Sermon - The Ninth Sunday After Trinity

Readings

2 Samuel 18:5-9,15,31-33

Psalm 130

Ephesians 4.25-5.2

John 6.35,41-51

A new Vicar moved into town and went out one Saturday to visit his parishioners. All went well until he came to one house. It was obvious that someone was home, but no one came to the door even after he had knocked several times. Finally, he took out his card, wrote on the back "Revelation 3:20" and stuck it in the door.

The next day, as he was counting the offering he found his card in the collection plate. Below his message was the notation "Genesis 3:10."

Revelation 3:20 reads: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me."

Genesis 3:10 reads: "And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, but I was naked, and I hid myself."

I love this joke because it reminds me of when I was young. One of the most unattractive things about the chapel I remember when I was young was the ability of any particular Pastor to quote Biblical passages and use them as weapons to win arguments. Not only did this make me really sarcastic about religion, but also made me realise that in some churches there is an ‘in crowd’, who expect certain things, and are quite happy with their interpretation of life.

This is one of the problems with church isn’t it! You have to be in the know to understand so much of it. When we have something as powerful as the Bible, it is easy to get caught in the trap of interpreting passages in a way that would be personally beneficial. Here is a great example. In the sixth chapter of the letter to the Ephesians it says;

“Children, obey your parents for this is right...honour thy father and mother”. And that is where millions of parents stopped – little Johnny is looking up at his mother, promising not to argue with her when they disagree over whether graffiti is art or vandalism.

And with my children I think I will stop there too. This should be enough to get the little….cherubs….to behave. I have an unassailable right to be….well right!

Unfortunately, though, this is not the end of the paragraph. It continues;

“Children, obey your parents for this is right...honour thy father and mother, that it may be well with you, and you may enjoy a long life on earth (but here is where it all goes wrong) Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger….or in other translations, that might be more helpful “do not vex your children” or “parents, never drive your children to resentment” What could possibly make your children resent you more than if you win arguments by quoting edited highlights of the Bible at them? I think this is one of the wonderful ironies of faith.

And today in the Gospel reading Jesus Speaks!

Jesus said to the crowd “I am the bread of life” and in one statement created the most confusing and complex set of ideas that one could possibly have.

Jesus is speaking of himself as the Bread from Heaven, the true bread, the Staff of Life, the doctrines concerning Christ date back to the book of the Prophet Isaiah, and although the people are saying “Is this not the son of Mary and Joseph”, there would have been people there who knew that Jesus was saying HE was the mediator between GOD and HUMANITY – He is PEACE – He is RIGHTEOUSNESS – He is the REDEEMER.

They would have known that he was drawing analogies between the MANNA sent from Heaven to the Children of Israel in the wilderness, and himself. MANNA, we are told, was given to the people until they reached Canaan, we are also told that is was “acceptable to every palate”, and there was enough for everyone as long as they shared. MANNA was what kept them alive in the wilderness, and in the Ark of the Covenant, there was a memorial to MANNA.

And from this ONE statement they might have seen JESUS declaring Himself as ONE with GOD, who was from the beginning, making a statement about His divinity. He was also declaring His permanent presence on earth – in person then through the spirit.

In this ONE statement! There is so much to say!

And today, if we are being fed with the living bread, then we will know how to live as community, as church, as individuals – we will just KNOW what this all means.

In the letter to the EPHESIANS you can see that they have been having significant problems. Lying, cheating, holding grudges, spreading rumours, wrangling, slander, wrath and anger. The charge sheet is long, and they have ALL been caught. However it looks like they are going to get away with a caution.

Here is their CAUTION: (and for what it’s worth it is a caution to us as well);

Whatever we do; whether we understand the Theology, the Christology, the History or the Socio-Economic implications of being a Christian – don’t worry – just TRY to IMITATE CHRIST in all you do.

Love like Jesus, Care like Jesus, Give like Jesus – risking rejection, refusal and humiliation for the sake of the growth of the Kingdom of God.

Down the generations the BIBLE has been used to subjugate, bully, start wars, create class divisions, make lives not worth living, labelling good people as different, worthless or bad. The whole JESUS thing meant that NONE OF THIS would need to happen anymore, but it still does.

When we read the BIBLE I have always believed that different people will see different things – depending on their own values, history and judgement. We are called to LOOK again at what we believe, trusting that GOD will make all things new in the name of God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.