13th Sunday after Trinity, St Andrew’s Milngavie 2024
Today we celebrated the 13th Sunday after Trinity accompanied by Alison.
This week
Tuesday 10am – Prayer Group in the Garden Room.
Thursday 10am – Said Holy Communion followed by coffee in Friendship House
Readings for next Sunday – 13th Sunday after Trinity – Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-9, James 1:17-27 Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23
Today’s readings – Joshua 24:1-2,14-18, Ephesians 6:10-20, John 6:56-69
In this media age of twitter, cancel culture and questions on free speech it seems that we have as a society become obsessed about offending one another. But according to our gospel this morning, it’s been ever thus.
“But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about his teaching, said to them, ‘Does this offend you?” John 6:61
This is the fourth Sunday in a row that we have had our gospel reading from the 6th Chapter of John’s gospel, focusing on “The bread of life.” Throughout the accompanying texts Jesus has attempted to explain to the crowds and us what this means in terms of a living spiritual bread, bread that transforms our souls and brings us eternal life.
But this whole concept can seem quite mysterious and complicated and like the disciples we also may feel overwhelmed by the narrative and wish to walk away.
“Does this offend you?” Jesus asks
But so often our scriptures can bring us up short, we find the texts unpalatable especially some passages in the OT. The people in today’s gospel are struggling. Many of Jesus’ disciples were grumbling and complaining to each other that his teaching was difficult and more than they could accept. In verse 66 we are told “Many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.” John 6:66
They could no longer stomach his gospel and what it asked of them. The bread of life they were finding isn’t always sweet.
And it’s not just in today’s gospel that this happens. We think of the rich man who went away grieving, shocked that Jesus told him to sell what he owned, give the money to the poor, and then come follow him Mark 10:17-22
Or the time in Matthew Jesus went back to Nazareth, his home town, and taught in the synagogue “and they took offense at him” Matthew 13:57; Mark 6:3 In Luke’s version we are told the people are so angry they want to throw Jesus off the cliff Luke 4:29.
And there was that time Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites, and they took offense at him Matthew 15:1-12.
During the Last Supper Jesus told his disciples, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
We then see Peter’s denial and Judas’ betrayal.
By any worldly standard, Jesus’ mission here in chapter six is a failure. Jesus starts the chapter with a crowd of 5000 people, but by the end of it, so many have walked away angry that only a dozen are left. Shades, we may think, of the state of the church today as we hear of many closures and people turning their backs on mainstream Christianity.
Our mission as Christians isn’t to court popularity. Jesus never calls us to be successful in the world’s eyes, he calls us to be faithful in his eyes. But people do walk away from church, from the faith, especially these days, just like they did from Jesus, in his day. But we shouldn’t let that discourage us, instead we should take it to God in prayer because it’s God who changes hearts as Jesus tells us, “No one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” John 6:65
And God had enabled some to believe. The disciples who stuck with Jesus, went on to change the world forever because they learned from Jesus that being faithful matters more than being successful.
Another point we need to remember is we don’t have to understand everything to have a solid Christian faith.
We’ve already seen that Jesus has said some complicated things in this passage. And by the time he’s says them all, he’s left with just a dozen followers. So, you might imagine that the twelve he’s left with are the ones who understood, but that’s not the case. One of the big themes of the gospels is that despite studying at Jesus’ feet for three years, the disciples kept misunderstanding. And that should be an encouragement to us. Because being a faithful Christian isn’t about knowing absolutely everything about God, it’s about trusting in what he says.
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in them” (John 6:56)
Jesus is the one with the words of eternal life. This means you don’t have to understand everything to be a serious Christian, instead, simply pursue faithfulness and trust in God.