John 6:53-69 "The Gift" Scott Hoezee

Seeing as we just finished a meal, I don't need to do what I have been known to do in sermons; namely, describe exotic gourmet fare so as to evoke the pleasures of eating. In times past I have been known to throw in descriptions of foie gras with truffle oil, seared venison medallions in a juniper- pomegranate sauce. But tonight we need do no more than think back five minutes to bring to mind delicious food. But that's true every day--eating is the most common of activities. That was just as true 2,000 years ago when Jesus spoke to the crowds. But our familiarity with eating should cause us to have sympathy for the people who listened to Jesus that day and who were quite put off by what he said. It did, after all, sound odd. We've all seen those TV ads that declare, "Beef: It's What's For Dinner." Well, here Jesus says, "Me: I'm What's For Dinner."

Well, we think, obviously he was speaking metaphorically, but even metaphors need to translate into something you can understand. If a poet writes, "My beloved is a tender flower in springtime," we have a pretty easy time figuring out what he means. But what if a poet wrote, "My beloved is a loin of pork served with sour cherry chutney"? OK, that's a metaphor, too, but it's such a weird one, you'd find it simply unintelligible.

So also in John 6. Earlier in this chapter, Jesus had spoken non-metaphorically about manna--the heavenly wonder bread that had kept the Israelites alive in their forty-year wilderness wanderings. Then Jesus did a little springboard off literal manna so as to slide into the more metaphorical idea that God's true bread from heaven is his Word. The people responded, "Sir, give us this bread," which prompted Jesus to say, "I am the bread of life."

So far, so good. Metaphorically speaking it was not unusual to describe teaching in food terms. Paul did that, too, calling simple gospel teachings spiritual "milk" whereas deeper ideas were the "meat" of the gospel. People still talk this way. How many times haven't we listened to TV commentators criticize a politician's speech by asking, "Where's the beef?" Others might say that someone's presentation was "thin beer" or "poor soup."

So for Jesus to say, "I am the bread of life," wasn't too scandalous. Jesus was known as a great teacher and so here appears to be comparing his words to bread, to a kind of spiritual cuisine that could feed your soul. Had Jesus stopped there, things may have gone better in John 6. But next thing you know, Jesus says that the bread in question is not his teaching but his own flesh. Getting a bit more graphic yet, Jesus says that what you needed to wash down his flesh was a cup brimming with some of his blood.

This is where Jesus lost a lot of the crowd. Jesus lost them because he was making them lose their lunch. It was disgusting! In fact, as we once noted, at one point Jesus switched his verb from the typical Greek word for eating, phagein, to trogein, which means "to eat" but in the sense of the way a cow chews its cud. This could be paraphrased as "chewing with your mouth open." It seems Jesus is being deliberately provocative.

Of course, as he makes clear after most of the crowd had fled, he really was being metaphorical. But if the metaphor was strong, it was only because the reality behind the metaphor was stronger still. But the only way you are going to accept such a startling teaching is if Jesus' Father reveals it to you. But lots of people did not want to stick with a man who talked that way and so they left. Then, in a touching verse, Jesus turns to his disciples with moist eyes and with a quivering chin. "Are you going to leave me, too?" he quietly asks. Peter's answer is even more moving than the question. "Lord, to whom else would we go? You have the words of eternal life." It's the gift of faith that shows you that. "No one can come to me," Jesus says, "unless the Father enables him."

So also tonight: we are here because we have been enabled to believe, a gift of the Spirit. We have eaten a meal tonight that filled us up nicely, and dessert is still waiting for us. But this morning we feasted on something richer: Jesus' body and blood. And if doing that did not gross us out, that's because we understand the metaphor. But if we too quickly chalk it up as "just" a metaphor, we miss the power of what happened at the Lord's Supper this morning. The Father brought his Son to us so that we could commune, really and truly, with the One who gave up his flesh and blood for us. "You are what you eat," they say, and given what we ate this morning, we are clearly to be Jesus. We are Jesus to one another, we are Jesus to our community, we are Jesus to the whole world.

Tonight begins a new church season. Many of our ministry programs are ready to offer you dessert in a moment. They've laid out the brownies and the cheesecakes, the cookies and the pies to lure you in so as maybe to snag you as a new participant in this-or-that program. But ultimately, if you are here tonight, it's not because you wanted a brownie. It's because the Father has enabled you to believe that Jesus is the bread of life. But the Father's work in your life doesn't end with your head where you can believe that. The Father's gift to you goes to also your hands, to the things you're good at, the things that, if you do them in service to Jesus, will bring glory to the Father.

I hope you will prayerfully ponder where you can fit in at Calvin Church, where you can utilize your gifts. So as you eat your dessert, in your mind make a connection between tonight's fudge brownie and this morning's sacred bread of holy communion. Remember that the Jesus whose flesh you ate this morning may well be calling to you now also tonight while you eat a cookie, calling you to give of yourself to his church.

Because in a way, Jesus is still asking, "Are you going to leave me, too?" May it be that our reply is, "And just where would we go, Lord? You have the words of life!" Yes, we will stay right here. But while we linger in our Lord's presence, he shows us that there is work to be done. He has fed us to make us healthy and strong. Let's now use that strength in service to his precious name and to the glory of the Father, who has shown us his Son. Amen.