Proper 16

John 6:56–69 (NIV84)

56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.” 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

We have discussed the idea of Jesus as the ‘bread of life’ quite a bit … and we don’t need to explore that MORE this morning.

What I want to focus on is the last three verses of this passage

In which a number of the people who had been following Jesus turn away and Jesus asks the twelve if they’re going to leave too.

Peter is the one who speaks, per usual, and I think there’s a lot going on in his answer.

“Where else would we go? Who else would we go to? You have the words of eternal life.”

You always want to be careful to not read your own feelings into the scriptures.

Like assuming a tone that might not be there or overly psychologizing people’s words.

BUT the scriptures ARE living and active, not static.

Partly because every-time we come to them we’re a different person at a different place in life.

And so sometimes when we read a passage something strikes us in a new way and we relate to it in a new way.

A decade ago I’m sure I read this passage differently and heard the tone of Peter’s answer differently.

I had a bit more youthful energy then and much more excited optimism about the American church.

I’m sure I read Peter’s answer as being sort of proudly defiant, like a “we’ll never leave you, Jesus!”

And I’m sure I would have had a more simplistic, binary view of the the faithless “those people”, and the faithful “us”.

But as I sit here today, I am very tired.

And, just like in this passage, I’m watching people walk away from Jesus.

It’s not “those people”, theoretical unbelievers, it’s my friends,

College roommates

Neighbors

People I ministered to when they were young adults

People I was on church staff with not terribly long ago

People who just reached a breaking point and were like “I’m out. I can’t anymore.”

I had lunch the other day with a guy who I’ve known since he was in my high school group and he grew up to work for a few different churches and he told me casually, totally unbothered, that he no longer identifies as Christian.

And knowing his story, I get it.

There are a whole host of reasons WHY people are walking away, a big one being the hurt people experienced in unhealthy churches.

The rise of Christian nationalism hasn’t helped either.

There’s A LOT right now.

And there’s also levels to it.

Some have stepped away from the CHURCH but not their faith entirely.

Some are right on the edge and still involved in a faith community but struggling.

In a lot of these examples people are walking away because of things that are antithetical to the way of Jesus.

Things that undermine the credibility of the church’s message and make the whole thing seem like a scam.

sometimes it’s because life just feels too broken and they can’t reconcile where god is in the midst of it

But sometimes people walk away because the truth of what it means to follow Jesus is just too disruptive for them.

They might have been given a watered down, superficial gospel wrapped in fun church programs and when they come up against the implications of loving our neighbors it’s a bridge too far

Being called to any sort of denial or change is too much

this is exacerbated if you've experienced legalistic cultures or abusive leadership

But I think this is more of the case for what we see in this passage. Jesus has said some stuff that just makes the people who had been with him too uncomfortable.

It went from Jesus being the cool guy who multiplied bread to Jesus saying they need to eat his flesh.

And a lot of people just decide it’s getting to be too much.

Following Jesus just makes less sense to them now and the commitment to Jesus isn’t strong enough to pull them through the cloud of their confusion and discomfort.

Jesus turns to the twelve, “How about you guys?”

And you know what I don’t hear in Peter’s answer anymore? Brash confidence.

He doesn’t say, “Don’t be ridiculous.”

He says, “Where else would we go?”

Of course you can read that with different tones and it makes all the difference.

But I can’t help but wonder if, when Jesus asks if they’re out too, some of them aren’t thinking

“I don’t know man.”

Truth is I’m not sure the twelve understood what Jesus was saying about eating his flesh any more than the people who left.

And we know that at some point, when the heat really gets turned up, they do fall away.

The disciples lived the tension of faith like all of us.

But Peter DOES make a confession. An important one.

“You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

And THAT is the moment I’m interested in and maybe it’s a moment you can relate to.

Where you feel the push or the pull to just be DONE WITH IT.

Maybe you’ve felt that recently.

Maybe you feel it now.

You’ve watched others walk away from the Church and some of them seem happy.

And you’ve about reached your limit with how much drama and confusion you can handle from the Church.

And sometimes it all feels more like a weight than a gift and if someone asked, “why don’t you just walk away” you don’t have a great answer except

I just still believe Jesus is the way to life.

You don’t feel like a super Christian

You aren’t waking up every morning on a camp high blasting worship music

Every post or podcast about another abusive church

Every absurd political stunt someone claims to be doing for God

Every ridiculous Christian influencer or celebrity you see on Instagram pushes you closer to the edge

But you just cannot walk away from Jesus

You just still believe despite it all.

Apparently the verb “believe” appears in Johns gospel more than eighty times, more than in all of Paul’s letters combined.

John tells us that he writes the Gospel so that we would believe that Jesus is the one sent to bring life.

Sometimes belief is strong and secure and rooted

and sometimes it feels as thin as fishing line tethering you to Jesus

or some magnetic pull that you just can’t break

And you know what? That’s enough.

The goal of following Jesus is ultimately to find a deep and secure rest in him.

But sometimes, during certain seasons, the extent of our faith is “where else would I go?”

To the self-help gurus, spiritualists, and faux-experts?

To the cynics who just want to tear everything down?

To the marketplace to find meaning and purpose in climbing the corporate ladder and getting stuff?

Where else would I go?

Jesus is the one sent to bring life.

And I don’t get it all the time and sometimes I want nothing to do with his church.

But where else would I go?

You don’t have to pretend if that’s the extent of your faith right now.

If you read through the gospels you’ll see example after example of people who just have this spark of faith.

And it’s enough to bring them to Jesus or see Jesus work in their lives.

Take care of that small flame

And pray for those in your lives that are in a similar place