11th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 14 – Year B) August 8, 2021
Ephesians 4:25‑5:2; John 6:35; 41‑51 Panzer Liturgical Service
Last week, we talked about how Ephesians Chapter 4 is a pivot point in this letter. Paul switches from philosophical to practical theology. This week’s passage starts with ideas on how we are to live out our faith… “Putting away all falsehood, let us speak the truth to our neighbors because we are members of one another” (v25). But what is this truth that we are speaking of and living out?
The last few weeks our gospel lessons have come from John 6. The crowds following Jesus have grown and there is almost no place to find relief from their needs and expectations. Jesus feeds a large crowd, starting with meager supplies, that once multiplied and shared, yield many more leftovers than they started with. And it wasn’t just this miracle of multiplication that kept the people coming back. Jesus’ teachings were reorienting the world. He was calling them to see God and themselves in a new way – in a new relationship.
When Jesus says, “I am the bread of life,” this brings up memories of another time God provided bread – the children of Israel wandered in the desert and God provided exactly the right amount of manna for each day… and twice as much before the Sabbath so that they would have a day for rest. Believing that God would provide sustenance became an exercise in trust. The people following Moses were not well-known for their patience if you remember. But eventually, they did come around, at least for a while. Jesus is expanding on this idea. He isn’t just the one who breaks bread and hands it to the people – he becomes the bread they need to survive, and not just survive, but to gain eternal life. Faith in God and Jesus is no longer just about trusting that our physical needs will be provided for. No, Jesus gives us much, much more.
Even so, there were grumblers among them, from people who remembered Jesus – maybe as a child or a young apprentice carpenter. You can almost hear them saying, “Who does he think he is?” Jesus is not gentle with them.
In verses 36-40 (which the lectionary omits, for some reason) He calls them to task and drives his point home… “I am not like anyone you have ever seen or known. I am the one who was promised by the prophets… and nothing will ever be the same again.” And then Jesus speaks to their future. When he says, "whoever believes has eternal life... Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." Let’s be clear – this is dramatic, important, and significant – all wrapped in one package.
Changing the way that we understand who Jesus is is the hard part of being a disciple of Christ. It's easy to see Jesus as a good man, doing good things and setting a good example for us all. It is much harder to see Jesus as the one who saves our souls. So how do we move from seeing Jesus as just a good man, in fact, a really good man, and move toward an understanding of Jesus as Savior, Redeemer, and King?
That’s the truth the writer of Ephesians is talking about. When we see ourselves as chosen, and when we respond to live out the truth that Jesus proclaims to us, we can put that faith into practice in everything we do. Our lives are the witness – the proof – that Jesus was who God promised. If we are not willing to live that truth in everything we do, then it’s not the witness that reflects who Jesus really is.
In this portion of the letter, Paul sets for us a few guidelines for living a faithful life. And while we would all like for him to spell everything out to the nth degree, he is just a covering of the basics of a faithful life. For the Jews, faith lived out was all about following the rules. And while Paul’s dos and don’ts may seem like rules, they are not the rules of dogma or regimentation. Paul is asking us to internalize our faith in Jesus… to live it as our second nature – as natural as breathing out and in.
Some of the things that Paul lists are easy to interpret and understand. No more lying... Do not let your anger lead you into sin... (which by the way is not the same as do not be angry) … revenge is no longer an option ... earn an honest living so that you can help the poor... do not use harmful words ‑ instead build people up and say things which will do good in people's lives, not hurt them in their walk of faith.
But some are hard to understand and harder to put into practice. Paul writes, "Do not make the Holy Spirit sad." And then he goes about helping us to understand what that might mean for each of us. By getting rid of bitterness, unhealthy passion, and anger, by pushing hate and hateful ways out of our lives, by forgiving others, and learning to accept forgiveness from others, just as we have been forgiven by God through Jesus Christ – those are the practices of faithful believers. Naming those things – easy peasy – but living… how do we go about accomplishing even a fraction of all of these?
Paul says it best at the beginning of Chapter 5: "Be imitators of God... Live in love." (NRSV) One of my favorite family memories is a Christmas when my oldest niece (now the mother of two) was about 2 ½. She opened a package that contained a kid-sized backpack. It was her mom’s way of helping her graduate from a diaper bag to something more mature, because everyone wants a teddy bear backpack, right. But when we tried to help her put it on, she didn't understand what it meant to wear it like a backpack, on her back. Instead, she insisted on carrying it over her arm, like a purse, because she had seen her mommy do that, and she wanted to be just like her.
Some days are really good and faith is easy to live. Others are a struggle from the moment that we climb out of bed and we can’t wait for the day to be over. Some days faith feels like a soothing lotion that cools a sunburn or quiets an upset stomach. Other days, faith feels like a wind that can break branches from trees or a small stream that grows exponentially to flood places that have never seen water before.
No matter what, God is present – in the big crises and in the daily minutia that we often perform without even thinking. If we are faithful and diligent, we gain a little ground every day. We learn a little more about love. We understand a little more about ourselves, and we seek out the love of God more and more as we go along. The Christian life is a journey, not a destination, and there are always things for us to do and learn along the way.
The other day I was thinking about training days. And how they often feel inconvenient to us. Military personnel spend an inordinate amount of time training for things that usually don’t happen… until they do. First responders, doctors, nurses, teachers, preachers… almost anyone who has ever had to do any kind of training finds all that training tedious and monotonous and boring… until you need it. Ever need to provide emergency first aid – or the Heimlich maneuver – or give CPR? It turns out, once we realize that our training might come in handy one day, we don’t mind doing it so much. In fact, we crave it, because we know how good it feels to see all that practice pay off by making a difference in a time of need.
That’s what Paul is talking about. As we practice loving people, unlovable ones – and being kind – and forgiving, even when we don’t want to – we find that these things get a little easier each time. And even when we have a setback or a failure, we know God’s love has not left us behind. We are called to be the beneficiaries of grace as much as we are to be imitators of the One whose life defines what love and grace are all about.
The Message
paraphrase ends like this:
Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that. (Ephesians 5:1-2)
See how Jesus loved us…. And then love like that. That’s what faith and grace are all about.
Peace in Christ,
Deb
(c) Deb Luther Teagan, August 2021
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