Homily for Sunday, July 26, 2012
Psalm 85
(Responsive reading #540)
Proverbs 9:1-6
John 6:56-69
Jesus said, “Those who eat my flesh
and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.” As arresting and disturbing as
those words are, we Christians understand that Jesus is using symbolism. He is
not speaking literally, and we know that was his custom. Most of his teachings
were symbolic since he usually instructed in parables. But the significance of
his words cannot be understated. Jesus reminds us with these words that he gave
his flesh and life’s blood for us in dying on the cross. In the sacrament of
the communion, the bread and the wine join us to Jesus and to one another. As hard as these words are for the disciples—they say, “This teaching
is difficult. Who can accept it?”—Jesus wants them and us to know that he is
always as much with us and within us as the very food we eat.
After Christ spoke those difficult
words—“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in
them”—some of his followers abandoned Him. Although they did not fully grasp
what He was saying, they understood one thing: the way of Jesus was a
hard way. They didn’t listen to his next words: “It is the Spirit that gives
life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit
and life.” No, we don’t literally
eat the flesh of Christ and drink his blood whenever we take communion. But
through the power of the Lord and the mystery of that power, the spirit of life
that calls us together at the feast enters our hearts and souls and lightens
the way.
The disciples often seemed to have
trouble deciphering the symbolism in the words of Jesus. I understand the
frustration Jesus sometimes expressed when they didn’t comprehend his meaning.
You see, I spent 30 years as a high school English teacher, and teaching
symbolism was my stock-in-trade. These days, teachers seem to be held in such
low esteem by American society that I am generally reluctant to reveal my
former profession. I am also well aware that for many people, English teachers
were not their favorites. Still, I came to understand and I still believe that
an ability to decipher the meaning of the many symbols we encounter in our
lives is very important. For Christians, it is most crucial to grasp the
symbolism in the words of Jesus.
“Why bother with symbolism?” some
of my students would ask. “Why can’t this guy say what he means straight
up?” My answer? “A symbol arrests
your attention and has an impact. You will remember it and recognize it if you
encounter it again.”
If you think about it, the Old
Testament prophets, and Isaiah in particular, associated Jesus with signs and
symbols generations before his birth. In Isaiah 7, we read, “Therefore the Lord
himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and
shall bear a son and shall name him Immanuel”…and in Isaiah 9, “For a child has
been born for us, a son given to us, authority rests upon his shoulders; and he
is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace.” Remember what the angels
told the shepherds on the starry hillside near Bethlehem? “This shall be a sign
unto you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a
manger.” The infant Jesus was
recognized first by the symbol of his poverty: his crib was an animal’s trough.
All of the things this baby will grow up to represent can best be conveyed
through symbols.
So, it shouldn’t be a surprise the
young Messiah grows up to speak in symbolic language. He understands the weight
symbols carry. What if, on the night of the last supper when Jesus shared the
bread and wine with his disciples he had said to them, “Every time you have
dinner together and share bread and wine, think of me”? They probably would
have responded with the equivalent of these words: “Sure, we’ll think of you,
old pal” and then gone on with their lives, forgetting. Knowing human nature as
he did, Jesus said instead: “
Take, eat: This is my body which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance
of me…Drink this, all of you: This is my blood of the new covenant, which is
shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it,
do this for the remembrance of me.”
These shocking, powerful, symbolic words stayed with the disciples and
formed the institution of the Holy Eucharist. Because of that symbolism, every time we break
Christ’s body and drink his blood, sharing the bread and wine, we remember that
Christ died to save us and that he is always with us, within us, in the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Today’s lesson from Proverbs, with
Lady Wisdom as the central figure, contains symbolism that connects it closely
to the Eucharist. Wisdom is depicted by Proverbs as the feminine aspect of God,
God the mother if you will, and in this story, she is behaving in very
motherly ways when she prepares a dinner, mixes the wine, and sets the table.
If a symbol is something familiar from ordinary life that is used to stand for
a larger idea, then Lady Wisdom, as a mother figure who is hospitable,
inviting, and nurturing, is a strikingly recognizable symbol of wisdom
operating as inclusive love. She, like Christ, invites all to her table,
saying, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.”
I say she invites all of us,
even though the text says she calls to the “simple,” which may mean the unwise.
When God addresses us humans, it is not a bad idea to admit we are “simple” in
her eyes, don’t you think? In another sermon, I quoted musician T-Bone Burnett
on humility. Old T-Bone says, “As soon as you think you’re being humble,
you are no longer humble.” I
believe the same could be said about wisdom. It is certainly humble, and
probably wise, to consider ourselves simple, and Jesus modeled both simplicity
and humility in the way he lived his life. To all of us who struggle with being
truly wise, Lady Wisdom tells us to “walk in the way of insight,” to seek to be
understanding and compassionate, and in that way we will “lay aside immaturity”
and grow into mature wisdom.
So, if you are like me, knowing
what I’m supposed to do and being able to do it can be very different things. Maybe,
instead of over-thinking everything, we can simply try to live our lives as
Jesus did. And how did Jesus live his life? In love; in fellowship with
everyone he encountered; in caring for the poor and sharing in their poverty;
in healing the sick; in offering comfort to the suffering; in thanksgiving for
the blessings received from God. When Jesus calls himself the “way,” this is
the way he means.
As Paul writes in his letter to the
Galatians, a life lived in the way of Jesus will bear certain fruits: “love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control.” The guidance of the indwelling Spirit will bring us to the
understanding, compassionate maturity Lady Wisdom asks us to manifest in our
daily lives. Psalm 85 expresses how these fruits become apparent with these
words: “Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed
each other.”
Striving for wisdom, coming
together in community, modeling our lives after the life of Jesus—this sounds
like real work, as if living a Christian life is a project we undertake.
Well, it kind of is. And in the
nature of a project, it can be left undone and fall into neglect if we only
work at it every now and then.
Working on this project, we can struggle when we try to figure out how
to do faith. Like many of the abstract ideas that symbolism is supposed
to represent, faith can be a mystery and a challenge.
I’d like to share with you some
words on the faith project by a former presiding bishop of the Episcopal
Church, Father Edmund Browning:
For me and for every other faithful Christian I
know, the life of faith is a daily challenge…The things that happen in this old
world puzzle and sadden me. I do not understand God’s plan much more often than
I understand it. To me, faith is not very dependent on understanding. It is,
rather, a decision about where I will put my life’s energy. I choose to live
with reference to God, and that choice orders other choices in my life…I know
that our faith seems like superstition to some outsiders…But the religious
project is NOT about superstition. Superstition is all about magic: controlling
events in this world by drawing on the power of another. Faith is not about
controlling anything. It is based on the undeniable fact that human existence
is brief and fragile, and on the careful hope in a larger reality…People of
faith know they are going to experience the same sorrows as everybody else. We
just affirm that we never face them alone.
That is what the bishop has to say
about faith, and he clearly considers himself to be one of the simple
ones…a very wise man, indeed. Working every day simply to live as much in the
way of Jesus as we can, we become by doing. We find peace as we seek it. We show the simplicity of
wisdom when we choose to trust that God is on our side. And when we turn our
thoughts inward, we are assured that Christ abides there. Amen.
