Newport Presbyterian Church, Bellevue, WA

Sermon – Contraction

Newport Presbyterian Church, Bellevue, WA

August 23, 2015

Page 4 of 5

13th Sunday after Pentecost – Year B Newport Presbyterian Church

Ephesians 6:10-20 Bellevue, Washington

John 6:56-69 August 23, 2015

CONTRACTION

We are all dying.

I’m sorry to have to share this news, and I don’t take any pleasure in saying so, but I think it’s important that I say the tough stuff up front first. I don’t want to mislead you. Science is not our friend here. Our biology, our chemistry and the laws of physics will eventually rob us of the life -- and everything else -- we hold dear. Entropy will win. We will all vanish from the face of the earth, and none of us will return. Reincarnation and bodily resurrection aside, our sojourn here in this time and place is limited. The clock is ticking.

“Okay then, well that’s an uplifting message,” I can hear some of you say. But maybe I wasn’t clear. That’s the tough stuff, because the rest of message from today’s Scripture reading is pretty darn good. It’s liberating in fact, and we have Jesus to thank for it. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s go back to the Valley of the Shadow of Death for a moment and see what Scripture has in store for us.

As many of you already know, John’s version is rather unique among the four Gospels in the New Testament. Many of its stories of Jesus are unique, and so are many of its quotations of Jesus’ teachings. Jesus says things in the Gospel of John that are not quoted elsewhere, yet they are among the most beloved and cited passages in Christian tradition. Today, we have one these passages where Jesus is uttering what for us is standard Christian doctrine, but for many in his audience at the time, it was disturbing and even repugnant.

“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them,” he says, and even to our more doctrinally attuned ears, the way he is putting this still sends a shiver down our spine. Jesus takes the metaphor of bread and wine, body and blood, a bit far and insists that his followers eat his flesh and drink his blood as a way of establishing intimate connection with him. This is far too much for most of his followers to accept. In Jewish tradition – and quite frankly, in most of the world religious traditions – the consumption of human flesh was absolute anathema. This sounded like cannibalism, the lowest form of human survival tactics. Only the most desperate, most depraved, most deprived persons would dare even conceive of such thing, and the mere thought of it sickens us today. Tales of the Donner party or marooned sailors told around the campfire or school lunch hall describe the extreme measures some were forced to consider in order to survive. Incumbent in all these tales is the object lesson that before setting out on a long and perilous journey, one needs to take more than enough food to prevent such a moral mishap.

Yet Jesus delves into this gory subject with considerable delight and passion. He tells his appalled that they must consume him -- eat his flesh and drink his blood – in order to stay alive and have eternal life. For modern day Christians, we understand the significance of what Jesus is saying, but for his followers back then, they were mortified. Yahweh was not like the pagan gods that were appeased by human blood spilling. On the contrary, the God of Israel expressly dictated that such practices were among the most grievous of sins, worthy of severe divine punishment. But Jesus insists on playing fast and loose with a disturbing metaphor, and those who have been attentive to his teachings are thunderstruck. Here he is seemingly insisting that these good and faithful Jews depart from one of the core tenets of their religious practice and consume him. This is crazy talk, and they not surprisingly part company with him. Jesus has gone too far, described with too much detail the seemingly awful thing what he wants them to do, and they bolt.

This keeps happening with Jesus. He puts matters all-too-bluntly, all-too-matter-of-factly, and he winds up offending potential adherents of his earthbound message. Jesus is not well suited for the Evangelism Committee because he keeps scaring away good people who just want a word of comfort and cause for joy. Instead he offers up gross and disturbing images of the worst of sins, and they storm off disappointed in him.

We know this circumstance all-too-well. We don’t mean to offend, but some hear the message and find cause to flee. The Church is often bound up in just such a tension, between prophetic truth-telling and the comforting witness to salvation. The latter is so much easier to proclaim because the risk to the institution is so much less. Advocate for justice like a good prophet should, and you wind up sending “good” people away.

But Jesus knows what he is doing here. He is winnowing away followers who are unwilling to truly follow him. He knows some are offended, and he challenges their offense by noting that he is not speaking of physical realities but spiritual ones. It’s this subtlety that we Christians now understand, because we have the sacrament of Holy Communion that keeps reminding us of Jesus, his body and his blood, given for us. We get what Jesus means when he says, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” We understand that taking on Jesus is not a function of our stomachs but rather our hearts.

