Stop. Eat and Drink

Text: John 6:22 –63

Spirit and Life. Flesh and Blood. Bread and Wine.

Wine isn't actually mentioned in this story, but we can infer wine as the drink Jesus mentioned.

First, one of the last things mentioned in this story is Jesus saying, "It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless." This kind of verse sometimes gets used to teach that our bodies are not holy, but instead that they are intrinsically sinful. I take issue with that teaching. Even though we read 41 verses in John 6, we still did not get enough context. The context I am referring to is Jesus' ministry of healing the sick, raising the dead, and feeding earthly food to hungry people. If the flesh was useless in the way that this often gets read, why would Jesus waste his time attending to the needs of the body? But he does spend his time doing so. He spends a lot of time taking care of people's physical needs.

In that context, it seems to me that this story is not teaching us to deny ourselves nourishment or to only seek ethereal pleasures and to eschew delights of our bodies and this lovely created world.

Here I think he is talking about our need to nourish our souls. The crowd is seeking tangible signs and a tactile experience. They like seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching the Kingdom of Heaven. But when Jesus tells them that he transcends the natural creative world and that they as well can and need to, the people get agitated against him.

While eat my flesh and drink my blood is a foreshadowing of the coming crucifixion, it is also a lesson for the moment. I hear Jesus saying; don't stop when your physical needs are satisfied. Your life is not provided through your flesh – your flesh lives because life is provided.

Now that the crowd has been nourished physically, satisfied within their bodies, the hope is that they can take their minds off their earthly needs and look deeper into the true food and drink that God has to offer. When you are physically hungry and thirsty it's really hard to think about anything else. So Jesus satiates their physical needs and when they pursue him for more he tells them yes, I will give you more. My purpose has been to give you life.

Eat my flesh and drink my blood. Then, when his disciples become offended and some of them leave, he says, flesh is useless I'm talking about spirit.

Just like you stopped to eat the bread and fish because you were hungry, stop and eat spiritually. Drink and become refreshed in your soul. Take time to attend to all of who you are, not just the part of you that you can see. Jesus says, "I am the Living Bread" and "Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven."

I think this is all to say: Eat Life. Drink Life. Be Life.

The Gospel of Thomas
#3 If those who lead you say, "Look, the kingdom is in heaven," then the birds of heaven will precede you. If they say, "It is in the sea," then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is within you and outside you. When you know yourselves, you will be known, and you will know you are children of the living father. But if you do not know yourselves, you live in poverty and you yourselves are the poverty.

#7 Blessed is the lion that the man shall eat, so that the lion will become human. Cursed is the man whom the lion shall eat, and the lion will become human.

#108 Whoever drinks from my mouth will be as I am, and I shall be that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to that person.

What you eat and drink becomes you and you become what you eat and drink. If you eat and drink life you become life and life becomes you. "The kingdom is within you and outside you." So often we can't detect the land of spirit because we are so stimulated by the land we have created. We must take time turn away from the stimulation that would keep us hungry spiritually. We need to eat the flesh and drink the blood of life. We must stop and become connected to the kingdom within and without – becoming the kingdom and living true life.

I believe that our gathering together is good. Seeing each other in the flesh ... looking each other in the eyes and sharing hugs and smiles. We need this experience and we need it often. However, the connection that we have with one another transcends this gathering. We pray for each other sometimes and we think of each other during the week. We worry with each other when hard things happen and are glad for each when we hear good news. But do we stop when we are apart and eat and drink the life of each other? Do we set time aside to breathe in the truth of each other's existence and the holy connection that we have? If we do, do we know that that is what we are doing?

We are connected by spirit. Our bodies define us and they are good bodies. We are separate human beings and we are one gathered body in spirit. When one of us gets a job or another of us loses one, all of us are affected when we eat and drink the truth of the life of each one of us.

Jesus refers to the Living Father, both in the Gospel of John and in the Gospel of Thomas. I would refer to the Living Presence. Our Divine Beloved who lives within us and outside of us. The Living Presence who is within you and outside you.

In Exodus 25, God is telling Moses how to make the sanctuary where God will dwell with the people. Verse 29 and 30, "You shall make its plates and dishes for incense, and its flagons and bowls with which to pour drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold. And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me always."

The bread of the Presence ... that is what Jesus is offering us. It isn't bread that we can eat with our mouths or drink that moistens our lips. It is the Living Presence that we share with our Divine Beloved and with one another. This Living Presence connects us and creates community within and between us.

It isn't eaten or drunk easily. It takes time and effort. We need to take time away from the distractions of our daily world. We need to breathe deeply and stop analyzing and planning for period of time every week if not every day. Our awareness of our own spirit will rise. The Presence will become more apparent to our conscious self. Then we can gather to ourselves the essence of those in this community. We can reach out to one another with our spirits. Cry together. Laugh together. Intercede for one another. Hold each other. Our community will only be strengthened the more we do this.

From this place of deep connection, we can also reach out spiritually to those who are not yet a part of our community. Some people have checked our website, but not ventured out for a visit. Some have visited. Others don't even know where to start looking. I think we need to gather them in too. It isn't important if we can't see their face in our minds or hear what their voice sounds like. We don't need to know how tall they are or anything else about them to reach out in our spirits and feel their pain and comfort them.

We can start a new program, change how we do our service, and market the church, but I think what will build this community is the Spirit drawing people here and drawing people into your life so that you can share the good news that you have to offer.

We are a deeply spiritual people. I feel the intensity of our connection to The Presence and to each other. We have thought a lot about what we believe and why we believe it. We have had to. We are not in a position to take our faith for granted. I want us to take that depth and intensity to the next level.

Stop. Eat and Drink the truth of each other. Then stop some more and eat and drink the truth of those who we have not yet met. When you eat and drink the flesh and blood of the Presence, you eat and drink Life. And that's what Jesus came to give – Life, and that more abundantly.

Why I do energy massage

July 5th - Windy City Black Pride Festival

WCBP Park Festival

Sunday July 5, 2009

11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Sherman Park

1301 West 52nd Street

(Between 52nd and 55th Streets on Racine)

Chicago, Illinois