14th Sunday after Pentecost
Ephesians 6.10-20
John 6.56-69
Sunday 25 August 2024
©Suzanne Grimmett
“Pray that I may declare it boldly” says the evangelist in the closing words of this letter to the Ephesians, “as I must speak.”
What do you feel so strongly about that you would feel compelled to speak? What are the things that you believe to be so centrally true and vital that they shape the greatest decisions of your life…and would, if you were ever put in such an extreme situation, give you the courage to be imprisoned for, perhaps even die for?
It is understandable that in such an interconnected world where we are flooded with knowledge about different beliefs and perspectives, and are aware of our own limited view, we would start to lose some confidence about what is centrally and eternally true. To have doubt and humility are essential virtues, particularly when it comes to questions of truth.
However, I think we need to be aware also of the responsibility we have not only to articulate for ourselves what we believe to be eternally true, but also to share what is life-giving and liberating with others. Because if there is something that is eternally good news for humanity, then it will be eternally good news for all of humanity. To live lives shaped by such truth, we clearly need to know what that truth is, and have a clear sense of the ground on which we place our feet, confidently aware of the foundation from which the rest of our lives may be built.
The Church has always believed in eternal truth, but frequently has failed to communicate this in liberating terms, being prone to making idols that ossify and doctrines that exclude. As the Church grew and spread across the globe, an understanding of the transforming power of the Spirit within became sometimes twisted into a power over others and will to dominate. These words of the letter to Ephesians evoking militaristic language moved from being about a spiritual battle against evil to a literal battle against other peoples. While we may call to mind the crusades in the medieval period, it was as early as the fifth century in Ephesus where, at the third ecumenical council in 431, two parties of Christians were drawn into a confrontation. They called each other ‘tools of the devil’ because they had different understandings of the person and nature of Christ.[1]
So if doctrinal views that need to be forcibly defended are not what constitutes eternal truth, what are we talking about? And isn’t the danger always present that if we claim something to be absolutely true, we are providing justification for all kinds of coercions and contempt towards others who don’t agree with our absolute truth? I think clues to what we are talking about are found in the Gospel for today- a Gospel text that continues the language of eating this bread that is Jesus, but also includes the beautiful language of abiding. Whoever ‘eats and drinks’ the incarnate presence of God, abides in Christ and Christ in them.
For me the most relatable part of the reading today comes from the vulnerable exchange at the end;
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.’
To whom can we go?
Have you ever felt the weight of those words? Have you ever felt discouraged with the church, empty in your Spirit but, having tasted the goodness of God, find yourself wondering a bit like Simon Peter; ‘Where else could I go?’ When you have encountered the Holy One, or even caught your breath at a glimpse …at a whisper…of grace, you can be left with that same hunger for what you have seen that is so beautiful…so true…and so full of abundant life.
For you see, I do believe that the New Testament is witnessing to something that is absolutely true and absolutely good and wonderful news, not just for a few, but for everyone. I think it is clear too, that human beings are locked into some forms of destructive behaviour from which we cannot through our effort alone, extricate ourselves. Some kind of rescue operation was needed, and has been enacted. In the inbreaking of God to creation, something was begun and is at work in the world. To be free to be who we were all created to be- sons and daughters of God- we needed the initiative of the God who is the ground of all our being. This initiative made a way for us to be invited through Christ into the very life and being of God, by the Spirit. And here I think Rowan Williams uses much better language than I could in describing this universal claim and possibility;
…part of the New Testament claim is actually that there’s something about human beings which is true universally; an orientation, a magnetic ‘drawing-towards’ the source of all things, and a capacity to relate to the source of all things, not simply as someone who obeys or thinks, but as someone who is related intimately and intensely; like a child to a father. That’s what human beings are made for. That is where the deepest springs of our humanity are to be found. We are designed for that relationship because in that relationship we become free. We become free to be ourselves, free to love the God who made us and who has saved us, free to echo and imitate the self-giving love of that God in our life day after day. That’s what we’re for.[2]
To believe this is to not take away human agency, but to empower it. As we are drawn into the life of God, we become more fully ourselves. What it does disavow is any political ideology or cultural movement that claims to have the answer to the contradictions and struggles of our existence. To suggest that is to place human systems in the space at the centre which only the divine can occupy. ‘To whom else can we go?’ becomes again the question. Every human doctrine or system or ideology or personality …ultimately will not be sufficient to hold the truth of eternity and cannot bear the sacred weight of glory contained in every human soul.
So knowing the truth matters- why? Because the truth will set you free. A friend and I spent time at last week’s clergy conference reflecting on what were the things that we believed to be so utterly central that they would shape everything we seek to be and to do. Another way of asking this question is to consider what are the words of eternal life that we can find nowhere else?
So as a first go, we came up with similar responses, that;
- all human beings are endowed with intrinsic worth and dignity
- The incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus restores humanity to full communion with God and one another
- God, by the Spirit, is present in and amongst creation, reconciling all in love.
(There are some therefores that go with this….because all human beings are endowed with intrinsic worth and dignity, therefore I will seek to see in everyone I meet, the presence of Christ. Because God is present in all creation, therefore I will seek to honour and care for all living things and the environment, etc)
I wonder how you might articulate what you know to be deeply true; the things on which you choose to centre your life? It may be a worthwhile question to ponder.
Knowing what we hold to be true is not the same as believing you have a truth that should be imposed on others… or a truth that confers superiority on its bearer. Being suspicious of proselytising, emotional manipulation and assumptions of spiritual supremacy is, I believe, necessary, healthy and wise. But neither should we remain silent or nervous about the truth of the God who comes to us, inviting us to abide and share in a new way of being in the world, bringing freedom, life and new creation. In the New Testament there is a witness to human beings who found a truth so powerfully beautiful and liberating that they felt compelled to live it and to share it. We, too, are witnesses. In the presence of the God who invites us to take and eat… to come and abide…there is found a truth about human dignity and human destiny that the world is hungry to hear. +Amen.
[1] Bartlett, David L.; Taylor, Barbara Brown. Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 3: Pentecost and Season after Pentecost 1 (Propers 3-16) (Feasting on the Word: Year B volume) (p. 862). Presbyterian Publishing Corporation. Kindle Edition.
[2] The finality of Christ in a pluralist world, Tuesday 2nd March 2010
A lecture given by Archbishop Rowan Williams, during a visit to the Diocese of Guildford.