Where is your Jesus button?

Proper 15, Year B, All Saints’, John 6:51-58

Jesus said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

A question that has been on my mind a lot lately asks, “Who is Jesus?”   

When I was a small boy, Jesus was the imaginary person I talked to before bed.  I pray the Lord my soul to keep.  As a ten year-old in Sunday school class, Jesus was whoever I made him out to be.  All I needed was a coloring book and a box of crayons.  Jesus had blonde hair, blue eyes and wore red tennis shoes. 

When I was fifteen, Jesus granted healing through Christian community during tough times.  He gave me what I didn’t have.  As a seventeen year old, distraught by profound grief over significant loss, Jesus was everywhere but with me.  He answered everyone else’s prayers but mine. 

During my time in college, I read books about Jesus.  He was a mysterious character in the greatest story ever told.  As a seminarian, Jesus was the bread and wine.  He was found most clearly at the Lord’s Table.  Today, Jesus is love perfected.  He is always challenging how I go about living.  Tomorrow, I hope I discover a new truth about my Savoir.  He is the way, the truth, and the life.     

Bishop and scholar N.T. Wright says that many Christians use Jesus in the same way we use a computer.  In essence he says that we use a computer in only the ways that we need to use a computer:  email, writing, surfing the web, shopping, etc.  He goes on to say that there is so much we don’t use on our computers.  I would also add that sometimes we even misuse computers.

As I reflect on my spiritual journey, I recognize that I typically only use Jesus when I need him.  In other words, I press the Jesus button when I need help.  While this might be a good place to start, I also recognize that this kind of treatment of Jesus severely limits how I see him breaking into my life.  I do not take full advantage of everything about Jesus.  In addition, I sometimes use Jesus for purposes that he never intended.  For example, I impose my will and my beliefs onto Jesus.  Like I did when I was ten, I sometimes make Jesus into who I want him to be.  You might call this idolatry.

Do I not trust that Jesus knows what I really need best?  What am I afraid that I might discover?  For this reason, I love the concluding collect at the end of the prayers of the people that says, “accept and fulfill our petitions, we pray, not as we ask in our ignorance, nor as we deserve in our sinfulness, but as you know and love us in your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” 

This prayer prioritizes things for me.  Instead of using Jesus in the way I think I need him, I am reminded to open my eyes to the Jesus who knows what I need at all times.  I am reminded that when I live a life with Christ, I have no reason to be afraid.  I have no reason to be ashamed. 

So, how did the people who lived when Jesus lived use Jesus?  As you might have guessed not too much differently than we do.  For the crowds in John’s Gospel, Jesus is the guy they go to when they are hungry.  For others, Jesus is the guy they call on when they are sick with disease.  Others seek him out because he is a great prophet and teacher.  Some confront him just to call him names or to criticize him. 

  As it is for us, these early witnesses had a hard time understanding what Jesus meant when he said, “eat my flesh and drink my blood.”  The Jews argued among themselves.  The crowds couldn’t see past surface level.  The disciples simply say, “Whoa! This is a difficult teaching.”  We do the same today.  Biblical scholars still argue about what Jesus meant.  It is hard to translate an earthly image into a heavenly reality.  This is a difficult teaching.  Whatever we take away, I believe he is trying to get us to see that true life comes from God—not from earthly things. 

It is often said that Jesus is mysterious.  Again as one scholar notes, Jesus is not mysterious because we know very little about him.  Instead, Jesus is mysterious because of what we do know about him.  Jesus is mysterious because of statements like the one in today’s passages that says, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life.”  I don’t think Jesus is trying to be difficult here.  I believe he is trying to show us a new reality, a new way of life.  In order to do that, Jesus must shake the foundations of our earthly reality.  The next question then asks, “Are we willing to let the words of Jesus shake our world and challenge everything?” 

As far as I can tell, we have a couple of options.  We can chalk everything up to symbolism and metaphors and say that is a nice story now I can go back to living like I always do.  Or we can take Jesus seriously and let his truth transform our way of life.  We can let Jesus challenge the assumptions we have about the world and be changed into his likeness.  We can do as he says and eat his flesh and drink his blood.  As one commentator notes, “his truth wants to burrow deep within us to consume us as we consume him.” 

What is the truth about Jesus?  I am really tempted to tell you the truth about him but I don’t think that is what I am supposed to do.  As a preacher, I believe Jesus wants me to help you find the truth about him in your own flesh and bones.  I believe this because I believe this is the way in which he taught.  I can tell you the truth about Jesus until I am red in the face.  However, I don’t think it will make any sense until you experience his truth in your own life.

You might be asking, “So where do I start?”  I’ll give you hint, by being here today you’ve made a good first step.  Your presence here today exposes you to the ministry of Christ’s Word and Sacrament.  In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul talks about the importance of worship in regards to following the will of God.  In other words, Paul says that our worship orients us toward the truth about Christ.  But to really start to live and breathe by the flesh and blood of Jesus, I believe we have to take another step.  

When Jesus says, eat my flesh and drink my blood, I believe he is saying the only way to understand the truth about me is to experience everything about me by living in me.  In my experience, I do best to experience everything about Jesus when I worship God, when I study scripture and theology, when I work for God’s purposes, and when I have fun in a community that is serious about following Jesus.

 In short, my worship and study of Jesus informs and shapes how I actually live in community with others.  If I don’t worship and study, I am simply doing what I always do without a sense of gratitude toward God.  If I don’t put my faith to work, I simply have a bunch of ideas about how life should look and become grumpy and judgmental towards others.  Jesus makes most sense to me when I worship, study, work, and play in Christian community.  If you are new to All Saints’, join us next week for the annual Ministry Fair to find out more. 

In the meantime, I challenge you to ask the same questions that I have.  Who is Jesus for me?  Am I willing to let the words and the flesh of Jesus change me forever?  How might I go about eating his flesh and drinking his blood?  How can I experience all of Jesus and find ultimate truth for my life?

Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd.  I am the True Vine.  I am the Bread of Life.   I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  I think Jesus is trying to tell us something about himself.  What if Jesus is who he says he is?  What if we accepted Jesus for who he reveals himself to be?  I believe Jesus accepts us for who we really are.  I believe Jesus wants to use every part of our being so that we me experience true joy and true life, so that we may abide in his truth.  What if we used all of Jesus?  How might our lives be changed forever?