Ephesians 4:25-5:2
John 6:35, 41-51

“Therefore, each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.” Ephesians 4:25

Truth has really taken a beating in the last few years. It seems that no one really knows what the truth is. How can we determine the truth when the institutions we used to trust, media, government, and the Church, continue to play fast and loose with the truth? He said she said, cover-up, scandal, resignations, and walking it back are all part of what happens on a day-to-day basis.

But what is truth?

According to a very trusted source, Wikipedia, truth is defined as “Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.” Let’s hear that again, “Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.” Sit with that for a moment. I am not sure the definition helps a whole lot because it leaves open this idea of fact and reality. My reality may be vastly different than yours, and we all know how facts seem to be a movable feast.

Let us come back to this in a moment.

In his Letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes, “‘ In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.” Anger is another emotion we have become all too familiar with. Someone is always angry about something. This did not go my way, so I am angry. That did not go as planned, so I am angry. The Church did not do what I wanted it to do, so I am angry. Anger is good; it is what we do with it that is bad.

Let me tell you a little about my philosophy of preaching and teaching. I am not here to say what you want me to say, I am here to say what you need to hear, and yes, sometimes that will make you angry. The goal of any person that stands in places like this is to make you squirm and, if I am really on my game, get you fuming.

You see, me telling you what you want to hear is the easiest thing I can do. I can stand here and tell you how wonderful you are and all the rest, which is the truth, but it does nothing to advance and deepen our spiritual lives. If we are going to move along our spiritual journey, we must face the truth, there is that word again about ourselves, and then we need to find the tools necessary to keep us moving forward.

So, from time to time, I hope I make you angry. I hope I get you to squirm in your seat. And I hope I get you to question for faith is nothing more than asking questions and pondering the answers if there are any.

But back to the truth for a moment. The definition I used spoke of facts and reality. Now I know we want facts to be facts and reality to be reality, but the truth is, facts and reality change with time.

I am a firm believer that the Scriptures we have were inspired by the Holy Spirit. I believe that the Scriptures contain everything that is necessary for salvation. But what I do not believe is that the Scriptures in inerrant. Let me explain.

This book that we have was written over many generations, primarily by people that were no eyewitnesses to the events that they are writing about. For example, it is believed that Moses wrote the book of Genesis. Moses was not creeping around in the bushes taking notes when Adam and Eve were doing their thing. Moses wrote what oral tradition had been saying, and that changes over time.

But I digress. The Scriptures that we have today were written at a very particular time in history to a particular group of people, experience a very particular set of circumstances. Sure, there is an application to our lives today, but to fully understand what is being written, we have to understand the person’s mind and what was going on at the time. For the writer of Ephesians, there were facts, and there was a reality, but was it?

Believe it or not, facts change, and reality shifts. Yes, some facts do not change; two and two is four. The earth rotates around the sun. God loves you no matter what. All of these are facts. However, there was a time when they were not.

My reality is probably different than your reality. I grew up in a relatively privileged way. By privileged, I don’t mean we did not work hard for what we have. When I say privileged, I mean that the deck was not stacked against me based on race, religion, socio-economic standing, or who I choose to love. I came of age in the 1970s. I have spent most of my adult life wearing the uniform of my country. I am reasonably well educated. But that is my reality. Your reality is different, and that is not a bad thing.

In the Gospel passage we heard, Jesus continues the Bread of Life Discourse. He tells those listening that he is the bread of life and, as one would understand, they begin to grumble. These are learned men, and they cannot understand how someone with a known address can be what Jesus is saying he is. They cannot understand how a man can be God and God can be a man. They have facts, and they have reality. But then, Jesus comes along and shakes it all up.

I know it seems I am jumping around but stick with me.  I am as excited as you are to see how this all comes out, trust me.

Let’s get back to Paul and his bit about anger. Paul is not saying we cannot get angry; in fact, Paul is saying get angry because anger brings change. Righteous anger, anger for a cause, is just that righteous. Gandhi got angry, and things changed. Martin Luther King got angry, and things changed. Jesus got angry, remember he flipped the tables over in the Temple, and things changed. Anger for the right reason is good, but anger that turns to violence is not. Anger that causes us to twist facts, call people names, and hate is not and is precisely what Paul is warning about.

