The Ggospel of John, chapter 6, and I will be starting at verse 26. But I will not read the entire thing — we will do specific verses 26 and 27. Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, truly" — now when he says that, it means listen up, guys, I got something important to tell. "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and you were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God has set his seal."
And then we'll go to verses 33–35. "Truly, truly, I say
to you, for the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives
life to the world." Then they said to him, "Lord, always give us this
bread." And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes
to me will not hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst."
Verse 41: "Therefore the Jews were grumbling about
him." So what else was new? Because he said, "I am the bread that
came down out of heaven."
Verse 48: "I am the bread of life." Is anybody
keeping count of how many times he said, "I am the bread of life."
Verse 51–57: "I am the living bread that came down out
of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread
also which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." Then the
Jews began to argue and say to one another, "How can this man give his
flesh?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless
you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in
yourselves. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I
will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true
drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As
a living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me, he
also will live because of me."
The Word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.
This story from John has a few surprising elements to it.
The way Jesus handles this situation is confusing sometimes, because some of
the things that he is saying is upsetting his followers. It seems that he
doesn't make it easier. You would think a God of compassion, a God of love, the
God of wonderful things, of miracles, would want to make it easier for the
people. But it gets more difficult for them most of the time.
We want to take down barriers in people's way and we want to
help them get past these barriers. If someone finds something difficult to
understand, what's the first thing we want to do? Explain it to them. We want
them to understand. We just hop right in there. We want to make it easier for
them. And if there is something in their way, especially one of our children,
we want to move it. We want to take it out of the way. And certainly this is
what we would expect of Jesus. But this isn't what Jesus does here. Instead of
making it easier to believe, he seems that he wants to make it harder. Instead
of opening a door, he seems to throw up a barrier.
Early in this chapter, Jesus has fed the multitudes. And so
they follow him because they have experienced that miracle. They believe in
him. They saw it happen. It's the perfect opportunity for Jesus to add to the
number of his followers. They'd appear to be on his side. But Jesus says to
them, "I tell you the truth. You are looking for me, not because you saw
miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and you got full. Do not work
for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son
of Man will give you."
Now, notice here, he begins a little gently. He's healed
them. He's fed them. But now he gets down to business. He points them beyond
the satisfaction of their physical needs to their eternal spiritual needs. He
promises to give them the bread of life of which he is speaking. But this isn't
the kind of bread that they were thinking about. Jesus, if somebody says to
you, "I'll give you some bread," we think about the loaf of bread
that we go and get and make a sandwich with. That's the kind of bread they're thinking
about. They don't get yet what Jesus is saying to them. They're as clueless as
the disciples are so many times.
Jesus said, "The bread of God is he who comes down from
heaven and gives life to the world." And then they respond, "Sir,
from now on, give us this bread." As if they haven't already gotten it.
Jesus knows they don't understand. And he says, "I am the bread of life.
He who comes to me will never go hungry and who believes in me will never be
thirsty." But they still don't understand the metaphor. And they are
offended. The scripture says they began to grumble about him because he said,
"I am the bread that came down from heaven."
Now, since they are upset, you'd think that Jesus would move
on to something else, but he doesn't. He only repeats what he's already said,
but he adds to the offense. He says it again: "I am the bread of life.
Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the
bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the
living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will
live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the
world."
How many times now has he said it? More than once. We know
the Jews had very strict dietary rules. There were kosher foods and foods that
they would never ever think of eating. Pork was one of the meats that they'd
never eat. And if they did, they would become unclean, which was a bad thing
back in those days. And cannibalism. Now Jesus is saying, "You've got to
eat my flesh." That's cannibalism, folks. Well, and it's a whole different
category. So when he said that the bread he was talking about was his flesh, it
offended them beyond words. "How can this man give us his flesh to
eat?"
Now, this really would be a good time to kind of soft pedal,
but Jesus just makes it worse by saying, "I tell you the truth. Unless you
eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise
him up on the last day. For my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him."
How many more times does he have to say it? Because we don't
know the original language, we don't really understand the provocative impact
that this had on these people. Jesus makes it even worse because he changes the
verbs here. Early in his statements, he uses a verb that simply means to eat.
But in the last part of his statement, he uses a verb that means to chew, to
gnaw, to crunch. Pretty graphic. Many of his followers turned back and no
longer followed him. They never came back. Why does Jesus do this? Well, the
loyalty of the 12 is even questionable at this point. And we know this because
he said to them, "You don't want to leave me too, do you?"
I believe Jesus did this because he was interested in
something more than superficial faith. He was not looking for numbers. You
know, a lot of times pastors, churches, they want numbers. They got to turn
them in at conference at the end of the year. They got to be responsible for
growing the church. Except they want numbers. But Jesus was looking for true
disciples. It's all too easy to want God to meet our needs and provide for us
and never consider what's really important and what he really desires to do for
us and in us.
Through our faith, we have to scale the barriers. Rather
than trying to avoid them, rather than trying to go around them, rather than
trying to pretend they aren't there, we have to face them. Life is full of
barriers. And those of you that are in my category, the more mature people,
we've had one or two barriers in our lifetime. I know a lot of people who are
offended at God. They're mad at him and they turn away because their life
hasn't turned out the way they think it should have for them. They don't face
the barriers. Their temptation is, "Where was God when I needed him? Why
did God let this happen to me or to my loved one?" Now, I understand these
feelings, but it's a barrier that must be faced if we are to find our way. And
it's not easy to follow God. The scripture tells us following Jesus is not
going to be easy. So get ready for it when you make a commitment. It is not
easy to follow God all the time. And we should not pretend that it is. We
shouldn't go out there and tell God we have 100%, 365 days a year, 24 hours of
every one of those days, and nothing is ever wrong. It just doesn't work that
way. The way of God is often hard, but in the end, we see that it is better and
easier than not following God.
