Ordinary Pilgrimage - Abiding/Sustenance

Opening Prayer

O God, of your goodness, give us yourself, for you are enough for us. We can ask for nothing less that is completely to your honor, and if we do ask anything less, we shall always be in want. Only in you we have all. Amen.

(Collect 92, For Satisfaction in Christ (Julian of Norwich) from the ACNA Book of Common Prayer, page 673 - modified to use third-person plural.)

(SLIDE 1 - Ordinary Pilgrimage)

Introduction - My Pilgrimage

In 2013, as I was preparing to come to Pittsburgh for seminary, my bishop invited me to join him and others on a pilgrimage to Israel. I was delighted! It was something I’ve always wanted to do and (once things settle down) that I want to do again.

In the weeks before the trip, we received a lot of reading material and information about the places we were going to visit, their history, and their present circumstances. We were also warned of the dangers—the present conflict between the Palestinian people and Israel was still relatively tame compared to today’s standards, but there was still danger nonetheless. And yet, I ignored that. The journey would be worth any risk I took (although try telling that to my mother!).

(SLIDE 2 - Me in Israel)

When we finally got there, Israel was amazing. It was life-changing to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, the apostles, the prophets, and the martyrs. We visited the Wailing Wall, the tomb of Christ, the Sea of Galilee, the place where Jesus preached the Beatitudes on the seaside. There were so many beautiful experiences. We visited Golgotha and experienced men and women lying prostrate on the floor, contemplating the redeeming work of Christ on the cross. We walked the Via Dolorosa and stepped into the tomb Christ had once lain.

(SLIDE 3 - Group in Israel)

And yet, when I look back at that time, the things and places I remember most are the friendships I made in those lengthy “in-between” periods on the journey. We talked, prayed, and broke bread together. We struggled, wept, rejoiced, and worshiped - together. We became a community united by faith and partnership in the journey.

All of us who call Christ our Lord are also on a pilgrimage - an ordinary pilgrimage. It is the journey we walk together as we live out our lives. Over the next three weeks, we are going to explore this ordinary pilgrimage we call life and discover God’s plan for us as we walk along his path.

Exegesis

(SLIDE 4 - Ordinary Pilgrimage)

In our passage this morning, from the gospel of John, Jesus invites his disciples on the very same pilgrimage we have undertaken as followers of Christ.

In John’s recounting, on the previous day, Jesus had fed five thousand men (plus women and children!). Later that night, he crossed the Sea of Galilee (on foot! on the water!) as his disciples went ahead of him in a boat. The crowd he addresses in our passage, despite having to walk several miles, had followed along the shore to the other side of the Sea of Galilee to find him. They were, however, not seeking his teaching but wanting another miracle to fill their bellies (cf. John 6:26).

As he begins to respond to their desire for bread, he answers,

(SLIDE 5 - John 6:35)

John 6:35 (ESV)

... “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Yet hearing this response, they were really confused. The wanted bread, not a profound saying! They knew of the Exodus journey under Moses where Israel had also implored God for food in the wilderness. There God fed them with manna and quail and let loose water from the rocks for the entire 40 years. The crowd following Jesus was seeking another miracle to fill their bellies for a day. Jesus, however, was offering them nourishment that would last for eternity.

(SLIDE 6 - John 6:53-54)

In verses 53-54, Jesus continued:

John 6:53–54 (ESV)

… “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

Jesus was not satisfied to give them food and drink for only a day, offered them something much greater than the bread they desired.

Jesus was inviting them on a pilgrimage, a pilgrimage where he is both the destination and the source of sustenance for the journey.

The disappointed crowds began to walk away. The disciples who had imagined he was coming as a king to conquer the Romans or was coming to only meet their immediate needs were not willing to accept what he was asking of them. Perhaps they thought he was mad. Maybe they realized how much they would have to give up to follow him.

