An Answer to Christie
David Orendorff · John 6:66-69 · August 27, 2006
Be seated, I want to talk a bit before I read today's lesson. In a Dear Abby was this letter:
Dear Abby: I have been working full-time since I was 18. I am now 35. I just left my job as a recruiter where I worked for three years, and have been doing some administrative temp jobs. My problem is nothing seems to excite or fulfill me anymore. I'm not afraid to work hard, but I'm not sure of what kind of work I want to do now.
I have done many different things in the past. I have had my own computer service business, done administrative assisting, been a recruiter. Is something wrong with me? I feel lost right now because I can't pinpoint what I want to do next.
My husband is very supportive. We can survive on his salary, but I have to do something. We have no children yet. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
CHRISTIE IN SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO 1Dear Abby, Independent Record, Helena, MT, Friday, August, 25, 2000, Page 4C
Christie has done what she has been told will excite and fulfill her life, give her meaning, give her a reason to get up, give her love. She has been successful at work, and yet, as successful as she is, she is so without enthusiasm and so unfulfilled in her life that she writes Abby and exposes herself to millions of readers. It is a pretty loud cry.
Her condition is not uncommon. There are many who do jobs that if they were once fulfilling, are not longer. Many do their work out of a sense of duty, getting up in the morning, doing what they are supposed to do, and going to bed weary, bored, and unfulfilled.
Peter was also one of these folks, wondering if his life wasn't meant to be more than it was. He had done what he had been told would make him happy. He had a good job in the family fishing business. He had family. He attended synagogue. But in today's scripture we get a glimpse of Peter's desire for a meaning and purpose that would give him joy and make him full.
Let me set it up for you.
Jesus has been teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum (John 6:41-56) and there were many folks gathered to listen, many of whom called themselves "students of Jesus" or as we say "disciples." On that day Jesus taught that to have eternal life, that is to be fully alive now and forever, his disciples must eat of his flesh and drink of his blood. Some of those present remarked that "This is a hard saying, who can listen to it."
But did Jesus soften the saying? No, he made it even harder with, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father." It is too hard for we flawed humans to be a true disciples, this is a work God the Father and Mother must do in us. Then the Gospel of John reports the following. Please rise for the reading of the gospel.
After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with Jesus. Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."
John 6:66-69
Hear ends the reading of the Gospel. Thanks be to God.
I find interesting what Jesus doesn't say to the disciples after so many followers leave. Jesus doesn't say, "Where did they go, why do they no longer follow?" Life is filled with alternatives to sticking with Jesus. In fact we are mostly discouraged in being unabashed, flesh eating, blood drinking followers of Jesus. Like Christie we are told that our worth and our joy is in work or some other activity of this life. And so when following Jesus gets tough, folks return to other promises of joy.
Those who left the synagogue, who left following Jesus, undoubtedly went looking for fulfillment, meaning and love someplace else. Some, perhaps, went back to work. Some probably went to the library searching for happy in a big brain. Some went to the bottle looking for happy in a chemically altered state of consciousness. Some went home to a relationship that promised them happy if they just did everything good enough.
The world then, as it is now, was filled with thousands of promised ways to find joy. But Jesus doesn't ask about them. Jesus asked those who stayed, "Do you also wish to go away?"
Jesus wants to know why, with all the alternatives to his hard way, they don't go away? It is Peter who answers for those then and for many of us who now who have decided to stick with Jesus. Peter says three things;
- Lord, to whom shall we go?
- You have the words of eternal life.
- You are the Holy One of God.
"Lord, to whom shall we go?" Peter and the others have tried many things that promised fulfillment and joy. They worked hard, did the good citizen thing, did the good religious thing, and still their souls remained empty wondering if their lives were meant to be more than this. Peter admits to Jesus that he is staying because he has no place else to go. For Peter it is follow Jesus or nothing. Jesus is his last hope for true joy.
Peter also says, "You (Jesus) have the words of life for all times." When Peter watches and listens to Jesus he sees and hears about the life he wants. Peter wants to love and be loved, to belong and to include, to heal and to be healed. Peter wants what the words and deeds of Jesus show life can be. Peter wants that of which Jesus' "eternal words of life" speak.
Put most bluntly, there may be other promised saviors in this world, from work, to relationships, to wealth, but for Peter, Jesus is the one in whom he hears and sees the healing and the joy he so desperately craves for himself and his world.