When Moses came down off the mountain carrying the Law of God, one of those laws was “do not bear false witness” in ordinary language; what God is saying is, do not lie. Do not spin the truth to your advantage. Do not twist facts. Always, to the best of your ability, tell the truth and do it in love.

So let us focus on the truth as I see it.

If we call ourselves Christians, we have to act in a certain way, not some of the time, not when it is convenient, but at all times. We have to love everyone, without exception. We have to care for those less fortunate than us, the poor, the homeless, the immigrant, those of a different color than us, and those who believe differently than we do. The Church exists to make disciples, not members, and we do this by love, not by force. We are to live our lives in such a way that if the bible were to disappear tomorrow, people would be able to tell we are Christians by the way to live, act, and love. As a church community, everything we do has to flow from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Everything we do has to be done in love. And everything we do has to be to make disciples.

And I want to focus on another truth; God loves all of us just as we are. But, of course, this does not mean we can stay as we are spiritually. No, we have to journey on. But what I mean is what Paul said in his Letter to the Romans:

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:28-29

In other words, and this is the truth that we need to shout from the rooftops, God loves each of us without exception and condition. And that, my friends, is the truth that we need to shout from the rooftops.

There are parts of Christ’s Church attempting to say who is and who is not welcome. Fine, let them do that; that is not our concern. Our concern is to make sure that we, in our little corner of the world, practice that radical love that Jesus taught and make sure all are genuinely welcome. And by all, I mean all.

For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Nothing.

Amen.

The first church I served after ordination was a relatively small congregation in the central part of Massachusetts. The community was approaching the 80th anniversary of its founding, and it had become stagnant in growth. They were holding their own, but the writing was on the wall that something needed to be done and quick.

One day, at a meeting of the other ministers in the town, one of them mentioned that they would start a once-a-month meal that would be served to the community by the folks in the church. Unlike the ones that we had done in the past, this meal would be free for anyone who wished to come. They were going to call them community meals. Community meals were meant to build community. They were not establishing a soup kitchen but rather a place the community could gather and share a meal.

This idea struck a chord in me, and wheels started to turn. I told some of the folks at my church what would happen, and we decided to go to the meal and check it out. It was a simple meal, although I do not remember what was served. There were round tables to encourage conversation, and members of the church served the meals. We sat with folks we did not know but got to know as the night continued. It was a wonderful experience.

The town we were in did not have a homeless population per se but rather an almost homeless population. People were always on the edge and living in fear of falling off. People were food insecure, and many struggled from week to week to put food on the table. So we decided that we would also offer a monthly meal for the community.

I recall that first meal, but just like the meal, we attended I do not know what we served. I would do the cooking, and other folks would pitch in to help serve. We had a simple rule; folks could take as much as they wanted without question and, the folks there to help always ate last. We had about 35 people come to that first meal.

Over the next year, we decided that this meal would be a significant ministry of the church. We increased the frequency from once a month to 3 times a month, and the number of folks that came increased each week. We had an agreement with the local food bank and one of the local grocery stores, and that helped provide the food we needed. We never charged anything, nor did we ask for donations. Most weeks, someone would stick a $10 or a $20 bill in my pocket to help, but the church funded it.

Like most churches, we struggled to make ends meet. Our income did not offset the expenses, and our reserve was dwindling at an alarming rate. The congregation was older, and many were on a fixed income. At this point, the meal had been going on for about three years, and we were feeding on average 80 people a week from our small kitchen in our hall with me and five others helping. At a parish council meeting, a discussion began about stopping the meal due to the cost. I had decided that I would stay out of it, and if the church cut off funding, I was going to find another source. I was astonished when one of the council members, the treasurer, said we had to keep doing the meal no matter what. It is, after all, what church is all about.

Today’s scripture passage speaks of another meal. Jesus has crossed over, and many had come out to hear him speak. His fame had now extended, and many people were coming. Many came to see what would happen next. Perhaps they heard of the healings and other miracles, and they were looking for a show. Many came because someone asked them to come. It did not matter why they came; they were there, and Scripture tells us there were 5,000 men!

