August 16, 2009 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK
Proverbs 9: 1-6 + Psalm 34 + Ephesians 5: 15-20 + John 6: 51-58
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they ask. Always the wrong questions!
The issue is not “how”. What matters is “why” and what happens because of it.
It has always seemed to me that the ‘How” question leads to discussions of transubstantiation which is all very fine if you think with the mind of a scholastic and are motivated such arguments, distinctions, and language. But when it’s all neatly explained in that theological techno language, the real question still remains: “Why?” If you fail to get to that question, it does no good to understand how. If you do not arrive a moment faith, all the language of theology is just an intellectual exercise. First comes belief in the one who gives, then comes belief in the gift. That is the progress of thought in this chapter of John’s Gospel. Who is it that gives, and then what is given. You cannot understand and believe in the gift until you understand and believe in the giver.
The invitation extended here, and the gift that is given is a relationship of intimate and personal dimension. Yet a world like ours that gets less personal every day finds this difficult to understand. Texting and email may be instant, but they do not provide communication. They only provide messages and information that is often misinterpreted. There is no communion between people in this kind of world: no living presence, no sound of voice with inflection and tenderness, no eyes to see, no hands to hold and touch. The price of this instant connection is personal presence, and without that there is no real human relationship, only a technical connection. It is no wonder that statistics reveal that 50% of Catholics do not believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. They speak in terms of memorial and symbol, remembrance, and sign avoiding the reality of this moment. What we do here is not about the Last Supper. It is about this supper. It is not about the historical Jesus whom we fondly remember. It is about the risen Christ who is present today in our midst. The evidence of this failure to believe is clear every week as a large proportion of people in this assembly head out the door once they have received communion with no thought nor witness to belief in what has just happened in this place. If they did, they would fall to their knees and complain that the thanksgiving time is too short. They may have received communion, but they have not entered into the relationship to which they are invited.
Intimacy is the gift, and intimacy often makes us uncomfortable and vulnerable, A God who hungers for us invites us to feed on the divine presence. The relationship into which we are invited according to John’s Gospel is the same relationship Jesus experienced and lived. “Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.” It is not a relationship for some time in the future. It is a relationship that begins as soon as we eat his flesh and drink his blood. It is an offer and invitation that is so profound that once understood makes us hesitate not with doubt, but with wonder because it is almost too good to be true.
There is no answer to the question “how” can this man give us his flesh to eat. What simply matters is who provides his flesh and blood and why we would be invited to enter into the depth of this one who lives forever and would have us live through, with, and in him. When you say, “Amen” you accept the gift the Father gives to His Son, Jesus Christ and if like His Son, we remain obedient and seek the Father’s will, death will have no power over us for we will already have begun to live forever.