Aug 20 Sermon - Jesus would “abide” with you.

For the last few weeks our gospel has been a continuous reading from the 6th chapter of John. We began with the story of the feeding of the 5,000, and since then, we’ve listened to Jesus sermon on the bread of life: It’s an interpretation of the feeding miracle and His text is the story from Exodus about the God providing the manna and quail to feed the people of the Hebrews as they journeyed to the promised land.

In his sermon, Jesus uses that miracle to point beyond it to eternal food, saying: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven... The bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

He will give himself that we might have life.

Jesus refers to himself as living bread and promises that whoever eats this bread will live forever. He identifies this bread with his body.

His remarks generate a predictable murmur in the congregation. “How can he say that? – What does he mean?”

But Jesus does not back off, and intensifies his statement:

“The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day... The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” John 6:54,56

Jesus did not shy away from saying things that did not make immediate sense to his hearers – things that his disciples would later remember and understand in retrospect.

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We understand His words as a key to understanding the sacrament of Holy Communion - the Eucharist. When you kneel at the altar rail, Christ comes to you personally to abide in your heart and mind, that you might be filled with His Spirit – and come to have his attitude toward others.

He told these first disciples (and us) that it’s not enough just to listen to his teaching, we must internalize it. We must consume the spirit of Jesus that he becomes integral to who we are. He would abide - dwell - in us and be a part of our lives.

He would fill our hearts with his love, and guide us with His Spirit that we might have the mind of Christ - thinking and acting in a different way – a new nature, Christ’s nature - having His attitude toward others.

There must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. You should display a new nature because you are a new person.

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Holy Communion is a physical assurance of a spiritual reality.

but communion with Christ remains a mystery - the mystery of God that is beyond our understanding.

Mystery is best expressed in poetry - hymns.

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So today during communion we’ll sing some of Jesus’ words from today’s gospel.

“I am the Bread of life.

You who come to me shall not hunger,

and who believe in me shall not thirst.

“Unless you eat

of the flesh of the Son of Man

and drink of his blood,

and drink of his blood,

you shall not have life within you.”

What we eat and drink becomes a part of us – and ends up nourishing our bodies. That biological fact can present a graphic picture of Jesus “abiding” – remaining in us. Jesus, as bread and wine, becomes part of our entire being.

Whether we feel it or not, the objective truth is that when we receive the bread and wine – the body and blood – we are receiving Jesus himself in some way – taking God into our bodies – and thus receiving the benefits that Jesus promises.

The Eucharist is a means of opening oneself up to the life of God. It certainly is not the only way, but it is one, objective way. Jesus uses the language of abiding in Him – the language of intimacy and shared life.

Jesus would really give himself to us, and be part of our lives, giving us a share of His power, that we in turn might bear Christ to others. We receive the Body of Christ that we might be the Body of Christ to others -- that we might carry Christ with us this week where ever we go.

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Since you carry Jesus with you - he abides with you - Paul advises in our lesson:

Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time.

Ephesians 5:15

Be careful - thoughtful - and exercise self-control when you speak so that you don’t embarrass Jesus by unwholesome, negative words.

Rather see others with the eyes of Christ. See them as beloved child of God. See them as a “Christian under construction” – God is still working on them too. Speak to them in Christian love, and have the attitude of Christ.

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The communion hymn suggests the appropriate response to the mystery of Christ’s presence:

Yes, Lord, I believe

that you are the Christ,

the Son of God,

who has come

into the world.

Rather than trying to explain the mystery, the hymn celebrates His presence with us. All explanations of communion are inadequate – maybe just confusing. So the concludes not “I understand”, but rather “I believe”.

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So Paul reminds us of the power of music - a hymn can sing God’s grace into us. It brings the Holy Spirit into our hearts, as Paul writes in our lesson:

Be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:18-20

Hymns sing God’s grace into us. The poetry of the hymn gets imbedded in our minds. After the service, you may not remember what I said in the sermon, but one of the hymns will probably be in the back of your mind - and stay with you. The sung word of God is thus planted in your mind, that it might bear fruit in your life.

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In everyday life, if something really good happens to you, you want to talk about it - tell someone about your good fortune. If someone treats you well, you may praise them to a friend.

Praise of God is like that. In songs and hymns we sing about God’s goodness, so that others will also put their trust in God and enjoy His good gifts.

Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs

among yourselves, giving thanks to God

the Father at all times and for everything

The more we thank God, the more we recognize how graciously he deals with us. Thanksgiving opens our hearts and minds to His hidden generosity. Thus it increases our confidence in his grace in the future.

Thus Paul urges us to present our petitions - our requests to God with thanksgiving. For as we thank God for the blessings that we have received, we gain increasing confidence to ask him for even better things.

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The offering of praise and thanksgiving has always revolved around the celebration of Holy Communion - the Eucharist which simply means thanksgiving.. There we worship God together with the angels as we sing Holy, Holy Lord... The song of the angels in heaven, as recorded in both Old and New Testaments. There Jesus becomes involved with us personally by giving himself to us, the body of Christ given for you. There we rejoice in His embodied presence with us. There in faith we approach the throne of grace boldly, for Jesus’ blood has cleansed us from sin. There we here His promises.

There is so much that we can’t grasp it all - fit it into our minds - but we can offer our worship and praise in response.

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Through our praise God reveals His glory and grace. Our hymns praise the mystery of Christ, the Son of God, who reaches out to us in word and sacrament - to fill us with the Holy Spirit and grant us access to the Father.

The mystery revealed by Christ - that God calls each one of us his child - that he invites us to address God as “Our Father” - that we are all loved by God.

Through baptism we are all

Children of the heavenly Father

and

God his own doth tend and nourish,

in his holy courts they flourish.

The promise God makes to us in baptism is forever - we are and always will be His child, surrounded by His love, and

Neither life nor death shall ever

from the Lord his children sever;

unto them his grace he showeth,

God his children ne’er forsaketh;

He is with us always and promises to shower us with his grace and blessing.