“You Are What You Eat”

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

August 18, 2024

A loaf of bread being handed from one to another.

Proverbs 9:1-6

John 6:51-58

Children’s Message:

You’ve heard the phrase, “You are what you eat?” What do you think that means?

I have some different options, here, to help us learn more about that. Now, I have a tray of grapes and carrots, as well as cookies and candy. Did you get to see any of the Olympics this year? Which options here do you think the athletes ate? The fruits and veggies, or the cookies and candy? Why? Because what we eat changes how our bodies work.

Now, I have some options here—they’re only pictures—of video games and comic books, and televisions. What do you fill your minds with? Why is that important?

Finally, I have a plate of communion bread and a Bible. Jesus told us that if we don’t ‘chew’ on his flesh, we won’t have a full life. That sounds kind of silly—or even creepy. But what he meant is that we are what we eat. And when we take Jesus, God’s good news, into our minds, our hearts, and even our bodies, we learn how to live more like Jesus. When we eat the Body of Christ, we become the Body of Christ.

Let’s pray. Dear God, help us take you into our bodies. Help us take in the best of this world. And help us become more like you for everyone around us. Amen.

Message:

I’ve told this story many times. It was at our Saturday evening service. Because Mark worked, I brought Avery to worship every week to sit in the front pew and hang out. Sometimes—when she was a toddler—I held her during the message. One time, she flew spaceships around me during the message. But I always knew she was paying attention.

When she was about 6 or 7, we were getting ready for communion. She had always received a blessing, but that evening, she held her hands out. I looked at her, and I looked at the people behind her, and I folded. The couple behind Avery were not my biggest fans. They were critical and very much about a traditional approach to worship and faith. So, I blessed Avery even as she pleaded with me for a wafer. I told her we’d talk about it after worship.

As we closed with the sending hymn, I looked down at the first pew and saw her crying, and my heart broke. What had I done? I had withheld Christ from my child out of fear that a cranky old couple would write me a nasty letter. I sat down with Avery after worship and asked her what she though communion meant. She said, “It’s taking Jesus into your body.” And that was that. She got it, probably more than most of us. And from that point on, I don’t withhold communion from anyone who wants it.

Jesus’ teaching in today’s passage is still a continuation that began shortly after he fed the masses—more than 5,000 people—with five small barley loaves and two small fish. And the words that he’s been saying have become more and more confusing. He may have started with, “I am the bread of life,” but now he’s gone off and said things like, “If you don’t chew on my flesh, you won’t have eternal life.” Like I told the kids, that’s just creepy. And anyone who claims to fully understand what Jesus has said is delusional. The disciples didn’t get it. The Temple authorities didn’t get it. Theologians still argue about it.

And then we come along and insist that unless people take a class and understand the mystery of communion, they shouldn’t receive it. And believe me, it is still a mystery. To me. To you. And to everyone else who comes to the front of their sanctuaries and worship centers, hands outstretched, asking for Jesus. We don’t get it. What we do need to get—what is important about this act of faith—is that we eat the Body to become the Body.

And that is more than a wafer, more than bread, more than wine or juice. John’s gospel account is cyclical. He was a master of language and rhetoric—a master story-teller who knew how to build upon elements with such grace that we don’t even notice the mortar between the bricks. His gospel account begins: “In the beginning was the Word…All things came into being through the Word…What has come into being was life…And the Word became Flesh and lived among us.”

The Word that gives life to all creation became Flesh. And John quotes Jesus six chapters later saying, “The bread I will give for the life of the world is my Flesh.” The bread we eat is the very Word of God.

This feeds into the language we use daily about how we treat information as food. Consider various sayings like: “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” “Chew on this idea.” “He was eaten up with jealousy.” “Sink your teeth into this concept.” So, is it that much of a leap to consider that Jesus is offering us something new to gnaw on—something that actually feeds us and gives us life? We eat the Body to become the Body.

Unfortunately, the Church over the years has boiled Jesus’ teachings down to this: “You must receive communion in order to go to heaven.” And of course, this means receiving communion in the right church, from the right people, in the right way, with the right understanding. And anyone who doesn’t meet these criteria goes to hell.

That is a misunderstanding of Paul’s letter to Corinth (Chapter 11). It is a misunderstanding of the role of the Church. And it is a misunderstanding of what Jesus means when he talks about eternal life. We hear that term and immediately think: Unending life, which must mean life in heaven after we die.

But the Greek is zoey naionion, which means ‘life age-during,’ as one Greek scholar has described it. It is a matter of quality, not quantity—not length of time but value. You could translate it as abundant life. Or full life. Or fulfilled life. Either way, it is something that is true NOW. And not just for the sake of the one who partakes of Jesus but for the whole world. Jesus came to give life to the world, and he chooses to do that through those who chew on his word. We eat the Body to become the Body.

And what does the Body of Christ do in the world? We bring good news. We practice grace. We seek justice so that there is peace. We proclaim hope. We offer mercy. We fill bags with food so that the families of elementary students have something to eat over the weekend. We welcome inmates as siblings in Christ. We open our arms and our hearts to people in the LGBTQ community seeking a safe space and safe people—seeking the Body of Christ. We make quilts for local kids living in their cars and displaced families across the globe.

We assist refugee families in settling into a new country. We create space for people to learn English. We join other congregations and other faiths in working to change unjust systems in our city and county. We visit the sick and bring communion to the homebound. We pray for those who are struggling. We express gratitude for those who share themselves and their lives for the sake of God’s mission. We sing and dance and eat and pray and study and celebrate and mourn together. Together. As the Body of Christ.

And we gather every week, prepared and in need once again to take into our bodies the God who became Flesh. We come to the table knowing that we are what we eat. We eat the Body to become the Body.

Pastor Tobi White

Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church

Lincoln, NE