Morsels That Matter

 

--- a sermon for Pentecost 12B -----

I could sit every morning with a simple cup of coffee and reflect on the words that begin the Gospel of John. – I know last week I told you I don’t really care for this Gospel; but I am serious about the beginning – I could quite happily reflect on these words every day:

In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God. ...

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

 

To understand the words that we heard in today’s Gospel from John 6, one needs to know how the Gospel starts.  The purpose of the Gospel is written in the beginning verses and everything that follows fits into those words.

Earlier, when we heard read John 6, we heard:

The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.

Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food. ... Those who eat my flesh ... abide in me, and I in them.;

we are to relate these complicated words to the Gospel’s purpose, where God – Word- is woven into creation and time as we understand it:

in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

 

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Dwelt among us...

God came in human form so there could be relationship;

That we might have an inkling of understanding;

Gain wisdom;

Learn to live out the kindom.

 

God didn’t come as Tree, or Water, or Bean, or Sunflower, not as Elephant, or Eagle; God became flesh --- human.   Because, although created good, of all creatures and plants, humans are the creatures to whom healthy relationship is not second nature. It is humans who forget their purpose; it is humans that are not needed in the eco-system; it is humans who see the world as something to conquer, to use, to take; it is humans who turn from the ideal of reciprocity between creatures where purpose is restoration and healing.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, to teach us relationship and reciprocity, with purpose to live restoration and be healing.

 

Purpose – isn’t that one of our big hungers? To know our purpose or have a sense of purpose? Life to have some kind of meaning, as in where we have been and where we are going? Did pandemic puncture your sense of purpose? Perhaps you have had a moment of seeping doubt as to the point-of-it-all with humanity’s inability to work together to tackle huge social change or the environmental crisis upon us? What of rising tensions and the lack of will to make sacrifices to provide a future for life?

Purpose – what is my purpose? Your purpose? Our purpose as a community of faith?

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

 

Could it be that our purpose THE PURPOSE of life is to share ’flesh’ – rub elbows – to dwell in relationship and meet God, the Word, in the other, in all creatures? ... even to the point of sacrificing our very life to truly dwell among each other, cradled in the bread basket of Mother Earth?

 

The Word became flesh.  What does it look like to become flesh? To dwell?

 

Mahatma Ghandi said, “There are people in the world so hungry, that God can not appear to them except in the form of bread.”    The answer is bread.

 

Spanish poet Fredrico Garcia Lorca said, “[one] cannot live by bread alone. If I were hungry and helpless on the street, I would not ask for a loaf of bread, I would ask for half a loaf of bread and a book.”  So the answer is bread and a book...?

 

 Mexican journalist Juan Vilaro reflected in an article that the task of bread depends on freedom.

 

Maybe, thanks to pandemic, we better understand the relationship of bread and freedom. Life shifted. We didn’t have the freedom of movement and restrictions were placed on us. We were pushed into discovering what truly feeds us: relationships with people, communities, nature – our siblings of plant and animal, scripture, rituals. We had time, lots of time, to learn about ourselves, our attitudes, and many of us discovered that whatever it is we were pursuing pre-COVID, now (and maybe even then), has little point and is not life’s purpose after all.

 

I could reflect every day on the Word of John 1 because it tastes like Gospel, like good news.

Could it be that the Gospel is telling us what God-given human purpose is?

God was in the beginning and when God spoke over the swirling waters – those words, the Word - was woven into the fabric of life; all creation. From that time, the Word was present, in the good times and in the not so good times – not so good as humans were having trouble with their relationships. God made a decision to try a new approach: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Jesus taught, healed, illustrated life with purpose.

 

Generally, pastors, when entering the vocation of ministry have a sense of purpose. Along the way that sense of purpose gets questioned, forgotten  and sometimes pastors stop being pastors. Pastors can feel like they have nothing of value to say or actions to do – little to offer- in times of grief, hard circumstances, helping others face life-changing decisions, answering tough theological questions, or guiding people spiritually amidst the complexities of life. It is in these times that I rely on bread given to me by colleagues, wisdom from people of faith, and other relationships --- over the years I have been given and confidently now gift others with the only morsels that matter:

Word that has become flesh.  Word that is bread. Word that dwells among us and is shared as presence from person to person, to creature. Word that is appropriate in every situation, full of meaning, and given in relationship – in the presence- of another:

To live and die well one only need hear, eat, digest, and share the Word----

Peace be with you.

Thank you. Please forgive me. I love you.

 

What if....

No. No ifs!

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.  Those who eat my flesh, abide in me, and I in them. This is life’s purpose, cultivating and living in the reciprocity of relationship.

Life’s purpose is, through the Word who became flesh, to be bread for the hungry.

Dwell in relationship and live: peace be with you. Thank you. Please forgive me. I love you.