Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The text is the Gospel lesson from John 6.
It seems that everyone is offended these days. We are
offended by the music people listen to. We are offended by the television
programs and movies that are produced and the actors who star in them. We are
offended by football players who kneel and people who refuse to stand for what
they believe in. We are offended by art and the artists who make it. We are
offended by battery powered cars, or pickups that belch clouds of black smoke; by
red states and blue politicians; by sloppy joes being called barbeque and
barbeque served without sauce; by long hair and short skirts --- or is it short
hair and long skirts? We are offended by the company’s human resource rules and
regulations, and we report our being offended to the HR department so they can
offend someone else. If defense is the best offense, as every football fan
knows, then being offended must be the best defense.
As a result, we now live in a world where we no longer give
each other the benefit of the doubt. The 8th Commandment encourages
us, in love, to bear all things, hope all things, believe all things and endure
all things, but we are being taught – or perhaps we’re simply being out-shouted
– that we need to hurry up and be offended so we can get what we want when we
want it. So people look for things to be offended about and in our world, the
list is as long as you want it to be. Social offenses, political offenses – we
have them a-plenty. But perhaps the thing that causes the most offense is
religion, and of all of the religions in the world, the one that seems to
continually cause the most offense is Christianity and the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Over the past several weeks, we have been reading through
John 6. It began with Jesus feeding the 5000 with five loaves and two fish and
the people wanting to make Jesus their king. Who wouldn’t? Could you imagine:
an unlimited supply of food without having to either work for it or pay for it?
Oh, wait…the Israelites had that in the wilderness, didn’t they, for 40 years and
they grumbled constantly about having the same thing day in and day out. And
when Jesus brings this up to the people who have gathered around – both Jewish
leaders and his disciples (the larger grouping of people who followed him, not
just The Twelve), and then teaches that He is the Bread of Life and those who
eat – that is, believe – will live forever, unlike their fathers in the desert,
they were taken aback. “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” they
asked. Jesus, in turn, asks them, “Do you take offense at this?” In fact, the
Greek word used for our English word, “offended,” is “skandalon” – you can hear
our word “scandal,” right? They weren’t just offended…they were scandalized by
what Jesus had to say.
Scandal helps us understand how severe this was. I can take
offense at something, but generally we get over that mess. But a scandal is
something that is literally a stumbling block – a scandal causes me to lose
faith in someone. It makes me rethink my whole idea about something. It might
change my opinion, force me to rethink my ideology, even doubt what I have
believed in the past. We move past an offense; but a scandal is a major hurdle
to overcome.
Jesus asked them, “Are you offended…are you scandalized by
this?” The question is rhetorical – He knew the answer: “You are scandalized,
aren’t you?” He knew they were murmuring and grumbling the same way their
forefathers had in the wilderness against Moses. They are being scandalized by
who Jesus is. He’s not just a bread maker; He is the very Bread of Life itself.
He’s not just the son of Mary; He is Bread which has come down from Heaven,
meaning, from the very hand of God Himself. They are being scandalized that Jesus
instructs them to believe in Him as God in flesh, and that by eating His flesh
and drinking His blood – and here, he means in a spiritual sense, not a
sacramental sense – one will live forever. A Jew would never dare succumb to
cannibalism or touching blood. Such things made one unclean, and that Jesus
seemed to be expecting this was simply too much. But the icing on the cake, the
idea that made the tabloids of Jerusalem, was the idea that this Messiah would
have to die to attain His throne. Body and blood talk is death talk, and – to
paraphrase General George Patton – every Israelite knew that no Messiah becomes
a Messiah by dying at the hands of the enemy. The cross was the final stumbling
stone. A crucified Messiah was no Messiah at all because everyone knew that
someone who died at the hands of the Romans was not only a criminal but a man
cursed by God.
The scandal was just too much for many of those who had been
following Jesus. They had their bellies filled on the hillside, they chased
Jesus around the shoreline, they listened to what He said, but all of this
bread, body and blood talk…it was too much. It gave them spiritual indigestion.
When something bothers the tummy, you don’t eat it. This bothered them so much,
it was such a great stumbling stone to their faith, it was such a scandal that
they simply could not tolerate it any further. They changed their opinions of
Jesus; they turned and walked away.
