As we continue with our look at faith issues and scriptural passages that some may find troubling, today we consider some of the problems that revolve around the sacraments. Both baptism and communion are misunderstood by many, which is, in itself, a big concern. The problem?
First, baptism. Baptism is seen by some as their ticket to heaven, which of course is false. Others believe that baptism is a membership ritual, and some only desire baptism because their grandparents encourage them to do it.
In a document prepared by the General Board of Discipleship (“By Water and the Spirit”), we read “Many in the Church regarded baptism, both of infants and adults, as a dedication rather than a sacrament. The commission pointed out that in a dedication, we make a gift of a life to God for God to accept, while in a sacrament, God offers the gift of unfailing grace for us to accept.”
Eternal life is granted to those who give authority over their lives to Jesus Christ and his teachings, and surrender their own desires to him. It is God’s to give, and ours to accept, not the other way around.
Communion, the only other United Methodist sacrament, is not only misunderstood in many ways, but communion liturgy is also portrayed, by some, as objectional! And why? Because we are told that we should “feast on the body and blood of Jesus”! Apparently, they don’t think that what the Lord intended should matter, but it does. So let’s discover what he did mean.
Read John 6:35-40
Preceding this passage is the time when Jesus fed the five thousand with 5 small barley loaves and 2 small fish. That night, Jesus and his disciples cross the Galilee, and when the people follow, he tells them that he knows that they aren’t actually looking for him, but rather for more of the food he had given them the previous day. And he continues with a discussion of how God had fed them during their time of travel to the Promised Land. Manna would never become a cherished meal, but he reminds them that it had also become known as “the bread of heaven” – that it was God-given! And he concludes with “… the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:32-34) And that is the context for today’s word.
His statement “ I am the Bread of Life” is the first of the seven “I Am” statements that we find in John’s gospel. The purpose for each, individually and collectively, is to reveal just who Jesus is for the world. The problem, though, is that far too many people focus just on the words, and not on the context for each. Every one of the seven is surrounded by a significant discourse that describes just what each “I Am” is meant to be for us.
One point that is evident in each, if not explicit, is that these are attributes that his Heavenly Father had ordained. God sent the manna during their 40 year journey to the new home. He conquered nations to clear their way in life. He raised up Judges and Kings and Prophets to guide their way in authority. And he sent Jesus to complete the promise he had made to send a Messiah to redeem them from the ravages of earth. But they couldn’t believe in Jesus because he looked too plain, too gentle, too earthly to be their Deliverer. God gave, but they just wouldn’t accept.
So Jesus begins offering them the proof of his divinity by telling them that he is their bread of life – a life that would come to them completely through the eternal love, the infinite goodness, the absolute truth of their Lord and God and Savior. And he makes the comparison between the world’s bread and the bread of heaven.
The bread of earth makes for a pretty good sandwich, but a few hours later, we will always be hungry again. But the “bread” that Jesus brings to our lives is totally different. It doesn’t satisfy the grumbling in our stomach like a sandwich does, but it will always fulfill the yearning of our soul. Feeding on the things of earth require a constant renewing, over and over again, day in and day out, and each time, our hunger will only be relieved temporarily. The bread of Jesus, on the other hand, doesn’t address our physical needs – it is the answer to the question of hunger for eternal life, and it only takes one helping of Jesus to complete the task.
But the problem, again, is that even though people see and hear and experience the presence and work of the Lord, far too many still don’t believe, but faith in the life of Jesus will always be the key to feasting with him. And the entire concept isn’t Jesus’ idea – it is the Father’s. It seems that Jesus is as much a servant of the eternal God as we should be. And God’s will? That all would feast on the Son by faith, and discover the divine satisfaction that only he can provide.
The blessings and works and promises of God have always been perfect, but while the people knew the joys of the Lord, their faith always fell short. But Jesus tells us that IF we come to him, it’s forever!
Read John 6:41-46
And some things never change! The Jews groused through their entire 40 years of wilderness living, and they were still complaining! They got a little hungry then, and told Moses that life had been better back in Egypt because they, at least, had food to eat back there. (They had forgotten what that life had really been like!) They wanted some food, but when Jehovah God sent them manna every morning and quail every evening, it wasn’t very long before they started complaining that they didn’t like the diet. What would it take to satisfy them? Apparently, nothing!
Another problem for the crowd is that some of them knew Jesus’ family. They knew that Joseph and Mary were his parents, that he is a human man, so how could he ever be from heaven? It’s true that Jesus was fully human, but he was also fully God, and there’s the rub! It was a totally foreign concept for them, as no one had ever done that before – or since then, for that matter. So his claims, his teaching, couldn’t possibly be true.
