Living in the Spirit
August 18, 2018
Scripture Reading: John 6:51-58
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.’
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.’
In reading Allan W. Eckert’s, The Winning of America Series, I learned that some American Indians upon killing an enemy-warrior they respected from another tribe, removed the enemy’s heart and ate it raw trying to extract the power they had seen in the warrior. That was life in the USA before it was the USA. I experienced a whole range of responses when I read that. Revulsion was my first; amazement at the warrior ethos of respecting his opponent was another.
Reading our scripture today helps us understand how gentiles when they first heard of Jesus had grave concerns about the descriptions of the celebration of the Lord’s Supper wondering what they were doing behind the closed doors of their meetings. We talk of metaphor as a learning tool today.
John’s gospel was the last of the four gospels written probably in the 90s of the first century BCE. I wonder how far away Christ followers had moved from modeling their lives after Jesus’? Why did the author feel so compelled to stress the death that inevitably had to happen before consuming flesh and blood can occur? Had Christian’s lost sight of the need to live their love as they immersed themselves in the trappings of religion?
I wonder if we too need to be reminded that our faith is not based on our wise philosophies but on One who came to teach us how to love and left us with a living memorial of bread and wine to remind us that loving is of the heart as much as it is of the mind.
Prayer: Lord, while we may enjoy abstracts ideas and discussions, keep us grounded in love as action. Amen.