And although it is counter-intuitive, it’s Jesus’ original challenging message that inspired that understanding. Some were not going to understand and left; the faithful remained and came to witness the full glory of Jesus’ ministry, his teachings and his sacrifice. I have often commented that if Jesus were held up to the corporate standards of the Church today, he would be deemed a spectacular failure as a Church leader. His congregation of 5,000 whom he miraculously fed the bread and fishes by the time of his arrest dwindles down to a mere eleven members, and by the time of his death even his Clerk of Session denies him three times!

But the contraction in mere numbers of followers was not a sign of failure – at least not on his part. Jesus sacrificed his body and blood for a higher cause, not connected to earthly measures of success. Contraction of the membership rolls was not a cause for concern; faithfulness to his earthly mission was paramount. The growth that followed was a sign of how effective true commitment to God’s cause could be. In a word, Jesus was not really an evangelist as we think of that term: he was a discipleship coach, inspiring others to take up the cause and spread the Good News.

* * * *

In the spring of 2013, the Presbytery of New York City observed the 204th anniversary of its organization approximately along the lines of its present day boundaries, covering the modern five boroughs of the city. In preparing for the Presbytery’s observance, I learned that the seven of the eight congregations that were part of the 1808 presbytery reorganization were still in existence. One of the eight was now in another presbytery in Long Island, but of the remaining seven, six of the churches were still in existence in New York City. All of these six churches are today healthy, active, vibrant congregations. They are among the largest congregations in the presbytery, in both number of members and financial resources, and their collective witness to their communities and throughout the world is both broad and impactful.

Contrary to what you may expect, they are also among the most liberal churches in the entire denomination. They have had consistently prophetic witness of inclusion of all people, including women, persons of color, and LGBTs. Among the six, one is a More Light Church, and three others are part of the Covenant Network, both of which are pro-gay advocacy groups within the Presbyterian Church. In the course of these churches’ illustrious histories, they have stood up to the tyranny of British colonialism during the American Revolution, advocated the abolition of slavery in the early 19th century, and stood up to the Fundamentalist movement in the early 20th century. Theirs is a magnificent witness to the justice of Christ in the modern era.

But, all six of the churches made crucial decisions during their history that radically changed who they were and even where they were located. Four of the six relocated their congregations several miles away from their original sites in order to revitalize their diminishing ministry in the 1800s. One of the other two chose to remain in their community, moving their 350 year old church 300 feet to avoid being demolished by the construction of a new road and subway line. The other church chose to change their church composition when the neighborhood changed. Today the First Presbyterian Church of Jamaica is the oldest Presbyterian Church in New York City at 355 years of continuous existence, and it is the largest Presbyterian congregation in Queens. It is where Donald Trump was baptized as an infant. It is now a vibrant Black Presbyterian congregation that embraces African-Americans, Jamaicans, Puerto Ricans and other Caribbean immigrants. (I’ll let that irony sink in for a moment.) It is clear to anyone who examines these six churches history that decisions of faithfulness, not of cultural preservation, drove their decision-making.

And what of the seventh congregation, you may ask? The Irish Presbyterian Church also experienced a changing neighborhood in the late 19th century, but rather than change the make-up of their congregation or move to more a demographically suitable locale, they made the stunning decision to close their doors, sell their very valuable land and donate the entire sales proceeds to the Presbytery so that other churches could be established throughout the city. Today, the Presbytery has grown to 95 congregations from the original eight, thanks in no small measure to the generous and sacrificial decision of the Irish Presbyterian Church.

Today, Newport takes in important step in the process of moving toward its future. We will convene to elect a Pastor Nominating Committee to begin the process of seeking a new pastor. In the coming weeks, we will hear from the Vision 2025 Task Force on the bold moves God is calling us to make in our future. Some of the steps we make may be bold, or radical, or even frightening. Some may risk the contraction -- or even the demise -- of things we hold dear. But Jesus is standing before us and asking that same question he posed to the twelve disciples standing there: “Do you also wish to go away?” How will you respond?

A final thought: maybe contraction is not a sign of death, but rather the birth pangs of new life. After all, Jesus promises us that life anew will never end. So come, then; let us chose to remain and follow Him.

Amen.

4

EPHESIANS 6:10-20

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

JOHN 6:56-69

56"Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever." 59He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

60When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" 61But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, "Does this offend you? 62Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But among you there are some who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. 65And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father."

66Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. 67So Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" 68Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."