Joy, Encouragement and Sadness

Sermon given on 25th August 2024

(Opening up the theme at the start of the service)                                              

Today we have three contrasting readings, which could have been chosen to represent the three persons of the Trinity. The first, celebrating God the Creator is from King Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. A confident and calm passage taking place at what was the highest point in the life of the Kingdom of Israel. The is followed by more from the Letter to the Church at Ephesus, and we must remember that the early church was certainly not at a high point in its wider community, being told with great enthusiasm to trust in the Spirit, despite discouraging things going on. And finally, in our gospel, we come (at last) to the end of John’s account of Jesus’ identifying himself as the “bread of life” to a group of initially eager followers, who had enjoyed the miraculous feeding, but many of whom now find the spiritual side of this teaching too unattractive and wander off. Much to think about!

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Bible readings

1 Kings 8.22-30,41-43: When a foreigner comes and prays toward this house, then hear in heaven your dwelling place and do all that the foreigner calls to you, that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you.

Ephesians 6.10-20: Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

John 6.56-69: 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”

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After the death of King David, there was considerable trouble about the succession, but eventually, Solomon became the undisputed king. He is recorded particularly as having prayed for wisdom – shown by the wonderful story of his deciding between two women, who both claimed to be the mother of a child. If by any chance you don’t know this story, do look for it in chapter 3 of 1 Kings! It is in this context that he is seen to have God’s permission to build the Temple, which David had been forbidden to do. At its dedication in a time of peace and rejoicing, he shows a strikingly positive attitude to foreigners, which had certainly not been normal earlier in the Israelite nation. He seems to have grasped the fact that if the God of Israel was indeed the only god, and responsible for the whole human race, then that God must care for them all. In the evolution we see through the Bible of the understanding of God, this marks a key place where the House of David is beginning to be seen as caring for all, eventually resulting in Jesus, seen as the heir of David. And the temple is seen as a place to welcome all, and is publicised as such, attracting no less a person than the Queen of Sheba. Just so, we hope to make this church a place of welcome for all. We had a visitor from the USA at the Thursday service this week who said, in brief, “I saw your website, I watched one of your services, and I said, ’I must go to this church!’” Yes, really positive things like that do happen, and we join with King Solomon in welcoming and rejoicing!

How different is the scene in our second reading! We are utterly removed from the triumphal scene at the dedication of the temple. While this letter seems to have been written rather later than Paul’s time, and simply in his name, it is clearly written for Christians in general at a time when persecution and doubt were real, and some encouragement to keep going is needed. The military images of the passage are very striking and are similar to some found in the later parts of the Hebrew Scriptures, and particularly in the Apocrypha. It is notable that all of the weapons mentioned are of a defensive nature, until the very last mention of a sword. It is a time of trouble, in which communities are facing threat, but holding to the faith is seen as protection, and only after being well protected are the Christians to take action, and it is the word of God that is the weapon for making an advance. I expect that by and large, we identify more with this scene than we do with the scene in the temple. We live in times when we may not actually be being persecuted, but our whole world is being threatened in many ways, most particularly by our changing climate. It is frightening that many people do not take this seriously, and part of proclaiming the word of God is doing our best to encourage all to look after the creation which he has placed in our care. The sword of the Spirit is certainly needed here!

And so we come to our gospel, being the fourth section of the somewhat mysterious account of Jesus as the bread of life. In John, a great deal is said at the Last Supper, but no significance is ascribed to what they are eating and drinking, so this passage is often taken as his reference to the Eucharist, and has no real equivalent in the other gospels. The mood of what we are hearing, though, has now declined again. From the joy of the dedication of the temple, through the worry of the Ephesians, we now come down to real basics. It is worth remembering that much of the crowd had been present at or had heard about the feeding of the 5000, and are looking for an easy way to get a good meal. Instead, Jesus offers a faith which can lead to a full and rewarding life, and we get rejection by many. It is, however, at this very discouraging moment that Peter makes the wonderful profession, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

So we have heard great joy, encouragement in time of trouble, and the sadness of rejection, one reading after another. It is rather the range we find in day to day life. We often tend, especially, I suppose as we get older, to be more aware of the sadness and trouble around us, and less aware of the glorious joy that is also there. After all, what is the point of being concerned about the planet, if this is such a miserable place that it might as well come to a fiery end now! No, it is a wonderful place, given to us by God to protect. And we must not “turn back and no longer go about with Jesus” He is the bread of life, and it is with rejoicing, as well as with penitence that we must come together to share here, today, in the bread of life that came down from heaven and unites us with Jesus and with one another.

by Bob Gould