The journey Jesus offered to the disciples would not be an easy one. For Jesus, it would mean that the body that they would eat would be his broken body, and the blood that they would drink would be his own blood poured out on the cross of Calvary. And even though the twelve did not understand this yet, this costly grace that Jesus exemplified would become part of the disciples’ own journeys. They would be called to do likewise, to lay down their lives for the good news of Christ and the work of God’s kingdom.

Application

When we first accepted Christ, we embarked on this journey. But what is it we are called to? What is this ordinary pilgrimage?

To begin, we must define the two elements of any pilgrimage: What is the destination? What is the journey?

Destination

Our destination, in simple terms, is abiding with God in eternity. This is not simply the old-fashioned idea of going to Heaven when we die and being amongst our family and friends who have gone on before. It is far more tangible in the present than the “when I die, Hallelujah, by and by” of the old hymn.

When we first believed in Christ, did we only get a “get into heaven free” pass of some sort? When we approach the proverbial gates of heaven and talk to St. Peter, can just whip it out and say, “Here’s my pass! Let me in!”? I don’t think that is at all what he’s talking about.

Christ uses the word “abide” to describe how we receive this eternal life, but what does it mean to abide? I want you to try to think of a healthy family life, perhaps your own. If you are not living with others, think back to your childhood family. In my family, I abide with my wife and my daughter. I am part of their lives, I interact with them. I’m interested in their lives. I’m involved in their activities. When they weep, I weep. When they need comfort, I wrap them in my arms. When they celebrate, I rejoice with them! When they need help, I do what I can. And they do the same for me. Not everyone experiences this, but this is the image that Jesus is conjuring. A community - a family - in relationship and with mutual care and trust for the other.

What Jesus is speaking of is much more than a “get into heaven free” pass.

Our destination on this pilgrimage is relationship. It is eternal life granted to us as we abide in Christ and he abides in us. It is God himself weeping when we weep, rejoicing when we rejoice, helping when we struggle, and forgiving when we fall short. It is us seeking to do what is right, caring for others and giving of our selves to those who need God’s love. What we call “Heaven” - standing with Christ in the heavenly places at the end of our days - is merely the culmination, the summit, of a life-long bond we forge with our Lord and creator.

This relationship exists in the present, not just in the future.

(SLIDE 7- NT Wright quote)

NT Wright, in his commentary on our passage, writes,

John for Everyone, Part 1: Chapters 1–10 (Eating and Drinking the Son of Man (John 6.47–59))

This bread, this bread-of-life which is Jesus himself, is given, and given to be broken in death, so that those who eat of it may not die, but have eternal life in the present and the future and be raised up on the last day.

We must not imagine that our destination is only in the very far future, but in the present, in the here and now. Christ has called us to a pilgrimage that is both destination and journey all mixed up into one—it is a life lived out—Christ abiding in us and we in him.

Journey

Having defined the destination, what does the journey look like?

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer (an early 20th century theologian) describes, the love God pours out upon us does not come cheaply. We have been granted a “costly” grace.

In his book, The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer writes:

Discipleship (Reader’s Edition) (Chapter 1: Costly Grace)

Costly grace is the hidden treasure in the field, for the sake of which people go and sell with joy everything they have. It is the costly pearl, for whose price the merchant sells all that he has; it is Christ’s sovereignty, for the sake of which you tear out an eye if it causes you to stumble. It is the call of Jesus Christ which causes a disciple to leave his nets and follow him.

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which has to be asked for, the door at which one has to knock.

It is costly, because it calls to discipleship; it is grace, because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly, because it costs people their lives; it is grace, because it thereby makes them live. It is costly, because it condemns sin; it is grace, because it justifies the sinner. Above all, grace is costly, because it was costly to God, because it costs God the life of God’s Son—“you were bought with a price”—and because nothing can be cheap to us which is costly to God. Above all, it is grace because the life of God’s Son was not too costly for God to give in order to make us live. God did, indeed, give him up for us. Costly grace is the incarnation of God.

