Monday 20 August 2018

Sermon 26th August 2018: Year B: 14th Sunday after Pentecost:Text: John 6:56-69 – Lord, to whom can we go?


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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