Sermon of 13 August 2006:

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Readings: 1 Kings 19:4-8, Psalm 34:1-8, Ephesians 4:25-5:2, John 6:35, 41-51

We see in John's Gospel this morning the continuation of the feeding of the five thousand. After Jesus walked across the Sea of Galilee to meet the disciples, they reached the far shore at Capernaum, where the following day, the crowd that had been fed journeyed in search of Jesus. Having found him, he chastises them for only seeking him out because they had gotten their fill from the bread he gave them, saying instead that it is the Bread of God which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world that they ought to seek. They ask for this bread and Jesus explains, saying "I am the bread of life." "Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

We find out later in this part of the story that this interaction takes place at the synagogue, which is important to remember because when John refers to "the Jews," he is almost invariably referring to the religious leaders of Israel, as I would assert is the case in this part of the story, where they challenge Jesus' authority and teaching, managing to win away some of his followers in the process.

The tension between Jesus and the Jewish religious authorities is not surprising considering how unconventional Jesus' message and teachings are. Yet, as he demonstrates throughout his life, Christ teaches us today that his purpose amongst us, and our purpose as his followers is to raise up, to nourish with unperishing bounty, to give life – abundant and everlasting – especially to those who hunger most for physical and spiritual nourishment.

We hear a lot about nourishment in our readings today. Elijah, who fled in fear from Jezebel's wrath after defeating and putting to the sword all the prophets of Baal, was so physically and spiritually nourished and strengthened by the angelic food he was offered in the wilderness that he journeyed forty days and nights on the strength of it to the mount of God.

The Psalmist sings out for joy "Taste and see that the Lord is good!"

And Paul exhorts us to be imitators of God, to provide that spiritual nourishment that comes with living in Love as beloved Children of God.

I'm reminded of our guest preacher, who told us about "food for the poor," I'm reminded of OldIntern’s visit last month and her work in El Salvador, I'm reminded of Father Rector’s compelling story about the Navajoland work trip, my own experiences on mission in Honduras, and the incredible outpouring of aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and other major storms of last year. But I'm also struck today by the incredible importance of our gospel message in the context of our modern world where we're faced with continuing terrorist threats, escalating aggressions throughout the middle east, Typhoons in China, and even our own local clouds of insecticides, which continue to descend on us whether we want them or not.

Barring a few major catastrophic events, this is not a world climate in which nourishing others seems to be a priority. As we become more and more encouraged by the media to center on our own individual wants and egos and more and more inwardly focused on individualism, we become more and more separated from our roots in community and finding our center in the extended family of our wider world. Subsequently, we find ourselves primarily concerned with our own well being, with our own personal spiritual and physical nourishment. What we lose sight of in the process is that we cannot, of our own accord, find the spiritual nourishment that can only come through the greater community of God.

Part of the vehemence with which the religious leaders reacted against Jesus and with which rabbinical Jews reacted against messianism was because it was a family quarrel. Up until the 2nd century, there was no such thing as Christianity as a distinct religion, rather there were the Jews who followed the traditional teachings of the rabbis, and there were the Jews and a growing number of non- Jews who followed the more radical teachings of Jesus. As family tensions grew, there was a growing rift that ruptured into a chasm in the 2nd century – with rabbinical Jews basically saying to messianic Jews "we are no longer related and I can no longer be held responsible for the well being of your soul." Since this is when scholars believe John wrote his gospel, it is no small wonder that John treats the Jewish religious leaders who were opposed to Jesus a bit harshly. Unfortunately, we as human beings, and more specifically as Christians, have perpetuated this tendency toward division throughout our long history – trying desperately to find the "right" path, or the "true" message to the exclusion and detriment of those who disagree with us.

However, what we hear from Jesus today in response to his criticisms from the religious leaders of his time, and what we can receive as a message of hope today, is a message of promise in the mutual nourishment of God's covenant of love. Jesus reminds us that all of us who seek out a relationship with God find ourselves in a community that is nourished and cherished by God. Where we seek to create artificial divisions that inhibit community and pit one group against another, Christ teaches us that God seeks no such boundaries, but rather gathers us all together as one in God's own all encompassing community of love.

As imitators of Christ, Paul exhorts us today to become instruments of that same gathering, that same raising up, that same boundary-shattering love that Christ tries so desperately to teach us in his limited time with us.

For us today, that means moving outside of our comfort zones, outside of our selves, even outside of our comfortable private communities, to reach out to those around us who need us, and whom we need in order to reclaim the greater community of God that strives to nourish the whole world in God's love and compassion.