This “costly grace” is the journey we have been called to embark upon. Receiving God’s loving grace when we don’t deserve it and showing it to others who, like us, don’t deserve it either.

Trials

At the end of our passage this morning, we see that many of Jesus’ disciples clearly saw what this grace might cost them. They wanted to fill their own bellies with food, not share it with the world, nor to seek out a path that might cost them.

But Jesus warned the disciples in Matthew’s gospel,

(SLIDE 7A - Matthew 16:24-25)

Matthew 16:24–25 (ESV)

… “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

The pilgrimage we have been called to will be marked by self-sacrifice, pain, strife, and discouragement. But it will also be tempered with indescribable joy and peace as we participate in bringing forth the Kingdom of God. Though we thought we had experienced joy in our worldly pursuits, we will see that they pale in comparison to the life that Christ offers us.

Sustenance

I’ve spent a lot of time introducing this idea of pilgrimage, but now let us hone in on Christ’s promises in today’s passage. The main idea is that God does not call us to this pilgrimage without equipping us and providing for us.

First, if Christ abides in us and we in him, he becomes the source of true life within us. We may have faith that for every sacrifice we make, be it of our time, talent, or treasure, not only is God the source of all that we have, but he will supply us with what we need to continue his work. This does not mean:

He promises us prosperity; rather he promises to meet our needs.

That this is a transaction; God is not a vending machine.

However, it is a promise that if Christ abides in us and we pursue his will, we will be granted what we need to accomplish it.

Second, you might sense that, in this passage, John is using Christ’s words to foreshadow Holy Communion, which we regularly celebrate together. Jesus’ language here should remind us that our participation in that act (1) brings forth and (2) represents that Christ abides in us just as we abide in him (cf. John 6:56). At Communion, eating the bread and drinking the wine nourishes that spiritual union as it also nourishes our physical bodies.

Third, Christ also invites us into a community with one another, into fellowships like we have this morning. We are a community of faith gathered together to worship. But not only to worship, but also to abide with one another. When we abide in Christ, we also abide in the Body of Christ, the Church - not just the pastor, the preacher, the musicians, the chair you are sitting in, or even the roof over your head. It is the family of those who abide in Christ and, therefore, abide in each other. Walking step by step with our brothers and sisters, we have become a family in Christ (often just as dysfunctional as families may sometimes be). When we are seeking Christ at our best, we should weep when our family weeps, rejoice when they celebrate, help when they struggle, correct when they fail, and forgive when they fall short.

Conclusion

(SLIDE 8 - Ordinary Pilgrimage)

Just like my pilgrimage to Israel, the memories of the ordinary pilgrimage of our lives will not necessarily be of the places you’ve been or the things you’ve seen. It is about the relationships you have formed, the kinship of those who walk alongside you in the Body of Christ. Those memories will be of those with whom we have shared our lives, trials, and successes.

We have been granted an extraordinary gift as we respond to Christ’s call to us to lay down our lives for others - we have been given a community of men and women, children, and elders who will walk beside us along this journey. We have also been granted Christ’s presence in our own hearts and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to work through our lives.

This sustenance - the food and drink we receive from Christ - is not simply for us to live in the now and eternity. It is fuel to energize us for our work. Like eating breakfast in the morning, we get revitalized for the day ahead of us. When we receive the supernatural food of eternal life in Christ, we likewise are enlivened to do the special works of grace that God has called us to: caring for the orphans and the widows, walking alongside our brothers and sisters in their trials, and proclaiming the good news of God’s offer of salvation from our bondage to sin and death!

We are called, each one of us, to embark anew on this journey. Your sustenance (your food and your water) can only be found in the person of Jesus Christ dwelling within you in Holy Communion and in the community of the Body of Christ. We are on this pilgrimage together. Let us not fail to abide with our beloved savior and one another and encouraging others to, as St. Paul writes,

Philippians 3:14 (ESV)

… press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.