13th Sunday after Pentecost

John 6:51-58

For the last several weeks, I have been preaching on the lectionary texts and connecting what Jesus and the writer of the epistle to the Ephesians say about living in relationship with God, being reconciled to God and living together in unity and with purpose.

And, as I’ve been preaching, I have been connecting the texts with congregation values we have named at Ascension, including outreach, calling others to service and affirmation.

And we have seen that this way of life in faith connects back to our baptismal promises because it is at the font that we receive new life in the sacrament of holy baptism.

Today we see that this way of life in faith also looks ahead as we see how our life together points people to Jesus.

You may remember that the first twelve chapters of John’s Gospel are known as the Book of Signs because they bear witness to the many miracles that Jesus performed and interpreted to us. Instead of calling them miracles, the Fourth Evangelist calls them “signs” because they point beyond themselves, “to the power and the presence of God.”[i]

At the beginning of chapter six, Jesus feeds the five thousand, and then we get another fifty-three verses where Jesus is teaching why bread matters.

And, quickly, we know that Jesus is talking about more than just some flour and water. Preaching during the Passover, he recalls the familiar story of the exiles who received manna in the wilderness and then he describes this bread that comes down from heaven as something even greater.

Jesus says that this bread gives life to the world, (v. 32-33) and then he identifies himself as this “bread of life.” (v .35) And, he repeats those words as he points to what God is doing through him and promises eternal life or close communion with God.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and Paul all write about the sacrament of the altar — what we call interchangeably Holy Communion, the Eucharist or the Lord’s Supper — but the verses we have this week are the closest thing we have in John’s gospel to anything describing the establishment of the meal.

His audience was left wondering, “What is he talking about?” as he talked about eating flesh and drinking blood.  The eating language that Jesus uses includes a word that translates as gnaw, munch or even crunch, and outsiders accused ancient Christians of cannibalism because they mis-understood the meal. Instead, just as there are examples in Jewish thought where the Law is consumed and absorbed like food, the “flesh and blood” language demonstrates that at God’s table, we receive Jesus himself, and we are changed because Jesus lives in us.

While baptism is the beginning of new life in the family of God, the sacrament of the altar nurtures us for the journey of this life of faith, providing us with “living bread.”

Nourished and fed, we ourselves become signs pointing to Jesus.

Worship is one of those places where, as a congregation, we most clearly point to Jesus, beginning at the font where we experience new life; in our music and hymnody where we connect to the worldwide Church; and, in our hearing of the Gospel when we hear God’s promises to us.

And, describing Scripture, Luther said, “Here you will find the swaddling-clothes and the manger in which Christ lies” so whenever we engage God’s Word in study as adults or as confirmation students, we too are pointing to Jesus. 

But we point to Jesus when we are living our everyday lives outside of where we gather as a congregation. As beautiful as this space is, the building is not Ascension Lutheran Church; we are. We are the Body of Christ, fed by the bread of life.

When we leave this place and go to our neighborhoods, workplaces and schools, we are visible signs of God’s grace in a world where people only know church from headlines of abuse and misuse of power, or from funerals or weddings. Even if they are familiar with organized religion, they may not have experienced “a community that embodies God’s love and mercy in a meaningful way.”[ii]

Because Jesus abides in us, God remains in relationship with us, constantly forming and re-forming us, working in our lives and refining us that we may more clearly point to Jesus, and to the forgiveness and love that God offers each one of us.

Let us pray…
Redeeming God,
Thank you for sending your Son Jesus,
whose blood was shed and flesh was pierced on the cross,
and for forgiving our sin.
May we come to the table to receive the bread of life that nourishes us and go out into the world, strengthened by your Holy Spirit, that our lives would always point to your goodness and mercy.
Amen.

[i] “John,” EntertheBible.org, Luther Seminary.
[ii] Diana Butler Bass. Christianity after Religion. 26