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;)
*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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