And then there are these words – no one comes to Jesus unless the Father draws them to him. More words that are misunderstood. This is one of those passages that lead some to believe in predestination, that God has already decided who will be saved in Jesus, and who will be condemned for eternity. But as we read further, we discover that this drawing comes through listening to and learning from God’s word, and not by some random, indiscriminate, irrational decision on the Lord’s part. It’s the divine plan for salvation that comes from “feeding” on Jesus in faith!
Read John 6:47-52
And here it is – not only is Jesus the bread of life, but that this life resides in his flesh. So all that we have to do is eat it! You’re right – in a literal sense, that is gross! But as we have discussed in previous messages, Jesus always used worldly terms to describe spiritual concepts. The worldly message is that no matter how much food we eat, no matter how healthy it may be, no matter how lovingly we may encourage others to eat well, everyone will, one day, die. It isn’t because the food lacks in nutrition – it’s just that the world’s food is incapable of saving us forever.
But the food that Jesus prepares for us is eternal. It is based in the humanity that he was to surrender at Calvary, the place where his flesh suffered so terribly at the hands of the very people he had come to save. The flesh that he relinquished for our benefit, the human life that he lived, and the human life that became the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the world, would become the perfect and eternal nourishment for all who would surrender their own lives to him in faith and trust.
The fleshly, human existence of Jesus that has taught us all what Godly ways are all about, is the very spiritual nourishment that our frail existence is in such dire need of. And if we never again hunger or thirst in the Spirit, we will also never know spiritual death.
Read John 6:53-60
And the sacrament of communion is introduced. But we have to take a moment to consider the significance, in a slightly different way, of eating the flesh of Jesus, and drinking the blood that he shed.
First, the “flesh” of our Lord would be resurrected on Easter morning. The humanness of Jesus would no longer be bound by the limitations and frailty and death of earth. When we allow this freed and eternal Being of Jesus into our lives, we, too, will no longer be bound to the certainty of death that is the world’s only option. Eating, or consuming, or being nourished by the life, the new, resurrected, eternal life of Jesus, we will, one day, know the same resurrected and eternal life that Jesus now lives.
As for drinking his “blood”, the ancients believed that the life force of any being – human or animal – resided in their blood. And if they conquered an enemy who was recognized as being more powerful, stronger, wiser, greater than they were, and if they drank the life’s blood of that defeated enemy, they would gain his great abilities. In Matthew 26:26-29, we read that by drinking from the cup of Christ - the cup that represents the new covenant of eternal life, the cup that represents Christ’s blood - that it isn’t life or power or wisdom that we receive, but forgiveness for our sin. Jesus was the perfect man who was without sin, and by partaking of the perfect blood of Jesus, we, too, will be as though we are without sin. God’s gift, that we have to accept.
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.” Faith and nourishment in Jesus and his teachings is the only way that anyone can ever become part of him for eternity. Manna, the original bread from heaven, was able to sustain the people of Israel for 40 years of wilderness living, and during those years, the Lord also set down his expectations for the people, but in the end, neither manna nor adherence to the God given law, could provide them with eternal life. So the Father sent his Son to the lost souls of earth, to provide them with a path to eternity. Jesus, the perfect man, would become the one-time blood sacrifice to atone for all of the sins of the world, and he would rise from the grave as a sign that a Godly life could not be contained by human death.
And when this lesson is taken literally in the words and meaning of earth, it makes no sense. But when the lesson is put into spiritual truth, it means everything for us. It demonstrates the great and undeserved love that Almighty God has for the unworthy likes of you and me. Communion, in which we are told to “remember” all that Jesus is and did for us, represents the culmination of Christ’s great act of redemption. Of course, that includes far more than just his experience at Calvary. It includes his leaving glory to become a part of the creation that he took part in. It includes the teaching of God’s will to the unbelieving, unfaithful, unworthy, incapable of understanding the greatness, commitment and passion of our Messianic Savior. It includes the insults, the lies, the abuse, the hatred, the conspiracies that were hatched against him and then forced upon him. And it especially includes the moment that he took the sins of the entire world onto himself – an act so horrible and un-Godly that his own Father had to turn away from him. (Mark 15:33-34)
God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – went through unbelievable trials, just to create a way for us to live with him in eternity. Imagine how he must feel when people proclaim that his final act at Calvary, and the lesson that Jesus taught, that we must receive his flesh and consume his blood - is nothing short of disgusting and inconceivable.
May our hearts and lives receive him today, and may we know the fulness of the truth of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
