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August 20, 2006

Anne Jensen - Aug 20, 2006

Proper 15B Pentecost 11
Proverbs 9:1-6, Psalm 34:9-14, Ephesians 5:15-20, John 6:53-59

“Taste and see that the Lord is good!”

Never has it been easier to imagine a feast than in the month of August in California. Farmers’ markets spring up all over the place, filled with beautiful vegetables and luscious fruits: hundreds of kinds of tomatoes, squashes, potatoes, plums, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, red and yellow raspberries, red and yellow cherries, blackberries and blueberries. Lettuce, all kinds of big leafy greens. Red beets, yellow beets. Still some apricots. Lemons, local wild salmon, fresh herbs from the garden. Melons, I forgot melons! Surely all this is a taste of heaven…a sign of God’s provision and love for us. Surely we would not turn down an invitation to feast knowing what is at hand.

In the reading from Proverbs Holy Wisdom, a personification of God, has laid the foundations of the earth—the seven pillars—and she has prepared a feast to which she invites all people. She has meat and drink. There are no prerequisites, no conditions to meet-- only an invitation, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity and live, and walk in the way of in insight.” It is an invitation to fullness of life, not just materially, but spiritually as well.

Jesus and the people who came to hear him certainly would have known of this tradition, along with the story of the Exodus, when God sent manna from heaven to the people wandering in the wilderness.

Our gospel this morning comes from Chapter 6 of John’s gospel, Jesus’ discourse on bread, which begins with “I am the bread of life.” It follows the feeding of the 5000. Later that night he stills the stormy waters and returns the disciples to land. The crowds notice that Jesus is gone and they go look for him. When they find him they have many questions: Among them-- When and how did you come here? What must we do? What can you do for us to show us that you speak for God? Will you give us the bread that grants eternal life, and give it to us always? As in many parts of this gospel, there is a mystical quality to the words Jesus speaks. The words are profound.

They are also very graphic—startlingly so. Taking them literally has been a stumbling block for people from the moment they were spoken. This metaphor of flesh and blood works on several levels at once. Jesus’ deeds, his words, and his whole life, including his physical self, his very being—all of that is given as bread for the world to lead them to God. He is bread. Eating his flesh means incorporating him, accepting his teaching, but more than that, it means allowing him to abide in us, and making him part of our lives.

To eat of the bread of Jesus is to experience a personal encounter with the transcendent. Jesus is the new manna, the bread of life that satisfies both our physical hunger and our deeper communion desires. St. Augustine makes the point that the bread of which Jesus speaks “requires the hunger of the inner [person.]” He says the believer who eats in the heart is not one who merely “presses with his teeth.” I believe it’s August who says, “Become what you eat.”

Communion with Christ is at the heart of our faith. It is a mysterious participation in the ongoing life of Christ. Christ is bread, the staple of life, and unless we partake of him and his resurrection life, faith cannot live. There is something about taking another’s physical life into ours that changes our own, as marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, and adoption exemplify. When we eat this bread of life, our lives are conjoined with Christ’s. We are to be the bread for the world, living in such a way that we nourish the lives of others. We are called to live simply in a culture that praises consumption so that we can share that bread with the world.

But what if we feel like we’re only eating a tasteless wafer? Someone once confided to priest friend that she saw other people coming back from communion looking so holy that she felt she must be missing something. He assured her that most of them weren’t feeling anything more than she was. I guess she felt better after that.
Yet even when we are not on a spiritual high, there is a compelling Spirit that draws us to the altar rail to receive God’s gift of love, kneeling next to another human being whose need and love is just a great as ours, with hands lifted up to receive that precious bread…little hands, sometimes grubby with paint from an art project, old hands, hands rough with ground-in motor oil from years of labor, mom’s hands holding baby…and all of them beautiful, all of them asking for this life-giving bread.

How might we deepen our experience of communion? I’ve heard people say, “Preachers always say we should deepen our spiritual lives, but they never tell us how.” I can share a few things with you. One is singing the hymns—Paul points to the effect of raising our voices in song—it is to be filled with the spirit. Many times I have felt sort of flat in a service, and then in the words of the hymn, combined with singing, even if I can’t hit all the notes, and being part of a larger group, the Holy Spirit flows in. My heart changes from wood to something much more flexible and available, more willing to trust, to love and to receive love. Sometimes I sing a hymn or chant a psalm all by myself.

Another way to deepen our spiritual lives is to develop a spiritual practice. Many thriving churches have found renewal after they started being intentional about their spiritual practice, employing a kind of discipline that deepened their faith. There are many practices, and through experimentation you can find one that is helpful for you. Many people use daily devotionals such as Forward’s Day by Day. We’re trying another one that is similar. You read the short scripture passage at the top of the page, meditate on it; then read the reflection. Think about how it fits with something in your life, and close by making your own prayer about it.

Yet another way is through the practice of lectio divina. This is an ancient practice, a devotional reading of the Bible or some religious writing. You can use this same process anytime you read the Bible or other religious writing. We did this in Bible study, using today’s gospel, and it was very powerful, so I want to share it with you as a preparation for feast that God is preparing for us this morning. I’m going to read through the gospel again. Listen carefully and let the words wash over you. After a moment of silence, I’ll ask you, “What catches your attention?” You choose a word or phrase or sentence. We’ll read it a second time, and I’ll ask, “Where or how does this connect with my life?” and then, “What is God calling me to do, be or change?” You only need a few words because God knows your heart, and if you are moved to simply be in communion with the living Christ, nothing could be better.

53… Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

1. What catches your imagination?
2. Where or how does this connect with my life?

3. What is God calling me to do, be or change?

Taste and see that the Lord is good. He shall dwell in us and we in him.