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St. George's Episcopal Church Roseburg, Oregon Proper 16, August 27, 2006 Go To St. George's Home Page

1 Kgs 8:(1,6,10-11), 22-30, 41-43
Psalm 84:1-12
Ephesians 6:10-20
John 6:56-69
Collect of the Day
From the Revised Common Lectionary as Adapted for Use by the Episcopal Church
and Authorized by the 74 th General Convention of the ECUSA

Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:56-69)

     The other day, a homeless man stopped me on the street and asked if I was a priest. The man had that sort of John the Baptist appearance, and he had a compelling intensity about him. When I told him that I was a priest he said, “Well, I’m possessed.” I extended my hand to him and said, “Well, my name is Bill.” As he began to tell me his story, I felt a mixture of compassion and frustration. Compassion, because he was a man clearly in need of the simple, ordinary necessities of life: shelter, food, security, and love. Frustration, because I knew that there was probably very little our church or I personally would be able to do to help him with his many physical needs.

     Jesus said that we will always have the poor with us (Mt 26:11). He also made it clear that we are to do more for the poor than sit around and talk about the root causes of poverty. Instead he said, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40).

     We often respond with great enthusiasm and generosity when our immediate neighbors or even those who live far away suffer an unexpected and cataclysmic loss. Today and tomorrow mark the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina that struck the Gulf Coast. Hundreds of thousands of people were left homeless and city-less, and things were made worse by Hurricanes Rita and Wilma that followed in September and October. The response to that disaster was shocking and amazing. The response of FEMA was surprisingly slow, despite the “heck of a job done by Michael Brown,”[1] whereas the response of the American people was amazing as people from all over the country were willing to pitch in and help. Churches, civic centers, motels, hotels, trailer parks, corporations, army bases, and private homes all over the nation opened their doors to people displaced by the hurricanes. Clothing, medicines, food, medical assistance and a thousand other items and services were offered. Temporary shelter was provided in the form of the FEMA trailers, many of which still stand surprisingly unused in view of the many still living in tents.

     Given the billions and billions of dollars of damage, I still find it remarkable that the Gulf Coast has recovered as well as it has in one year. But this was a tremendously awful and unique situation. The homeless man that I encountered on the streets of Roseburg is not so unique. Because Douglas County has the highest unemployment rate of all the western counties in the state of Oregon, homelessness in our community is not something that will go away anytime soon.

     All kinds of ideas have been put forth to help the homeless. One such idea is the brainchild of the homeless activist, Ted Hayes. He developed Justiceville/Homeless USA which has transformed the ramshackle Hoover Hill encampment of homeless men and women of Los Angeles into a model neighborhood called Dome Village. Dome Village is a community of productive, responsible and industrious formerly homeless persons.[2] It looks like a cluster of gigantic, genetically mutant puff mushrooms. Despite their appearance, they are practical and inexpensive, efficient and effective homes.

     God calls us to respond to the needy around us. This message is repeated over and over again in the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the Epistles. Deuteronomy tells us that we are to do simple, practical things to care for those who cannot care for themselves (Dt. 24:19-21). The prophets repeat this theme throughout history, stressing that care for those less fortunate is an issue of justice. Zechariah told us to “render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor ...” (Zech 7:9-10).

     Jesus message reflects his understanding of God’s call. Homelessness, poverty, and hunger are not issues we can ignore. We can’t always save every life, we can’t always house everybody, but we are called to take some initiative and to help in some manner. This has been the tradition of the Christian church since the first century when deacons were responsible for looking out for widows and orphans.

     While this may seem to be the tradition and while it may seem to be a something easy to accomplish, I don’t think that it is for many of us. We might look at a homeless man who approaches us on the sidewalk and think to ourselves, “Maybe there is a social service agency that can help this man.” “Maybe I should call the police so that they can take him to a better place than he is right now.” “If I give this man money, won’t he just drink it?”

     Jesus’ own disciples had difficulty following Jesus’ teachings, perhaps especially when they seemed to conflict with scripture-based inherited Jewish traditions. The disciples were very much like you and me. They had egos, desires, and expectations. They argued over who would be greatest in the kingdom of God because they thought that kingdom was going to be an earthly one led by King Jesus, and they were expecting to be rewarded for their service. But just when they thought they had it all figured out, Jesus popped with something like, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.”

     For the past several weeks, we have heard gospel lessons from John in which Jesus tries to make clear the necessity of taking God into our hearts as way to truly feel and to act godly, just as we take bread and wine into our bodies to obtain nourishment. Both kinds of intake are needed to live full lives in God and to do our best as part of the created order. But when Jesus got to the part about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, the disciples lost their sense of understanding. “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” they asked.

