The 9th Sunday after Pentecost ---- 26 August 2015

(There was no blog entry for last week because... I had a vacation day!)

John 6:1-21

1 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. 3 Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5 When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?" 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, 9 "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?" 10 Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost." 13 So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world." 15 When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. 16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. 20 But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." 21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

·        We might think that this passage from the Gospel of John would be the perfect one to illuminate and accompany a service of Holy Communion. You might well be right. Still there’s plenty of time for that since we’ll be reading this section of John for about the next five weeks.

·        The multiplication of the loaves and fishes is a well-known miracle story. It’s oddly joined by the young boy’s offer of sharing his simple lunch of bread and fish – which Jesus is able to use to feed a large crowd – and the sighting of Jesus walking on water while his disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee – which leads to the disciples arriving at their destination almost instantly.

·        There are hints of a comparison of Moses and Jesus here, in the teaching on the mountainside, in the feeding of the five thousand with a miraculous food, and in the collection of the left-over bread in twelve baskets, twelve being a number signifying fullness or completion as well as the number of the tribes of Israel.

·        There is also a big mistake involved in the story. The people eat their fill of bread and fish and have more to spare. They talk together and come up with the idea of taking Jesus by force and make him king. Jesus then withdrew again to the mountain by himself. Many scripture scholars say that he did this because he did not want to be a “bread king”, simply filling the bellies of the crowd, day after day. The crowd appears to want this, but who knows how long bread and fish would satisfy them? The crowd was notoriously fickle.

·        Would the next request be for quail (like the quail that accompanied the manna in the desert)? Lamb? Falafel? Unlimited wine? The restoration of the Kingdom of Israel? The Romans would never have allowed that last one, and the people would have suffered greatly. No, Jesus would not be that sort of king, and so he went off to the mountain alone to escape the crowd. Maybe he was tempted; we’ll never know. What we do know is that this sort of kingship was not what Jesus wanted.

·        The crowd mistook the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, a sign of the Kingdom, for the Kingdom itself. Such miracles are signs of the Kingdom, but they are not the Kingdom itself. As Paul later wrote in his Letter to the Romans: For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)

·        What about us? Do we ever make the same mistakes or assumptions? Do we expect – or even demand - that the Kingdom of God take on some form we’d like to have? (One humorist said that God created us in the image of God, and we’ve been returning the favour ever since.) Do we want Jesus to be our “bread king”, fulfilling all our needs and desires like some genie from a lamp? Are we willing to let Jesus set the agenda for us? Are we willing to be open to God’s Kingdom as it is revealed in and around our lives daily? Are we willing to be members of that Kingdom and to pay the cost the Kingdom of God involves?

·        Those are questions we each have to answer for ourselves.

·        This passage has overtones of Holy Communion and that is a worthwhile line of study and meditation. However, another very real direction of this passage is the unveiling of who Jesus really is. After all, who among us can multiply loaves and fish in this way?

·        Beyond this multiplication of the loaves and fish, there is the narrative of Jesus walking on water and telling the disciples It is I; do not be afraid. In its own way, these few verses are important and revealing.

·        However we come to a not-so-uncommon problem: the translation into English is a bit faulty. When Jesus calls out to the disciples in the boat, what he says is not so much “It is I.”… but “I AM.” There is a greater layer of meaning here and this is a very important identification for John. Jesus uses this answer in a number of places in the Gospel of John, such as when speaking to the Samaritan woman. The use of the phrase “I AM” is not simply a question of identifying himself, but of revealing his true identity. After all, “I AM” is the name God revealed to Moses when Moses encountered the burning bush in the desert:  Moses said to God, ‘If I come to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your ancestors has sent me to you”, and they ask me, “What is his name?” what shall I say to them?’ ¹⁴God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’^* He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I am has sent me to you.” ’  (Exodus 2:13-14) In telling the disciples It is I; do not be afraid., Jesus both identifies himself to his friends in the boat, and overlays a special meaning to their encountering him walking on the water.

·        Who Jesus is to each of us is a vital question. Our answer will show us his place in our lives. Will he be our King or our Bread King? Will he be a historical footnote or a real living person in our lives?

·        Maybe when we answered that question, we’ll have a better idea of just who we are. Then we might take comfort hearing his voice say It is I; do not be afraid. And knowing him to be with us in the same boat.

