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Sermon Pent 13, yr B, 2024
This Christian church…it can be weird. So weird…so niche… just packed with strange language and clothing and items that we have gotten so used to that we don’t even notice anymore.
Look around at the symbols that we have in the windows and on the banners. Doves, fire, grapes, weird eagle- griffin creatures, how often do you sit down and think about what they really mean?
I knew a girl once, who was just learning English and was new to Christianity; and so, had a lot of questions. I told her that she should carry a note pad in church and write down anything that confused her and we could talk about it. One of the first conversations we had was about why Christians worshiped sheep. Take a minute….you’ll get it. I could see the confusion…lamb of God, great shepherd, all the parables when Jesus or we or God is sheep or lamb or shepherd. It never even occurred to me that this might be a stumbling block to understanding faith. With all the parables and analogies that are used in the bible it is amazing that we don’t get more confused.
Let’s see… Christ and God are referred to as…
Mother hen, Jerusalem, a rock, water of salvation, head of the body, a corner stone of a building, a vine, a Lamb, a landowner, truth, light, fire, and of course bread.
Analogies are everywhere in scripture trying to explain incredibly difficult theological concepts. Like a fish trying to describe a mountain.
Today we get another famous analogy, but presented as a statement of truth.
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’
How is this? Jesus was physically a man…not a loaf. Came down from heaven…ok…but bread, flesh…what does that really mean? And we aren’t alone in this confusion.
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’”
A very good question. One we still debate as Catholics, Protestants and other denominations argue about whether the wine and the bread in the Eucharist …literally turn to flesh and blood.. transubstantiation or if that bread and flesh, wine and blood coexist somehow…consubstantiation, or if the Eucharist is simply a memorial. Not to forget the solid Augustinian formula for defining a sacrament like the Eucharist as an ‘outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace’.
In all events the teaching that Christ gives us in the gospel today and the institution of the Eucharist which put that teaching into sacrament has always been confusing and unrelatable. In the second century Tertullian (a theologian and apologist) noted that Christians were being accused of murder and cannibalism…
“Monsters of wickedness, we are accused of observing a holy rite in which we kill a little child and then eat it”.
Clearly the wording of Eucharist spread faster than the explanation.
“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.”
It is a difficult teaching to be sure.
However, one significant experience in my life has helped me understand it just a little bit better. A little bit of back ground here, and it’s a bit the long way round, but be patient and open minded and we’ll get there.
Syd’s birth was VERY difficult. I had a C-Section and he was born 10 lbs 3oz and about 2 ft long, a big baby. Now if you have a C-Section you aren’t supposed to lift anything 10 lbs or more…umm. Baby? Also you are supposed to start breast feed right away and a VERY handsy consultant is there to help.
Let’s sum those difficult learning by up by saying couldn’t find a spot where little mister wasn’t able to boot me in the c section wound every time he fed. Also, babies have tiny tummies, so breast feeding is every 20mins or so. So, in order to keep that little monkey alive, I breast fed him for hours everyday while he kicked my wounds till they bled. We did start using padding and such, but still.
Later on, for me and for many moms, after months of breast feeding there develops sores, cracks and lots of pain…and still you breast feed while, again…literally bleeding ‘cause baby doesn’t care. Then further along… the little monster gets teeth. TEETH. Still those who breast feed persevere through surgery, pain, inflammation, infection, discomfort and biting. Needing to constantly snack to keep your nutrition up and drink to keep hydrated, because it is draining…your child is literally consuming calories…energy that is meant for you to survive. So, you need to supplement and work hard, day and night, for 10-12 hours a day sometimes in order to keep the child alive.
Now, experiencing this with Syd and being a priest presiding at the Eucharist lead me to an incredible epiphany. This is my body given for you. I had said those words thousands of times, but saying them while breastfeeding…well, they took on a new depth of meaning. Perhaps due to the prevalence of the male voice in the bible, and the predominance of male clergy I hadn’t ever heard this comparison mentioned. But while giving my flesh, my life energy, my very blood to give life to another human, Christ’s words made more sense and sounded less bizzare.
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. No one would ever dispute that I am in Syd and Syd in me, and we abide in each other…especially when he was in utero and as a breastfeeding infant. That bond is assumed and seen as normal. Perhaps, we should rethink it as sacramental… an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. Something to think about.
Anyway, it may be a step outside what we can wrap our brains around, but what if we used breast feeding as an analogy for the Eucharist? If we can understand Christ as a mother hen without blinking (Matthew 23 ““How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.”) …perhaps we could think of Christ in the Eucharist like a breastfeeding mother.
‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.
A good mother will give up her life for her child. A nursing mother gives up sleep, nutrients, energy, time and her very body to give life to her child. A good mother will and does give her life for her child’s in so many ways. That child then will grow and in turn have their own children, and one could say this makes a family live forever.
It is a reasonable analogy. As good as any, and though I think some here may be squeamish about the concept of approaching the Eucharist with the analogy of breastfeeding, … frankly if you can be good with implied cannibalism…
The point is that the theology of the Eucharist; The teaching that Christ gives us his flesh and blood to eat and drink that we may live; is challenging. It is so hard to understand that most of us don’t try, we just go with it. However, it is good to stop and think about what it is we say we are doing. Do we really worship a sheep? Of course not, but try explaining what we do worship? The more analogies and parables we have to work with the better.
Perhaps we don’t have the deep connection with Moses that allows us to see Jesus’ analogy of Manna in a depth of understanding and emotion. For the Jewish people in Jesus’ day, that analogy worked…it gave them a connection to see how Jesus was connected to God and miracles and life giving sustenance.
For me the experience of breastfeeding, of giving of myself so intimately and deeply and painfully to bring life, health and love to my son changed how I saw the work of Christ. It changed how I perceived the work of the Eucharist. How I understood Christ’s words and what they meant.
This analogy may or may not work for everyone and that is ok. What matters is that we can connect our experiences and life to the work of Christ that helps us see Christ in new and impactful ways. What matters is that we explore our faith, seek to understand the scriptures, learn how to interpret Christ’s words in ways that draw us closer to God, to Christ and help our faith grow.
Theology is not just for the professionals. Our own lives, our own experiences can help us see, understand and interpret our faith in new ways. Christ’s words are not straight forward…they aren’t necessarily literal, they require work on our part.
Each of us have the ability and frankly the responsibility to work on our relationship with God, to seek a new understanding of scripture, to grow our in our faith as we grow in our lives. After all if you find it unacceptable to stop learning math in kindergarten, why should we stop learning faith after Sunday school?
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ A solid question then and a solid question now. As we come forward today for the Eucharist, Christ’s body, Christ’s blood…his very self that gives us life…I encourage you not to simply accept and forget, but to take time to really think about the question asked so long ago, and although a firm answer may not be forthcoming, through the struggle you, I and all of us will grow closer to Christ and his weird and wonderful teachings.
amen