The Eye of the Needle

The main reason any of us are here on a Sunday morning 

is because of Jesus.

 

Isn’t that so?

Those of us who have been hanging around church for sometime, 

do we not recognize that when we look at Jesus 

–      as he is reflected in scripture and, hopefully, in each other – 

that we are being shown something profound about the nature of God?

 

The more direct our experience of Jesus, 

the more a huge scope of horizon opens up for us 

about the awesomeness and wonder of God,                                            and about the vast comprehensiveness of our very salvation.

 

Jesus is the one who opens the windows of our hearts and minds 

to this hugeness of encounter with God.

This happens in our experiences of grace and mercy 

surprising us in our lives at our times of greatest need

            and when we least expect to see the Divine Presence.

This happens as we encounter the stories of Jesus in the Gospels 

where we see many different ways in which 

Jesus didn’t just open a window or door.  

He blew them off their hinges, so to speak.

So often in the Gospel stories it says the people were amazed.

Mild translation.

Literally in Greek it says their minds were blown away.

They were struck out of their senses.

 

Jesus was always saying things and doing things 

to turn everything around,

to jolt us out of the usual perspective,

because our usual perspective is commonly heavily influenced 

by the culture around us and by our unconscious assumptions. 

So it often takes a shock to bring us out of illusion and around to reality.

 

The Gospel story for today is a beautiful example of this, 

and as such is a tremendous open window 

into the nature of grace and mercy and God’s love and salvation.

 

And you might have thought that this reading was about stewardship!

 

We could be crass about the gospel for today

            and say that whereas Jesus asked for everything from the rich man

the Church only asks for a tithe, 10%,

            so you’re being offered a good deal when you fill out your pledge card.

 

Then we can all sit back and go, “Whew, we’re off the hook.

            We don’t have to take seriously what Jesus said to this person;

                        it doesn’t have parallel implications for us.

            I’m not getting hit with a challenge 

about giving away my whole paycheck and all my possessions."

 

However, I say to you,

            if this Gospel provokes within you 

some reflection about your relationship with material possessions, 

fine, that’s a very good thing to look at for our spiritual well being.

 

But the passage has more to do 

with the disciples who witness this exchange 

between the rich man and Jesus, 

and about salvation, 

than it does about tithing or pledging or charitable giving.

 

The challenge Jesus gives to this man who desired to follow him

            goes to the heart of this person's issues of life and faith,

and it gives Jesus the opportunity 

to use this with his disciples as an important teaching 

which is in direct contradiction to their accustomed beliefs.

 

The accustomed way of thinking about the relationship 

between material prosperity and enjoying God's favor 

is blown away,

and the disciples are brought into a different space of awareness 

that is vast, 

overwhelmingly comprehensive, 

and revelatory of God.

 

Now, there's a bit of background that would be helpful to know 

regarding that time and culture

that has stretched on through the centuries.

From OT times having many possessions, being materially prosperous

            was considered to be a sign of God's favor.

 

Certainly we say that we, for example, 

            are blest to live in this country with a higher standard of living

                                    than most of the rest of the world, 

and when we have jobs providing a steady income, 

we consider that a blessing,

and when we are able to afford taking a vacation, 

or buying a car, or remodeling the kitchen, 

we consider that a blessing as well,

            knowing that it is not always the case that we can get along so well.

 

This kind of thought is ancient and universal.

 

Sometimes it gets expanded into a whole theological doctrine,

            such as the "Protestant work ethic"

            in which hard work that pays off in material prosperity

                        is seen as an indication that you are under God's grace.

 

God has prospered the work of your hands,

            and, therefore, this is a clear sign of God’s favor –

                        a sign that you are saved, a sign of salvation.

The dark side of this comes to be seen 

in blaming the poor for their own condition.

 

Just look at the book of Job for a prime example of this sort of thinking

            that leads Job’s 3 friends to question what Job did wrong 

                        to bring on himself such disaster and suffering.

If you are blest by God, your life circumstances will reflect that, they say.

 

But Jesus blows that away.

 

The rich man runs up to Jesus 

just as he and the disciples are on the way out of town.

And he asks,

            "What is it I may do in order to inherit eternal life?"

 

He has been a good, religious person,

and this is evident because he has prospered and gained many possessions.

 

But he wants more.

Maybe the physical evidence of wealth 

isn't necessarily giving him assurance about salvation.