The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost ---- 5 July 2015

Ezekiel 2:1-5

1 He said to me: O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you. 2 And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. 3 He said to me, Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, "Thus says the Lord God." 5 Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

2 I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. 3 And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows— 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. 5 On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. 6 But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, 7 even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. 8 Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, 9 but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

Mark 6:1-13

1 He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, "Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. 4 Then Jesus said to them, "Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house." 5 And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages teaching. 7 He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; 9 but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. 10 He said to them, "Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. 11 If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them." 12 So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. 13 They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

"My grace is sufficient for you”

·        There is a common thread in all three reading this Sunday, and it’s not a happy one. In fact, it might be seen as a theme of failure.

·        The prophet Ezekiel is given a mission to preach to the people of Israel. He isn’t given a choice in this. In fact, he’s been made an offer “he cannot refuse” as you’d find it in The Godfather. He cannot expect a successful ministry because the people he’s sent to preach to are “a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants are impudent and stubborn.” If he does what he is commissioned to do, at least the people will know that a prophet has come their way, which means God has not forgotten them or given up on them. Too bad for Ezekiel, though.

·        The apostle Paul writes of a wonderful spiritual thing that has happen to him. (He says “I know a person in Christ…” which might be an expression humility or it could be taken as the New Testament equivalent of the so-called wise guy’s “I know a guy…”) Then he says he received “a thorn… in the flesh… to keep me from being too elated.” He goes on to say that he is content with whatever happens to him “for the sake of Christ.”

·        If we turn to the Gospel of Mark, we see Jesus in his hometown, where he is not accepted. The people who know him from his childhood are not ready to accept him or what he is doing. He is so distressed at their lack of faith that he “could do no deeds of power there.”

·        He and his disciples move on to the surrounding villages. He sends the Twelve out in pairs to preach, giving them both authority over unclean spirits and an interesting set of instructions on how they are to travel and what they should do if they are not heard.

·        These readings might be hard for us to hear since they speak of the difficulties involved in speaking – and hearing! – the Word of God. The Israelites are stubborn, impudent, and rebellious; they will not hear, and Ezekiel is to speak to them anyway. Paul suffers for the sake of the Gospel, suffering both externally by persecution, insults, and hardships and internally by “the thorn in the flesh” that keeps him humble. Jesus is rejected by his own people, who respond with an attitude akin to “Who do you think you are? We’ve known you forever.”

·        This apparent failure does not stop Jesus, who then sends the Twelve out in pairs to preach, to heal, and to drive out evil spirits. Sending in twos might be for safety (be careful out there), accountability (Did you really say that?), humility (not I, but we), and community (ministry can be a lonely thing.)

·        In the case of the Gospel, what seems to be a failure leads Jesus to go forward with a fresh ministry. The people he sends are most likely unprepared, physically or any other way. Yet they do what they were commissioned to do – preach repentance, cast out demons, and heal the sick.

·        Interesting, isn’t it? Despite all of these things in all of the readings, there is no stopping of the Good News. Ezekiel might be ignored. Paul might suffer. Jesus might be troubled by unbelief and the Twelve might be unprepared and quite dependant on those to whom they go to proclaim the Good News, yet there is no stopping God’s salvation.

·        Let’s listen again to the words of Paul: but he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

·        So here we are, called by Jesus to be his disciples, despite suffering, illness, exile, doubt, confusion, and unworthiness. To each of us in entrusted the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, both for our good and for the world’s. The Good News cannot be stopped and there is no telling how it might break through to those who hear it.

·        There is one more thing to know: There is no getting away from the Cross. Those who accept the call of God and seek to follow him may face indifference and hostility, contempt and scorn, weakness, hardship and persecution, insults and rejection. These are not transient conditions, but are the common situation of those who serve the Crucified One. He rejected the way of glory and found glory in obedience and death.

·        Hard words to be sure, and that might be the only way we know we are following Jesus – if we are misunderstood, if we are insulted, if we find our faith and the way of living it brings ignored. We might even find ourselves persecuted in some way or other.

·        Through all this, we’d do well to remember what Paul was told in the midst of his sufferings: "My grace is sufficient for you” It is God’s grace that will see us through and it is God’s grace that will get the Good News through to others. We may fall short in many ways, but remember - "My grace is sufficient for you”