John 6.56-69
Pentecost 12
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
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.
There isn’t much more that we can say is there? Peter got it right this time.
In light of all that’s been happening at the Churchwide Assembly in Minneapolis and the questions that have been raised about the future of our denomination, they are the words we must confess.
In light of our very human selves, our human nature that would rather turn away from the truth of Jesus Christ who meets us here, they are the only words we can confess.
The people of Jesus’ time found his teachings difficult. They found them scandalous. They couldn’t understand where he got his authority and how he could apparently go against the tradition that preceded him.
His followers deserted him, betrayed him, denied him, and ultimately crucified him.
We’re good at doing that.
We’re good at ignoring or twisting the word and promises and expectations that God has given to us.
Being a Christ follower is no easy task.
It is true, we do not need to worry about our salvation, we do not need to worry about God’s unconditional love for us.
But, we do need to worry about our sin. We do need to worry that what we do hurts other people, causes them to stumble in their own faith.
I saw such anguish this past week while I was in Minnesota. People are very worried about the future of our church. Folks are worried about the integrity and authority of scripture with the decisions that have been made.
I want to be clear. All people are welcome into this church regardless of who they are. There is no distinction, Christ died for all and Christ loves all. We make no exceptions to that rule.
But, the church also has to function in the world. And we screw that up a lot. Pastors have affairs. Pastors get divorced. Church members embezzle money. Children have been abused.
In some cases these sins have destroyed the faith of Christians.
In some cases people must be held accountable, and if they do these practices they are not allowed to be church leaders or pastors. It is for the sake of good order, it is so that the institution may continue to function and so that within that institution the gospel may continue to be preached and the sacraments may continue to be administered.
This past week, the institution of the church, the order of the church if you will, changed. They have expanded their rules to allow more people to be ordained and part of the institution.
There is no question that all have already been a part of the body of Christ.
But now there is specific room for gay and lesbian people in committed relationships within the institution.
This is and already has hurt people’s faith.
It has made me question the authority of scripture within the institution.
I am afraid of a division and I don’t want the body of Christ to suffer at the hands of the institution.
We are in a hard place.
We are standing beside those twelve disciples, who although perhaps not grasping the teaching of Jesus and preferring to leave, stood beside Peter and confessed.
Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.
That confession is also the promise and good news for us today.
However you view the events of this week.
Whatever your hopes and fears for the church.
Whatever your sins and transgressions against your selves and your neighbors.
One thing remains true and unchanging.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
Jesus Christ is the one who came down to dwell among us.
Jesus Christ is the one who became human, who took our fleshly bodies onto his own and loved us to the point of death.
Jesus Christ is the one who touched the untouchable, who ate and drank with sinners, who healed the sick and dying.
Jesus Christ is the one who dipped his bread into the same bowl as the one who would betray him.
Jesus Christ is the one who forgives and embraces the ones who desert and deny him.
It is Jesus Christ and no other who has done all these things.
He has done them for our sake.
For us who are doing our best to be faithful, for us who hurt each other, who worry about things that will not last, who fear the life of the institution.
In reality, in true reality, the body of Christ will never die.
Christ himself made sure of that when he was lifted up in glory upon the cross.
He made sure that we would never taste death because we have been raised with him, raised upon the cross and raised up into new life.
Jesus Christ is the bread of life.
We eat his bread and we drink his blood. He is in us and we are in him.
There is no separation.
The world cannot remove his love or his life from his body assembled- try as they may.
We cannot remove his love or his life from us.
You have eaten his body and his blood. You have tasted the bread and the wine. You dwell in him, you live in him, solely because of that.
No matter what we do or don’t do.
No matter what institutional decisions happen, no matter the fate of our denomination or the institutional body, Jesus Christ is here- yesterday, today, tomorrow.
Jesus Christ is the body.
We are his body only through him and that will never be destroyed.
We are his body in the world, we are his body for the world.
The teachings are difficult.
Loving each other fully and completely is not easy.
And yet, because we are fed and nourished by Christ’s body and blood we are empowered to do it.
And so we can go out, strengthened and ensured that no matter what may befall us. No matter what we may or may not do, the body of Christ remains alive and active in the world.
It is in and through Christ’s body that we can confess to the world the promise given to us.
Lord, to whom can we go? Who else can the world turn to? You have the words of eternal life. You are the holy one of God, you are our Lord and Savior.
Thanks be to God.
AMEN
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