Trinity Metropolitan Community Church of Gainesville (Trinity MCC)

Living with Jesus…All the Way

Rev. Jim Merritt

Trinity MCC Gainesville

August 16, 2009

Introduction

            I’m taking a departure from my usual custom of preaching primarily on the gospel reading and using an Old Testament reading as a supporting source. You probably noticed today that we had two New Testament readings; one from Ephesians and one from the gospel of John. The reading from the gospel sounds familiar because it overlaps with our reading from last week, beginning with John 6: 51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven….” There is an important new aspect to what Jesus says here and we’ll get to that in a little while. For now, though, let’s look at the reading from Ephesians.

            Many of us grew up learning that Paul wrote this letter to the Ephesians Well the truth is that it probably was not actually Paul, but a follower or a disciple of Paul who wrote the letter. And it may be true that this disciple and follower of Paul also shared the name Paul. One of the clues about all of this is inclusion of “Hades” in the letter. Scholars are clear that the concept of “Hades” originated quite awhile after the life of Paul, so it would have been impossible for him to refer to or use the term. So, although the discussion of this topic takes up pages and pages in the commentaries, let’s just say for today that it seems clear that some other Paul wrote this epistle.

Another interesting aspect of this letter is that we are not completely sure to whom it was written. Other epistles being with statements like, “to the church of God which is at blank. This one is vague in saying, “to the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus.” There are many ambiguities where this letter is concerned and we cannot answer all of them. And I want to suggest to us this morning that we do not need to know exactly who wrote these words and to whom they were originally addressed. We only need to embrace, perhaps by faith, that there is a message for us in this letter. There is helpful teaching in it for us. And we will us it to guide us forward in our faith journey. As The Interpreter’s Bible suggests, we will embrace that the theology of Ephesians has been key in the development of Christian theology and therefore we will turn to it for yet another lesson this morning.

Be Careful how you live and live wisely. That’s good advice so how do we follow it. We could easily turn this into a diatribe against alcohol, against drinking, against drugs and against all kinds of behavior and that might be somewhat helpful to few people and perhaps not ultimately helpful to most of us. I believe the key here is to live wisely. Live wisely by using all the mental faculties God has given us. We must treasure the wisdom and intelligence that God has given us and live wisely. We are being called to turn toward behaviors and habits that are good for us, good for the community, good for the cosmos, and to turn away from behaviors that are destructive. Not just today, but for the long term. And for us sometimes the wisdom to which we turn has to be “alternative wisdom.” I might have shared with some of you that when I was very active in politics one of my favorite phrases was “don’t buy the lie.” And we know what the lies sound like. “You’re not good enough, you can’t be Christian, God can’t love you, You can’t succeed, you will fail, you know the line.” Well, my sisters and brothers the good news for us today is that we don’t have to buy the lie. We can choose an alternative wisdom that comes from God and says, “you ARE good enough, you ARE my people, you ARE called, you CAN make a difference in the world, You ARE, you CAN, you WILL because I made you to succeed. You ARE, you CAN and you WILL, in the name of Jesus. That’s alternative wisdom. That’s the wisdom that people like us have to hold onto, promote and teach today, tomorrow and for all our lives because if we don’t preach it and teach it, many will never know the wisdom of a loving God, a refreshing God, a God that gets us up in the morning and carries us through our day and protects us at night as we are sleeping. That is wisdom, that is a promise we can hold onto for all our lives. Not just now, but every day, every week, every month, not just part of the way, but ALL the way. That’s what it means to Live with Jesus ALL the way.

Now let’s return to the gospel for a couple of minutes. Last week, you will remember I preached about this gospel as a call to Radical welcome, Radical inclusion and Extravagant Hospitality. And I since the lectionary has led us back here, I want to add one phrase to last week’s teaching. Are you ready? Here goes. Jesus is not calling us today to eat flesh and drink blood. Jesus is calling us to live the way he lived. Jesus is calling us to share in this radical way of life. Not just for today, but for every day. Not just for tomorrow, but all through the week. Not just through the week but all month. You get it…we are being called to live like Jesus live for the long term. Live with Jesus every day. Live with Jesus every month, every year. We are called to live with endurance this commitment that we are making to live like Jesus.

Radical Welcome, Radical Hospitality, Extravagant Hospitality, all the way.. That’s the message of the gospel this morning, my friends. Have you heard the phrase, “Dare to be different?” Well I’m daring all of us here in the name of Jesus to be different; to share in the life of Jesus by being Radically inclusive, by being Radically welcoming, by practicing Extravagant hospitality with all who come, with ALL who come, with ALL who come, for the long term…all the way. Embrace alternative wisdom that says you are smart enough, you are tough enough, you are good enough and you can do it ALL the way. Wisdom that says you can and you will change the world as you Live with Jesus ALL the way. All the way with Jesus. Living with Jesus every day in every way, for your own good, for the good of the community, for the good of the world, for the good of the cosmos, because God says you can and you will. We will live for Jesus. We will live with Jesus all the way! Say it with me my brothers and sisters, “We will, live with Jesus, all the way, ALL THE WAY, ALL THE WAY. WE WILL LIVE WITH JESUS ALL THE WAY. Hallelujah, Gloria to God. Every day, in every way, ALL the way. God bless you this morning…ALL the way.

Amen.

First Reading:                       Ephesians 5: 15 – 20

¹⁵Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, ¹⁶making the most of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, ²⁰giving thanks to God at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gospel Reading:                  John 6: 51 – 58

⁵¹I 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.” ⁵²The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵³So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Humankind and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; ⁵⁵for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷Just as the living God sent me, and I live because of my Parent, so whoever eats me will live because of me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

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