^“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day.It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” John 6:35, 41-51

Jesus is laying down some heavy stuff here in the 6^th chapter of John — I mentioned so much last week. It begins with the Feeding of the 5000. How did Christ do it? What could it all mean? These were the questions running through the minds of the people in the crowds — as well as the Jews who now ask more difficult questions: “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary?” “How can he say ‘I have come down from Heaven?’” “We know where he comes from — and that is not Heaven — so what is going on?”

Among the questioning — Jesus has told the crowd that he is the bread of life — the bread of life that has come down from Heaven — thus the questions about his genealogy. So, here now we have the real confrontation — Jesus is setting out some relational statements and the people don’t know what to make of them — or what to do. They thought they knew Jesus as the “hometown boy” — now he is saying that he came from Heaven — what are they to believe?

Well, what are we to believe? What or who is Jesus? Is he the Son of Mary and Joseph — or is he the Son of G-d? Is Jesus someone you keep at arm’s length — or is Jesus someone you take into your very heart, mind and soul? Is Jesus someone you visit once in a while — or is Jesus invited into your home and your personal life on a daily basis? In other words, what kind of relationship do you have with Jesus?

Let’s talk about relationships — in particular, what is your relationship with the church? Are you such an active and noticeable presence that when you walk into the church, people call out to you like they did when Norm walked into the bar “Cheers”?  Or, do you treat coming to church like you do the grocery store — you only go when you really need to, when you are really hungry? And, what is your relationship with G-d and your neighbor? These are supposed to be the two most important relationships we are to be working on every day. Are we working on relationships, or are we spending too much time on grumbling and complaining?

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul is adamant about how people are supposed to speak and act with one another. He says:

“Do not let the sun go down on your anger” — isn’t that good advice?

“Let no evil talk come out of your mouths” — this is a challenge when I am driving — especially in Illinois….

“Say only what edifies one another” — always build one another up

“May your words give Grace, not hate” — in other words, be nice….

“Put away bitterness, anger, wrath, wrangling, slander, and malice” — see the previous advice

“Be kind, tender hearted, forgiving, — be imitators of G-d” — that is easy enough, isn’t it?

You have to wonder what was going on in Ephesus, with Paul giving such advice. Well, it is hard to say. Some scholars believe this letter is just a general letter to be read to all of the churches that Paul had established, not detailing specific problems just in Ephesus. Some are not even sure Paul wrote the letter. And yet, we can learn much from what is being said — especially when considering pre and post Easter living as members of the body of Christ. Paul says in chapter 2, “you were dead through sin, in which you once lived…but G-d, made us alive together with Christ — by Grace you have been saved.” And we have not been saved by our own doing — it is through Grace — by faith. The importance of this point cannot be over emphasized. It is critical to understanding Lutheranism. As such, we are to live, act, speak and be “Christians” through how we live, act and speak. Because we have this wonderful gift of Grace. This determines what kind of Christians we should be — and what kind of people we should be.

Pastor Dave

August 7, 2021 — A Study on the Book of Hebrews

^“And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning;they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” Hebrews 11:32-40

“True faith focuses both our eyes on God. It also centers our gravity in such a way that it keeps both our feet on the ground even while it lifts our hearts to heaven. Faith enables us to stand tall and live straight. It puts a spring in our step. Faith that is as small as a mustard seed, said Jesus, can move a mountain! One person’s faith can change the world—think of the apostle Paul, for example, or of Martin Luther.” (todaydevotional.com, Gordon Pols, “Confessing Our Faith Today”)

It is the most difficult aspect of our faith to understand – that faith does not only lead us from trouble (which often it does) but can and will often lead us into trouble. Just because we have strong faith does not mean our lives will be a rose garden. Just ask anyone who has lived a life of faith – they will share their blessing stories with you – but they will also share their desert stories as well. As we hear often, faith is not believing only in what we can see – but believing in what we cannot see – and yet trust with our whole heart.

C. S. Lewis suggests there are three kinds of people:

Those who live simply for themselves — regarding people and their skills to simply be used for their own good. These we will call “Takers”.

There are those who acknowledge some other claim upon them, be it the will of G-d or the good of society — but the claim is only as far as they will allow the claim to claim them. So they live a life divided — a time “on camera” and a time “off camera”. These we call the “Fakers”.

Finally, there are those who claim, like Paul, “to live is Christ” — these people reject the self altogether and live as a “new creation”. These are called the “For-Sakers” — those who live for the “Sake of Christ”.

So, which are you — a taker, faker or for-saker? Do you live mostly for yourself? Are you divided between “Christ and the Self” — “Christ and the world?” Or, are you so united in the Christ-like life that the will of G-d is not just in line with your will —- it is your will?

Pastor Dave