John 6:56-69 NT p. 94 or 1310

6:56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.

6:57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.

6:58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever."

6:59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

6:60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?"

6:61 But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, "Does this offend you?

6:62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?

6:63 It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

6:64 But among you there are some who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him.

6:65 And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father."

6:66 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.

6:67 So Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?"

6:68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.

6:69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

INTRODUCTION:

Use The Following Skit:

Theme: We give up too easily, especially with things that are spiritual.

Summary: Two disciples are talking. One of them is thinking about leaving Jesus and the other one, Judas, tries to talk him out of it. But who makes the better choice?

Playing Time: 3½ minutes

Setting: The Holy Land

Props: None

Costumes: Disciples of Jesus

Time: The time of Jesus

Cast: MICAH -- a disciple; JUDAS -- his friend

JUDAS: (ENTERS ALONG WITH MICAH) Come on now, Micah, settle down.

MICAH: I can't take it any longer, Judas.

JUDAS: What do you mean? What's bothering you?

MICAH: I'm leaving.

JUDAS: Oh, no, you're not. You told me you would stay with Jesus.

MICAH: Judas, I just can't accept some of the things he says.

JUDAS: Oh, that last thing he said about eating his flesh -- is that it?

MICAH: Yes, that's exactly it.

JUDAS: Your trouble is you're trying to understand it.

MICAH: Of course I'm trying to understand it. I'm one of his disciples.

JUDAS: I told you when we started following Jesus not to listen to him.

MICAH: I remember you said that, Judas, but I thought you were just joking.

JUDAS: I was not joking. I never joke. This is serious. If Jesus is going to be the Messiah and save our nation from the Romans then it's up to people like us to do it. He's a teacher, a dreamer -- you can't expect him to save anyone, can you?

MICAH: He says he will.

JUDAS: Just talk. All people who claim to be the Messiah will talk like that.

MICAH: I believed him at first. But now …

JUDAS: You started listening to him. That was your first mistake.

MICAH: I used to think his teaching was wonderful. Life-changing.

JUDAS: Listen to me. I'm the one who has the plan. I'm the one who's in charge of the money, aren't I?

MICAH: Yes. You do have all the money.

JUDAS: Well, then I'm the one you should be listening to, right?

MICAH: All right, then, what's your plan?

JUDAS: It's not complicated. All we have to do is use the money we have to pay the people we need. We can pick up some extra money whenever we need it by feeding some information to the officials. They're always ready to pay for information. I know some of the high officials and they said they're sympathetic to our cause. They want to get out from under Rome's rule, too.

MICAH: In other words I can just act like a disciple. I don't have to really believe any of the difficult things.

JUDAS: That's right. Jesus himself said we should be as wise as serpents but as innocent as doves.

MICAH: I don't know.

JUDAS: Come on. What do you have to go back to?

MICAH: My family.

JUDAS: Jesus said that if we're not willing to give up our families, then we're not worth following him.

MICAH: For a guy who doesn't listen to him, Judas, you sure quote him a lot.

JUDAS: I listen selectively. I remember what will help our cause.

MICAH: I don't think I can do it.

JUDAS: You can't just quit. Remember what I told you, you're in this until the end.

MICAH: Well, I'm quitting.

JUDAS: Oh, no! You're staying. I need your help.

MICAH: You don't need my help. Your plan seems like a good one, I just want to go home.

JUDAS: Okay, leave then. When Jesus comes into his kingdom I'll be a high official. I'll be the power behind the throne. And where will you be?

MICAH: I'll be home. Good-bye, Judas. (HE EXITS)

JUDAS: Loser. (HE EXITS) (1)

INTRODUCTION:

Our skit points out one of the major dilemmas found in this passage. At times, the things that Jesus says and teaches are easy to understand, easy to grasp, easy to follow. They lifted you up. They gave wings to your soul and spirit, they set you free. We've all felt it, just like the disciples when Jesus called them follow. That stirring of the spirit, that aliveness, the excitement.

But then there are the hard teachings. Things like this one about Jesus' body and blood. In hindsight, we know he was talking about the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, but can you imagine hearing this for the first time? But this isn't the only hard teaching? How about the one about "turning the other cheek" or "loving your enemy"? And how about the one that says "take up your cross and following me," or the one that says, "forgive those who sin against you and leave the retribution to God?"

All of these are hard teachings. Hard to understand and hard to do. And at each of them, some of the disciples, like Micah in our skit, turned away. They couldn't understand them, they couldn't go the distance, so they quit.

Here in this passage, Jesus turns to the twelve, his inner circle, and asks, "Do you also wish to go away?"

Here's one of those instances when Peter really shines. It's obvious that the Spirit is speaking through him for he says: "Lord, where would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have committed ourselves. Besides, we believe and we know that you are the Holy One of God sent for our salvation. Where else could we go?"

We look at Peter and sometimes he seems like the least likely choice to head up the Disciples. He bumbles and stumbles through ministry and relationships like Godzilla through New York. But then there are times when Peter gets a glimpse of heaven and his words and actions are truly inspired. This is one of those times. He nails it with the question: "Lord, where would we go?"

I.THE WRECKAGE:

A. I've started reading a book by Eugene Peterson with an intriguing title, Working The Angles, The Shape Of Pastoral Integrity. The opening paragraph of chapter one describes life in a very poignant way.

