John 6:56-69. “Do you also wish to go away?”
Jesus ministry resulted in a spiritual crisis in 1st century Judaism. This crisis was deep and wide and divided Jew against Jew. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke the crisis was between the average lay person who seemed to gravitate toward Jesus, and the religious leaders who seemed to oppose his mission. In John’s gospel, it is this very chapter we’ve been reading from that creates a spiritual crisis among the hearers. All of this eating of his flesh and blood to receive the eternal life of fellowship with GOD was too much for them to endure. How can Jesus, a man, give us his body and blood? And how would this eating and drinking affect a change in the covenant relationship with GOD, a covenant broken in Sin? According to John, many turned away and stopped following him. Jesus’ ministry divided his own people. In Matthew Jesus tells the crowds he came not to bring peace but a sword to divide the generations in the one household of the Jewish faith. And so Jesus’ mission brings a crisis because God’s presence on earth is a crisis. Our sinfulness is a crisis. Death is a crisis. Hunger is a crisis. Fear that leads to violence is a crisis. Malaria is a crisis. War is a crisis. Global climate change and the affects it is having on food shortages in sub-Saharan Africa is a crisis. We need not look far to see the crises of this world unfolding. It doesn’t get better or worse; it just is what it is. And we have a part in it all. Because we have been given this one life, this one moment, and this one planet on which to live and move and have our being. So, the crisis for us is a spiritual one! How will we live given our limitations and mortality? How will we treat ourselves and others? How will we understand the nature of life?
For us, the creed we recite is a response to the spiritual crises we face. Because the creed is about GOD. Creator, savior, giver of life. And not about us.
We must not take for granted that we profess a theological existence. First, there is GOD. Then us. Then the power of Sin. Then Jesus, the forgiver and savior. Then the Holy Spirit, who gathers, sanctifies, and advocates. Then there is church, ecclesia. People of GOD, forgiven, restored, made alive with Christ.
The ELCA is a church divided. But this is not news. Churches all over this planet are divided about GOD, Jesus, how we treat others. Have been for as long as there has been church, starting in Jesus’ own lifetime. We need not fear division in the church. Some will use it as a weapon to control and force conformity. Some will say that unity is more important than divisive change. Some will say that the church's witness is being coopted by a liberal society. Some will say that the church's openness is about political correctness in our culture, rather than biblical faithfulness. But the good ol' days weren't always good. They may have been good for some people, but always at the expense of others. So where is the justice in that? God's justice insists on a better way than we can muster ourselves.
We are a divided church. After nearly 20 years of study, prayer, and conversation the ELCA churchwide assembly adopted a social statement on Human Sexuality last week. And we adopted four policy recommendations. These recommendations allow for the public recognition and affirmation of people living in lifelong, monogamous same-gendered relationships—gay couples. And it allows for the rostering of leaders who are engaged in such relationships. Gay people can be ordained pastors, Bishops, etc…in this church. Over a third of this church, I suspect believes this is inconsistent with the teachings of Scripture. Some individuals, some congregations, and maybe even entire synods will defect from the ELCA and form a traditionalist synod currently called Lutheran CORE. They are assembling in Indianapolis next month. They will invite congregations to discern their consciences in this matter and decide if they want to support an ELCA that, they believe, has departed from scripture in this matter.
This for many is a crisis in this church. I believe it is. And I believe that the Holy Spirit has called us in the gospel to a engage this crisis. I also believe that this is not entirely about sexuality. Sexuality is the cultural war in which an ecclesial issue is being hammered through. The real issue is: Who does GOD call and send in gospel ministry? Who are the called? Who are the chosen ones? Who are the elected officials of this religion? Who does this GOD assign? Who is valued, gifted, eligible for holy office? I am a baptized child of GOD and a sinner. Jesus has saved me and promised me real, authentic, good and eternal life with GOD. I have been called and sent by God as an apostle and teacher in this church. I believe that every baptized believer is a sinner and is gifted and called by the Spirit for service in Jesus’ name. I believe that if God can call and send me, God can call and send anyone: male or female, gay or straight. Fifty years ago divorce was the dividing wall for clergy. Thirty years ago, gender. Now I have divorced female colleagues in ministry, who half a century ago would not have dreamed of serving a call as a rostered leader. Are they to be denounced, defrocked, maligned, ignored? Will God's calling be mocked? This is not a liberal, “the times they are a changin’” speech. Because these decisions have been spiritually discerned in a community of the whole---an exercise in humility lost in so many American Christians whose biblical interpretation is more about their personal political ideologies and personal feelings than about GOD. ONe does not submit to a whole or a community, but is bound to a free conscience and a personal choice. So again, the bigger issue is not sexuality, but how do we read and understand Scripture as God’s inspired Word for us in this place and time. How do we bridge the cultural distance between us and the world in which Scripture was written? How do we bridge the cultural distance between the context of antiquity and the 21st century context? How do we prayerfully discern God’s Word for us without getting in the way?
I know that there are folks who believe the ELCA is abandoning Scripture and tradition. I am sorry that this spiritual crisis is wounding them and breaking relationships. Jesus was crucified because the religious authorities in his day refused to recognize that he was the anointed son of GOD and the Messiah of the Jewish people. Their faithful adherence to the law became a stumbling block to the spirit of truth found in the unlikely form of Jesus of Nazareth. Who ought not to be called by GOD? An illegitimate carpenter’s son. Fishermen. A tax collector. A prostitute. A Samaritan. A man born blind. A Pharisee and persecutor of “the way of Jesus”. The biblical witness is full of witnesses whose witness is disqualified, rejected, unauthorized. From Moses and the Prophets to Jesus and Paul; the damned and the condemned are the priests of this God. Inviting the outcast to share the good news is biblical. Because God is gracious, reconciling our broken sinful souls with Christ. Finally, It is at the cross where sinful divisions are finally healed. Jesus himself offers us forgiveness in the midst of this crisis. We trust in Him.
Many turned back and stopped following him, John says. Many will indeed walk away. A choice is offered. To follow Jesus to the cross, or to go another way. May Jesus question to his disciples cause a spiritual crisis in us all: Do you wish to go away also? Let our answer be Peter’s: Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Amen.
