Sermon 26th
August 2018
Text: John
6:56-69 – Lord, to whom can we go?
The
Victorian Government has recently introduced an incentive for you to compare
energy companies to see if you can find a cheaper deal and they’re offering you
$50 to do so.
There are
many many choices all offering massive early payment discounts to get your
business.
Insurance
companies try to find out when your policy is up for renewal so they can make
an offer for your business.
You have
lots of choices that you can go to and if you can’t decide then you can go to
companies like iSelect or Finder who will find the best offer for you to go to.
If you
don’t like Coles you can walk a short distance and go to Woolworths or Aldi or
Costco.
If you
don’t want to pay tolls on Eastlink or Citylink you can go on other roads that
are free.
We have
choices to which we can go.
If we
don’t like something then we have options to go elsewhere.
Even in
the church we have options to go elsewhere.
If we
don’t like a certain type of service we can find churches that offer different
styles.
But what
we seen in today’s Gospel reading is a different type of choice being
exercised.
We have
disciples rejecting Jesus – that’s a real concern but it is part of God’s free
will that he has given us which we are free to exercise.
It’s what
we are experiencing in today’s church and is not a lot different from the days
of Jesus.
People
leave the church for a variety of reasons.
They lose
interest.
Their
personal commitments take them away on Sundays.
They no
longer see any relevance of church in their life.
Someone
upsets them – maybe something that was said that was misunderstood.
It’s
interesting in our Gospel reading why so many disciples turn away from Jesus
and no longer followed him.
I’m not
quite sure which part of what Jesus said actually caused them to turn away:
His claim
to be the bread of life?
His talk
about his ascension?
His claim
that some there didn’t actually believe in him?
His
statement that no one could come to him unless the Father granted it?
Nevertheless
we read, “because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went
about with him”. (John 6:66)
Jesus
won’t force anyone to follow him so he asks the 12 apostles:
"Do
you also wish to go away?" (John 6:67).
Peter
answers on behalf of the 12 with one of the most profound statements:
"Lord,
to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. (John 6:68)
There are
many things in life that we disagree with, things that hurt us, things that
offend us.
We can
change insurance companies, we can change supermarkets, we can change football
teams.
We have
free will to choose.
We can go
elsewhere.
We can
even change the church we attend.
But what
concerns me is when I hear that someone has walked away from God.
Because
when we walk away from God we walk away from the words of eternal life.
We have
nowhere to go which offers us what God offers us – eternal life – free!
Yes we can
worship in our own way and time – we can pray at home – we can even watch Songs
of Praise or the Christian TV network.
But these
don’t replace church - gathering in worship with our brothers and sisters in
Christ to hear the Word, to hear and receive the absolution – the forgiveness
of our sins – to receive the body and blood of Christ.
These are
essential for our faith to arm us against the devil and all his works and all
his ways.
Paul makes
it very clear what we are up against as Christians.
He says;
our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness,
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)
When it
comes to our faith, Satan sends in the big guns to attack us – rulers,
authorities, cosmic powers.
If we
think that we can handle these on our own we are gravely mistaken.
No, he
says we need to “take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to
withstand on that evil day”. (Ephesians 6:11-13).
Many
underestimate the intention and effectiveness of the devil.
In fact
the devil’s greatest weapon is making us believe that he either doesn’t exist
or that he has no effect on me.
But Paul
says that the devil’s attacks are deadly accurate:
He calls
them: flaming arrows of the evil one. (Ephesians 6:16)
Arrows
that can hit with precision.
He knows
what will attack our faith – anger, offense, complacency, doubts, fears.
God
doesn’t tell us to fight against the devil – no, we’d lose miserably.
Paul says
to “stand firm” – not to attack.
Christ
does the attacking.
What God
does is he gives us armour to protect us which include:
The belt
of truth.
When Satan
attacks us with lies we stand on the truth.
When Satan
accuses us of our sin and makes us doubt our salvation we stand firm on the
truth of God’s Word that says emphatically that God loves us and has forgiven
us.
We put on
the helmet of salvation.
If you’ve
ever been in an accident you know how vulnerable the head is.
That’s why
we wear helmets on bikes and motorcycles to protect our vulnerable heads.
God’s
assurance of salvation protects us where we are most vulnerable.
Jesus says
– whoever believes and is baptised will be saved.
Our
baptism, the water poured on our head, is our helmet of salvation so when Satan
accuses us we can stand firm and respond “I am baptised”.
There is
no doubt that the church is under attack today.
We are
losing numbers in the pews.
We are
losing our finances.
We are
losing our credibility and relevance.
This is
now the time for the church to stand and put its trust in God.
It is easy
to give up.
It is easy
to go into defeat mode.
When you
feel like those disciples who found the going tough and wanted to leave,
remember Peter’s words:
Lord to
whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
If you
feel like giving up, where will you go?
This is
not new.
Satan has
been attacking the church from day one and knows how defenceless we become when
we are away from Word and Sacrament.
The writer
of the Book of Hebrews had that very concern:
He said:
Let us not
neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another,
especially now that the day of Christ’s return is drawing near.
The
church, our gathering together is our stronghold as Jesus told Peter:
I will
build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
We need to
stand up against all the odds and declare as Joshua did:
As for me
and my household, we will serve the LORD! (Joshua 24:15).
We can go
nowhere else because only Jesus has the words of eternal life and the church is
the body of Christ.
May the
peace of God that surpasses our understanding, keep our hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus. Amen.
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