Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-25; Psalm 34:15-22; Ephesians 5:21-33; John 6: 60-69

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

Jesus said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven…the one who eats this bread will live forever.” When many of his disciples heard this, 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.”

May God’s presence be made apparent by my words today. Amen

 

Choices

We are constantly faced with choices in life. Some of these choices seem monumental and then after time has passed seem much less important. Some of these choices seem to be simple at the time and only upon looking back and reflecting on the intervening events do they show themselves to be defining moments where our lives veered toward a different direction.

Last Sunday I made a choice to come to the 8:00 am service. Upon arriving, I was confronted by, not one but two friends, commenting on the fact that I was early and noting that usually I come to the early service only when participating – giving the sermon as I am today.  It proves that not only are choices deceiving at times, but expectations and habits are very strong influences in our lives.

It appears, I would assume, that I do not feel closeness to this earlier service. In fact, though, I thoroughly enjoy the casual reflective atmosphere of this service and the collective feeling of sharing the Eucharist while all gathered around the altar. Also, by nature, I am an early riser and I have a certain feeling of accomplishment when completing my Sunday worship as the sun is still low in the morning sky and the coolness of dawn is perhaps lingering.

But, there are always choices to be made. I also have a great appreciation for music and have chosen to sing in the chancel choir at St. Paul’s. So for approximately 9-10 months of the year, I am committed to participating in song at the 10 o’clock service and attending the rehearsals which follow. I have chosen also, to attend worship services with my partner Mark and feel that our life together is strengthened in attending service as a family. Mark, of course, is more of an evening person and in fact works on the evening shift. Choices as you can see are not as simple as they may seem.

So, I have chosen a majority of the time, not to necessarily attend two worship services every Sunday, which of course would be an option. I have also chosen not to put myself and Mark through the turmoil that would ensue if I attempted, every Sunday to waken him early to attend this delightful, contemplative early Sunday service.

But, last Sunday, events conspired to my favor. Mark was asked to switch his work shift to morning and was forced – but not by me to arise early and be out of the house – for work.  The chancel choir is still – for only a short additional time – on summer break. And I was wide awake. Thus, my unexpected appearance was made at an early church service.

But what no one yet knows it that I was awake, showered, dressed and out of the house early enough to stop by a local café for breakfast before I came to church. One of life’s greatest pleasures is having an early cup of coffee a bit of breakfast while reading the morning paper; so I indulged myself.

 

As I sat at the counter of this neighborhood restaurant, sipping the still fresh coffee, I realized that the television was on directly in front of me and was turned to one of the many televised church services.  I tried to ignore the program because I find that many times the messages that are broadcast, at least to me, seem dogmatic, uninspiring and not always relevant to my spiritual life. But as I was sitting there, reading the paper, sipping my coffee, nibbling on my breakfast, and of course deliberately ignoring the television – I became aware of a familiar voice. Dr. Phil was standing at the front of the beautiful glass edifice talking to the minister.

Of course, I could no longer ignore what was being presented to me. Dr. Phil presented his thoughts on theology, in his usual assertive, self assured manner and I was astounded.

Dr. Phil began by stating, “God gave me a unique set of personal characteristics, which I am unable to change. God made me to be this strong willed, outspoken person. I, in attempting to finds God’s purpose in my life, cannot change who I am nor should I attempt. My task is to accept my unique set of personal characteristics, embrace those characteristics, and use them for the betterment of God’s universe.” --I nearly fell off my stool—here was this bombastic personality who I felt shoots from the hip without thought of the uniqueness of his subjects on his morning talk show, espousing an understanding of our individual relationship with God with which I totally agreed. There was a shattering of expectations.

But, my experience did not end there, because Dr. Phil continued. Dr. Phil talked about his relationship with his wife and with his family as he stated, “I believe that there is a person out there who fits our personality, they do not have the same characteristics as we do, but their unique set of personal characteristics fits with ours and resonates with ours helping us find fulfillment. It is useless for me to try to change the characteristics of my wife – because those are the characteristics that God gave her.”

