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Welcome and Theme: Welcome as we continue our travels through chapter 6 of the gospel of John this morning focusing on Jesus as the bread of life. Like the Spirit of Wisdom in the first reading, we seek the pathway to understanding. The poetical metaphoric writing of John’s gospel becomes pretty direct and specific today. What are we to make of how we interpret it so long after the events of the first century? Your thoughts will be most welcome on this theme
Opening Prayer: Holy One, we move between rejoicing at seeing You clearly and feeling distraught as our sense of Your light dims in difficult moments. And yet, we are certain that You are always with us and that we belong to You and we belong to each other. May we be patient in our trust and kind in our ways. May our lives imitate the life of Jesus and in life-giving ways. Amen
Opening Song: Invocation by Christopher Grundy
https://youtu.be/A95UbOPVQKc?si=fnqcMhyhkQANDJjh
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Proverbs: 9:1-6
Wisdom has built her house; she has set up her seven pillars*.
She has prepared her food, decanted her wine, and set her table.
She has sent out her household staff to call from a spot overlooking the city;
“Whoever wants enlightenment, step this way!’
She invites those who lack common sense.
“Come eat my bread and drink the wine which I have prepared for you.
Abandon your foolishness that you may live, and walk the path of understanding!”
These are words of Wisdom and we affirm them. Amen
Alleluia: https://youtu.be/IC4nbwmQDVw?si=YnTQLp_ut-Pb0OVE
Gospel Reading: John 6: 51-58
Jesus continues speaking to those who are grumbling and unpersuaded—
“I myself am the living bread
come down from heaven.
If any eat this bread,
They will live forever;
The bread I will give
For the life of the world
Is my flesh.”
The Temple authorities then began to argue with one another. “How can he give us his flesh to eat?”
Jesus replied,
“The truth of the matter is ,
If you don’t eat the flesh
And drink the blood of the Chosen One,
You won’t have life in you.
Those who do eat my flesh and drink my blood
have eternal life,
and I will raise them up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food
And my blood is real drink.
Everyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
Lives in me, and I live in them.
Just as the living God Abba sent me
And I have life because of Abba God,
So those who feed on me
Will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
It’s not the kind of bread your ancestors ate,
For they died;
Whoever eats this kind of bread
Will live forever.”
These are the inspired words of the Gospel writer known as John and we affirm them. Amen
Homily/Shared Reflections
For a month of Sundays now we have been listening to the bread of life theme from the gospel of John. I guess the idea of bread as eternal life, symbolic of the sacrifice of Jesus and the sacred mission for all his followers bears repeating. Together, I’m sure we will find some new crumbs of thought.
The Proverbs reading from our Hebrew scriptures shows Wisdom luring those in need of her not just with a promise of enlightenment but with bread and wine, ages before Jesus and the Christian gospels happened along. If we think about it, some of our best laughter, confidences, insights and connections with others have come around meals, around Eucharist. Food and drink nourish our body, tug at our heart, envelop our souls and make us whole.
The wisdom of today’s gospel comes to us from John (or more specifically, the “Johannine circle” that emerged in the early church). Their writing dates to about 60 to 70 years after the death of Jesus. Some may have been added even later than that. The gospel is said to contain roughly ten percent of the content in Mathew, Mark and Luke.
John takes the metaphor about Jesus being the bread of life (also found in Luke) and gets very specific and literal: “My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” John will later add that “People cannot come to me unless the Father has granted it to them”. Beyond metaphor and poetry, John poses Jesus as the mediator, the “way, the truth and the life” to God.
The Jesus Seminar of Biblical scholars suggests that Jesus very probably never said most of this. They clearly state that the part about eating flesh and drinking blood is “the work of the evangelist”. They believe it may have been added at a later date to make crystal clear the connection of Jesus to the emerging church sacrament of Eucharist.
The figure of Jesus whom we meet in the three earlier written gospels believes in direct, personal access to God without benefit of priest or religious authority. For example, Jesus says in Luke 11:52 “Woe to you experts on the Law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. And not only haven’t you gained access; you have stopped others who were trying to enter!”
Four gospels written in different generations many years after the crucifixion and perhaps added to in a later century —and they don’t always agree? No surprise there, really.
So why does it matter?
The traditional church relies on the divinity of Jesus and through him, the giftedness of priests who symbolize Jesus to have its way, to make the rules, to be the sole truth in the world. Interpretation of scripture that empowers the few and excludes the many has far-reaching consequences.
For instance, the “living water” of eternal life promised by Jesus to the woman at the well and the “living bread” of eternal life in John’s gospel are withheld by church authorities to anyone seen to transgress, anyone whose lifestyle is not worthy regardless of the spiritual starvation that may ensue. Many of you in our community have lived this painful reality. Clericalism and abuses of hierarchy don’t just come from nowhere. Sometimes, scripture written with the best of intentions becomes a tool of power.
Thank God we are all welcome at the table today. Your sharing of reflections are equally welcome.
