Sunday, August 9, 2015

Otherwise the Journey WILL be Too Much*

Sunday, August 9, 2015
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Homily* given among the St. Stephen's Community
New Harmony, Indiana
*link provided for Professor review;)



Get up and eat
We just heard from the Book of Kings
OTHERWISE THE JOURNEY WILL BE TOO MUCH!

How do we keep the Journey from just being TOO much?

Together let’s try to inhabit the world of John’s gospel
Together let’s look at a few of the characters
that have shown up thus far in John’s narrative

In John 3 we met Nicodemus
Aka - Nick at Night
He is a kind of ambivalent character…
He went to meet Jesus…but he takes the cover of night
He’s not quite sure he wants the neighbors to know yet…
He’s a fence sitter
And in this story
the Gospel of John introduces the motif of misunderstanding
of not speaking the same language

In Nick’s story, Jesus says that one has to be born again…born anew
And Nick shows his misunderstanding with the question: 
How can one go back into a mother’s womb?
Nick and Jesus are not speaking the same language

And then in Chapter 4 we met the Samaritan Woman
This time it is about the nature of water and its ability to quench thirst
Jesus has everlasting, life-giving, thirst-quenching, on his mind
The Woman misunderstands…she says
You have no bucket and the well is deep…
…and…she says it with some sass.
This woman and Jesus are not speaking the same language.

And today…once again
We find ourselves in John 6…and what is known as the Bread of Life discourse

Now the character isn’t a singular person
The character here is THE CROWD
THE WHOLE CROWD
It is the whole crowd that misunderstands
Jesus and the CROWD aren’t speaking the same language

The context for the 6th chapter of John…this Bread of Life Discourse
Is what happens after  
the feeding of the five thousand…
the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fish
The crowds have been looking for Jesus…
   and with a certain excitement and tenacity
He has just multiplied loaves and calmed the sea.
And they, this energetic crowd, they want to make him King
They want Jesus to fit into their political plans.
This crowd is thinking…
hmmmm…these tricks would be very helpful against the Romans!
Satisfied bellies are interpreting the day
Again…not the same language

Rather than allowing the sign to draw them into something
   tremendously more significant
The CROWD is seduced
This crowd isn’t interested in allowing the sign to act like a sign…
That is…to point to a greater reality.
The crowd isn’t interested in having eyes opened to something new.
This new secret weapon is too enticing!  Let’s crush the Romans!

Jesus speaks the language of God
God is the teacher and we are to be taught by God
The CROWD listens from the earth…
   from their bellies, from their political agendas…
Jesus and the crowds are not speaking the same language

And the thing is…
One would think that Jesus would just explain it all a little better
But instead
Jesus’ language just gets more and more weird

Jesus says Bread from heaven…Bread of life
The CROWD hears Bread-Bread

Jesus insists on eating this bread…being nourished by this bread
And the CROWD hears cannibalism…ugh!
They are complaining and murmuring…

The result, as the chapter unfolds, is a very thinned out crowd.
And since this is the Gospel…I figure Jesus had that in mind all along.
He had no use for a crowd whose minds and hearts are so focused…
   addicted, even
To their own agendas

Confession:
I relate to this crowd
Which is probably the point
My life has so many distractions that keep me listening from below…
Listening from my many agendas and plans and strategies
And I know they are mine because…well… I can SEE the outcome…
   I just know where I want things to go…
I can see it all…plain and clear

My listening from below might be from my belly,
or my intellect,
or my accumulated stuff, my retirement plan
All of these--- battle on and off for my attention

But, Unlike the crowd in today’s Gospel
I…We…live on the Easter side of the Cross
We have benefitted from 2000+ years of reflection
on what this Bread of Life and this Cup of Salvation actually ARE
That is…what they are to hearts and minds that are open
   Hearts and minds that speak Jesus’ language

So
For us…today
What is it?
What is it without which…THE JOURNEY WILL BE TOO MUCH?

I love this word, in the Gospel today…this image…of being drawn by God
The Eucharistic movement is “being drawn” by God
Being Drawn into communion
Being Drawn into listening and hearing and understanding from above

So allow me to step into the text for a minute…
…From this side of the cross

I know…it looks like bread
Look again…look bigger…widen your field of vision
It’s on a table
Tables are places for meals
Meals are events that gather people
People gathered are venues for stories
Stories are the way of remembering
So Tell and listen and become grounded in the ONE story
The story that makes us one
The story that invites all to
“Do This in Remembrance”
do what? you ask
Take your life
Give thanks for it…it is a gift
Let it be broken
So you can share it

And then…well…just wait and see what happens…
I promise…there WILL be a multiplication
And it WILL be…miraculous

Every time we share a meal
Here…sacramentally in Sunday Worship
or…every day…every meal
we have an opportunity to remember what truly nourishes us
We remember that Jesus
Through whom we are taught by God
Chose ordinary elements and everyday events
Bread
Meal
Table
Story

And Jesus promised that whenever we
DO THIS…Do this re-membering thing
We remember Him
And as we remember
It  becomes our habit
It  becomes our habit to be taught by God

And we will become part of a different crowd
Crowd will become COMMUNITY
And we will find ourselves able to resist all that thinking from below
We will be able to listen and hear…from above
We will be speaking the same language

That’s the promise
Of the Eucharistic move
It is a way of life
It is a letting loose
It is not knowing the outcome
It is community, not crowd
Where the journey will NOT be too much.

Thanks be to God!










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