Let’s pause for a bit of math. We know it was not just 5,000 men, but the men were the only ones counted. There were families there that day. So, for argument’s sake, let’s assume that half that number 2,500 brought their spouse and half that number had at least one child. We are looking at, conservatively speaking, about 10,000 mouths that needed to be fed. And what did they have? 5 barley loaves and two small fish.

Back to the meal I was serving at the church.

Thanksgiving was coming, and we had decided that we would serve a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner, well as traditional as we could make it anyway. So I organized some sponsors, and we bought five turkeys. Keep in mind we had no idea how many would show up. We served the meal on Thursday nights, so we decided that the week before Thanksgiving would be perfect. Thankfully we had a good size kitchen with commercial equipment so that I could cook all five turkeys at one time.

The food was cooked. Everything was ready. The hour approached, and people started to come in. And come in. And Come in! We very quickly ran out of seats. We set for a few more than our usual 80, figuring it was Thanksgiving. We had people standing in line. We had to ask people, once they were finished, to leave so we could seat more! Some stayed and helped us serve.

There I was in the kitchen, with my five turkeys and a line out the door, wondering how it was all going to work. We picked those birds clean. There was not a scrap of meat left on any of them. But we never ran out. We even had some left. And everyone went away happy. Miracle?  I know it was.

But back our Scripture.

Jesus asked Philip how they were going to feed them? Where could they buy bread for all of these people? Philip responded by saying it would take half a year’s wages just for the bread! A very practical concern. But Jesus ordered them to be seated. He blessed what they had, and it was distributed. Everyone was able to take as much as they wanted, and 12 baskets were left. A miracle? Yes, indeed it was.

But what was the miracle? We like to focus on the expansion if you will you the loaves and the fishes. I used that analogy when I spoke with folks after our Thanksgiving miracle. But I think, I believe that the miracle was something much different.

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, knew of the boy with the bread and the fish. Perhaps it was the food that the disciples brought with them. In another place where this story is told, Jesus tells them to feed them from what they have. For me, the miracle was that on that day, on that hill, everyone took care of everyone else and made sure no one went without. Each person shared what they had with others, and there was enough that there were 12 baskets of leftovers.

The miracle of today’s story was not what Jesus did. The miracle of today’s story is what each one did for the other.

Back in the ’80s, or maybe it was the 90’s it was fashionable to wear a bracelet with WWJD on it. What Would Jesus Do? It was meant as a reminder for the wearer to ask the question, in all situations, What Would Jesus Do? But I think it asks the wrong question because, and I hope this does not come as a surprise to anyone here, we are not Jesus! So the question we must ask is, What Would Jesus Have Us Do?

The earliest followers of Jesus were called the people of The Way. This is because they followed the example of Jesus in supporting one another, supporting the outcast, supporting those on the margins and doing it without hope of repayment, and doing it with love. There are countless stories of those who have come before us that gave all that they had to serve others, and they did it because it was what Jesus expects us to do, and they did it out of love.

I am not sure how many of you have ever cooked a meal for 80 people, but it is an all-day affair, and it is exhausting. I remember returning home and falling on the couch, simply exhausted from the physical and mental energy it took to prepare that meal. But each week, we did it. We did it, not expecting anything in return. No one who came to the meals ever came to church with us, which is not why we did it.

Friends, following the way, is a radical departure from what the world wants and expects of us. Following the way means we have to love those that the world wants us to hate. Following the way means we may have to put aside what we want to do in exchange for what God wants us to do. Following the way is an action and a lifestyle of love, unconditional love.

Bishop Michael Curry of the Episcopal Church has a saying that I have adopted, and it sums up our lives as those walking the path of the way. “The way of Jesus is the was of love. And the way of love will change the world.” So let’s go and change the world.

Amen.

Psalm 23
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

My primary ministry occupation is as a chaplain for the Brockton Visiting Nurses Association. I work as part of the hospice team, and along with the nurses, home health aides, and social workers, we provided services and care to people who are nearing the end of their journey here on earth. The medical folks bring relief from pain; the social workers help ensure that the paperwork is in order and help calm the mind of the patients and families. I work in spiritual care, and it is my job to ready the soul for the next phase of that journey.

When I tell people what I do, the most common response I hear is, “that must be so difficult.” I would think working 25 floors above the city of Boston on the steel beams of a new building is difficult. I would think working in fields harvesting the food we eat regardless of the weather would be difficult. Most jobs have their moments of difficulty, but I try to focus on the blessings that come along with my job. In hospice, we have a simple philosophy, ensure that our patients and their families have a peaceful death.

