Be a leaf!
The Gospel: John 6:56-69
Jesus said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 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.” He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God
Sermon by David Whitlow
This teaching is difficult; who can accept it? Indeed.
On July 27, we started in the sixth chapter of John. Perhaps this Sunday we can put a Coda on it, bring it to an end, perhaps with a little additional twist.
During the summer of 1958, my parents decided that it was time for my brother and me to take swimming lessons. There was a small, private school with an outdoor pool, the Alexander School, located 3 or 4 blocks from our house and during the summer, they provided group swimming lessons for the community for a small fee, so, off we went.
I was enrolled as a beginner and my brother as an advanced beginner. We learned simple things: blowing bubbles, holding the side of the pool and doing a flutter kick, opening our eyes underwater, floating on our stomachs, and floating on our backs. At the end of the second week, there was a skills test, designed to see if we were ready to progress to the next level and to prepare us for the swimming show to be presented for parents and friends on Saturday.
On that test Friday, I demonstrated that I had mastered all of the skills except one—floating on my back. I tried and I tried, but no matter what I did, I would sink like a stone. The more I tried, the worse I did. After about 10 minutes, even with help from an instructor, I couldn’t make it happen.
We all dried off, put some clothes on over our still damp swim suits and went home. I was crestfallen. I had not passed the test, and I was sure that I would not be able to advance to the next level. A tough situation for a five-year old.
I remember saying to my mother something like “This is too hard. Why do I need to float on my back anyway? I’m not going back!” As far as I was concerned, that was that. I stamped my foot as only a five-year old can. I quit.
As we continue in Chapter 6 of John, remember what we have heard over the past several weeks, as Kaki reminded us last week:
--Jesus is constantly mobbed by followers, no matter where he goes.
--When he attempts to escape, they follow.
--He goes up on the mountain side and 5,000 come along.
--He turns the fishes and loaves into enough to feed the crowd.
---Jesus tries to escape again because the followers want to make him King.
--The 12 get in a boat and start to row across the Sea of Galilee.
--In the middle of a storm, Jesus walks upon the water to the 12
--Jesus talks about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, which, as Kaki discussed so well last week, was repulsive to the Jews of the time.
And now Jesus continues his discourse about his role, the bread of life, in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Imagine surprise and confusion of the hearers upon Jesus saying “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.” Was Jesus proclaiming something akin to cannibalism? No. As modern followers, we read these passages regarding the body and blood of Christ in a different context than that of those 1st century hearers. Many times, each year, we participate in the Eucharist, receiving the wafer and the cup in remembrance of Christ. But at the time of this discourse, the disciples had no knowledge of such a practice. In fact, in the Gospel of John, there is no account of the institution of the Lord’s supper.
In the days surrounding this discourse, Jesus had been teaching, healing and performing miracles in Galilee and surrounding communities, a poor area about 100 miles north of Jerusalem. The residents were largely living in a subsistence economy, just making it from day to day. Here comes Jesus, speaking words of hope, doing fantastical things, gathering massive crowds. It is no wonder to me that Jesus had so many groupies. What could be better than following him around, watching him perform miracles and being fed, sort of a dinner and a show kind of event. They really liked this guy! Who wouldn’t want something this easy and so satisfying? And this seemed so easy, just kind of wipe it on and you are saved. But now he said something that they found troubling, perhaps even repulsive, and they started to turn away.
I believe that Jesus was really saying something entirely different. He didn’t want people to follow him just for the show. While the people may have wanted to just sprinkle on what Jesus had been offering, he wanted them to go deeper, to absorb what he taught, to take his words into their innermost being, to make them part of the very fiber of humanity, to not just accept their role in God’s kingdom, but to be a functioning part of the kingdom. He wanted them to move outside their personal existence.
I think that it is human nature to look for easy answers. Jesus, just keep on performing the miracles and we will come along for the ride. But now he asks for real change, an internalizing of his love and teaching, and that is hard. It is even harder when we are called upon to act accordingly, especially that part about loving our neighbors as ourselves. He was really calling upon us to serve others before ourselves.
I believe that Jesus was also outlining for us the concept of the Trinity. He put this relationship into a pattern of God, the father, who sent the bread in the form of the human Jesus, and the blood in the form of the Spirit, a mystical, life-giving substance. Jesus did not try to describe how this all fits together but merely points out what the people had been missing. This was a difficult concept for the hearers to comprehend.
John tells us that many of the disciples turned back, no longer willing to follow, not willing to try to work to fulfill the core principle of Jesus teaching.
What is the core principle? Peter provided the answer.
When Jesus asks the 12 if they wish to go away, Peter answered wisely, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” The central word here is “believe”.
Do we really think that we know what God has in store for us and for the kingdom? We want to know where we are going and how we are getting there. As always in his teaching, Jesus gave us a pattern to follow to instill some of the things that God desires from us, but not a roadmap. We must make our own pathways. The mysteries of God are still left to God alone, and we are left to accept that we are not in charge. But if we truly absorb what Jesus told us, we will become one with him. The hardest part is that Jesus didn’t tell us to know, because only God can know. Instead, he told us to do something simpler, to believe. This is much harder. Simple does not mean easy. Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus ever say that being a follower is easy. You can Google that and you will come up empty handed.
Let’s step back to 1958.
My parents made me go to the swimming lesson on that last Saturday, even making sure that I would get there a little early. I was not a happy camper. But at the gate, I was met by one of the instructors who took me to a smaller, above ground pool that held salt water instead of freshwater. She told me that I would just need to relax, forget that I am a person, and think that I was a leaf, floating on top of the water. She plucked a leaf from a nearby tree and showed me how it would just float back and forth as the wind moved it. We got into the pool and then she had me gently lie back, and she told me to just keep telling myself to “Be a leaf!” I did what she said, focusing not on me but on the concept of the floating leaf and next thing, I was floating! She kept repeating, “Be a leaf!” I passed my test and went on to the next level, relieved and perhaps a little more confident, but not exactly sure what had happened.
Was I changed? Did I hear that right? Listen—Be a leaf! Be a leaf! Believe! Believe! I am still not sure.
But Jesus tells us that when we invite the spirit into our lives, we will be changed.
As we participate in the Eucharist, let us focus on the transaction that is occurring, as we are invited to abide in Christ and Christ in us. We don’t have many answers, but that’s okay. Jesus told us that the basis for our relationship is belief.
Let us become as leaves, floating in God’s mysterious pool of life, and allowing the breath to move us as God intends.
Amen.