            Maybe he thinks that if he could do something more 

than observance of all the commandments 

his blessings would be even greater.

            Maybe he intuits that material prosperity does not satisfy

his spiritual hunger.

 

And Jesus, looking at him through and through, has deep love for him,

and so he speaks words to him to cut through 

all motives and assumptions of blessing 

to what it is that will open him to the realization of salvation.

 

Go, get rid of all that evidence of God's supposed favor and blessing.

Give it all to the poor, to those whose lives seem to indicate 

that they have fallen short of the divinely blessed religious path.

 

And then come be in discipleship with Jesus,

 

Come be reduced to the same status as the disciples

                        who likewise had turned their backs on their whole way of life 

                        and families and possessions,

in order to be near Jesus, follow him around, 

and take in his compassion and teaching,

because his very presence was so compelling

            and he touched the hunger in their hearts.

 

But – how hard it is for someone with many possessions 

to enter the Kingdom of God.

 

The disciples were amazed, blown away by this

because Jesus just wrote off 

the whole popular, commonly-held belief system.

 

And he confounds them further:

"It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle,

            than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God."

 

You can't buy your way into the Kingdom of God.

You can't live your life 

in such complete compliance with all the commandments even

to assure entrance.

And you can’t look at “success” in your life/“having it made”

            as equated with being saved.

 

If the rich, those who supposedly had God's favor, 

can't get into the Kingdom of God,

            then what chance does anyone have?

And so in all astonishment they ask, "Who then can be saved?"

 

And Jesus tells them the Great Reversal:

"It's humanly impossible,

but not with God.

            For all things are possible with God."

 

So those first in evidence of apparent divine blessing,

those first in effort at keeping all the commandments,

even those who look successful in the world

                                                                                    will ironically be last.

And those last, those who have no illusions about saving themselves,

            those who know their utter dependence on God,

                        such as those whose lives are broken and impoverished,

they will be the first ones in through the door – 

through the eye of the needle -  

into the Kingdom of God, into the state of salvation.

            

Salvation is utterly available to us 

the minute we give up our own efforts, 

our own self improvement programs,

because, and think about it,

            we can’t improve upon what has already been provided.

 

Salvation is vast, expansive,

            a freedom of the Spirit no matter what the physical condition.

Salvation is overwhelmingly comprehensive, 

            the way we are meant to be,   what we were created for.

 

So perhaps we may see that this gospel lesson for today,

            while it may provide some prodding of consciousness about stewardship,

is actually about the basic life issue of salvation

            and a call to discipleship

                        so that we might realize this salvation.

 

Go, get rid of all that evidence of God’s supposed favor and blessing,

and then come, be in discipleship with Jesus,

            the one who blows open the windows of our hearts and minds

                        to the hugeness of God and mercy and grace and salvation,

come be in discipleship with Jesus,

            and the whole Kingdom of Heaven is yours.

 

Words of Comfort

In the Name of God:

         Creator, Bread of Life and Holy Comforter.  Amen.

 

One of the ways we can describe or name the Holy Spirit 

         is as Holy Comforter.

And this could be the name we may especially want to invoke today,

         God, the Holy Spirit, as comforter,

         God’s Presence that reminds us that we are loved,

                  that God’s compassion flows towards us and embraces us.

Comfort is a word that is good to hear right now,

         but it means more than what a mother might say to a child

                  who has fallen and skinned a knee or stubbed a toe.

The word comfort comes directly from Latin

         and means with strength.

The Holy Spirit provides us with strength to see us through 

                  difficult times, like right now for St. Andrew’s.

Oh, Tracey, your absence this morning is profoundly felt!

And it’s not just here where people feel the loss.

Bishop Gretchen wrote about Tracey’s death with genuine grief over this loss,

         and how this impacts more than just us here

                  but more broadly around the diocese.

And Mary Beth Rivetti, another beloved priest in the diocese, wrote:

         “What a vibrant, creative, and persistent leader [Tracey was]. 

         May her soul be at peace, and all who mourn her find comfort.”

And I was told that the people at the Cathedral this morning 

         are specifically praying for you, the faithful at St. Andrew’s.

Take a moment right now to let the prayers from around the diocese

         sink into your awareness and be a comfort to you.         

Now you probably have noticed that this summer 

         the Sunday scripture lessons have featured readings from

                  John, chapter 6, the Bread of Life chapter,

                  and the Epistle to the Ephesians.

