Try it and see
Theologians can sometimes talk and write about things which are way over my head – some of the definitions they give of God, of his work in the world, of our response to him and relationship with him can be quite mystifying at times, and whilst their work is often important and sometimes interesting, it doesn’t always help us to see and feel God in our own lies.
However having said that, there is a parable which I’ve used before, written by the theologian Soren Kierkegaard about a community of ducks waddling off to duck church to hear the duck preacher, and this is one that is pretty easy to understand.
At the service, the duck preacher spoke eloquently of how God had given the ducks wings with which to fly. With these wings there was nowhere the ducks could not go. With those wings they could soar high into the sky. Shouts of "Amen!" were quacked throughout the duck congregation and there was real excitement at the wonderful gifts that God had given them. At the conclusion of the service, the ducks left commenting on the wonderful message and then waddled back home – but they never flew.
Using the gifts of God to the full is not easy – it takes trust and faith and it takes courage. The ducks never saw the full possibilities of flying because they never tried it.
When I looked at the readings for today I was rather surprised in the gospel to see more about bread (John 6:35,41-51) ! Last week we thought about bread in quite a bit of detail, and how important it is to feed on physical and spiritual bread on a regular basis – but today with the gospel this point is being really hammered home, as Jesus continues to talk about him being the bread of life, the living bread, the bread which we must eat to inherit eternal life.
I don’t think for a moment that Jesus was talking about communion here – certainly in the form we have it today, the communion meal was a long way off – he was talking about that need for spiritual refreshment and strengthening, about the need to trust, to have faith, and to exercise courage.
In the Old Testament we heard an account of Elijah (1 Kings 19:4-8), and it’s a pretty depressed Elijah in the bit that we heard. He has done what he believes to be God’s work, and yet he has found himself chased away fearing for his life. Tired and discouraged he turns to God with a plea to take his life.
And as we heard Jesus doing last week when he physically fed the 5,000 and then went on to talk about spiritual feeding, so God does this with Elijah. Recognising his depression he first allows him to eat cake, and he provides water to drink, and then encourages him to get up and go on – to go on to Mount Horeb, a sacred place where God had given Moses the laws for the people – like Moses before him, and Jesus after him, Elijah wouldn’t eat or drink for 40 days and 40 nights, but strengthened and sustained by God, he would get to the mountain and from there he would continue God’s work.
It’s a great lesson in trust and courage for us – and that is true of Paul as well. In the letter to the Ephesians (4:25-5:2), he pleads for unity, he asks that the Church there cast out all of the things that are hurting God, and hurting the members of the Church, and he emphasises the need to concentrate on the characteristics of God, to imitate Jesus himself in our lives.
In Elijah and in Paul we hear of people who have given up everything to take up what is really important. For them, the bread of life meant a relationship with God, and whatever was called for in that relationship, they would do. Today the Church needs similar commitment and courage – the Church needs the faith to push out and to start to see the limits of God’s work.
But in that phrase, I think we have the biggest problem, and that is that too often we judge Gods boundaries and capabilities on our boundaries and capabilities. To see and trust God completely we have to see someone who is bigger than anything or anyone we can ever understand. Too often we can recite creeds which talk of a virgin birth, of a miraculous life, of death and resurrection; we can hear stories of miracles done by Jesus and his followers, and forget that these aren’t things of the past, but things that God can do today, and that he can do today using us !
After physicist Richard Feynman won a Nobel prize for his work, he visited his old high school. While he was there, he decided to look up his records. He was surprised to find that his grades were not as good as he had remembered them. And he was also a little surprised to find out that his IQ was 124, not much above average. Dr. Feynman saw that winning the Nobel prize was one thing, but to win it with an IQ of only 124 was really something. Most of us would agree because we all assume that the winners of Nobel prizes have exceptionally high IQs. Feynman confided that he always assumed that he had.
But Feynman himself then speculated about what he would have achieved if he had known he was really just a bit above average in the IQ department. He wondered if he would even have had the audacity to launch the unique and creative research experiments that would eventually win him the greatest recognition the scientific community can give. And it was concluded that perhaps he wouldn’t – he could have fallen short of his potential just because he would have lacked the confidence to use the gifts he had.
God gives to each one of us gifts – they may be in all kinds of different things, far too numerous to consider in general, but we must seek them out, to find what God is wanting from us, and we do that through prayer, through Bible study, through fellowship with others who may encourage us or guide us, or simply through seeing opportunities or challenges which are put in front of us, and taking them.
