Committing Jesus' Way

The readings for the last couple of weeks have challenged us to make some difficult decisions about commitment, and today the readings do exactly the same thing. For the last couple of weeks we have thought about Jesus’ claim to be the Bread of Life, and today he continues to challenge his listeners as he talks of the bread that came down from heaven (John 6:56-69). He is once again saying that people must make a choice for him or against him.

In the Old Testament reading from Joshua (24:1-2,14-18), the prophet is making it clear that people must choose which God they will serve – will they serve the true God or will they serve one of the many other Gods which appear to be offered. And in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (6:10-20), he is urging his listeners to make a choice, to stand as soldiers in God’s army in a spiritual war.

In our rather mixed up world we are often able to just sit on the fence, leaving decisions for others and I think on many occasions that is just what the Church has tried to do – certainly it makes life easier, but there are also good reasons why we should try and accommodate as many views and be as welcoming as possible. There is surely a good argument for saying that if society is doing something then we should do the same.

That is until we read passages like these, where we are clearly shown that we must make a choice. And if we make that choice for Jesus then it will often be an uncomfortable and a difficult choice.

There’s a story about a sailor who brought his girlfriend to a minister late one Friday night and asked that they be married. “Do you have a marriage license?” asked the minister. “No,” said the sailor, so the minister replied, “Well, I’m sorry then, but there’s no way that I can marry you”, and so the sailor then began to plead, “But, can’t you just maybe say a few words to get us through the weekend?”

If we make a choice for Jesus, it won’t be easy, there are no convenient quick words that will make all the problems go away… Sometimes people ask why Jesus chose to suffer. Well the answer is that he didn’t choose to suffer at all. He chose to bring love and compassion, he chose to fight for righteousness and justice, and suffering came – he didn’t choose it - It was a consequence of his love.

And as Jesus spells out the cost of commitment in this morning’s gospel we are told that some people didn’t like the message, and they turned away from him. Even today, we will find that many people are very happy with being involved in the social side of church, and very happy with the good work that Churches do, but are less inclined to commit themselves when things move to a spiritual level. Dependence upon prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit are considered by some to be a bit strange.

The Communion service is a perfect example of something which we need to examine spiritually - One Sunday morning during a service, the minister was saying the familiar words: “This is my body which is broken for you. And this is my blood which is shed for you,” when all of a sudden a little girl sitting in the congregation cried out, “Oh, yuk! If we consider communion in purely human terms it is offensive, it is not nice at all – but we share in the mystery of the communion as we remember the sacrifice of Jesus. We seek the spiritual benefits which are beyond explanation.

And so this morning we are being called to a higher level of service and commitment. We are being called beyond the passive acceptance of the grace and mercy of God into a fuller relationship, and when some of Jesus’ followers turned away from him, Jesus addressed his closest followers and said, ‘do you also wish to go away ?’ And Simon Peter replied, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy one of God.’

And this is the response that Jesus surely hopes to get from us today. Despite all of the criticisms of the Church, despite the many attractive alternatives that seem to be offer, the quest for material gain, for status, despite the fact that some people will think our faith is a little bit strange in this modern society, we are still choosing Jesus, because we have recognised what is truly important in this life, and found the gateway to eternal life.

And so we equip ourselves to fight for Jesus, clothed in the garments mentioned by Paul that we heard this morning, the belt of truth around our waist, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes ready to walk anywhere we are led as we proclaim the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. And equipped with this armour we stand strong in the protection of God, we stand strong against any opposition, knowing that God has already won the most important victory of all, the victory over death.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was preaching a number of years ago, before the fall of the apartheid regime in South Africa, in St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town. Inside, the wall of the Cathedral was lined with soldiers carrying guns, waiting for the opportunity to close the service down. The cathedral was filled to capacity.

Not deterred at all by the threatening guns, Bishop Tutu spoke of the evils of apartheid. Near the end of his sermon, he pointed a finger at the soldiers and said, “You may be powerful, but you are not God! You have already lost!” Before the soldiers could react, Bishop Tutu, smiling, came out from behind the pulpit and began to bounce up and down the aisle. As the congregation moved into the aisle, dancing with him, he spoke to the soldiers again, “Since you have already lost, we invite you to join the winning side,” The soldiers melted away. Some broke rank. Some found Jesus that day and danced with unspeakable joy.

And so we are left with the challenge of commitment – as Jesus spoke of the cost of commitment, some went away from him, but some, now firmer in their faith, remained strong. And as we continue our Christian journey sometimes our attitudes and our impressions of the world and our faith will change a bit, but God remains constant in his care and compassion for us.

And so, as we allow him to, God comes closer to us, he no longer seems remote or unreachable, and when asked ‘Do you also want to leave’ we confidently reply, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life?’ AMEN