 

In the midst of what has happened this last week for St. Andrew’s,

         I think the reading from Ephesians today can be particularly helpful.

It is sort of a summing up of the previous chapters of Ephesians

         in some imagery that I believe can help address 

                  how you hold and respond to what you are facing today

                                    as individuals,

                                    as a community of faith,

                                    and even for all of us on a global scale.

 

What is offered is a word-picture of being clothed,

                           clothed in armor.

It was written for those feeling spiritual oppression and attacks

                  in order for them to have strength in the Lord.         

 

This is a militaristic example that the Apostle Paul is using, 

         but look what he has done with it.

He is saying here’s what is at stake – YOU.

         You are under threat.

This calls for power in the face of threat,

         and strength is needed,

but that strength has to come from God.  It is God who keeps you strong.

So put on this armor, which is given you by God.

         It’s not your own armor, but armor which is a spiritual gifting.

 

First there’s the belt around the waist – well, that’s a bad translation.

         It actually says gird your loins with truth,

Truth around the most private and personal parts of our bodies.

This truth is our grounding reality, most personal and often most private; 

         truth is what brings integration 

         and coherence to our sense of identity.

Then the breastplate of Righteousness is placed over the heart.

         It protects the center of our being 

                  where our motivation and commitment comes from.

It is the breastplate of righteousness, which is right relationship with God.

         The importance of this is that to be strong 

                  the strength must come from the power of God working in us,

                                    the Holy Spirit working righteousness in us.

The breastplate of Righteousness based on right relationship with God

         is that which gives access to such strength.

 

Then you need a shield for defense.  Faith is the shield.

         Faith is trusting in God, 

         faith that is a gift of the Spirit 

                                    as well as a fruit of the Spirit growing within us.

The imagery describes this shield as having the ability to quench,

                  to douse water on flaming arrows.

         What superhero would love to have that! 

Undoubtedly Paul was recalling the Psalms, specifically Psalm 91.

         “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High,

         …shall find refuge under [God’s] wings;

         his faithfulness shall be a shield and buckler.

         You shall not be afraid of any terror by night,

         nor of the arrow that flies by day.”

The faith of this shield is a relationship with the reality

         of the unbreakable dependability of the faith of Jesus in us to sustain us.

                                                      His faith within us is utterly dependable.

Next is the helmet of salvation.

         Put your head into that, into the context of salvation, 

         know with your mind that salvation is God's work, 

         not what your own mind can contrive or figure out.

Salvation is liberation, being set free from oppression 

                  that attacks our reality that we are beloved children of God.

 

Now, I left out one item that we need to come back to.

Verse 15:  As shoes for your feet put on 

         whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.

 

Peace – Wait a minute!  Isn’t the armor for doing battle?

Get all this armor on and then DON’T march off to battle!

         Look at those marching shoes – 

         whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.

                  peace, they’re not for warfare.

What is peace here?

         Peace is the utterly untroubled fullness of the Presence of God.

                           Peace -    untroubled fullness of the Presence of God.

To walk in peace is to walk in the freedom from both 

         hatred of the other who is seen as an enemy

         and hatred of self, from being at war with one’s self.  That is peace.

The world around you may be a helpless wreck

         but that peace will help you walk right through it all.

 

Verse 13 at the beginning of this armor imagery says,

"… take up the whole armor of God, so that … having done everything, 

         [you may] stand firm."  

Once you get all that armor on, 

         there is no need for further action on our part.  

Just stand there equipped with what God has given you.  

That will be sufficient.

 

The whole armor is composed entirely of gifts given to us,

                  so it is not our strength being described here.

It is to accept having these gifts without you needing to achieve them!

                           Gospel Good News.

 

And we get this armor on, but we don’t fight; we stand.

         The armor is defensive.

         Any fighting to be done, leave that to God.

 

The only offensive part of this armor is the sword,

                  the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

And that’s not our words, but the word of God

that we can access through the Spirit

                  and speak when we face a situation of need.

 

Our words are to pray.  As it says in verse 15;

         “Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication.”

         Praying at all times in the Spirit – 

and, yes, this is possible, clothed in this symbolic armor

         that reminds us of how much we have been given,

         that reminds us of our baptismal identity in Christ.

 

The Apostle Paul learned all of this while under great duress and stress.

         His was not an easy missionary calling, you know.

He was beaten, shipwrecked, stoned, imprisoned – 

         For him this armor of God was a lived reality.

He knew what it was to abide in Christ, to live in him,

                  to live by the faith of Jesus.

 

And Jesus said in today’s Gospel selection,

    “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.

         …whoever eats me will live because of me.”

 

We have been sitting with these shocking words 

         these last few Sundays 

                  daring to look at them and not avert our eyes, hopefully.

 

For some of the disciples this was just too much.

They said,

         “This teaching is difficult (literally, is hard); 

This bread is as hard as a rock.  Who can eat that?  Who can accept it?”

They were murmuring and complaining 

                  about this whole long Bread of Life teaching.

But Jesus doesn’t soften the message for them.

 

Here’s the heart of it, Jesus tells them.

“It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless.

The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”

 

The words of Jesus are the words of creation within us.

         The words that Jesus speaks are words of intervention 

                  into all this whole chaos.

They don’t necessarily make things easier.

They may not straighten out the mess of life to our satisfaction.

But they are words of spirit and life 

and assurance for faith in the utter reliability of God’s love and mercy 

and the trustworthiness of our Lord Jesus

                  based on his love and self sacrifice for us.

that releases within us this tremendous spiritual process of eternal life.

 

There are two modalities of life:

         the life of this world, which is fragmented and full of strife

                  with moments of excruciating beauty and goodness,

                                    as well as grief,

         and then there is eternal life, 

                  life when those moments are recognized as 

tastes of the fullness of life that is realized in the nearer Presence of God.

 

When some expressed how tough it was to take in these words

         Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?”

Simon Peter answered him, 

         “Lord, to whom can we go?  You have the words of eternal life.”

 

The essential words, Bread of Life is there for us 

to sink our teeth into spiritually, 

living bread that conveys life to the eater.

Now, would you want to walk away from that?

         For me, it is clear – where else can I go?

                                    Jesus has the words of Eternal Life.

 

Bishop Gretchen wrote:

         [I’m] “Sitting on the deck at Camp Cross 

thinking about the news of the death of an active leader in the church

         and giving thanks for her life and witness. 

Life is short my friends, 

         do not waste your time with division and disdain for others, 

         avoid hatred, seek the good of others, live in love, find joy, 

         and walk with God in peace.”

 

Thank you, Bishop. 

Sin and grace in the form of breath

 If you have been around for the last few Sundays in church,

       you know that we have been working through a series of stories

              about David.

-       from his being anointed to become king,                                

    David the youngest of eight brothers.

-       to taking up the challenge from the giant Goliath                       

    with his armor of metal alloys,                                         

    David facing him with his primitive weapon of a sling shot.

-       David’s military victories and having establishied his capitol in Jerusalem, his desire to build God a house, a temple,

-       and then when everything seemed to be going so well,                  

    David exploits his power                                                

    in the same way we have seen other powerful people behave.

 

Today’s story holds well on its own

       and does not require much explanation.

David, as king, the one in power, popular with his people,

              victorious in war,

       assumes he can get away with anything

              including adultery and murder.

The Prophet Nathan wasn’t the only one who knew

              what was going on at the palace.

Others may have been politically astute enough

       to know when to keep your mouth shut and look the other way.

But God sees, and Nathan is a reliable prophet

       not afraid to speak truth to power.

Nathan tells a story aimed to hook David 

       calling up his shepherding days, 

       and poking his inner core values of compassion and justice   

       that had been glossed over in this abuse of power.

You can see that in David’s response to Nathan’s story about the lamb.

 

Nathan delivers the words of rebuke

       that contain a nasty description of the outcome of David’s actions,

              how devastating it will be for all the accomplishments

                                   David had achieved.

And that innocent child that was born from David’s lust will die.

 

And next Sunday’s reading will reveal later troubles

               within David’s household

       that would end only with death of another of his sons.

Yet David kept his kingdom and his power through all this.              Why?

 

The answer is in the last sentence of today’s reading:

       David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

 

Not just, “I have sinned,” which in itself is very important –

              an acknowledgement of agency in sin,

              an awareness and a confession of sin.

Not just that – which in itself coming from the king

       is a significant act of humility,

but “I have sinned against the Lord.”

 

The sin was surely against Uriah, his faithful and dedicated military leader.

The sin was also against Bathsheba,

       making her an adulteress and liable for the death penalty.

