Sermon - 8-18-24

Last week I shared goals that were developed from the input that was received at our gatherings this past year. I need to let you know that they are still in progress and are being reviewed by the call committee. They will then go back to the council for final approval. You will then be able to see them in the Ministry Site Profile.

The Ministry Site Profile was formulated and written by the Transition Team, is now being fine-tuned by the Call Committee and will then be brought back to the council for approval and then shared with you. Mike Nussdorfer is the head of our Call Committee. We will be installing them in September. Next week there will be news in the E-news from the Call Committee.

I know the talk  about process gets old, but in reality this is what life is. The transition that we are in is a process and takes many turns, many that we do not expect. We would like to know how it is all going to go, but unfortunately that is not how God works. Everything is in God’s time.

During times of transition, anxiety and sometimes frustration, is the best time to work on our relationship with Jesus. This is what our lessons are talking about today. It is when we are not focusing on trying to figure everything out that the way often becomes clearer.

The Jewish leaders in our Gospel lesson are trying to make sense out of what Jesus is talking about. It doesn’t make sense that Jesus is saying that they are to eat him. Then Jesus goes on to say that unless they eat of his flesh and drink his blood that they will not have life within them. Those who do eat his flesh and drink his blood will have eternal life .If we think about this literally, our stomachs will probably be turning.

In a sense Jesus tries to clarify to a point what he is talking about in saying that it is about abiding in him and he in us. Jesus is talking about our relationship with him. The Greek word for abide is meno which can mean reside in. Think for a moment about how Jesus resides in you.

Do we recognize Jesus in us? We can be taken back by that to even consider us seeing Jesus in ourself. The closer that we grow to Jesus, the more others will see Jesus in us. It doesn’t mean that we are perfect. If anything, it means that we realize that we are not perfect, yet try to love all the people the best that we can.

In our own lives, those whom we have close relationships have an influence on how we live our lives. When we have someone that we trust, we allow them to point out things that may not be working or things that they see that they point out as something positive and healthy.  This is our model for being in relationship with Jesus There are all levels of relationship based on trust. We are all wired differently and that means even levels of intimacy are influenced by that with others and Jesus.

When we are in loving intimate relationships with another human being, it is not always something that we understand. It just is and the more we try and understand it, the less sense it makes. We learn to trust and go with it or not. It takes being vulnerable and trusting that another person doesn’t take advantage of us.

It is no different with Jesus when it comes to trusting and being vulnerable. I don’t believe that anyone of us has seen Jesus, yet we learn about Jesus and are asked to trust him. I want us to be reminded that Jesus desires us. We often think of this in a sexual manner, but this is much deeper, it is intimacy. It is Jesus residing in us.

Jesus desires us to be vulnerable with him. We know that is not easy to do with another human being, let along Jesus. Even though we may admit that Jesus knows everything about us, the question is, are we willing to recognize who we are. Are we willing to stand totally open or as open as we can be before Jesus?

Jesus was saying to the Jews and says to us, I want to be a part of every area of your life. I am going to reside in you. I want you to be at home with me. When Jesus says that he wants us to eat him, it really means that he wants us to continue to learn about him and be in relationship with him. This means recognizing his presence in us and others.

In the beginning of the Gospel of John we hear that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God and that the Word became flesh and dwelled among us.” From the beginning of this Gospel, we hear that Jesus was God and that God in Jesus wants to be in relationship with us.

God in Jesus Christ comes to us through Word and Sacrament. The word for eat in this passage can also mean gnaw or chew on. For me this means to really taste it, to get the fullest possible experience of it. This is what Jesus desires us to do with him through Word and Sacrament. Jesus wants us to get the fullest possible experience with him that we are able to.

The Word is not only the Bible, but God in Jesus Christ can come to us through people and experiences. They can come to us through reading other things, watching things, but always listening for God in Jesus Christ. God in Jesus Christ comes to us through our two sacraments. Baptism and Communion.

In Baptism, Jesus comes to us and if we are infants at the time, parents, sponsors and the beloved community promise to help us gnaw on and be in relationship with Jesus. At confirmation, we promise to continue being in relationship with Jesus and gnawing on him.

This is what abiding is all about, eating and drinking Jesus. This is where we learn to trust Jesus and recognize his presence in our lives. Sometimes this means just letting go of as many fears and what ifs that we can and stepping out and being vulnerable before Jesus. Remember Jesus walks with us and loves us unconditionally. No matter how many fears and what ifs that we have Jesus is right there with us.

I challenge each of us this week to look at how we relate to Jesus. How do we foster our relationship with Jesus? How do we gnaw or chew on Jesus? How do we recognize Jesus’ presence in our lives? It does not only mean reading the Bible or coming to worship and hearing the Word and receiving the sacrament. It’s more than all of that but includes Word and Sacrament.

Through times of transition and change is exactly the time that we are called to spend more time seeking Jesus and putting away our wants and desires and asking Jesus what he wants and desires. When we are vulnerable before Jesus, Jesus will show us the way forward. It will not happen on our time, but his time.

Jesus the bread of life resides in us and wants and desires us to recognize him in our lives. When we place our focus on what Jesus wants and desires we will be able to experience the abundant life that Jesus has for us now and in the future.

Dear Jesus, Our fears and what ifs often draw us to our wants and desires. Today, we put ourselves before you vulnerably, asking you what your desires are for our lives and life of our church. We put our days in your hands. We desire to grow closer to you and recognize your presence in our lives. Thank you for walking with us. In Jesus’ name, Amen