There, at that earlier than the early worship service of St. Paul’s, I was presented with words that I had been trying to formulate but had been unable to find on my own. I had been thinking over the course of the previous week, “How unfair life is. I am assigned to preach on the passage from Ephesians which tells husbands and wives how to relate to one another.” I have never believed that there could be any “cookie cutter” formula for any interpersonal relationship. I have also never believed that the Bible could be used as step by step recipe to life. The letters of Paul are often used in that way – this is how a priest is to act, this is how a deacon is to act, this is how a woman is to behave, and this is how a man is to behave – in every conceivable situation.

The answer was presented to me in the most inconceivable manner – I never watch early morning television, in the most inconceivable place – I don’t remember the last time that I was up so early on a Sunday morning as to be in a neighborhood restaurant where an early morning TV program was being broadcast. And most confusing of all was that the message was given to me by Dr. Phil – a character of whom I had low expectations.

Here is the message as compact as I can present it. In any intimate relationship, respect your own characteristics and skills then respect and appreciate the uniqueness of the other. I re-read the passage from Ephesians this week. Now the instructions of “do it this way” seem to truly fade and the real message of relationship is stated completely in the initial sentence. “Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.” This is the choice that is presented in every marriage but also in all our relationships with others.

In each of today’s readings runs this thread of choice. Our Old Testament reading is from Joshua. Joshua is the ancient story of conquest and fulfillment for the Israelites. After many years of slavery in Egyptand 40 years in the desert, the people were finally allowed to enter the land promised to their fathers. We are familiar with the stories in Exodus and Deuteronomy in which the people make wrong choices again and again. After each lapse in faithfulness, Moses would intervene; and God relented to promise “just one more time”.  Abraham though, was always the wanderer and he never possessed the country to which he was sent. It was left to his children to become the eventual heirs of Canaan . Joshua was the leader destined to turn that promise into reality. The story of Joshua is a story of conquest and turbulence and finally victory for the tribes of Israel. You would think that after all the testing in the desert and then all the force required to inhabit and rule over this land, that there would not be a need for choice. The choices had been made – or had they. This is a choice made at the point of victory.

With the battles won, the lands were divided among the various tribes to rule.

There was a need to choose – and the choice was how to live with victory. The nomadic tribes had conquered a land that was more sophisticated and richer than what they had been familiar with for centuries – first as slaves in Egypt, then as wanderers in the desert, and then as an invading horde. There could have been a choice to assimilate and enjoy the fruits of their victory. Joshua understood this tendency and forced the issue… “Choose today whom you will serve; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord!” Choices are always present, even at the end of a long but successful journey.

Choices are also present in the gospel lesson today. Over the past few weeks we have heard of the highly successful travels of Jesus and the disciples. The disciples themselves had become empowered and they had collected thousands of followers wanting to be part of this exciting powerful new way of relating to God. Then Jesus gave possibly the most “unsuccessful” sermon ever preached when he taught about the Eucharist. The people were insulted and offended with all this talk about eating flesh and drinking blood. Cannibalism—Jesus started with thousands of followers and finished with a handful and even these were grumbling about what they had heard.

Jesus then explained the central importance of what he was saying. “The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are of life.” And he then gave the twelve disciples the choice to leave also, “Do you also wish to go away?” Jesus was asking for a commitment, a choice of the disciples to follow him all the way through the tough ending of his journeys. Choices are ever present, in the middle of a journey as it turns from a public success to a private commitment. Choices were present as Jesus deliberately turned from teaching about the physical world and boldly began teaching – to those left -- of the supremacy of the spiritual realm.

Choices are with this parish in the present time.  Yesterday members of the vestry and other programs of St. Paul’s met to deliberate on the visions for the future that you presented over the past few weeks. This process of discerning from the dreams and wishes of the entire parish will keep us fresh and focused on the future of this church. In this process also, I believe there is no “cookie cutter” answers as to how this parish is to be present and active in God’s world. It is the process that continues to be necessary as we confront the needs of each day and year.

We will be successful in the measure that we can believe in the supremacy of the spiritual over the physical.

 

We will be successful in the measure that we can say in the middle of turmoil “Lord, to whom else can we go, You have the words of eternal life.”

 

We will be successful in the measure that we can say after a successful project, “Today I will choose to serve the Lord.”

 

We will be successful in the measure that we can recognize the unique God given gifts in each other and respect and honor the strength of that diversity.”

Amen