August 17, 2003 -TenthSunday after Pentecost
Ephesians 5: 15-20
NRSVKJV
John 6: 51-58
“Eucharist= Thanksgiving”
. . . be filled withthe Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves,singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God theFather at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.[Ephesians 5: 18-20]
Paul’s words to the church atEphesus come after he has told them, “Be careful how you live, not as unwisepeople, but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil.”It was good advice then and, given what we hear on the news and see around us,it appears to continue to be good advice. So the issue, the goal, of Christianlife is to become ‘wise.’
To be ‘wise’ Webster’sFourth Collegiate Dictionary tells us is “characterized by wisdom, markedby deep understanding, keen discernment and a capacity for sound judgment.”‘Wisdom’ itself is “accumulated philosophic or scientific learning.” Thewise person is one who can take what is learned and then use it in the mostappropriate way. Early on the Christian church taught that the way one comes tothis wisdom is by being brought into the life of God. God is the source of allwisdom and to know God is to be made a sharer, a participant, in that wisdomwhich is beyond our capacity.
When Jesus began his discourseon the ‘bread of life’ he was, first of all, breaking the bread of wisdomfor his hearers. Over and over in that section of John’s Gospel Jesus talksabout God as the source of life, of nourishment, fulfillment, and growth. Thenew manna that we’re to “munch” – and that is the literal translation ofthe Greek word for ‘eat’ used here – is to be the “flesh and blood” ofJesus. “Flesh and blood” denotes wholeness, completeness, and what Jesus isinviting us to do is to enter into the fullness of Divine life revealed in hisperson, his teaching, and his work.
The bread that Jesus offersisn’t like the manna which sustained for a time, but then was used up. Thebread that Jesus offers us is eternal and it is never “used up.” The breadof life won’t go stale or moldy on us; it is forever fresh and nourishing. Why? Because it is the sharing in Divine life and Divine wisdom madeaccessible to us for the first time in Jesus Christ.
Jesus has revealed to us thatGod is not simply the ultimate repository of power, but instead reveals God asthe ultimate sign and source of LOVE. God’s power is subordinate to God’slove and Jesus is the sign and the proof of this. The wisdom that leads us toeternal life is this – to accept and to live the unselfish love of Godrevealed in Jesus Christ. To be truly wise, then, is to become a partaker, asharer, in Divine nature. How do we do that? By partaking of the bread of life– through faith eating and drinking, allowing the teaching, example, andmessage of God in Christ to become part of us and to affect the way we live.I’ve quoted Augustine on this before, but it bears repeating, “You are whatyou eat.” Partake of the bread of life and become what you consume –unselfish, self-giving love.
The wise person is then able togive thanks to God “at all times and for everything.” At the core of thewisdom God gives is a sense of gratitude and graciousness. When we’re able tostep back from ourselves we can see more clearly just how much we’ve beengiven. I appreciated something I read by William Willimon, dean of the chapel atDuke University. Willimon said, “Cicerocalled it ‘the greatest of the virtues,’ ‘the parent of all the others.’Seneca said the lack of it was ‘an abomination.’ It’s gratitude, close kinof graciousness and grateful. Yet we live in a society of ‘rights,’ full ofself-made men and women, where most of us ten to think that we have and what wehave is because we deserve it. We live in a culture where gratitude often seemsan emotion in short supply.” I believe that he hits the target. We don’trealize what we have and to the extent that we do, we can’t bring ourselves tosay ‘thank you.’ Life is a gift and, if we follow that course of reasoning,it means everything is a gift and to be given a gift means that somewhere,somehow, some way the recipient is to be grateful.
To have eaten of the bread oflife implies, at least to me, that I see my dependence on God and rather thanresenting it, I give thanks. I give thanks because God is more than I can everhope to be and if God can share life with me, why shouldn’t I say thanks and,in my turn, share life with others out of gratitude. What is more, I should bethankful, grateful, for the opportunities that come my way to share life. Onthis point, if ever there was a wise man it was the fourteenth century spiritualwriter Johannes Eckhart. He is worthy of his title “meister,” for he was atrue master of the life in God. Eckhart said, “If the only prayer you say inyour whole life is ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.” To be able to say“thank you,” to be truly full of thanks, is to be wise because we thenacknowledge God’s centrality in our lives and that we are guests of a verygracious host. That is what God is, after all, a host. I remember a man in thiscongregation, now gone home, named Clarence Schmelzer who understood what itmeant to be God’s guest. Clarence once told me that he gave ten percent of hisincome to church and charity “off the top” not only because he was gratefulfor many blessings, but also because “God has a bigger shovel.”
God has set a banquet for us inmaking the world in which we live. We have been made in the image and thelikeness of God and sent forth to enjoy all that God has made. Jesus shows usthe way of being a good guest – even sitting down at table with tax-collectorsand sinners – until he reveals himself to be the “bread of life.”Commenting on God’s generosity the contemporary spiritual writer Matthew Foxwrites:
God has declared that this banquetis “very good” and so are we, blessings ourselves, invited to the banquet.To recount just a few of these remarkable gifts of creation ecstasies that Godhas given us, let us recall the following elements at table with us: nature;friendship; thinking; sexuality; the arts, from those of conversation and carrepair to the arts of dance and opera . . . The list of divine blessings that wecall creation and that can rightly be called a banquet goes on and on. Yes, wecan conclude that God is indeed a good host/hostess, welcoming us to creationand its multiple gifts and blessings.
As if there were not enough forus, God the host has set another table for us: the Eucharist is an opportunityto eat cosmic bread and drink cosmic blood, to say “thank you” for thebanquet of our lives. In this instance God – the host – in an amazing act ofimagination – actually becomes the food and the drink at table. [OriginalBlessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality (1986), p. 113]
Fox refers to the Lord’sSupper in a very ancient way as “Eucharist.” If you go to a Greek restaurantand want to say “thank you” you say: “eucharisto.” What Jesus did “onthe night before he was betrayed” was to show us the way to say “thankyou.” I suppose that’s why I’m such an ardent advocate of more frequentcommunion, because in that simple act of table fellowship, something so commonand ordinary, Jesus shows us the essence of life itself – thankfulness. To bethankful for all that God has done for us; to see God at work in others; tobecome ‘eucharist’ – as Jesus did by living unselfishly toward God andothers -- that is the wisdom of Christian life.
So, with Paul, I advise us all“to be careful” in how we live. Together we should grow wise in how we livetoward God and toward one another. Today as you share lunch – be it a banquetor a picnic – look beyond what’s there on the table to the One who gave itand who sits down with you there and allow that meal to be a little eucharist– a thanksgiving. In the week ahead, as you encounter situations that make youwant to retreat or, perhaps, to lash out, remember Christ the guest and see himright where you are. To live wisely is to live in self-giving love and inoneness with God, the source of all life. When we begin to understand, to bewise in the ways of God, then we will be one with God and with all that God hasmade. It begins with a simple step, realizing that eucharist equals thanksgivingand that life equals eucharist.
I leave you with wisdom from afifteenth century Spanish spiritual writer, Luis de Leon. He understood what itmeant to be wise as God intends and it shows in these words.
O soul of mine, let us praise God
And all that’s light in thee,
Celebrate today His Holy Name
His blessed Memory.
An army of stars parades above,
Mankind unfolds her story.
And stars and men, made one at last,
Sing only of thy glory.
Amen. So be it.