     Jesus seems to have understood the importance of health to body and to soul. He understood that the soul needs shelter, nourishment, and care like the body does. Jesus provided comfort and healing for both. He fed the multitudes with a few loaves and fish, he helped the disciples overcome their fear during storms, and he described his purposes with those of God. I imagine that the disciples looked at what Jesus said with awe and fear. Awe because he was able to accomplish so much, and fear because he was going to expect them to do the same. And “because of this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.” Even among the twelve that Jesus handpicked to follow him, some had difficulty understanding Jesus’ message, or coming to grips with Jesus’ special relationship with God. When so many of Jesus’ followers left him, Jesus asked the twelve “Do you also wish to go away?”

     That’s a pretty good question for all of us. Within these walls on Sunday morning it’s pretty easy to feel like a good Christian. On Tuesday afternoon when confronted by a “possessed” homeless person, it might be another matter. Do we remember that Jesus expects us to give from our abundance? On the sidewalk do we follow Jesus’ teaching, or have we left it behind in the pew with the prayer book and hymnal? Do we remember that Jesus offers us peace – the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding – rather than revenge or the sword? If we wish to go away we should go. I cannot find in the New Testament any place where Jesus tries to get people to stay with him. He leaves that decision up to his followers. He tells his disciples the same thing, “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town” (Mt 10:14).

     Jesus does not command us to stay with him because he desires us to want to stay with him and with God. He wants us to be with him, but he is not going to coerce us. Sometimes the language from the letter to the Ephesians about the armor of God is heard that way. We’ve seen countless kid’s crafts of shields and helmets, and we are sure that the text refers to armor to be used in an offensive war against evil.

     But with the exception of the sword, all of the armor of God is used for defense, not offense. Paul does not talk about giving us spears or cannons to attack those who leave Jesus. He recommends to us a shield, a breast plate, and a helmet. God wants us to feel God’s presence like a warrior feels his armor. Jesus tells us that the best way we feel God is to take God so thoroughly and so seriously that God becomes part of us like the molecules of bread and wine become part of us when we eat the Eucharistic supper.

     Do we wish to go away, or do we wish to stay? If we go away, where are we going to go? To whom will we go? What destination offers more hope for peace and the place that where we are right now? Peter answered that question very simply, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.” At that moment Peter felt total confidence and a deep understanding of his relationship with Jesus and with God. Peter had put on the armor of God – which is to say, Peter had put on God!

     But there are those who may walk away because they just don’t feel what Peter felt. This may not be too unlike people who continue to live under bridges when there’s a dome village or other emergency shelter nearby. They may be unaware of these opportunities, or they may be living under the bridge because they want to. Some people choose Jesus, and some people don’t. And that is all right. Jesus did not tell us to pursue with a sword of righteousness those who don’t choose Jesus. Jesus told us to just let them walk away. We are not brighter than they are; we are not more right than they are. They are simply different from us. And I for one am quite content to do what I can to meet their needs while they are with me, and then simply trust that God will do what God needs to do to make a connection with that person in God’s own time. In so doing I will have fulfilled my obligation as a Christian to love my neighbor, and I will have returned something of the God I know it and feel in my heart to the stranger. Jesus comes to me as the bread of life. Jesus is very real to me in the Eucharistic celebration. This is how I see, touch, and feel God. When the hungry one, the stranger, the homeless person, the average poor person in our community comes to me, I see them coming to me to be fed with the bread of my life. And that means I give up myself, I love with my heart, and I serve with my hands.

     As I’ve said before, we are the hands and feet of Jesus. Let us stay with him and do his work.

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1 Kgs 8:(1,6,10-11), 22-30, 41-43

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the city of David, which is Zion. Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim. And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven. He said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart, the covenant that you kept for your servant my father David as you declared to him; you promised with your mouth and have this day fulfilled with your hand. Therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant my father David that which you promised him, saying, ‘There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your children look to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’ Therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you promised to your servant my father David. “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built! Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O LORD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today; that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive. “Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name --for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm--when a foreigner comes and prays toward this house, then hear in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built.

Psalm 84:1-12

1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD of hosts!

2 My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.

3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my King and my God.

4 Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise. [Selah]

5 Happy are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

6 As they go through the valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.

7 They go from strength to strength;
the God of gods will be seen in Zion.

8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! [Selah]

9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed.

10 For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than live in the tents of wickedness.

11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
he bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does the LORD withhold
from those who walk uprightly.

12 O LORD of hosts,
happy is everyone who trusts in you

Ephesians 6:10-20

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

John 6:56-69

Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Collect of the Day

Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

[1]http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/09/20050902-2.html
[2]http://www.domevillage.org/JHUSA.html

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Copyright © 2006, William G. Stroop - All Rights Reserved.
24 August 2006

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