The Gospel of Jesus still causes offense today. People outside
the Church – Capitol C, the Christian church - still walk away from Jesus and
His gifts. To those who seek offense, Jesus’ teaching has plenty to be offended
by. They are scandalized by His teaching that He is the only way that leads to
eternal life. They are shocked that He tells us to receive His body and drink
His blood, not only spiritually, but also sacramentally in bread and wine for
the forgiveness of sins, and that He is truly present in this meal. They are
outraged that there is salvation in no other name under heaven given among men
by which we may be saved. And, sadly, there are some who refuse to believe
Jesus’ death is truly all-sufficient, and that by faith in Him one may have
eternal life in His name.
The irony is there is nothing to be scandalized by. He came
to seek and to save the lost; he came to rescue and redeem sinners; He came to
give himself for those who had nothing left to give; He came to feed with food
that has no expiration date and never spoils or fades. He is the great
physician of body and soul Who comes to heal those who could not heal
themselves from eternal damnation. He didn't come to establish an earthly
Kingdom. His Kingdom, on earth and in heaven, endures into eternity without
beginning or end. He doesn't demand foolish allegiance but he does call us to
faith in him, trusting that His life , death, and resurrection are the all
sufficient payment for all of your sins and mine. He doesn’t come to be served,
but to serve and to give His life for many. Simply, this is why Jesus came: “that everyone who looks on the Son and
believes in Him should have eternal life and I will raise Him up on the last
day” (v. 40).
And some are scandalized by the church, too. Now, here, by
church I am talking of a local congregation or even a church body, church with
a lower case c. I’ve served three congregations, and all three – including Zion
– have had a scandalous moment. Those are sad times in a church’s history
because it does cause some to stumble in faith and some, sadly, not only
stumble but fall – fall away from the congregation and even fall away from
faith in Jesus as a result. If you haven’t heard, the Roman Catholic Church is
being traumatized by a terrible scandal in Pennsylvania. Last week, a grand
jury finding shows that six of eight Roman Catholic Dioceses in the state knew
that at least three hundred priests were sexual predators in parishes. In their
report, they found 1000 named victims and estimate there were countless more. If
this is even partly true, this is truly a scandal of epic proportions.
The idea that a man of God, called by God to the Holy
Ministry, could be tempted and submit to such vile and reprehensible acts, just
the thought of it makes Christians – and especially our Roman Catholic brothers
and sisters in Christ – stumble. And it makes us pause, realizing that we are
all sinful. We join them in repentance for our own sexual sins of thought, word
and deed. We pray for those who were abused and forced to remain silent. And,
we pray for the men who are accused of committing these sins against God and
their parishioners, that these who guilty repent of their sins and trust that God,
in His grace for the sake of Christ, forgives even these sins.
That forces us to return to the question Jesus asks His
disciples: what about you? Are you scandalized by this amazing, life-giving
gift for sinners like these? It’s easy to say Jesus forgives the little sins –
our potty mouth, the lustful, sideways glances, stealing a few hours of company
time while playing on social media – those, sure Jesus forgives those. But these
sins, these crimes? Is this too much for you to believe – that a Christian
pastor who sexually assaulted and violated a man, woman, or child entrusted to
his spiritual care, that this man can also be forgiven by Jesus? Is that too
much to believe so that it’s a scandal for you?
The cross knows no limits. There are no oversized loads at
the cross. Jesus doesn’t weigh or measure sins and determine that the cross
can’t stand the weight and has to be left on the sinner’s back. Jesus takes
them all, regardless of what we perceive the size to be. He even takes yours. Remember:
all sins, including yours, deserve condemnation. All sins, including the sin of
arrogance that says, “Well, at least my sins aren’t as bad as his…or hers…or
theirs.” Jesus died for them all. In faith, repentance dumps your sin, my sin, their
sins at the foot of the cross and says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You died
for this damnable burden, so I am leaving it where You paid it’s price. Because
You rose, I know that my sins will no longer be held against me into eternity.
These are the words of eternal life. I know them, believe them, trust them and
rely on these promises and on these promises alone.”
No comments:
Post a Comment