SCRIPTURE: John 6:56-59
TEXT: 60When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" THEME: Jesus creates pathways for us to live our faith in new ways. INTRODUCTION Sara Lee has added a new Keto, ‘Carb free’ bread to their line, to address those who follow a no carb diet with only 45 carbs per slice. Or so says the advertising. But after a closer look at the list of ingredients this bread is made from wheat or grains and if it has wheat or grain, then it has carbs. Two slices of bread are almost 100 grams of carbohydrates. That is not a ‘Carb free’ bread. The loafs that are made without wheat or grain, look like bread, but don’t taste like bread. But that is just it. If you want to live a new life, apart from carbs, you have to have a new bread. SCRIPTURE Jesus is making a departure away from the foundations of manna in the wilderness. Jesus is building lives with God with new bread from heaven. This is hard for those of faith who have been the defenders of manna in the wilderness. For them to let go means to give up their history, their tradition, their theology for something new. Jesus draws from the bread from heaven analogy to bring us into a new, formational, intimate relationship with God. Your relationship with God will be more than a just a people, who have no other God, and live by 10 rules. Here is the truth, Jesus is the ‘I am’, the bread from heaven, and if we eat of it, we will live. Okay I am going to get a little Gospel of Johnish: He likes to do if A=B, and B=C, Then C=A theological math. To know Jesus is to know God. To have Jesus in our lives is to have God in our lives. If we have God in our lives is to have the Creator of Eternal Life in our lives. And to have the Creator of Eternal Life in our lives, is to have Eternal Life. As the Father is in Jesus, and Jesus is in us, we are in Jesus. Jesus is taking out of the crime and punishment relationship we have with God the judge, to live in relationship with God the loving parent and for us to be God’s children. This is more than being obedient to a moral code, this is difficult for those who could not conceive that Jesus is any more than just a runaway carpenter, believing in Jesus is disruptive to the Status Quo. Some who have been following Jesus could no longer stay, but for those like Peter, Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, the bread from heaven and there is no turning back. This is like growing up thinking that the world is flat and then discovering that it is round. Or that certain people are not smarter than other just because of the color of their skin, or that one gender can always out run the other. Or that God cannot love us because of our imperfections and the only way that God can love us again is with believing a violent act that takes an innocent person to die as a payment of our sin. There are paradigms that are being shifted all of the time, even theological ones. And when they are shifted, we cannot go back to the way we were. The Disciples, cannot go back to live their lives for God without the taste of Jesus in their lives. APPLICATION We need help to move beyond our limited imaginations of what is possible for God. What is God doing that sets us on a path to rethink what we used to know, so that we can join in what God is doing today? Some things happen in the world that take some adjusting to. Sale clerks in the store, a few years ago, begun calling me “Uncle”. Was it because of my striking grey mane? Or because I look like a distant relative of theirs? Or as a matter of respect and honor to a senior member of society? I used to take offense to strangers being so familiar with me and wanting to be related to me. But now it happens so often, I am beginning to get used to it. When we log in on Zoom, often time people indicate the pronouns they want to be identified as. He, She, him, her, they and us. When did this become a thing? The first time I had to indicate my preferred pronoun I said, “eh you” Yes, I am change resistant. I was driving up to Church one day, listening to NPR while they talked about how our bodies develop Physically as male and female. Then they added that our brains too develop as Male and Female, but sometimes, our brains don’t get the same genetic instructions as our bodies in its development. That’s how a guy could have a feminine orientation, or a gal have a more masculine orientation. This helped my imagination to conceive how a student that I know now identifies with the gender that is different from the one assigned at birth. God does not see this as an abomination, God just loves us how we are and for who we are and wants to be part of our journey. That is bread from heaven, full of grace, strength, acceptance, belonging, and a desire that our relationship with God will help us to achieve and develop into something amazing. I can’t go back to a self-righteous, better than thou Christian life. I want to continue to live being loved by God, having grace be a part of my life, wrestling with the truth of God, and deepening my relationship with God. Together we are doing amazing things. CONCLUSION There is no such thing as a no carb bread. To accomplish such an impossible thing, one must think outside of the box. No carb Bread is a part cauliflower pizza, a Zucchini Lasagna, or Almond flour pan cake., It is a break from tradition to accomplish something more, new, and a cut above. This is a Paradigm shift to think beyond our tradition, and into new ways. With the recent events that are happening we must pray for Afghanistan. For the past 20 years we have taunted democracy, challenged their cultural morays and elevated the status of women with equality and education. There may be no turning back to suppress women but it will not be without, suffering, push back, violence, ridicule, torture and protest. God be with them as they feed on bread from heaven, God be with them as they image a life beyond their traditional limits. God be with them as they live by truth. And have courage to discover something new the desires of God. In addition, pray that we, as Americans, take to heart the disruption we have caused in their lives, their paradigm shifts in their sense of value and culture. As the look for places to escape, relocate, begin again, how might God be calling us to be a new bread from heaven with a graciousness of welcome, help and generosity for these new immigrants of this new Exodus.
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