There have always been barriers and those who have faced
them with faith have become much stronger people. Ever heard of the saying,
"If it doesn't kill you, it'll make you stronger." I think everybody
has.
Let's take the Israelites for example. They're leaving
Egypt. They're excited about what's to come and at the same time, they're a
little anxious because they really don't know what's getting ready to happen.
They're filled with the excitement of God's promises. And at the same time,
there are so many barriers to obtaining their freedom. They got to deal with
Pharaoh. They don't have any food. They don't have any water in the desert. And
it doesn't take them long to start bickering among themselves. They're
complaining already and asking Moses, "Why did you take us out of Egypt?
Why did you save us?" How many years? 400 years they prayed to God,
"Take us out of this forsaken place," and he answered their prayers.
So you better be careful what you pray for.
Think about Job. Job is the epitome of facing his barriers
with faith. He was the most tortured person I know of in the Old Testament. But
he is the epitome of how to deal with our barriers and not try to avoid them.
He kept the faith. How he did it, I'm not sure. I think Paul would have said to
Job, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." Job kept his faith
throughout his entire ordeal. He never let anyone or anything weaken his faith.
Remember one of his friends say, "Why don't you just forget about God?"
He says, "No, no, no. That's not the way it works." He had every
reason to be angry at life. He had every reason to be angry at other people. He
had every reason to be mad with God. But in the end, he overcomes the barriers.
And he says, "Though he," meaning God, "slay me, yet I will
trust him." No matter what God does to me, I will never forsake him
because he will never leave me alone. Now, how is that for strong faith?
I know people who have prayed for strength to allow their
adversities to bring glory to God. They never lose their faith. They never get
angry at God. But you know what? If we do get angry with God, he can take our
anger. The trick is don't lose your faith. Don't lose your faith in God. He
understands you're frustrated. He's going to get you through it in spite of all
of your doubts. He's going to get you through it. But we must keep the faith.
I saw an interview with a man who had no arms or no legs.
You may have seen it. It was quite a while ago. His name was Nick. He had a
rare genetic disorder. He had two small feet attached to his torso. Now, as a
kid, he had struggled emotionally and physically because his years in grammar,
kindergarten, grammar school, middle school, high school were kind of miserable
because the other kids didn't really accept him. He had to work on accepting
his conditions. And as an adult, he said he had a ridiculously wonderful life.
He has a motorboat. He loves to fish. He can swim. He's married. People are
always asking him how he can claim he has a ridiculously good life. And he
tells them, "You assume — have you ever divided the word 'assume'? You
assume that I am suffering from what I lack. I choose to live by what the Bible
says. God is the answer yesterday, today, and always. When people read about my
life or witness me living it, they are prone to congratulate me for being
victorious over my disabilities. And I tell them very quickly that my victory
came in surrender. It comes every day when I acknowledge that I can't do this
on my own. So I say to God, I give it to you, and then I give it to him, and I
don't take it back."
How many of us say we're going to give it to God and two
hours later we're worrying about it again? We're fretting over it. We really
didn't give it to him, or if we did, we're Indian givers. He says, "The
Lord took my pain and turned it into something good. He gave my life meaning
when no one and nothing else could. And if God can take someone like me,
someone without arms or legs, and use me as their hands and feet, he can use
anybody. It's not about ability. The only thing God needs from you and from me is
a willing heart."
Barriers — we all have them. I hear my grandmother who died
in 1987 and she's still in my head saying, "My dear, it isn't your
problems that count, but how you face them and how you handle them."
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen. Amen.
Now, today we're going to celebrate communion. I kind of
battled a little while back and forth with myself. Am I going to do a Labor Day
sermon or a communion sermon? And it didn't take long for me to say communion's
the important one. That's the way we're going to go. Jesus said, "Remember
me every time you eat or drink." How many of you eat more than once a day?
Twice a day, three times a day. Do I need to keep going? A snack in the
morning, take a nap, get up, go to the refrigerator, get something to eat, get
something to drink. We don't even think about it. Sometimes it's just gotten to
be habit. I know some of us have an elastic arm — it just goes from there to
here. Do you remember to thank God every time you eat and drink? Probably not.
I don't. I should. I try to. I'm getting better at it. It took me 83 years, but
I'm getting better at it.
But Jesus came to take the sins of the world on himself so
that we might be saved from our sins. He continued to tell his disciples and us
on that night when he broke the bread that he was coming for that very purpose
— to save the world from sin. And after he broke the bread, he gave it to them
and he said, "This is my body which has been broken for you." And
then after the supper, he took the cup and he said, "This is my blood of
the new covenant which has been shed for you and for many. Drink ye all of this."
Now, this is the Lord's table. This is not a Methodist table, a Baptist table, Episcopalian table, a Presbyterian table. I could just go on and on. But it's the Lord's table. And all who earnestly have repented of their sins and want to live as Jesus wants us to live — he invites us to come and partake in this holy meal.
