That God chose to
“wear skin” and take on our humanity is a shocking truth. We know all too well how
broken and imperfect this world is. We know how limited and broken we can be.
It is one thing to hear Jesus say that we are loved, welcomed, and invited to
become part of His body in the world, but it is quite another thing to live out
that kind of welcome in our lives. It’s incredibly hard to know how to find
God’s grace, love, forgiveness, and presence in the midst of loneliness,
isolation, pain, loss, and suffering. It’s easier to feel close to God, and
serve God, when things are going well for us. It’s much harder to rest in God’s
presence when we are struggling, hurting, or angry.
In the gospel reading from John 6: 56-69 we realize that, even though Jesus’ disciples have been with Him through thick and thin, they still struggle to stick around. Even for Jesus’ disciples, living out their faith was hard. They struggled as we struggle. Loving as Jesus loves, and serving as He serves, means the hard work of relationship: loving those who are hard to love; taking care of those outside of our inner circle; forgiving those who haven’t earned our forgiveness; and seeing God’s presence in the simple and ordinary parts of life.
Sometimes it will feel like the best we can do is grope around in the dark looking for God. When peace doesn’t come easily we can struggle to feel God’s presence. But Christ calls us back to the simplest places; to water, bread, and wine. In the grace of our Baptism we were marked as God’s beloved forever. In the spiritual food of the Eucharist Christ promises us that He is bound to us forever. We can never be separated from His love, just as the food that nourishes us can’t be separated from our bodies. So when we struggle, like the disciples, to accept that hope is stronger than brokenness, let us continue to come to Christ’s table together, to love one another, to serve one another, and to share Christ’s love with everyone we meet. Let us become so rooted in prayer, scripture, and service that, when the world asks why we keep coming to Christ’s table, we, like Peter, can say, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
In the gospel reading from John 6: 56-69 we realize that, even though Jesus’ disciples have been with Him through thick and thin, they still struggle to stick around. Even for Jesus’ disciples, living out their faith was hard. They struggled as we struggle. Loving as Jesus loves, and serving as He serves, means the hard work of relationship: loving those who are hard to love; taking care of those outside of our inner circle; forgiving those who haven’t earned our forgiveness; and seeing God’s presence in the simple and ordinary parts of life.
Sometimes it will feel like the best we can do is grope around in the dark looking for God. When peace doesn’t come easily we can struggle to feel God’s presence. But Christ calls us back to the simplest places; to water, bread, and wine. In the grace of our Baptism we were marked as God’s beloved forever. In the spiritual food of the Eucharist Christ promises us that He is bound to us forever. We can never be separated from His love, just as the food that nourishes us can’t be separated from our bodies. So when we struggle, like the disciples, to accept that hope is stronger than brokenness, let us continue to come to Christ’s table together, to love one another, to serve one another, and to share Christ’s love with everyone we meet. Let us become so rooted in prayer, scripture, and service that, when the world asks why we keep coming to Christ’s table, we, like Peter, can say, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
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