By the Rev’d Lucy Nguyen
Season: 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time
Readings: Josh 24:1-2a,14-18 | Eph 6:10-20 | John 6:56-69
Last Sunday (at 9:30am) we sang one of my favourite hymns. It’s perhaps not an intricate piece of music, because it is singable, for me. And it appeals, as it is a “practical” song. We sang Shirley Murray’s “Every day I will offer you love God, my heart, my mind…”
The song has bubbled along happily in my head all week. The final line of each verse is so practical and real…“Every day in your Spirit, I’ll find the love and energy!”
We can get through a day or at a push even a few days without food or water – but we are MUCH better off when every day we are getting regular sleep, food, love and care – it’s how we are all made.
Made in the image of God.
So, while breathing is automatic, we have (or generally should have) choice over the other aspects of our lives. What will you eat, do, think today? We have choice. This morning’s bible readings are about choice.
The First Testament Reading from the prophet Joshua – is about the choice of alliance – Joshua calls the people to choose where they will put their devotion. While making his own commitment to God clear and public, Joshua calls the people to choose where they will put their fidelity.
The Gospel Reading tells of Jesus asking them what will you choose to “eat” and where you will go? This reading is the fifth reading of the lengthy Bread of Life discourse in John 6. After feeding the five thousand with literal bread, Jesus has urged the crowd to seek spiritual bread. He has called it true food, bread from heaven, bread of life, the bread of God, living bread, real food.
Jesus reminded the people that the ancient Hebrews ate miraculous manna from heaven in the desert, but nevertheless, they died. And the five thousand were fed, with an abundance of leftovers, yet were hungry the next morning. As he compared himself to “living water” that quenches our parched souls, so Jesus goes on to call himself the “living bread” that satisfies our deepest hungers.
He says that he is the living bread that came down from heaven. If one eats of this bread, they will live forever. This bread is his flesh, which he gives for the life of the world. Thereby creating the paradox that has puzzled people ever since, Jesus said that we will discover the spiritual bread in his physical body.
Do we, do you choose to believe and follow… choice.
And from our epistle reading from Paul to the Ephesians – we have Paul providing an answer to the age-old question still being asked in many a bedroom today… What will you wear today?! – Once again, we have a choice. Now, you may recall that Paul uses the image of clothing in other writings. He “likened our old ways of life to filthy, threadbare garments that God replaces with clean, new clothes. The clothes represent the things we do that flow out of who we are.
The destiny of our identity is the image of Christ. That new identity expresses itself in new behaviour. Three times Paul tells us to put on armour:
- the armour of light
- the full armour
- the breastplate of righteousness
- a belt of truth
- the breastplate of faith and love
- a helmet of the hope of salvation.
I must admit at this point, that I do have problems with Paul’s call to put on the “whole armour of God”. Even when writers have tried to tell me that the armour Paul describes is essentially defensive, not offensive, or draws from imagery relatable in his time, I am uneasy with being described as a soldier for Christ.
Why? Because – what is the purpose for which we are dressing?
Faced with these questions, coming from others if not from ourselves, what does a peace-making church do with all the imagery in our tradition which seeks to describe us as soldiers for Christ and the Christian life as a battle?
We are “dressing” to what purpose in this writing from Paul?
… TO PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL OF PEACE.
And I suggest that we can and should spend our lives designing and redesigning what we need to be dressed in to proclaim the gospel of peace. As in what are we clothing our mind with? What teachings and conversations and reflections do we engage in?
We’re not wearing the same clothing we wore a generation ago, perhaps not even last season. And similarly, as Christians we grow in faith and understandings from the ones imparted to us as children. The fundamentals are the same but how we dress for and offer peace into our lives and the world around us will naturally change.
What do you need in your situation now?
As we consider our personal choices let us not forget that while we are told to clothe ourselves with most items, God does clothe us with two essentials: the power of the Holy Spirit and life eternal. We do not have to be overwhelmed at the thought of having to rearrange our character wardrobe.
But we do need to be open to the Wardrobe Mistress or Master – to choose the Holy Spirit who comes as Helper; with power to strengthen us to make the changes we might need.
And where do we begin in making such choices and change? We begin Every Day, every day in God’s Spirit, where we’ll find the love and energy! Because as Simon Peter said, ‘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” – you are our choice, every day.
Amen.
https://www.hopepublishing.com/Images/HymnodyPDF/hm_2926.pdf [Shirley Murray “Everyday”]
https://www.journeywithjesus.net/essays/3740-leaving-jesus
Lectionary Resources: Proper 16B from Sacredise John van de Laar: john@sacredise.com
The Emperor’s New Clothes – A Bible Devotional (biblematurity.com)What does a peacemaking church do with the armour of God? – CSBV (csbvbristol.org.uk)