I will say only a brief word about today’s first reading, the story of King David’s profound grief following the violent death of his son Absalom in family and political conflicts over power. The perspective of the story is that this is the consequence of David’s own sin, ignoring God’s commands to faithfulness and righteousness. Whether we share that perspective, what we can appreciate is the grief of a parent in the death of a child, that David expresses, and the promise in the Psalm of God’s care remaining with David and all parents and others who grieve profound loss and death, so present in our world for so many.
Turning to the gospel, this is the third of five Sundays that focus on Jesus as the “bread of life” or “bread from heaven” from the 6th chapter of John’s gospel. It all begins with Jesus feeding the multitudes and the questions and misunderstanding that arise from this miracle of sharing the bread of life together and how we and others are drawn to Jesus by God’s grace.
The bread of life image is full of meaning. We can taste and see, touch and smell bread, a daily staple across cultures though in many different forms. Breaking bread. Bread for the hungry. Bread for the journey. Give us today our daily bread. At the heart of our worship around the communion table in bread broken and shared in re-membering Jesus. A rich and tangible metaphor and more for us as followers of Jesus, lessened only by familiarity potentially. Maybe it is indeed right and good that we focus on Jesus, the bread of life for five Sundays and more.
But mostly in the gospel stories, people question and misunderstand or seek only simple daily bread. Today, it is the religious authorities that complain about Jesus’ claim to be the bread of life that comes from heaven. The authorities not surprisingly question, “What are you saying? We know your parents. We know where you come from. What’s this about living bread coming from heaven?” But Jesus simply tells them to stop complaining. And makes more outrageous claims, saying, only those drawn by God will come to Jesus who is sent by God. And Jesus will raise them up on the last day. As the prophets said, God teaches, and those who hear and learn from God, believe in and come to Jesus, the living bread that comes down from heaven, the bread of eternal life. More than mana from heaven, to eat of this bread and never be hungry, never die, the bread of Jesus’ very self to live forever. What claims Jesus makes! “I am the living bread of life that comes from heaven.” Are you drawn in, drawn to Jesus by God’s grace?
Three Sundays back, I was at the Anglican Lutheran National Worship Conference in Regina. The theme of the
conference was, “Stones Cry Out: Praying with the Land.” The conference explored “decolonizing worship” and all that potentially means, with three excellent presenters, various workshop leaders, and conference Indigenous Elder Lorna Standingready. I know some of you heard Boston, (seminary student from this congregation who was also there) speak about the conference in his fine sermon the Sunday after. I will try not to repeat the content and experiences that Boston shared.
Instead, a few memories from closing worship on the Sunday. We began with invoking the four directions, moving from the East to South to West, with Elder Lorna leading from the North, invoking animal Spirits and Creator’s Spirit in the circle of our being gathered together in and with all creation. The readings in worship were in different languages which evokes a different hearing, even with a translation in front of us. The music was a rich variety from different cultures and expressions, accompanied by various instruments including Indigenous and African drums and voices. And the sermon by Bishop Susan recalled teachings and learnings from the conference for us to take with us and consider in a continuing journey of decolonizing ourselves, our communities and our worship together. We joined in lament and prayers for transformation out of the constraints of colonialism, white supremacy, and racism by God’s grace and forgiveness. And we joined in Holy Communion, which was also shared in the four directions, the bread of life and cup of blessing of Christ Jesus, to the east and south, west and north, that all are fed, that all have enough, including all creatures, of Creator’s desiring. And worship ended at the direction of Elder Lorna, with a circle dance. Everyone quickly helping to clear the chairs, joining hands in one big circle and dancing in a clockwise direction, stepping and swinging our hands in celebration all together following Elder Lorna’s lead and everyone sharing her infectious joy and big smile. It was a joy to share in the worship and be drawn in to the diversity in representation and languages and cultures in music and words and images around and in receiving Christ Jesus, the living bread of heaven, to eternal life.
A few things to learn, we can’t simply duplicate the worship of the conference, created with the direction and leadership of people of Indigenous and other cultures and their expressions. Otherwise, we risk the sin of appropriation and again stealing other’s cultures as a dominant culture. But by creating space together, by a “gracious exclusion” of the dominant culture, being opened up for the expression of gifts from a beautiful diversity of peoples and communities, and cultures together from around the world of the growing church of Christ, more and more meeting together in this part of the world, with many who are new to these lands, together with Indigenous neighbours of these lands, bringing and reclaiming a place at the table of Christ Jesus, to share the living bread from heaven with all who are drawn by God to Christ, for now and for eternity.
Specifically of worship, I have loved Lutheran worship and committed much of my ministry to its creative and meaningful expression. But the sin of colonialism and white supremacy which is part of the context of the Reformation, have caused me to question and see and hear and understand the colonial culture and euro-centric nature of our worship differently, so that I cannot love it, the language, the imagery, the music, the same way anymore. As I said to Boston and others at the conference, it seems clear to me that most everything will have to change in our worship to express the beautiful diversity of the church of Christ to which people of every culture are being drawn. But I am hopeful that those taking on new leadership in our church representing this diversity will help guide this change and all of us together in our continuing to be drawn to sharing the living bread of life that comes from heaven to eternal life, in Christ Jesus.
And this is not a new reformation journey, only going further. The history of Lutheranism on Turtle Island from the beginning of the 20th century was as many as 70 ethnically
based Lutheran church bodies on these lands, eventually coming together and merging and finding common language and expression and understanding, forming by the end of the last century essentially two main Lutheran groups, one more progressive, one more conservative. This will be a continuing reformation, more ecumenical, in a multifaith context, representing a world of diversity and Indigenous Christians on these lands all drawn to Christ and drawn together to share the living bread of heaven for life now and for eternity.
Our Hymn of the Day that follows the sermon this morning is titled, “The Rice of Life.” A song of Asian origin, it acknowledges that for many people and cultures in the world, it is not bread that is the staple, but rice. And Jesus’ words in this context and culture are meaningfully translated as, “I am the rice of life from heaven.” A new way for many of us to hear the gospel of Christ, to understand and be drawn in together in an ever-widening circle by God’s grace.
Today’s reading from Ephesians, begins with the simple phrase, “So then…. in response to God’s gracious gift in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ Jesus, “so then,” live the life in Christ to which God draws us, putting away falsehood, speaking the truth as one body together, at times in anger but not sin, in honest work and generosity, building up the body in words of grace, not grieving the Holy Spirit who seals us in Baptism, but putting away bitterness, wrath, wrangling, slander and malice, and “being kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loves us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Being drawn again and again by God’s grace to Christ, to the table with a place for everyone, and the living bread and rice of heaven to feed us and this hurting, hungry world to eternal life.
Maybe it is as simple as Jesus’ response to the religious authorities, stop complaining, and be drawn to Christ, and to quote indigenous wisdom, live in a good way, in all our relations. Let it be so. Amen.
