Sermon - Year B, Proper 16
Written and Delivered by The Rev. Mary M. Phelps
Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-25; Ephesians 5:21-33; John 6: 60-69
For the past four Sundays we have been reading from chapter six of John's Gospel. Today is the final reading, and it begins with the disciples grumbling about Jesus' lesson being too hard - who can accept it? But what was it that many of Jesus' followers thought was so hard to accept?
Remember that last week we heard Jesus say that he was the true bread that came down from heaven. Whoever ate this bread, that is, whoever ate his flesh and drank his blood, would have eternal life. Many of Jesus' followers were shocked by what he said, and they didn't believe him. And so, John tells us, "Many of his disciples turned back and no longer went with him."
Jesus didn't run after them; he didn't call them back and say, "Come on you guys, you're not understanding what I said. Let me try to rephrase that." Instead he turned to the twelve apostles, those who had been with him from the beginning of his ministry, and he asked them if they wanted to leave too. As usual, Peter spoke for the whole group. He told Jesus that there really wasn't anywhere to go, because only Jesus offered the way to have eternal life. They knew he was the one sent by God to reconcile us to him and have everlasting life.
Following God is a difficult thing to do, and no one, least of all Jesus, said it was going to be easy. Following God means there are things we are required to do. Today Joshua, Paul, and Jesus make this very clear.
Throughout the Old Testament we get the history of the Israelites, who respond to God's call to follow and obey him. Yet, the people gradually fall away, and so, God sent a number of prophets, like Joshua, to remind to people of their promises to God. In our reading today, Joshua is concerned about something, and so he calls the leaders of the tribes of Israel together and begins to preach to them. In the part of the passage just before today's lesson, Joshua reminds them of all that God has done for them. He reminds them that they were God's chosen people, the people from Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob; he reminds them that God delivered them out of slavery in Egypt, and God blessed and protected them as Joshua led them into the promised land.
This morning we heard Joshua say to the leaders that the people needed to be more faithful. As leaders of their communities they were not being attentive to their duties, and they could do a better job of calling the people to follow God and live the kind of lives they promised God they would live. The leaders told Joshua they would try harder, and so Joshua renewed the covenant they had made between God and Moses.
A covenant is a promise or contract between a group of people. With it come a clear set of obligations. When we sign an apartment lease we agree to follow the regulations and rules the managers have set. If we don't, we risk being evicted. When we buy a car or a house, we sign a contract promising to make our monthly payments. If we don't, we lose our car or house. When you join a club you agree to follow the club's rules. If you don't, you will lose your membership. Life today challenges us like the Israelites to choose who we will serve. When we choose to serve God we promise to obey him. Leaders in the church need to hold up the issues the parishioners need to address as they faithfully follow God. They must have a clear vision about where they are leading the church. When you say you will do something it is the same as promising that you will follow through with it. People are counting on you.
Life comes with obligations, and all of us are expected to follow them. People who don't live up to the obligations set forth by a society so all people of the society can live in harmony, are punished or ostracized. Break the law, and you may find yourself in jail. Some obligations are easier than others, and our understanding of what is expected of us changes over the years. We can clearly grasp how societal expectations changed over time from the passage we read this morning from St. Paul to the Ephesians.
Modern Christians are turned off by Paul's command for wives to submit to their husbands and obey them. But we have to keep in mind that Paul also said that in turn husbands were to love and care for their wives as much as they loved and cared for themselves. We need to get past the language and get to the root of Paul's message. We then can see that the passage is about living up to obligations - obligations on the part of both the husband and the wife. These obligations are grounded in a relationship of trust.
This sense of obligations for each other, this need to live with each other in a deep abiding trust, is no less important for our church family as it is in our personal homes. Paul is telling us that leadership in the church is rooted in a relationship of trust. He calls us to "Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ." The mystery of love is that it unites us as one body in Christ. There must be a deep trust between leaders and the people. Without trust leaders are ineffective, and we become a group of unconnected people.
Jesus is asking us the same question he asked the apostles hundreds of years ago. Do you want to stay or leave? We do have a choice; God's gift of freedom ensures that. Jesus is also telling us that if we choose to stay it is necessary for us to live up to certain obligations. To do that we need to stand before Christ as Peter and the apostles did discovering that true life comes to each of us who totally commit ourselves to following him.