Sources for further reading:
The Five Gospels. What Did Jesus Really Say. New Translation and Commentary by Robert W. Funk and
Roy. Hoover and Jesus Seminar. pp.418 – 421.
Gospel According to John Description, Authorship, & Facts | Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gospel-According-to-John
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Statement of Faith
We believe in the Holy One, a divine mystery
beyond all definition and rational understanding,
the heart of all that has ever existed,
that exists now, or that ever will exist.
We believe in Jesus, messenger of the Divine Word,
bringer of healing, heart of Divine compassion,
bright star in the firmament of the Holy One's
prophets, mystics, and saints.
We believe that We are called to follow Jesus
as a vehicle of divine love,
a source of wisdom and truth,
and an instrument of peace in the world.
We believe in the Spirit of the Holy One,
the life that is our innermost life,
the breath moving in our being,
the depth living in each of us.
We believe that the Divine kin-dom is here and now,
stretched out all around us for those
with eyes to see it, hearts to receive it,
and hands to make it happen.
LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST
Presider: As we prepare for sharing the Eucharist, we give voice to our blessings, concerns and intentions. Please begin with the words, “I bring to the table....”
We pray for these and all the unspoken intentions in our hearts. Amen.
With open hearts and hands let us pray together our Eucharistic prayer as one voice:
All: Holy One, you are always with us. In the blessed abundance of creation, we gather to celebrate Your nourishing gift of life in the forms of bread and wine. May our hearts be open as You invite us to participate in the wise and wonderful work of co-creation.
May we be ever aware of Your Spirit within and among us as our world unfolds amid pain and beauty into the fullness of life.
We are grateful for Your Spirit whose breath inspired the primal waters, calling into being the variety and abundance we see around us. Your Spirit sustains and animates our every endeavor, from the radiance of dawn to the dusk that reveals the sterling light of the stars. We are grateful for your guiding light which invites us to act in wisdom and in truth, with constancy and persistence.
In gratitude and joy, we lift our voices to sign a song of praise:
Holy, Holy, Holy: Here in this Place by Christopher Grundy
All: As community, we gather in the power of your Spirit, refreshing wind, purifying fire and living breath, grateful for the variety and diversity of life. We seek to live as Jesus taught us, wise and prophetic, enamored by our love of justice. We seek to share in and become the bread and wine of life.
Please extend your hands in blessing.
All: We are grateful for your Spirit at our Eucharistic Table and for this bread and wine which remind us of our devotion to be the Your Presence in our hurting and yearning world. These commonplace, accessible foods remind us of Your Everywhere Presence with us at all times, in all things and in all places.
All: On the night before he faced his own death, Jesus sat at supper with his companions and friends. He reminded them of all that he taught them, and to fix that memory clearly with them, he bent down and washed their feet.
All lift the plate
All: When he returned to his place at the table, he lifted the bread, spoke the blessing, broke the bread and offered it to them saying:
Take and eat of the Bread of Life
(pause)
All lift the cup
Then he took the cup of the covenant, spoke the grace, and offered it to them saying:
Take and drink.
Whenever you remember me like this,
I am among you.
(pause)
All: As we celebrate and recognize You in this bread and wine, we love and recognize you in each other. We are filled with joy and gratitude. Loving Source of our being, you commanded, “Let there be light” and so, all the earth shines in the burning glory and warmth of Your Creation.
Jesus reminded us that we do not live by bread alone. We live and thrive in the light and Spirit of our God, who nourishes us in body, heart and soul. We yearn to live justly, love tenderly and walk with integrity, accompanied by the wisdom of the Holy One.
Let us share this bread and cup to proclaim and live the gospel of justice and peace. Please receive communion with the phrase from today’s communion song - Receive Peace, Receive Love
Communion Song: Berakah, The Blessing by Jan Novotka
https://youtu.be/XBs9qgmqwXE?si=7XRa0Xi_EeITfc5M&t=31
All: Holy One, your transforming wisdom is moving within us and working through us. Like Jesus, we choose to be kind and gentle and to speak truth to power. We seek to live compassionate lives; it is through living as Jesus lived, that we awaken to your Spirit and share in the peace that flows like a river. Amen.
Let us pray together the prayer of Jesus:
Holy One, you are within, around and among us.
We celebrate your many names.
Your wisdom come; your will be done,
unfolding from the depths within us.
Each day you give us all that we need.
You remind us of our limits and we let go.
You support us in our power, and we act with courage.
For you are the dwelling place within us,
the empowerment around us,
and the celebration among us,
now and forever, Amen.
Adapted by Miriam Therese Winter
BLESSING
Presider: Please extend your hands and pray our blessing together.
All: May we become well acquainted with the wisdom of the Divine. May we be aflame in the meadows, mountains, towns and cities. May we gleam like the whitecaps of ocean waves, of living water. May we burn with joy and possibility, embraced in the warmth of God’s love. May we always remember that we belong to the Holy One and to each other. Amen
Closing Song: My Wish for You by Rascal Flatts
https://youtu.be/zGB7IWklW3s?si=jqhVpijb9eiVzluE
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