Sacred Space. . .: August 2012

John 6:51-58

The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. . .

I know a little girl whose name is Sylvia. She’s eight years old now, but I’d like to share something that she said when she was just four years old. I’ve never really forgotten it because it was at once, wildly silly and beautifully childlike and at the same time, pretty observant with language that was wise beyond her years.

One day, out of nowhere, Sylvia suddenly brought up a topic with an intriguing introductory sentence. She said, “I’m going to tell you something that isn’t true, but it’s also Very True.” Hmm. . . what an interesting way to introduce something. . . It isn’t true, but it’s also Very True. . . Sounds like some kind of metaphysical riddle, like something of absolute depth was about to come out of her mouth. . . “Well, what is it, Sylvia?”

“Did you know that Tweety Bird can fly AND hold things because she has wings AND arms?!?”

Yep, there it it is. At once, wildly silly and beautifully childlike and at the same time, observant with language that was wise beyond her years. It really was. She had observed that most birds don’t have wings and arms, but the cartoon Tweety Bird did. And since Tweety Bird is a cartoon, she isn’t real, so this observation “isn’t true,” but at the same time, according to four-year old Sylvia, somehow wings and arms both get to the crux of who Tweety Bird is and what she can do (fly and hold things at the same time!) so the observation is also Very True. It isn’t true but it’s also Very True.

Well, that language has stuck with me over the years, and I find myself thinking about it from time to time. Not True but also Very True. And I found myself thinking of it again this week when I began to study the passage we just heard from the Gospel of John. Jesus tells his followers what they must do in this passage, and let’s just be honest here. The language is pretty graphic. It involves eating his flesh and drinking his blood, and that sounds kind of cannibalistic. Now of course, we know that isn’t really what he meant, and we might not want to admit in church that our minds kind of moved in this direction. But we can be honest: Some of us went there. Thank goodness we don’t have to take this command to eat flesh and drink blood at face value.

I’m going to insert something here that theologian John Dominic Crossan says, that no one actually takes the Bible completely literally. He says, “When the Bible tells that Jesus is the Lamb of God, no one says that Mary had a little lamb!” (I love that).

And that reminder might be helpful for us today. This language might not be the first set of words we would use to describe our relationship with Jesus. But it has something to say to us. We don’t have to take it at face value, but that also means we also don’t have to dismiss it. We now get to enter one of those wonderful situations of faith where something isn’t true, but is at the same time, Very True.

Jesus says, “The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” When we think of Jesus giving his flesh, we might think of what we know to be true: That Jesus was eventually crucified, killed unjustly on a cross. And around here, we say that that Jesus died for a reason. It wasn’t in order to offer up some kind blood and gore on our account. No, Jesus died because he lived a life of such radical love that he threatened those who were in power. Do you know why radical love can threaten those in power? Radical love does that because it goes to those who have no power. Radical love sits with the powerless and loves them through and through as the people they are -- people worth love, value, and attention. People who love radically like Jesus did, naturally challenge structures of power because they love the powerless, and by choosing to be with them, they tear down the very barriers that have made them excluded. That’s how Jesus lived. That’s Very True. And we believe that Jesus modeled that love – love for the powerless and love for you and me – even unto death if that’s what it took to show God’s love, even unto death on a cross. He never stopped loving all the way there.

“The bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Jesus didn’t say, “The bread I will give for the life of the world is a bunch of ideas.” Or “The bread I will give for the life of the world is bunch of really good theological propositions.” Or even, “The bread I will give for the life of the world is a blueprint to implement forms of charity that help people, but keep them at arms’ length so that they remain anonymous.” No. Jesus is the Bread that has come down from heaven. He aims to give himself to us. He aims to live on our behalf. He does it now. He gives himself.

And what are we to do? We are to focus our energy and attention so deeply on him that we take this kind of life in. We take it to be within ourselves. He is the bread, and he is the life-blood that is to be in our bones. Eating flesh and drinking blood? Not true. But consuming this great love and putting it into action? That is Very True. That’s the Very True life to which are called.

We have people in this church who know what it’s like to feel powerless.

We have people who know what the cancer wing of the hospital is like.

We have people who know the deep and abiding fear that someday they might lose their mental faculties or memories, and we have spouses and adult children and grandchildren in this church who have painfully watched this happen to people they love.

We have people who are bright, intelligent, and gifted in various ways, but who have struggled deeply to know whether they’ll have a job and enough money to pay the bills.

And we have people in this church who come here weekly for food assistance. It feels as though this economy has eaten them and spit them out. Many of them speak Spanish. Some of them are fearful about discrimination and deportation. All of them have great gifts and abilities, great hope and dreams for themselves and their children.

Some of us give food and money to help them. And this is a great start. But I ask myself some tough questions and wonder if Jesus would do something differently if he walked in this church. I wonder he would stand in the food line with them. I’m certain he would know their names. I am a pastor of this church, and I am ashamed to tell you that I only know a handful of names of the people from Spanish Language Ministry. Isn’t that sad?

I know some people, and that’s good. I say hello to them on Sunday mornings, and that’s a start. But it’s just a start. I bet the Very True life calls you and me to know these people by name and to love them, to go over and sit with them sometime, to even work really hard to learn their language. After all, so many of them have worked hard and are working hard now to learn ours. What if we learned theirs too? I bet we wouldn’t just learn vocabulary words. I bet we would learn about human lives – stories, passions, dreams, struggles. Maybe those are the kinds of things we need to eat. Maybe we need to eat the Bread from heaven of being together and loving. Maybe we need to eat the Life-Blood that says, “I’m not just going to do things anonymously for you. I’m going to enter kinship with you and let you change my life.”

That is the Very True kind of life. That is the kind of life where people eat around the same table and consume who Jesus is and how he lived. I wonder, how will you live the Very True kind of life, loving most deeply and living for that which matters most? How will you do it, and how will this church do it? I can’t wait to discover this feast. I can’t wait. Let’s find out. Amen.

Renee Roederer, Associate Pastor, and the Community at Pasadena Presbyterian Church

Sacred Space. . .

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Love Looks Like This. . .

Sunday, August 19, 2012

The 'Very True' Life

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Young Adults in the News!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Wednesday Night: Music and BBQ!!!!