It takes constant dedication and attention to live up to our obligations to God, and, therefore, each other. Often doing this requires us to make sacrifices for the good our community and the world. In the aftermath of 911 there were stories about the heroic measures the police and firefighters made to save the lives of people trapped under the rubble of the fallen towers. They worked through pain and exhaustion and some even lost their lives trying to save others. What we didn't always hear about were the sacrifices thousands of other New Yorkers were making to help the police and firefighters have the strength and support to return to their grim work day in and day out.
Churches near ground zero offered 24 hour seven days a week hospitality to these men and women. Parishioners volunteered to come in shifts to feed these people round the clock, provide them with dry clothes and a place to rest for awhile, and be a shoulder to cry on when the devastation of it all overcame them.
While sitting in my first class on my first day in seminary on September 11, 2001 the first plane slammed into one of the twin towers. Here in Minnesota virtually even church offered special services so we could come together and console one another. Many of us gave our time and energy, putting aside other things for the good of each other. At the same time a friend of mine had also just begun seminary at General Episcopal Seminary in New York.
One evening in those first days after 911, as she sat watching on T. V., the work being done at ground zero several blocks away, she thought to herself that there must be something she could do to help. Without a plan she headed to ground zero, and somehow she got put to work washing the dirty, blistered feet of the firemen. At one point it occurred to her that she was doing for those strangers the same thing Jesus had done for his apostles on the night before he was arrested. It was a moment in which she felt in complete union with God caring for others as Christ cared for all people.
The sacrifices we make may not seem as dramatic, but they are just as important. We are called to meet the world with integrity and love. We are called to keep our eyes open for ways to care. We can help change the world through the power of God's love every time we offer our arm to help a blind person cross a busy street, every time we volunteer to teach immigrants English, every time we skip going out to lunch and instead buy food for the food shelf. The list goes on and on.
It is not always easy to follow Christ. Sometimes it seems like too much trouble, too dangerous, or simply not worth the effort we will have to put into it. As we heard in the gospel lesson today it is hard work, and many will fall away. But our commitments count even if they are not convenient or it doesn't appear that what we do really makes any difference.
It comes down to a matter of faith. We give of ourselves not because it necessarily gets us the same thing in return, but because we know that is what God requires of us. God demands a lot from us, but God also gives us the love and the strength to respond
Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-25; Ephesians 5:21-33; John 6: 60-69
For the past four Sundays we have been reading from chapter six of John's Gospel. Today is the final reading, and it begins with the disciples grumbling about Jesus' lesson being too hard - who can accept it? But what was it that many of Jesus' followers thought was so hard to accept?
Remember that last week we heard Jesus say that he was the true bread that came down from heaven. Whoever ate this bread, that is, whoever ate his flesh and drank his blood, would have eternal life. Many of Jesus' followers were shocked by what he said, and they didn't believe him. And so, John tells us, "Many of his disciples turned back and no longer went with him."
Jesus didn't run after them; he didn't call them back and say, "Come on you guys, you're not understanding what I said. Let me try to rephrase that." Instead he turned to the twelve apostles, those who had been with him from the beginning of his ministry, and he asked them if they wanted to leave too. As usual, Peter spoke for the whole group. He told Jesus that there really wasn't anywhere to go, because only Jesus offered the way to have eternal life. They knew he was the one sent by God to reconcile us to him and have everlasting life.
Following God is a difficult thing to do, and no one, least of all Jesus, said it was going to be easy. Following God means there are things we are required to do. Today Joshua, Paul, and Jesus make this very clear.
Throughout the Old Testament we get the history of the Israelites, who respond to God's call to follow and obey him. Yet, the people gradually fall away, and so, God sent a number of prophets, like Joshua, to remind to people of their promises to God. In our reading today, Joshua is concerned about something, and so he calls the leaders of the tribes of Israel together and begins to preach to them. In the part of the passage just before today's lesson, Joshua reminds them of all that God has done for them. He reminds them that they were God's chosen people, the people from Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob; he reminds them that God delivered them out of slavery in Egypt, and God blessed and protected them as Joshua led them into the promised land.
This morning we heard Joshua say to the leaders that the people needed to be more faithful. As leaders of their communities they were not being attentive to their duties, and they could do a better job of calling the people to follow God and live the kind of lives they promised God they would live. The leaders told Joshua they would try harder, and so Joshua renewed the covenant they had made between God and Moses.