Today we heard the verses of one of the most famous Psalms of the 150 contained in the Bible. Most, if not all of us sitting here this morning have prayed, read, listen to, or sung the words of this Psalm on several occasions. It is, for lack of a better term, the funeral Psalm. But it is also the Psalm that I use when I am sitting with a patient as this phase of their life draws to a close.

As beautiful and as comforting as the words of this Psalm are, the imagery that is used is often lost and misunderstood.

I am not sure how many Shepherds we have with us this morning, but my guess is not many. I am also not sure how many of you have been around sheep apart from a petting zoo. But, again, I would guess not many. The image of Jesus as the “Good Shepherd” is an image that we are all familiar with but, if Jesus is the “Good Shepherd,” that makes us the sheep.

Now we have all heard, and rightly so, that sheep are not the most intelligent animals that God created. They are herd animals. They are defenseless. They are vulnerable. They are, as I already mentioned, unintelligent. These are not very positive attributes, and it might leave us wondering why the Psalmist and the writers of the Gospels used this image when describing those following God.

Is this the image that we should be focusing on?  No, it is not.

These are the attributes or characteristics that the Psalmist or the writers of the Gospel want us to focus on. The writer of the 23rd Psalm writes about the utter dependence of the sheep on the shepherd. Sheep cannot survive making their own way. Sheep have an absolute dependency on the shepherd. Sheep can trust the shepherd. Knowing this dependence brings into focus the central testimony of the Psalm: the shepherd is faithful.

The world tells us that we have to make our own way; we have to strike out independently. We are told that if we want something, we need to go for it and take it, regardless of the cost or what it might do to others. People, especially those in our way, are disposable, and if they do not serve our needs, they are just a distraction or a stumbling block. In our quest to be individuals, we have become selfish.

But Jesus comes along and stands that on its head. We cannot claim to be followers of Jesus and not care about others. We cannot claim to be followers of Jesus and not have concern for others. We cannot claim to be followers of Jesus and only look out for ourselves. If we claim to be followers of Jesus, then we must put others and their needs before ours. If we claim to follow Jesus, then we must love everyone without exception and without condition.

But the Psalmist is seeking to help us understand we cannot do this alone that there are going to be moments in our lives when we cannot see a clear way or when we cannot find the path, and it is in these times that we become utterly dependent on the Shepherd.

One of my favorite spiritual poems is the one called “Footprints in the Sand.” I know some find it schmaltzy and perhaps a little too sugary for their taste, but the image is powerful. You know the poem, so I will not recite it, but it is about walking beside God, two sets of footprints in the sand. There is only one set of footprints at several points along the way, and the narrator of the poem asks God why God left him? The response is that God did not leave the narrator behind but was carrying him. Therefore, there was only one set of footprints, and those footprints belonged to God.

Friends, when things are going well, we lose sight of the need for the shepherd. When life is chugging along, all the traffic lights are green; we find that parking spot right in front of the store, or all the other gifts of life, we forget that other set of footprints. We think that we can do it alone, we do not need any help or protection, and maybe that is true. But walking beside us, as our constant companion is the shepherd.

Yesterday I was trying to organize my shop where I work on various projects. My wife and I buy and sell antiques, so there is always something that needs fixing. I share my shop space in my garage with all the other necessities of life, so we are in a constant state of reorganizing. As I was cleaning off the workbench, I came across several rusty and bent screws. As I picked them up to toss them in the bin, I distinctly heard my father’s voice say, “don’t throw those away, you might need them.”

My father was a saver, and when he died, I inherited his collection of odd nails, screws, and other such things. The voice I heard was not the shepherd’s voice the Psalmist is talking about, but that voice did guide me. I know it sounds funny and maybe a little trivial, but I was guided by the voice of someone who had cared for me and protected me all my life.

Are you walking with the shepherd? Right now, are there two sets of footprints or only one? Are the footprints side by side or one behind the other? God never promised that life would be easy. The promise from God is that we will not have to go through it alone. God is steadfast, and God is faithful.

By the way, I saved the screws.

Amen.