A few years back, I asked a group of high school students if it was possible to be a Christian in isolation. To my surprise, most of them said, “Yes, it is possible to be a Christian in isolation.” They did not see the need for a community. They did not see the need to have others of faith surrounding them. To them, it was enough to just say you were a Christian and have some vague idea of what that meant.
Being a Christian is not something we can just do without thinking. Jesus said that his yoke was easy, but it is still a yoke! Being a Christian in the world requires presence of mind and a willingness to forego some of our own needs for the needs of others. The strength to forego our own wants and needs is rarely, if ever, found in a single person. The strength that we find to be about the work of Christ in the world is what we find when we gather together in community.
Jesus tells the people that he is the true bread and the true blood. When we eat this bread, we will find eternal life. This is not like the bread of our ancestors; they ate the bread and they died. But if we eat the bread of life, we will abide in Christ and Christ will abide in us. When we look at the manna that the Israelites found in the wilderness, each family went out and took enough bread for themselves. Although this was a gift from heaven, it was still a pretty private matter.
But today, Jesus is talking to the crowds of his time and to us in our time. He is calling us to gather around. He is not saying to go out and each person get their own part of the bread, or even a portion big enough for their family. He is calling us to gather around Him as the bread of life. When we gather around him, we will find not only food, but we will also find eternal life. This is a call to community. This is a call for us to be aware of the needs of those around us, not just our own needs.
If we remember back about a month ago, we started down the trail that brings us to Jesus proclaiming that he is the Bread of Life. And how did we start? We started with 5000 sitting down and sharing bread and fish. We started with the gathered community coming together and sharing what they had to help the needs of those who did not have. We had a congregation that would make a Megachurch pastor proud gathering around Jesus to share food, to share stories, and to share life! Jesus brings this group of people together and through their hearts being opened, the multitude is fed. This is not the action of single person, this is a combined action of all the people. This is the action of the church gathered together.
Jesus calls us all to gather around him. He calls us to take part of him and to abide in him. When we abide in Jesus, this is not just a “Jesus and Me” moment; this is us recognizing that we are part of something bigger. We are not just eating a small wafer and getting a sip of wine; we are gathering around a table that encircles the world. We are sharing a story and a faith that has endured.
Jesus calls us as a community, as a congregation, as a people, to eat his flesh and drink his blood. When we gather around the table, we are gathering in faith. We are gathering with the world. We are not gathering with the thought that “I’ve got mine, go get your own.” The blessings we find through Christ are not blessings that we are to keep for ourselves alone. When Christ tells us to eat his body and drink his blood, he is calling us to send the invitation to the world. Because we have been blessed, we are called to be a blessing to others. If the 5000 hadn’t opened their hearts and their lunch bags to those around them, the miracle would have stalled.
I really try not to get too political from the pulpit, but what I see happening with the Health Care Reform has really gotten me steamed. As Christians, we are called to share what we have. We are called to give. Those who are blessed are called to be a blessing upon others. I cannot for the life of me picture Jesus telling the people to shout down those who are trying to help.
Maybe what we need is to have the people in the Town Hall Meetings sit down in groups on the ground and meet each other. Have the ones who have a lot get to know the ones who have little. It is much harder to tell a person that their pain does not matter when that person is staring you in the face. Jesus knew this, which is why he had the 5000 sit in groups. It is harder to waste food or to hoard food when you have someone who is starving sitting right next to you.
The system is broken and needs to be fixed; I think we can all agree on that. But shouting down any idea that is presented and calling others names like Hitler is neither Christian nor productive. We, as Christians, are called to serve others. We are called to see where there is suffering in the world and then look to see how we are blessed so that we may share these blessings. We are called to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
We are called to be part of community and our community as Christians starts here at St. Swithins’s in the Swamp but it doesn’t end here! Bread that isn’t shared gets moldy! We are not called to be a community in isolation; we are called to be out among the people. Our garage sale this past weekend was one such way we relieve that isolation. We have invited the community to come in and see what we are all about. It is a great way to get to meet the community and to have the community meet us. But I hope that this is only a start, I think we need to have a garage sale every month! JUST KIDDING! But I am sure the Spirit is just pushing us to find other ways to be out among the people. If we feel this place and these people are important, then how do we spread this good news to others?
We are told that God so loved the world. And we know that Christ came for all people. Christ is the bread of life but this life is not limited to us, it is here for all! It is my belief that we cannot be Christians in isolation. And it is my belief that we as a congregation cannot exist in isolation. Christ came to bring us life and blessings and sends us out to spread this blessing to the world.
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