Read
John
6
It’s Mother’s Day today. And because school has been out and your kids
couldn’t make a Mother’s Day gift at school, many Dads had to order a Mother’s
Day gift online. That means many of you mothers
got power tool attachments. So happy Mother’s
Day.
Last Sunday would have been our Senior
Recognition Sunday followed by Baccalaureate.
We will still recognize our graduating seniors in a few weeks when we
have some more people gathered to celebrate this special occasion, perhaps with
a fellowship meal. That’s something we
have missed as well.
One day a long time from now, you
graduates will be talking with your children or grandchildren about their high
school graduation, and they will ask you what yours was like. Make sure that you keep these words
handy: unique, unmatched in the history
of the school or America, one of a kind.
Your kids will not believe you when
you tell them that back in your day, you blew all over your birthday cake and
then shared it with everyone. Your kids
will only know that the birthday boy or girl got a slice of cake with candles
and blew only on their own slice.
Your kids will not believe you when you
tell them that once upon a time you could make it through an entire day and
only wash your hands twice, and that could be from the same water hose that your parents drank from on occasion.
You can tell your kids that the year
you graduated people walked around with guns and were masked but nobody robbed
a train.
This has been quite a year so
far. I can hardly wait to see what
happens when we break out the fireworks in July.
They were having quite a year two millennia
ago. Jesus turned water
to wine. He healed
a man’s son without having to make a house call. I don’t think he even had to use Zoom. He fed
a multitude with five loaves of bread and two fish and then he walked
on water.
The people who had been fed with the
loaves and fishes followed Jesus to Capernaum.
Jesus scolded them that they just wanted another free meal and were not
really interested in being his disciples.
Jesus told them that there was a huge
difference in working for food to feed the body and seeking after the Bread of
Life. Jesus said, I
am the bread of life.
The people wanted another
miracle. Really? What had transpired over the past day wasn’t
enough?
The people still clung to the rules of
the world and didn’t want to let go.
Jesus challenged them to let him be their true sustenance. The Manna that their ancestors received in
the dessert was just a foreshadowing of the true bread that had now come and
was before them.
Instead of receiving Jesus as the Son
of God, the Christ, the Anointed One that they had been waiting for, they asked
instead: Just who is this guy? Isn’t he the son of Joseph? How can he say he is from heaven?
And now we come to the last
part of this chapter.
Many Jews deserted Jesus. His teachings were too hard. He was asking too much. He was talking about the Spirit which gives
life and so many who had followed him amazed at what he did, just wanted to
satisfy their human flesh.
They just wanted the free lunch.
Jesus told them that the words he had
spoken were words of life. Life was
standing right before them. Life was in
the believing but many would not believe.
We could be critical. We can’t
really put ourselves in their shoes. It
was a different time. We have always
known the whole story.
Even a Pharisee named Nicodemus
that we remember from chapter
3 had trouble with this born of the Spirit business. People had a different perspective on the
other side of the cross, and that perspective was that many were not yet ready
to come to Jesus. They left. This was too hard for them.
Jesus then turned to the twelve and
asked: You guys want to bug out too?
He was very much to the point with
those he had chosen to follow him. Is
this too hard for you? Do you want to quit now?
It was Peter who answered for
all. Sometimes we give Peter a hard time
thinking his mouth wouldn’t wait for his brain to kick in. Peter takes a lot of flak but his time he
nailed it.
Simon Peter
answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the
words of eternal life. We have come to
believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Peter said, “We’re all in. You have the words of life. You are sent by God. You are God’s Son. You are the Holy One of God.”
The disciples didn’t always understand
the teachings of their Master right away.
They barely passed their parables course. At one point, Jesus called them dull.
None of these men turned down an academic scholarship to follow Jesus. None of them were going to be brain surgeons
or rocket scientists.
But they knew to follow Jesus. They knew that life was in him. They knew that he was from God and he had
chosen them.
What else could they do? Where could they go?
Sure, they could have gone back to
their old jobs. Catching fish is a noble
trade, but it would never be the same for them once they had been claimed by
the Master. Once they had taken on his
yoke as his disciples, there was nothing else.
I have decided to
follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back!
The road forward would now have much
controversy. The Jews, especially their
leaders, would want to trap or discredit Jesus.
Jesus had come to turn
the world right-side up and too many were vested in the upside-down world.
This Messiah surely couldn’t be the
real thing. He didn’t fit the mold. He said he came from heaven but he had earthly
parents. His teachings were about the
Spirit and life and the rules were subordinated to him. This guy didn’t fit into their religious box
and many deserted him.
Others were plotting to get rid of him
by any means necessary, but Peter knew that Jesus had the words of life. Jesus was life. Jesus was their sustenance.
Simon Peter
answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you
are the Holy One of God.”
There were going to be some rough
spots in the road ahead. Now let’s jump
to present day. Everyone here grew up in
a time where you could worship the Lord freely.
If worship services were canceled, it was probably an ice storm and you
were back the next week.
I am going to be political, not partisan,
but political, just for a moment. Regardless
of what the next few months look like, you will have given up some
liberty. You may or may not agree with
it, but it will happen.
Whatever the new normal is, it will be
less than you grew up with. It may or
may not have a significant impact or your lives. That all remains to be seen.
But if there comes a time where the
secular authorities disassemble the religious liberties that you have always
known, are you ready to tell your Master that you will follow him wherever he
leads.
Will your life say, “Where would we go? You have the words of life?”
Up until now, most have never been
forced to make the hard choice, at least not in this country. Christians around the world are persecuted
every day. Here, we have been blessed to
have wrestled with the world mostly in our hearts and minds.
In the first century world into which
Jesus came as a child, the reigning government of the time had declared
that Caesar was god. After the
cross, the followers of The Way would first face persecution by the
Jewish religious hierarchy then the mass persecutions conducted by the secular government
of the time.
We have always lived in a sheltered
time and place. Our decisions to claim
Jesus as Lord might have received a few unkind comments or snide remarks. That decision might have involved some old-fashioned
social distancing from the in crowd, but we have never known
persecution.
Are you ready if the days ahead see
many deserting the church because its views are deemed antiquated?
Are you ready if the days ahead see
many disowning Jesus because his teachings seem hard and very much contrary to
the mantra of the modern world?
Are you ready to follow Jesus when the
world tells you that you can’t say he is the way, the truth, and the life?
Why would I ask you these
questions? We have been so sheltered in
our Christianity over the past century, I don’t know if we are ready for what
is to come.
I would love for my children’s
children to know the blessings of liberty that I have known, but we must be
certain that they know the one who holds the words of life and life eternal.
I don’t know if we are a few years or
a few hundred years from the Great Tribulation
period,
but I know that the signs
of the times tell us we must be
ready. The signs of the times tell us
that we will see many desert the church because the teachings of Jesus are too
hard.
We must prepare ourselves to
strengthen what remains and make sure that our families, friends, and those whom
we do not want to see lost know that Jesus alone holds the words
of life.
I don’t want to scare you. I don’t want to worry you. I don’t want you to be afraid. My prayer is that in some way I may help to
prepare you.
“Lord, to whom
shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life. We have come to believe and to
know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Sometime today, while it’s just you
and the Lord, affirm to him that you will never desert him. Acknowledge that you know he has the words of
life.
Proclaim that you follow the Holy
One of God.
Be prepared for whatever is to come.
Jesus
is Life. Jesus
is Lord. Know who holds the words of
life and be ready to stand by him when the rest of the world deserts him.
Jesus is life. Jesus is Lord.
Amen.