"The sheer quantity of wreckage around us is appalling: wrecked bodies, wrecked marriages, wrecked careers, wrecked plans, wrecked families, wrecked alliances, wrecked friendships, wrecked prosperity. We avert our eyes. We try not to dwell on it. We whistle in the dark. We wake up in the morning hoping for health and love, justice and success, we build quick mental and emotional defenses against the inrush of bad news, and we try to keep our hopes up. And then some kind of crash or other put us or someone we care about in a pile of wreckage. Newspapers document the ruins with photographs and headlines. Our own hearts and journals fill in the details. Are there any promises, any hopes that are exempt from the general carnage? It doesn't seem so." (2)

B. That wreckage is mirrored in our television programming. The way I see it, there are basically 6 types of programming in prime time. I divide them like this:

JUSTICE: These are the cop, doctor and lawyer shows that are all about seeking justice and wholeness. Shows like ER, JAG, NYPD Blue, LA Law, Law and Order.

NEWS MAGAZINES: 20/20, Dateline & 48 Hours. They all spend an hour spinning out tales of people's struggle with the wreckage in their lives.

SITCOMS: They all depend upon wreckage for their laughs as the characters get caught in weird, embarrassing, beyond belief, situations. All we can do is laugh at their antics to deal with the wreckage.

REALITY TV: The ever popular Survivor and Big Brother where we can watch other peoples lives fall apart.

HOPE BASED TV: Of course we're searching for hope, too, so there are programs like: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Touched By An Angel, Seventh Heaven and Mysterious Ways.

That's the major stations: all the others show a different side of life. They carry what I call the

ADULT CARTOONS: things like: WCW Monday Nite NITRO, WWF, Jerry Springer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and similar programs.

Most of the shows are either completely escapist or they mirror the wreckage around us. For a vast number of people in today's world, life is nothing but a bunch of wreckage. And they desperately want to know: "Are there any promises, any hopes that are exempt from the general carnage?"

II. THE REDEEMER:

A. And that brings us back to the insight and inspiration that Peter had.

"Lord, where would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have committed ourselves. Besides, we believe and we know that you are the Holy One of God sent for our salvation. Where else could we go?"

Sometimes life gets hard and there seems to be nothing but wreckage all around. "Where else could we go?" but to Jesus. No one else has "the words of eternal life." No one else can offer salvation. No one else promises to be there with us and to lead us through the wreckage.

B. Stanley Jones tells of a missionary who got lost in an African jungle, nothing around him but bush and a few cleared places. He found a native hut and asked the native if he could get him out. The native said he could.

"All right," said the missionary, "show me the way."

The native said, "Walk," so they walked and hacked their way through unmarked jungle for more than an hour.

The missionary got worried. "Are you quite sure this is the way? Where is the path?"

The native said, "Bwana, in this place there is no path. I am the path." (3)

Peter hit upon the truth. Not only did he speak on behalf of the twelve, or at least eleven of the twelve, he spoke for us, as well. "Lord, where would we go? You're the path. You've called us to follow. You have the words of eternal life. And without you, we would be lost in the jungle of our own wreckage."

CONCLUSION:

William Willimon tells of a farmer who scratched out a meager living off a terrible farmland in South Carolina. He had the worst time growing crops on his land before he finally, after a particularly sad harvest, gave up, sold his land, and went to work in a factory.

The man who bought this land noticed the poor vegetation on the property. He therefore didn't pay much for the acreage. One day, walking over his property, he noticed a strange outcropping of white rock. He had always been interested in geology. So, he chipped some of the rock and took it to a geologist friend for analysis. To make a long story short, he eventually sold the property for millions. His land contained a huge deposit of a mineral used in the processing of aluminum and other metals.

One man was on the land and didn't notice its value. Another man's background and curiosity led him to discover something wonderful. (4)

In confronting the hard teachings of Jesus, in looking at the wreckage in his own life, Peter was able to discover something wonderful. He might not have understood it? But he was able to accept it because he knew that "Jesus has the words of eternal life."

"Where else would we go" when we're lost in the jungle of the wreckage and carnage that's all around us?

"Where else would we go" when life suddenly skids off of our well planned highway?

"Where else would we go" when life takes a plunge like the crash of 29?

"Where else would we go?" TV doesn't hold the answer.

"Where else would we go?" Wall Street doesn't hold the answer.

"Where else would we go?" Hollywood doesn't hold the answer.

"Where else would we go?" Materialism doesn't hold the answer.

We're called to believe and to follow because we know that Jesus is the Son of God, sent for our salvation. In the midst of the wreckage that happens in life, look to Jesus. He has the answers. He IS "the Promise." He IS the "Hope that is exempt from the general carnage."

Look to Jesus. "Where else would we go?"

1. Adapted from "Lectionary Scenes, Cycle B. 1999, Proper 16," published by CSS Publishing, Lima, OH. (SermonPrep Edition)

2. Peterson, Eugene, Working The Angles, The Shape Of Pastoral Integrity. (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Grand Rapids, MI, 1987) p. 21.

3. The Pastor's Story File (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), April 1985

4. Pulpit Resource, pg. 38.

SermonWriter for Year B (August 27, 2000). Copyright, Richard Niell Donovan, 2000

Emphasis, July-August 2000, Sermon Prep Version. (CSS Publishing, Lima, OH)

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