And finally Peter says, "You are the holy one of God." What does he mean by this? To be holy is to be devoted to God, to be sacred, whole, and pure; to be a sanctuary or dwelling place of the divine. When Peter and those who choose to stick with Jesus are with Jesus, they are with the very pure love of God. There is something about being with Jesus that is the same as being with God. Jesus' presence makes God present for Peter, and God being present makes life rich, fulfilling and joyful. Peter loves this feeling, loves being with Jesus and doing the hard work Jesus does.
For these three reasons (there is no place else for him to go, Jesus speaks and offers the life he wants, and with Jesus Peter experiences God with him) that Peter sticks with Jesus, eats Jesus' flesh, drinks Jesus' blood, and gives his life.
What was true with Peter and the others who stick with Jesus is true today. It is my belief and experience that the life worth living and giving my all to is a life with Jesus. It is with Jesus that I hear God bless me with, "You are my beloved child, with you I am well pleased." And these words are the words that free me from fear, set me in love and make my heart leap and my soul full.
Many of you know of the writings and life of Henri Nouwen. For those of you for whom Nouwen is unknown I tell you that he was a Catholic Priest who devoted himself to healing the wounded of heart and soul. Now deceased, Nouwen ended his career in Toronto as chaplain to the residents and staff of a small group of cottages for the severally physically and/or mentally challenged.
In his book Life of the Beloved Nouwen describes how the truly meaningful life, the life of the beloved, is filled with blessing. He defines blessing as a good word from God about us. He goes on to demonstrate the power of blessing as it happened one day with Janet. He writes:
Not long ago, in my own community, I had a very personal experience of the power of a real blessing. Shortly before I started a prayer circle in one of our houses, Janet, a handicapped member of our community, said to me: "Henri, can you give me a blessing?" I responded in a somewhat automatic way by tracing with my thumb the sign of the cross on her forehead. Instead of being grateful, however, she protested vehemently, "No, that doesn't work. I want a real blessing!" I suddenly became aware of the ritualistic quality of my response to her request and said, "Oh, I am sorry,... let me give you a real blessing when we are all together for the prayer service." She nodded with a smile, and I realized that something special was required of me. After the service, when about thirty people were sitting in a circle on the floor, I said, "Janet has asked me for a special blessing. She feels that she needs that now." As I was saying this, I didn't know what Janet really wanted. But Janet didn't leave me in doubt for very long. As soon as I said, "Janet has asked me for a special blessing," she stood up and walked toward me. I was wearing a long white robe with ample sleeves covering my hands as well as my arms. Spontaneously, Janet put her arms around me and put her head against my chest. Without thinking, I covered her with my sleeves so that she almost vanished in the folds of my robe. As we held each other, I said, "Janet, I want you to know that you are God's Beloved Daughter. You are precious in God's eyes. Your beautiful smile, your kindness to people in your house and all the good things you do show us what a beautiful human being you are. I know you feel a little low these days and that there is some sadness in your heart, but I want you to remember who you are: a very special person, deeply loved by God and all the people who are here with you."
As I said these words, Janet raised her head and looked at me; and her broad smile showed that she had really heard and received the blessing. When she returned to her place, Jane, another handicapped woman, raised her hand and said, "I want a blessing too." She stood up and, before I knew it, had put her face against my chest. After I had spoken words of blessing to her, many more of the handicapped people followed, expressing the same desire to be blessed. The most touching moment, however, came when one of the assistants, a twenty-four-year-old student, raised his hand and said, "And what about me?" "Sure," I said, "Come." He came, and as we stood before each other, I put my arms around him and said, "John, it is good you are here. You are God's Beloved Son. Your presence is a joy for all of us. When things are hard and life is burdensome, always remember that you are loved with an everlasting love." As I spoke these words, he looked at me with tears in his eyes and then said, "Thank you, thank you, very much." 2 Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved, (Crossroad, New York, 1992), 57-5
If Christie had written me instead of Abby in her struggle to find meaning, I think I would have written something like this:
Dear Christie: Working hard and doing well is a good thing and you have done this and you are to be commended for it. I would advise you to seek some career counseling which can help you maximize your gifts for life.
But a truer way to happy is to be blessed by God. In the long run it will be the love of God as we know it in Jesus that makes a career exciting and fulfilling. The same is true for every other part of your life. With God, as we know God in Jesus, Christie, your life will be blessed, will be a blessing to you and to the world, and you will know true joy.
What I say to Christie, I say to all, give a servant love to God, to your neighbor and to yourself as we are taught by Jesus and a deep joy will be yours in all times which is eternal life.
Shalom and Amen.