18^th August 2012

Rev Dr Max Champion at St John's UCA Mt Waverley Sunday 12 August 2012

Lessons - Psalm 78:1-3,10-20; 1 Corinthians 10:16,17; John 6:35,41-51

Jesus said, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, those who believe that I am
the living bread that has come down from heaven have eternal life'.
(John 6:47,51)

Surely we have had more than our fill! For the third week in a row our theme is the 'bread of life'. The crowd has been fed (1-15) and the difference between consumer religion (which gives us what we want) and faith in Christ (who gives us far more than we could have imagined) has been made plain (25-35).

Today, though, we see more clearly that 'bread' not only symbolises what Jesus does, but who he is! He, who feeds our bodies and souls in his body, is 'the living bread that has come down from heaven' to show us 'eternity'
(v51). Already we have learnt that Jesus is 'the bread of life'. Now he is described as the 'living bread' who sustains us for 'eternal life'. In him God's eternal plan became en-fleshed in the world.

That he is 'from God' (and is not a creation of ours to satisfy our needs) is shown by references to 'from heaven'. This is not to be understood literally as coming from a space 'up there'. It is symbolic of the 'otherness of God'. To say that Christ is 'from heaven' is to say that, in Christ, 'heaven' is present with us. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (Mark 1:14). He is 'of one being with God the Father' (as the Nicene Creed puts it).

As we think about how this imagery is used, we must resist the temptations to spiritualise Jesus (and treat him as an un-earthly heavenly being) and to spiritualise faith (as an un-earthly belief preoccupied with what happens after death).

John would be horrified if, after reading his Gospel, we thought like that! He deliberately links 'bread', 'heaven' and 'eternal life' to Jesus to encourage us to live out a 'this-worldly faith' in God (our heavenly
Father) whose incomparable goodness and mercy have been en-fleshed in
Christ (on earth).

When we think of 'eternal life' and 'heaven' we probably imagine a time and a place where we go after we die: a future state of being that lasts forever. If so then many of us would baulk at the prospect or find it fanciful. Who wants to go on forever if it means more of the same? Better to assume that death is the end!

There is a future dimension to 'eternal life'. The creeds speak of believing in 'the life everlasting' (Apostles' Creed) and 'looking for the life of the world to come' (Nicene Creed). But they do so only after they have affirmed that, in Christ incarnate, the very Being of God has come into the midst of our broken world.

Thankfully, eternity is not 'one damned thing after another' - a boring, endless time to be endured. Heaven forbid! John portrays 'eternal life' as a quality of life - quality time - that Jesus' followers 'already have'
(v47). That is why he links eternity with bread. Eternity can be tasted in time spent now in the company of Jesus! This is well expressed in Australian Hymn Book 305 which says, 'Now is eternal life, if risen with Christ we stand.'

John makes clear that Christ both nourishes our life in the world now and is a foretaste of eternally rich and joyful communion with God.

What is it about this 'living bread' that gives such confidence? The clue is found in two puzzling and obscure sayings:

* First, Jesus speaks of 'raising up the faithful at the last day'
(vv44,39,40). The reference is to the resurrection to the dead which is grounded in Christ's resurrection (mentioned in v39). Because God's incarnate Son has not been defeated by the power of evil and death, everybody who is called to 'share in his life with the God the Father'
will be raised to 'eternal life'. The quality of life that disciples already know in time spent with Christ will not be snuffed out even by the horror of sin and death!

* Second and closely related to this, Jesus says that whoever eats 'the bread which I shall give for the life of the world - the bread that is my flesh - will live forever' (v51). The symbol of bread is deepened so that it is now identified with the body of Christ - with the One whose suffering, crucified and risen body embodied the self-giving, reconciling love of God 'for the world' (v51c).

It is important to see that God's sustaining love in Christ is not only for disciples but 'for the world'. As John said earlier in the famous
text: 'God so loved the world that he sent Christ so that we may have eternal life. (3:16)' What has taken place in him is a solid sign of hope for a world where, for so many people, bread is in short supply and bodies are broken and die.

The crucial issue is whether we believe the incredible claim that, in Jesus, the Word of God has become flesh and embodies the sustaining grace of eternal God. Do we believe that in Christ God has transformed our time by his timely presence with us?

The crowd, like many of us and others throughout history, tries to dodge the question about Jesus' heavenly purpose by pointing to his human family (v42). He is nothing special! They cannot fathom the mystery of God's incarnate presence in Christ. They cannot accept that he has come 'from heaven' to give eternal significance to this life and the life of the world to come.

John knew the difficulties of 'believing' this word: how hard it is in our broken world to imagine 'heaven' and 'eternal life'. That is why he takes the solid stuff of bread and re-shapes it to encourage us to see in Jesus the One who truly satisfies our daily hunger and sustains our lives in hope.

Thus John helps us to believe that, despite awful things that happen in time, God's eternal plan shall not be thwarted.

* What a blessing it is to believe that, in the broken and re-made body of Jesus Christ, the Creator of all things has come in such a timely way into the midst of our broken world to feed us, body, mind and spirit, with the bread of eternal life.

* What a privilege it is, as the community called into communion with God, to be part of the bread of life that feeds body and soul in our time.

* What a responsibility it is to stand with Christ alongside those whose bodies are malnourished and whose hopes are shattered by unscrupulous people who use their time for evil purposes.

* And what a joy it is to know that the 'eternal life' already en-fleshed in Christ is a foretaste of 'life everlasting' and 'the life of the world to come' - a time of eternal communion with the God of grace.

So may we rejoice in the gift of 'eternal life' by living out a fully 'this-worldly' faith, certain that nothing in time can ultimately defeat God's good and gracious purposes. May we, being confident because the One who sustains our life in the world has been raised from the dead, look forward to that time when those who have been called to believe in him shall be raised to everlasting life.

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Rev Dr Max Champion is minister in the St John's Uniting Church, Mt Waverley, Victoria, Australia.

Dr Champion is Chair of the Assembly of Confessing Congregations within the UCA.

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