In a world where terrorism strives to limit our freedoms and strives to strike fear in our hearts in place of love, we can no longer afford to entertain the whims of our own personal, individualist, egos. The collective malaise of the USA today is founded on a lack of compassion for those around us, a lack of interest in the wider world, and an ambivalence toward groups who think differently than our own. With the overwhelming amount of violence inundating us in our daily news around the world, it has become so much easier to ignore or inwardly complain about the great collective "other" who is messing things up for everyone else in the world that we seem no longer able or willing to accept responsibility for our own complicity in the degeneration of society and the world around us. Christ calls us back to the center. We are all connected, all interdependent, we are all one body – and we can no more do without each other than the body can do without its own interdependent parts.

Fuego and I recently went to see Al Gore's movie – "An Inconvenient Truth." Although the film has its flaws, it does an amazing job of demonstrating the interconnectedness of every human being on this planet to each other, to every other living creature, and to every ecosystem. I was struck by how much of my own life I have lived in willful ignorance of the wider impact I have in the global community. Unfortunately, the film doesn't offer many solutions until the end credits, which makes it all seem a bit overwhelming. But whether or not you are willing to accept the scientific realities of global warming, the point of that film, and the reality of our modern world is that each of us has an incredible responsibility to do what we can to make a change toward our own global health.

If we are truly to mirror Christ as Paul suggests in today's readings, we are each called to an accountability of how we are using the resources at our disposal. Are we nourishing others' physical and spiritual needs, as Christ compels us through his life and example? Are we raising each other up, reaching out to those in need and pulling them back into the center of our global community? For many of us, the answer becomes "yes" when we sense an acute need, but the truth of the matter is that there is such an acute need around the world that we become numb to it until there's a major enough catastrophe to grab our attention.

We have the daily option to choose renewable energy sources, to recycle, to plant trees, to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by riding a bike, taking public transit, or switching to hybrid or even electric vehicles. We have the daily option to email our congress representatives to inform them of our expectations for their votes on important issues, to choose charities that directly benefit the causes we're most passionate about, or even to take part of our vacations as an opportunity to serve the suffering in other countries or in our own backyard through mission work-trips.

If we feel like our own contributions won't make a difference, remember OldIntern's story of the man from El Salvador who works as the janitor at the Episcopal seminary in Berkeley, in order to bring thousands of dollars worth of educational supplies and toys to El Salvador every year. Remember OldIntern herself who works year-round to bring hope, education, and renewed spirit to an impoverished community. Remember the members of our own extended Christian family here in D-town, such as AnonymousGuy at D-town Lutheran, who has been going on annual mission trips to Mexico for the past ten years to help build homes for poor families. And remember our own collective efforts here at St. ECWIW’s through our Outreach fund that offers hope to those who most need it in our local community, through our commitment to renewable energy in our addition of solar panels to the church office, and through our hosting of D-town community meals.

For my own part, I find myself convicted of my own desires to make a difference. I've been recycling since I was in jr. high, I've found a replacement for my stolen bike so I can bike whenever local temperatures allow, I've been learning the names and stories of our local homeless and making sure they can find shelter on our hottest days, I've been working to update older appliances with energy- saving alternatives, I've been writing to our representatives in congress, but I realize that there is so much more that I can do every day and I struggle to find more ways to make my single voice a chorus with enough power to make a difference. We're currently searching for a mission trip for the youth group – which we hope to make an annual endeavor; we as a parish recently welcomed Bike and Build – an amazing group of young adults who biked across the US to raise money and to personally help build houses for low income families; and I'm researching fossil-fuel to electric conversions for my least fuel-efficient car.

As many of you know, our 2006 General Convention officially adopted the UN Millennium Development Goals, encouraging us to do our part to fulfill the goals to: Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty, Achieve universal primary education, Promote gender equality and empower women, Reduce child mortality, Improve maternal health, Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, Ensure environmental stability, and Promote a global partnership for development.

We are called in these Millennium Development Goals, and in all of today's readings to reach out and spread the nourishment of God's love as far and as wide as we possibly can. By doing so, we stand to find ourselves renewed in the awesome abundance of God's kingdom, and refreshed in the wider community of God's amazing love. The only way to do too little is to do nothing.

Lord move our hearts to action, that we might, by striving to do your will in the world, find the abundant joy and mutual nourishment of serving others and ever expanding your community of love. Amen.