When people look at the Church in this country today, they often see an institution limited by boundaries so often put there by us, an institution which doesn’t really look as though it believes in miraculous growth – God knows no such boundaries – indeed, as it’s been said before, if we can understand God and his purpose then our God is too small – God knows no limits, no boundaries, and wants to do incredible things through us… We worship God who has done miracles, who has even raised people from the dead, may we be ready and willing to trust him and to follow his call courageously wherever it leads. AMEN
However having said that, there is a parable which I’ve used before, written by the theologian Soren Kierkegaard about a community of ducks waddling off to duck church to hear the duck preacher, and this is one that is pretty easy to understand.
At the service, the duck preacher spoke eloquently of how God had given the ducks wings with which to fly. With these wings there was nowhere the ducks could not go. With those wings they could soar high into the sky. Shouts of "Amen!" were quacked throughout the duck congregation and there was real excitement at the wonderful gifts that God had given them. At the conclusion of the service, the ducks left commenting on the wonderful message and then waddled back home – but they never flew.
Using the gifts of God to the full is not easy – it takes trust and faith and it takes courage. The ducks never saw the full possibilities of flying because they never tried it.
When I looked at the readings for today I was rather surprised in the gospel to see more about bread (John 6:35,41-51) ! Last week we thought about bread in quite a bit of detail, and how important it is to feed on physical and spiritual bread on a regular basis – but today with the gospel this point is being really hammered home, as Jesus continues to talk about him being the bread of life, the living bread, the bread which we must eat to inherit eternal life.
I don’t think for a moment that Jesus was talking about communion here – certainly in the form we have it today, the communion meal was a long way off – he was talking about that need for spiritual refreshment and strengthening, about the need to trust, to have faith, and to exercise courage.
In the Old Testament we heard an account of Elijah (1 Kings 19:4-8), and it’s a pretty depressed Elijah in the bit that we heard. He has done what he believes to be God’s work, and yet he has found himself chased away fearing for his life. Tired and discouraged he turns to God with a plea to take his life.
And as we heard Jesus doing last week when he physically fed the 5,000 and then went on to talk about spiritual feeding, so God does this with Elijah. Recognising his depression he first allows him to eat cake, and he provides water to drink, and then encourages him to get up and go on – to go on to Mount Horeb, a sacred place where God had given Moses the laws for the people – like Moses before him, and Jesus after him, Elijah wouldn’t eat or drink for 40 days and 40 nights, but strengthened and sustained by God, he would get to the mountain and from there he would continue God’s work.
It’s a great lesson in trust and courage for us – and that is true of Paul as well. In the letter to the Ephesians (4:25-5:2), he pleads for unity, he asks that the Church there cast out all of the things that are hurting God, and hurting the members of the Church, and he emphasises the need to concentrate on the characteristics of God, to imitate Jesus himself in our lives.
In Elijah and in Paul we hear of people who have given up everything to take up what is really important. For them, the bread of life meant a relationship with God, and whatever was called for in that relationship, they would do. Today the Church needs similar commitment and courage – the Church needs the faith to push out and to start to see the limits of God’s work.
But in that phrase, I think we have the biggest problem, and that is that too often we judge Gods boundaries and capabilities on our boundaries and capabilities. To see and trust God completely we have to see someone who is bigger than anything or anyone we can ever understand. Too often we can recite creeds which talk of a virgin birth, of a miraculous life, of death and resurrection; we can hear stories of miracles done by Jesus and his followers, and forget that these aren’t things of the past, but things that God can do today, and that he can do today using us !
After physicist Richard Feynman won a Nobel prize for his work, he visited his old high school. While he was there, he decided to look up his records. He was surprised to find that his grades were not as good as he had remembered them. And he was also a little surprised to find out that his IQ was 124, not much above average. Dr. Feynman saw that winning the Nobel prize was one thing, but to win it with an IQ of only 124 was really something. Most of us would agree because we all assume that the winners of Nobel prizes have exceptionally high IQs. Feynman confided that he always assumed that he had.
But Feynman himself then speculated about what he would have achieved if he had known he was really just a bit above average in the IQ department. He wondered if he would even have had the audacity to launch the unique and creative research experiments that would eventually win him the greatest recognition the scientific community can give. And it was concluded that perhaps he wouldn’t – he could have fallen short of his potential just because he would have lacked the confidence to use the gifts he had.
God gives to each one of us gifts – they may be in all kinds of different things, far too numerous to consider in general, but we must seek them out, to find what God is wanting from us, and we do that through prayer, through Bible study, through fellowship with others who may encourage us or guide us, or simply through seeing opportunities or challenges which are put in front of us, and taking them.
When people look at the Church in this country today, they often see an institution limited by boundaries so often put there by us, an institution which doesn’t really look as though it believes in miraculous growth – God knows no such boundaries – indeed, as it’s been said before, if we can understand God and his purpose then our God is too small – God knows no limits, no boundaries, and wants to do incredible things through us… We worship God who has done miracles, who has even raised people from the dead, may we be ready and willing to trust him and to follow his call courageously wherever it leads. AMEN
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