A covenant is a promise or contract between a group of people. With it come a clear set of obligations. When we sign an apartment lease we agree to follow the regulations and rules the managers have set. If we don't, we risk being evicted. When we buy a car or a house, we sign a contract promising to make our monthly payments. If we don't, we lose our car or house. When you join a club you agree to follow the club's rules. If you don't, you will lose your membership. Life today challenges us like the Israelites to choose who we will serve. When we choose to serve God we promise to obey him. Leaders in the church need to hold up the issues the parishioners need to address as they faithfully follow God. They must have a clear vision about where they are leading the church. When you say you will do something it is the same as promising that you will follow through with it. People are counting on you.
Life comes with obligations, and all of us are expected to follow them. People who don't live up to the obligations set forth by a society so all people of the society can live in harmony, are punished or ostracized. Break the law, and you may find yourself in jail. Some obligations are easier than others, and our understanding of what is expected of us changes over the years. We can clearly grasp how societal expectations changed over time from the passage we read this morning from St. Paul to the Ephesians.
Modern Christians are turned off by Paul's command for wives to submit to their husbands and obey them. But we have to keep in mind that Paul also said that in turn husbands were to love and care for their wives as much as they loved and cared for themselves. We need to get past the language and get to the root of Paul's message. We then can see that the passage is about living up to obligations - obligations on the part of both the husband and the wife. These obligations are grounded in a relationship of trust.
This sense of obligations for each other, this need to live with each other in a deep abiding trust, is no less important for our church family as it is in our personal homes. Paul is telling us that leadership in the church is rooted in a relationship of trust. He calls us to "Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ." The mystery of love is that it unites us as one body in Christ. There must be a deep trust between leaders and the people. Without trust leaders are ineffective, and we become a group of unconnected people.
Jesus is asking us the same question he asked the apostles hundreds of years ago. Do you want to stay or leave? We do have a choice; God's gift of freedom ensures that. Jesus is also telling us that if we choose to stay it is necessary for us to live up to certain obligations. To do that we need to stand before Christ as Peter and the apostles did discovering that true life comes to each of us who totally commit ourselves to following him.
It takes constant dedication and attention to live up to our obligations to God, and, therefore, each other. Often doing this requires us to make sacrifices for the good our community and the world. In the aftermath of 911 there were stories about the heroic measures the police and firefighters made to save the lives of people trapped under the rubble of the fallen towers. They worked through pain and exhaustion and some even lost their lives trying to save others. What we didn't always hear about were the sacrifices thousands of other New Yorkers were making to help the police and firefighters have the strength and support to return to their grim work day in and day out.
Churches near ground zero offered 24 hour seven days a week hospitality to these men and women. Parishioners volunteered to come in shifts to feed these people round the clock, provide them with dry clothes and a place to rest for awhile, and be a shoulder to cry on when the devastation of it all overcame them.
While sitting in my first class on my first day in seminary on September 11, 2001 the first plane slammed into one of the twin towers. Here in Minnesota virtually even church offered special services so we could come together and console one another. Many of us gave our time and energy, putting aside other things for the good of each other. At the same time a friend of mine had also just begun seminary at General Episcopal Seminary in New York.
One evening in those first days after 911, as she sat watching on T. V., the work being done at ground zero several blocks away, she thought to herself that there must be something she could do to help. Without a plan she headed to ground zero, and somehow she got put to work washing the dirty, blistered feet of the firemen. At one point it occurred to her that she was doing for those strangers the same thing Jesus had done for his apostles on the night before he was arrested. It was a moment in which she felt in complete union with God caring for others as Christ cared for all people.
The sacrifices we make may not seem as dramatic, but they are just as important. We are called to meet the world with integrity and love. We are called to keep our eyes open for ways to care. We can help change the world through the power of God's love every time we offer our arm to help a blind person cross a busy street, every time we volunteer to teach immigrants English, every time we skip going out to lunch and instead buy food for the food shelf. The list goes on and on.
It is not always easy to follow Christ. Sometimes it seems like too much trouble, too dangerous, or simply not worth the effort we will have to put into it. As we heard in the gospel lesson today it is hard work, and many will fall away. But our commitments count even if they are not convenient or it doesn't appear that what we do really makes any difference.
It comes down to a matter of faith. We give of ourselves not because it necessarily gets us the same thing in return, but because we know that is what God requires of us. God demands a lot from us, but God also gives us the love and the strength to respond