Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
The text for this meditation is written in the 6th Chapter of the Gospel according to St John: Verses 51 – 58:
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.”
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So 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. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This 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.”
In the USA there is, there is a highly accredited visionary research and resource company named ‘The Barna Group’, (bit like the Lowy Institute in Australia). A few years ago, the Barna Group conducted a national survey in the US on behalf of non-profit organisations and Christian church groups. There was one simple question on the survey. That question was, "What is the phrase you most long to hear?" The overwhelming, most popular answer was not at all surprising: "I love you." In a solid second place was the phrase "I forgive you." And, the third most longed to hear phrase was, "Dinner is ready!" I find it fascinating that these three answers articulate the deepest longings and needs of every human being.
The thing is, the Jesus we meet this morning in John's Gospel, understood these deepest longings that exist in peoples’ lives. Longings for love, forgiveness and, yes, sustenance. And, in the 6th chapter of John, we repeatedly hear Jesus address these three areas of human need. In this lectionary year, for five Sundays in a row, we hear Jesus address these deep human desires as he claims, "The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self."
As we enter today’s reading, we see the crowds becoming irritable. After hearing Jesus say over and over again that he is the bread of life, the crowd gets a bit impatient and grows frustrated as they are unable to understand Jesus’ abstract words. They want something more concrete, something that is easier to understand. And, I have to say that, after hearing this message multiple weeks in a row, we too are likely getting a bit frustrated. The crowd asks, “How can this man serve up his own flesh for a meal?” We might say, “Jesus, please talk sense! Don’t give us metaphor, give us substance!”
Well, Jesus does not budge an inch. He responds by again strongly emphasising the point he has been making throughout this chapter. He says, “I am telling you the truth. Only by eating and drinking flesh and blood, the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, will you have life within you. The one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking has eternal life… My flesh is the real food, and my blood is the real drink.”
I don’t think we fully understand how mind shattering and grotesque Jesus’ words were to the people at that time. What Jesus is saying, eating a person’s flesh and drinking a person’s blood, has always been a sinful act. Such practice or behaviour has always been regarded as an abomination by the law and the prophets. And, quite frankly, Jesus’ words can be literally gross and grotesque when we hear them. They assault our sensibilities and our understanding of what is ethical and not ethical. If we truly listen to Jesus’ words, his assertion sounds uncomfortably cannibalistic. Quite honestly, I know several Christian Ministers who try to avoid preaching on this passage, simply because of this.
In one of his many books, the Christian author and Pastor, Martin Copenhaver, shares a story, that I think is priceless, about Jesus’ words today and our practice of communion. Pastor Copenhaver described what happened when one of his parishioners, a child, really listened to the words he used in preparation for communion. He writes, “The communion table was draped, as always, in starched linen and set with silver chalices and plates and a crystal flagon. The congregation was silent, even sombre. I began carefully reading the words of institution in a solemn tone, meant to add dignity to the proceedings. On this one occasion, when I repeated Jesus’ familiar words, ‘This is my body, broken for you; this is my blood, shed for you,’ a small girl suddenly said in a loud voice, ‘Ew, yuk!’ The congregation looked horrified, as if someone had splattered blood all over the altar — which, in effect, is just what the little girl had done with her exclamation.”
Well, for the past few weeks we have been hearing Jesus say he is the bread of life. However, with the words Jesus speaks in today’s reading, he ups the ante and takes it to a new level. Jesus uses language that is startling. As Pastor Copenhaver continues his story, he writes, “In this passage, language is pressed to the limits to express the indissoluble union and inextricable participation of one life in another. For those who receive Jesus, the whole Jesus, his life clings to their bones and courses through their veins. He can no more be taken from the believer’s life than last Tuesday’s breakfast can by plucked from one’s body.”
Yes, today Jesus “presses language to the limits” as we reach the heart of John’s gospel. Today’s reading from John is all about Holy Communion. In the gospel of John there is no last supper. So, scholars believe the words we hear today provide John’s version of the institution of what we now call the Eucharist. And, with Jesus’ graphic, gritty, grotesque words, we begin to see just what is at stake for Jesus and how much we are valued in his eyes. Jesus confronts us with the claim of a carnal God, the God who becomes incarnate and takes on human flesh and bones and blood. In Jesus we see the God whose flesh will be stretched upon the cross for our sake, the God whose blood will flow freely from his broken, wounded hands and feet and side, all for the sake of God’s love for us. In Jesus we see God’s love absorbing us into God’s life as we are made part of God’s ever-widening family. And, when we eat this bread and drink of this cup, we are drawn as living beings into God’s ever-widening family as God’s love embraces all people.
In her book, Love Without Limits, acclaimed theologian and professor Dr Jacqueline Bussie talks about this aspect of communion. She writes:
“To be honest, the ritual of communion with its repetition of Jesus’ words, “My blood shed for you and for all people,” has always troubled me, for what does that really mean, to drink Jesus’ blood? We often assume it’s about sacrifice and pouring out blood to appease a vengeful God. But I have come to believe that it’s about something else”.
You see, as humans we’re obsessed with blood and bloodlines. Many of the ugliest things we’ve ever done to one another were motivated by the desire to keep our blood “pure” and “uncontaminated” by others. Consider the Nazi hatred for people of “Jewish blood,” or the widespread discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS. Also consider the Australian laws drafted to maintain pure Anglo-Saxon bloodlines in Australia. Laws that prevented Australian Aborigines from marrying white Australians without explicit permission from the government. These laws were not amended by the Federal Parliament until 1961. The prevention of ‘mixing of blood’ has long been our idyllic obsession.
To counter all of this horrible hatefulness, Jesus uses the symbolic meal of Holy Communion. Every sip of the wine contains a lesson: the same blood runs through everyone’s veins. As we drink down this truth, we share in Jesus’ bloodline and become one family: the human family. Holy Communion shares the same doormat - as Jesus’ words to us today - WELCOME TO MY FAMILY; YOU ARE NOW ALL RELATED.
Of course, we are a broken people who like to shatter apart this wholeness. This is why God insists that we share the bread and wine not once but over and over again. We need constant reminding that our sense of who is our “blood” and “flesh of our flesh” is too narrow, too vertical, too ancestorial.
Jesus draws us into a family that is circular and not a lineal, and He bids us to make that ever widening, and much, much more inclusive.
Friends, Jesus’ words to us are all about inclusive agape love, God’s self-giving love, a love that fills our deepest need. Each time that we come to this table, we again meet the Word made flesh, the Word given in physical and visible form for our whole selves. When we come to this table, we participate with and are stirred to become like Christ, the “living bread” from heaven. When that happens, what is very ordinary – that is each one of us – becomes extraordinary – Christ among us, Christ living in us. When we engage in this meal, not only do we remember we are all part of the same family, but we also become the living bread of God. And, when that happens, that circle representing our sense of family becomes an ever-widening circle as we share God’s love with all others.
Jesus truly knows and understands our deepest longings and needs, the deepest longings and needs of every human being. Every time we come to this table and receive his very life, we hear him say to us, “I love you. You are forgiven, and dinner is ready! Feast on me!” So, come, and participate in this feast of love for the whole world, a love for all people. Amen
The love and peace of our Great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
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