jesus fed them. That’s it. Sometimes we make mountains out of molehills (as my dad would say). Sometimes a reading really is just about something as basic as feeding people. And is there anything more Jesus like than this? People were hungry and he fed them. Not only did he feed them, but he fed them until they were satisfied and fed them with abundant amounts left over. “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world…”

This was not a one time deal. In our lives, Jesus is the one who feeds us with abundance. And we are fed so that we ourselves can feed. That’s what grace does. Maybe you don’t realize it, or maybe you don’t call it that. But, God, through Jesus Christ, fills us up with grace. And there is always an abundance of it. More than we could ever need. Jesus is always feeding us. It’s not always food, either. We are fed with mercy, love, grace, forgiveness. We are fed with opportunities, time, relationships, and second chances. We are fed with words, music, cards, emails, and phone calls. We are fed by visits, casseroles, and shared tears. We are fed. We are fed. We are fed. And what do we do with the abundance that Jesus gives us? We are fed to feed.

We feed others, literally. We feed others through our food pantry and our backpack program. We feed others with our generosity of finances. Our current level of mission support is 15%. This helps programs like Lutheran camps, colleges, seminaries, missionaries, Lutheran Services in Iowa, Lutheran World Relief, and on and on. We feed others with prayers. We feed in hospitality. I pray that part of the reason why people keep finding us and keep coming back here is because they feel welcome. That is Jesus Christ just spilling out of us. When we take seriously “for God so loved the world” then we can’t help ourselves. We do the same. And do we always get it right? No. Sometimes we are fed and then keep to ourselves versus fed to feed. The idea of scarcity of abundance enters our hearts and minds and we want to keep all we have for ourselves. So thank God the scripture is “for God so loved the world” instead of “for we so loved the world.” It is God through Christ alone that feeds the world. And feeds us.

I know that today may have felt a bit more like a Bible study verses a sermon. But, I wanted to lay the groundwork for the next 5 weeks. We are going to hear more about the bread of life. We are going to hear more about abundance. We are going to hear more about being fed. I hope your takeaways for today are that Jesus is the one who feeds us and feeds us with abundance. And that we are fed in order to feed. I challenge you, my beloved, to keep your eyes open for the ways that God, through Jesus Christ is feeding you. Be prepared, even expect to be fed to an abundance. Then, keep your eyes open for the ways we feed others through the power of God. “For God so loved the world” and the world is so hungry.