Union Church

August 2, 2009.
John 6: 24-27, 30-35.

What are we doing when we are looking for proofs and seeking for truths?

Sometimes we are just curious.
Sometimes we are hungering and thirsting after righteousness.
Sometimes we are seeking a way forward in tough times.
Sometimes we need answers for our troubling questions.

Behind every question of proof and truth lies some measure of hope;
hope in a better tomorrow, hope in a loving God,
hope for a peace at the last.

John’s gospel has just told the story of the feeding of the 5,000 with the 5 loaves, 2 fish and 12 baskets of leftover food. The people recognize the sign of the Kingdom and want to take Jesus by force to make him king. But he escapes into the hills.

Today’s scripture reading begins the very next day when they catch up with Jesus in Capernaum and want more proof, more signs that Jesus is the awaited prophet.

Jesus realizes that the people are really looking for more food and tells them so. He tells them to work for the food that endures forever. They get into a discussion about manna in the wilderness and then he tells them that he is the bread of life.
But this outright statement is too much for the people and they reject him.

One person’s proof is another person’s scepticism.
One day’s miracles are the next day’s expectations.
One person’s clarification is another person’s blasphemy.

Now remember “I am” in other words, Yahweh is a God statement.
It could only be used one day of the year by the high priest.
Jesus says “I am the bread of life.”
In other words, he is saying, “I am one with God.”
This is too much information, too much proof,
and too much clarity.

The problem with seeking proofs and truths is that we are often not ready for them or don’t know how to receive them.

Remember the old line, “Be careful what you pray for, you just might get it.”

In our story, truths and proofs are to be recognized by how they feed us, how they nourish our souls and fortify our spirit.
The truths of the Christian life don’t wear us down, they build us up.
The proof of God’s presence restores our soul.

Let’s take some time to reflect upon the past month.

What things have worn you down?
What experiences drained you?
What things have fed you?
What experiences have lifted your spirit?

Now perhaps there might have been a really taxing situation but you still felt better because of it.
There was feeding going out from you and coming in towards you.

The Application for Today:

The proof is in the practise.
The truth is always life giving.

Song: A 1,000 Beautiful Things. Annie Lennox

Ephesians: 4:1-16.

Here we have it. Paul is talking to the early church of every generation.

He tells us: It is not about building fences,
it is about mending fences.
It’s not about avoiding conflict,
it’s about managing conflict.
It’s not about all being the same,
it’s about embracing the rich diversity.
It’s not about remaining adolescent,
it’s about maturity in the faith.
It’s not about acting out, it’s about acting in love.

Paul has to remind us about all this because it takes work. It takes practise.
Practise refines and improves all that we do.

This is what I mean.
Last year on vacation John (my husband) and his younger brother had a serious falling out. Things were said and done that could not be realistically resolved by any stretch of the imagination.

John was prepared to live with the alienation. But as his brother’s health and well-being continued to deteriorate over the winter, and as his mother kept pushing him to somehow do the ‘Christian thing,’ by late spring, he came to realize that his brother was rarely the kind of younger brother he wanted, and that John was rarely the kind older brother Chris needed.

With this painful insight John endeavoured to mend the fence between them.
He decided to stop avoiding the conflict in their relationship and start managing the conflict creatively.
He chose to stop demanding that Chris be ‘normal’ like John and accepted the differences between them, and the diversity of the human condition.
John stopped acting out and started acting in love toward his brother.

Visiting his mother in late May, John asked Chris over for dinner with us.
He spoke the words of truth he had come to understand that indited and absolved them both.
John apologised for not being the brother Chris needed him to be.
He didn’t expect or receive any reciprocation on Chris’ part.
John offered the embrace of fellowship and Chris grudgingly accepted it.

John learned to hold the good and the bad in the same moment and not have to resolve them.
He learned to hold the good and the bad in the same situation and not have to negate one of them.
He learned to hold the good and the bad in the same relationship, and find a higher or deeper unity of which the apostle Paul speaks.

And all this happened just in time.
When we went down to visit during the first part of our vacation, in July, Chris had received the shocking news that his lungs where shot, they didn’t respond to medication, and there was no other treatment available. The specialist didn’t know how
or why this happened. The only hope was for a lung transplant if Chris lived that long. Another collapsed lung and he probably wouldn’t make it to the Emergency Ward.

John was able to be there for him as only an older brother can be. Chris’ spirit is lifting and his life though tenuous is improving.
And interestingly enough, John’s life is improving too.

The Affirmation for this Week is:

I chose to mend my fence with (insert name).

The Practise is: Acting in love.