For
Sunday, August 25, 2024; Readings: 1 Kings 8:[1, 6, 10-11], 22-30, 41-43;
Psalm 84,
Ephesians: 6:1-20, John 6:56-69
Hear the plea of
your servant…O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive. [1 Kings 8:30a, c]
Happy are the people whose strength is in you!
Whose hearts are set on the pilgrims' way…No good thing will
the Lord withhold from those who walk with integrity.
O Lord of Hosts, happy are they who put their trust in you. [Ps 84:4, 11-12]
Put on the whole armor of God…Pray in the
Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. [Ephesians
6:11a, 18a]
Jesus
said, "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in
them..." When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This
teaching is difficult; who can accept it?"...[But Jesus said to them]
"It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I
have spoken to you are spirit and life." [John 6:56, 60,
63]
Several weeks ago we read of David dancing happily through the streets leading
the Ark of the Covenant to his own City. Last week we opened the story of
Solomon ascending David's throne with God's continuing love. This week Solomon
completes the journey his father began in seeing the Ark brought home to
Jerusalem, proclaiming to all assembled that "there is no other God like
you" who keeps the covenant and steadfast love for all.
The Psalmist, speaks over and over about the joy of dwelling in the
House and Courts of the living God, the Lord of Hosts. A tiny phrase points us
in a definite direction when it says hearts are happy when set on
the pilgrim's way as those who travel through a desolate
valley will find it a place of springs. Paul exhorts us to
shield ourselves from all that could turn us away from God, and to Put
on the whole armor of God for strength and to pray
in the Spirit at all times in every prayer.
This week we also come to the end of the Farewell Discourses of Jesus
telling his followers to "eat my body and drink my blood." This piece
of the paschal mystery is so difficult to comprehend that many of
those who were following Jesus in his time walked away because of it. Yet many stayed
and struggled and today we each reconcile ourselves to this idea in various
ways. Some Christians believe in Transubstantiation at the time of the
consecration, that the bread and wine on the altar become, mysteriously and
mystically, the True and Actual Body and
Blood of Christ. Others accept the consecration as metaphor, or, symbolic
representation. Some denominations have no "communion" service at all
but rely solely on preaching the Word. But the question remains, why are there
so very many references about BREAD in the bible?
Bread* is one of the oldest foods to be "made" from other
ingredients ~ even just flour and water can render some form of it. Leavening,
or yeast, is what gives us the bread that westerners are most familiar with. It
is nutritious enough to sustain a diet of "bread and water" for quite
a long time [though for myself, it’s the homemade bread that is more sustaining
than the store-bought that is rife with unpronounceable and questionable
preservatives and additives]. Bread has been called the "Staff of Life,"
a staple food for most of the people in the world and would have been
understood in Jesus’s time as simply basic to everyday life. His graphic
language is what is most confounding but hearing it in plain and simple terms,
when we consume the bread and the water, they are in us,
feeding our bodies. When we consume the bread and wine as the body and blood of
Christ ~ however one accepts the form as actual or symbolic ~ it represents
Christ within us as he tells us we are in him. It is our spiritual sustenance
to nourish us on our earthly journey, our pilgrimage, that culminates in
eternal life through salvation. Consuming the small piece of consecrated
bread and wine in the Eucharist, is, for me, a literal physical connection to
an abiding spiritual Presence.
And, finally in the Gospel of John, Jesus asks the
Twelve if they wish to also turn away and Peter says, "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." From those times to our times, we
are still seeking to understand, to strengthen our faith, to travel the path to
God in our own way and with each other. We struggle with questions and doubts
and confidence in our faith. We are pilgrims.
The Oxford dictionary defines pilgrim as: a person who
journeys to a sacred place for religious reasons and offers
the synonyms: worshiper, devotee, believer, traveler, wayfarer. It
isn't necessary to physically travel, we can make progress as a pilgrim in our spiritual
journeys wherever we are through prayer and contemplation, in worship and
through Communion with fellow journeyers in the Eucharist and/or spiritual
companioning. But just as in travel, sometimes there are delays and detours,
yet with determination, eventually the destination is reached. Prayer, perseverance, desire, and longing to be
part of God's Household is all it takes ... but it is easier if we go
together. As the old hymn from John Bunyan, author of the 1678 Pilgrim’s
Progress, concludes: Since, Lord, Thou dost defend us with Thy Spirit, We
know at the end, shall life inherit. Then fancies flee away! I'll fear not what
men say, I'll labor night and day to be a pilgrim.**
Let us put on the Armor of God, eat our
Bread, and continue on our sacred path.
*A little more about bread: According to one source,
bread is mentioned more than 490 times in the Bible, appearing in both the
Hebrew [Old] and Christian [New] Testaments. The first appearance is in Genesis
3:19 as God explains the consequences of “the fall” to Adam. One of the most interesting
pieces, for me, is the Hebrew word for bread which is lechem [lek hem].
Another interesting Hebrew word is beit [bate] which in English is beth
and is the word for house. We see that often in local synagogue names such
as Congregation Beth Shalom and Congregation Beth Emeth. Beth Shalom is more
than House of Peace. In addition to peace, shalom means completeness, well-being,
restoration, and more. Emet[h] translates to truth, faithfulness, firmness. Now
when I put Beith lechem together it is house of bread. In English,
it becomes Bethlehem, where, our Bread of Life was born.
LET
US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY
Leader: ~
Living God, our Sun and our Shield, strengthen our faith that we may
reflect Your steadfast love in all that we do. Help us on our pilgrim way to
pray in the Spirit at all times; lead us to seek and find springs of joy in the
midst of desolation, and to know and follow Christ’s words of eternal life.
O Lord of
Hosts
RESPONSE:
We
put our trust in You
~
Living God, guide us to stand firm and proclaim the Gospel of
peace and justice to all who hold authority over the governments of this World,
of this Country, and of this Community. Let us take up Your Truth and walk with
the integrity that we expect and require of our leaders. We pray
especially for: add your own petitions
O Lord of Hosts
We
put our trust in You
~
Living God, breathe fresh hope into the spirits of all who are
weighed down by serious illness, desperation, or addiction, and lift the hearts
of those who give them care. We now join our voices to pray aloud for
those in need… add your own petitions
O Lord of Hosts
We
put our trust in You
~
Living God, ease our sorrows with the comfort of knowing that those we
have sent ahead to You, now transcend all earthly woes, and live forever in the
newness of life, holy and eternal. We pray especially for: add
your own petitions
O Lord of Hosts
We
put our trust in You
~
Living God, we pause in this moment to offer You our
other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials, aloud
or silently… add your own petitions
O Lord of Hosts
We
put our trust in You
~
Living God, You have gifted us with disciples who do not turn away but
give their daily lives to Your service, guiding us through Word and Sacrament.
As Christ abides in us and we in Him, we join and journey together toward the
threshold of Your Eternal House. We pray especially for: add your
own petitions
O Lord of Hosts
We
put our trust in You
The
Celebrant adds: Oh
God of Grace and Glory, hear our plea and draw us together to clothe ourselves in
Your armor of faith, being nourished by the Holy Food and Drink of Christ. With
Your helmet of salvation and belt of truth, we can resist all evil, as we seek
to live forever in You, rejoicing beyond all time. We ask through Christ Jesus,
the Holy One; and our Life~Giving Spirit; who together with You, reign as One
God, now and forever. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment