John 6 56-69 Sunday 23^rd August 2009.

Where do we stand?

All through this month we have been reading Chapter 6 of St John’s Gospel, how the Jews responded to Christ’s message that he is the bread of life. And up to this moment it has all been going swimmingly. The multitude was following him, they could see all the miracles he was performing, and yet suddenly it was if the bubble burst.

The crowds became less, people who had said they were disciples left. Why? Well it seems that very much like today people were attracted by all that following Jesus offers, until they realised that there was more to it than that, that to be a disciple needed commitment, not just a casual response but real commitment.

And Jesus had begun to challenge them, he was shocking them, it was no longer a cosy happening, they were learning what Jesus was asking for in return. Jesus was testing them.

He was telling them it was time for them to begin thinking about spiritual things. They were having to think what it meant to eat his body and drink his blood, and many of the disciples said ‘This is a hard, who can understand it, who can do it?’

As we heard last week the listeners could only think that Jesus was talking of cannibalism, they could only hear it at face value; they could not understand the deeper meaning. So they immediately thought that Jesus was asking of them far more than they were willing to give.

And surely this is still today a major problem for the Church, people only partly understand Jesus’ message, and then they think it is all too hard, far too demanding, not worth the effort.

I suppose, we would say, today’s reading is crunch time, the euphoria has gone, it is becoming obvious that Jesus is more than just a miracle healer, he is challenging them.

Of course, some of the followers of Jesus did respond to his call, they could see what Jesus was offering, what he is offering us today, and they stayed with him, they became true followers.

What about us? How do we respond to Jesus’ teaching? Are we able to follow Christ even when things seem hard, or do we feel life would be easier if we forgot all Jesus said, we made our own lives, did just as we pleased. And of course it isn’t just how we respond ourselves but how we encourage others to respond.

The passage we have just heard from Ephesians has been interpreted by some as having military overtones, nearly glorifying violence if you think the cause is right. Not a view shared by many today.

And I personally have felt uncomfortable with the pictures coming out of Libya this week, for the one question I have never been able to answer for myself is can I forgive someone if I was not the person hurt by the incident. In a fair society should the families of those killed at Lockerbie have been consulted, although it seems unlikely they would agree with each other. I don’t know - perhaps people will never be able to agree.

And that is one of the problems with Paul, he can be divisive. In this weeks Church Times Richard Burridge, a present day theologian, calls him a ‘Marmite Man’ you either hate him or love him, and through the centuries many groups have felt oppressed by his teachings. And we know it isn’t by just teaching the Gospels, but by the example we show through the way we lead our lives express our views that influences people.

Yes, the challenge was not just to the disciples of the time but us today, it is a call to serving Christ; asking how we will respond to God when we are called to share in God’s glory. It is a call to remember all the gifts God has given us and to use these gifts to serve Christ.

To become a Christian is a total affair, a total immersion, it isn’t just a Sunday thing it is our whole life. George MacLeod, the founder of the Iona Community recounted this story of two people on a train journey.

‘What do you do as a Christian?’ an evangelist asked a fellow traveller. ‘I bake’ said the man. The evangelist replied ‘yes, that is your profession, but what do you do as a Christian?’ The man refused to list all the things he did for the church insisting that being a baker was what he did as a Christian.

George MacLeod goes on to say the man was right, whether we are a baker, teacher, banker, typist, nurse, retired, whatever, it is part of God’s revelation of his purpose in creation, for everything we have comes from God.

We are Christian in all we do, the way we carry out our daily tasks probably has far more effect on people than if we talk about what we do in Church. For others see us as a whole, not just as a Sunday person.

And perhaps that is the problem the easy part of being a Christian is the coming to church, the harder part can be our daily lives, being Christian in a secular society.

Like the disciples we can become anxious, how do we respond to today’s issues.- the war in Afghanistan, or the release of the Lockerbie bomber?

And there may be times, when like the early disciples, and no matter how strong our convictions are, or how great our desire to journey with Jesus may be, we may want to walk away, to find a place away from the pressures around us – leave the world behind.

But there is nothing wrong with finding a quiet place for if we do give ourselves that space, that time to hear God we will feel the power of the Holy Spirit strengthening and guiding us. We are Christ’s body here on earth now, his disciples, like the twelve, we owe it to future generations to remain true disciples whatever the challenge. Christ depends on us. Amen.