But David says, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

 

Any sin – Every sin – strikes at God’s heart,

       the One who created Uriah and Bathsheba AND David

              and the doomed infant.

God weeps, and David realizes the depth of his sin,

       David who had composed songs of praise to God.

 

Every sin is a sin against God.              For sin, as we often define it, 

              is separation from God,

              turning away from God,

 

              being so taken with one’s self that we forget to give credit

                     to the One who made each one of us.

We often walk, maybe most of the time, in ignorance

       ignorance of our organic connection to God 

              and all the other creatures, human or other.

Heaven help us!

 

 

And that leads me to the Gospel reading for today,

       from John, chapter 6, the Bread of Life chapter.

 

Jesus fed the 5,000 because he loved them.  He saw their need, 

       and his compassion and love were put into practical action.

So he touched the food and enlivened it,

       causing an expansion that resulted in an abundance,

              more than what was needed!

 

And his touch began to enliven the people

       as they sought him the next day, 

       and as he engaged with them in life giving dialog.

 

“You were looking for me,” Jesus said to them,

       “because you ate your fill of the bread 

              that you didn’t have to work for yourselves, free bread.”

You know what it is like to work hard day after day 

                            to put groceries on the table at home.

       But I’m going to say something different to you, Jesus said,

Do not work for the food that perishes,

              food that gets eaten up and then it’s back to work again.

Work for the food that endures for eternal life

              - well, obviously, a different kind of sustenance.

 

So they ask how they are to work for this kind of food,

       what works are they to work to be doing the works of God.

 

And here is the crux of all that is too follow in this chapter,

       indeed, the central point of this whole Gospel.

 

Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God,

       that you believe in him whom God has sent.”

 

Does this strike you as odd?

       that the work of God that we are to do is to believe?

              not work to keep all the Commandments

              nothing that requires muscles and sweat

              or that make a product, accomplishes a task

       but to believe the One God sent.

 

Let’s look at this word believe.

 

You may have heard me say before concerning the challenge of translation,

      how a word in one language usually has a constellation of meanings about it

       and when we translate it to another language, 

              we have to pick a word that inevitably cannot include 

                     the whole scope of meaning of the original word.

That’s how it is with the verb that is translated here as believe.

 

In English to believe has the connotation of giving mental assent,

       to accept as a doctrine, like when we recite, say, the Nicene Creed,

              “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty…”

But the Greek word is much richer.

       We could begin the creed just as well with 

“We have faith in one God… We have faith in one Lord, Jesus Christ…”

 

To have faith in someone means that we have a history with that person.

We have experienced that person as trustworthy in particular ways,

       such as keeping their word, or arriving on time, 

                     or doing a good job at fixing your car, etc.

What we have faith in is the truth of that person as we have experienced it.

 

So this is the work we are invited to do:

       to trust Jesus, to have faith in him,

       to trust him, especially as we have experienced him in our lives,

              how we have experienced him in our prayers and meditation,

              how we have experienced his Resurrection Spirit guiding us,

              how we have experienced his voice, his presence

                     through others who reflect his life in their own,

              how we experience him in bread and wine week by week,

              how all of creation points us to him,              

and in all the hundreds of ways we can come to experience and know him.

 

And to trust that, to rely utterly on Jesus who would feed us with himself,

       for when it comes right down to it,

              it is Jesus who works, works in us.

All we have to do is trust that.

 

              The work is what Jesus does in us.

 

Jesus gives himself fully, so that when you receive him,

              you are nourished to fullness of Life.

He will feed us with what he is.

 

He will feed us with what he is.

       And then we become him,

for, as they say, “You are what you eat.”

 

Jesus is the bread of God who comes down from heaven 

       and gives life to the world.

 

We may want to make a link between this Chapter 6 of John’s Gospel

       and the sacrament of the Eucharist

The essential Bread of Life is there for us 

to sink our teeth into spiritually, 

living bread that conveys life to the eater.

 

What are you hungry for?  What does your soul crave?

       Work for what will satisfy that hunger like nothing else can.

And that work is trusting that the Incarnate Word dwells within us

       who is working out our nourishment and healing,

              providing for us the center out of which 

                     we can live our daily lives.

 

So come to the Table today with all your hunger,

and you may want to say a little prayer prior to eating,

              such as the grace we might say at home before a meal, 

       something like this:

For what we are about to receive,

       may the Lord make us truly grateful.