John
6:56-69
How are you? It’s a common question we ask one another
multiple times a day as a social nicety.
And we all know the proper answer regardless of whether or not it’s
really true, “Fine, thank you,” which prompts the reciprocal question, “How are
you?” Now once that introductory
exchange is over you can get down to the true purpose of the interaction which
may be to ask about car insurance rates or to inquire about how your child is
doing in school or to ask to be seated at a table. But sometimes that question comes from
someone who really wants to know how you are doing and when that happens you
might share something about the status of your family or the condition of your
health or what you’ve been up to lately.
More often than not our answer focuses on the circumstances of life for
that’s often how we judge how, indeed, we are doing. If everything is as we think it should be
then we are doing fine, thank you. If,
though, circumstances are not so good then typically neither are we. All of which puts our lives and our sense of
wellbeing in a very vulnerable position, always at the mercy of outside forces
that will inevitably change. This is
not the life that Jesus has in mind for us.
Rather, the life
that Jesus wants us to know is an abundant life that is not tied to changing
circumstances. It is a life that is
found within us - a life that is always true, always good, always present no
matter what’s going on outside of us. We
hear about this life in our gospel reading today. And not just today, but it’s such an
important message that we’ve been hearing about it for the last four Sundays as
we have read through the entire 6th chapter of the Gospel of John. First Jesus fed 5,000 hungry people and as
wonderful as it was for Jesus to fill everyone’s stomach that day, the enduring
message that he sought to get across was about life and from whom true life
comes. Then Jesus challenged all of us
to consider the kind of bread we eat. Do
we want the kind that passes away or the kind that last always? Next Jesus proclaimed that he was the bread
of life, the living bread that came down from heaven. And today we hear Jesus say, “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.”
The life that
Jesus is talking about here is more than just physical life - breathing in,
breathing out, existing in a biological kind of way. He’s talking about having a life that is
beyond words, one that is
indescribable, but yet we know it when we taste it. And we get a taste of it when we encounter
love that is so profound that everything else seems to fade away. When we experience being more alive, more
present, more peaceful than ever before.
When there’s a sense that all is well in the world not because we’ve
gotten what we’ve wanted or that circumstances are as we wish them to be, but
because there is a knowing deep down that we are part of something or really
someone who is greater than us - who beauty, who is holy, who is love. In those moments we are tasting life. We are eating and drinking Jesus. We are abiding in Christ, he in us and we in
him. We are in the flow and the wonder
of it all. And boy does it tastes good!
“Those who eat my
flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them...whoever eats me will live
because of me.” “But this teaching is
difficult,” so said some of the disciples and because of it many turned away. I’m sure they all had their reasons. Perhaps some were appalled by the graphic
language of eating flesh and drinking blood.
Others may have been put off by the idea of being so connected with
Jesus, he in us and we in him, that it just seemed like too much. Still others were probably frustrated that
this life that Jesus offered didn’t necessarily change what was wrong in the
world. We aren’t the only ones who want
quick fixes. The crowds of the day liked
it very much that Jesus could feed 5,000 on the fly, along with his ability to
healing the sick and raising the dead with just a word. Why couldn’t he use that power to bring down
the oppressive Roman government? Indeed
it is a difficult teaching to hear and accept that true life is not about
changing one’s circumstances. Rather
the life that we ultimately hunger for is satisfied in Jesus.
So after all this
talk about life we come to the end of the chapter and Jesus’ teaching, and
there’s a choice to be made. Many have
already left when Jesus turns to his disciples and asks, “Do you also wish to
go away?” Peter’s response, “Lord, to
whom can we go? You have the words of
eternal life,” is not a word of despair or a statement about settling on Jesus
because there’s no better option. Peter
and the others stay because they “have come to believe and know that [Jesus is]
the Holy One of God" and that in him and with him is life not just for
Peter and but for all of us.
We, too, are
invited this day and every day to choose - to choose to open our hearts and
lives to the Holy One of God, to Jesus’ love and life, that feeds and fills our
lives to the full no matter the circumstances.
So that when we are asked the question, “How are you?” the answer we give may be somewhat of an
understatement, but nonetheless true.
Because we are tasting life in Christ we are genuinely fine, thank
you. And thanks be to God.
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