The Ninth Sunday After Pentecost, Aug. 10, 2003 (Proper 14B)
Deut. 8:1-10; Psalm 34 or Psalm 34:1-8; Eph. 4:(25-29)30-5:2; John 6:37-51
“Verily, verily,” is how the King James Bible put it whenever Jesus said something of enormous significance. “Amen, amen,” are the words behind what is now translated, “Very truly.” It means that what follows is of weighty, eternal consequence, and is a truth from the depths of Jesus’ own instruction. Though there is much teaching in the lesson for today, all that is presented finds its meaning in these words: “Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life” (John 6:47).
The warning that Moses presents to the Hebrews in the lesson from Deuteronomy (which includes the Old Testament lesson for Thanksgiving Day) calls the hearers not to forget their God in times of prosperity—when they inherit material goods and comfort after entering the Promised Land. Knowing that the human heart easily wavers from commitment to God, Moses commands the hearers to “Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these 40 years in the wilderness” (8:2) and “You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you” (8:10). In short, Moses exhorts the Hebrews not to let their vision of God fall short.
In the gospel we find some of the most powerful, majestic, and amazing promises Jesus utters, yet few understand them. “Falling short” is a widespread, tragic reality even among the faithful. In the first part of the lesson Jesus speaks words of salvation and promise that come from the foundation of creation of itself: “This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day” (John 6:39). Yet “The Jews began to complain about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven’.” Like the Nazarenes who were featured in the gospel a few weeks ago, these also disdain Jesus for reasons of “familiarity” (“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?”) as if that were sufficient grounds for rejecting his teaching. But Jesus reiterates the teaching in words even more potent.
The condition addressed in these lessons is universal, the promise eternal and dependable, the choice of how to respond is personal.
Look It Up
Psalm 34 exults in the praises of God. Does the psalmist praise God after an experience of abundance and safety or of grief and fear?
Think About It
Sometimes people fall away from faith because of a tragic experience. Others are lured away by worldly comforts. Does either condition of itself lead to deeper faith or to losing faith? What influence does our temporal condition have on our relationship with God?
Next Sunday
The 10th Sunday After Pentecost, Aug. 17, 2003 (Proper 15B)
Prov. 9:1-6; Psalm 147 or Psalm 34:9-14; Eph. 5:15-20; John 6:53-59
