Rev. Mark R. Miller
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…live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” These words from Paul can be interpreted in many different ways. Today I want to challenge the ways this and other passages are used when the followers of Jesus find themselves in crisis or when they become too comfortable with the status quo. In these circumstances biblical interpretation becomes much more other worldly. What do I mean by this? While there are many examples of this throughout history the one with which I am most familiar came around the issue of slavery. At the start of the Civil War, Presbyterian theologian Dr. James Henry Thornwell wrote The Spirituality of the Church. It did not present a defense of slavery but did provide the leeway to let it happen with “god’s blessing.” The point of faith, he said, was to focus on spiritual things and not concern itself with day-to-day things. At its best, this theology loses its power to transform human lives. And at its worst, it will stand by as atrocities are committed in the name of God: The genocide of the native peoples of America, American Chattel Slavery, Hitler’s Germany, and Pinochet’s Chile, just to name a few. In each instance, the church chose to focus on spiritual issues while the children of God were enslaved, tortured, and killed. These and other instances are not simply tragic but a sin against God and the very foundations of our faith.
When Paul says, “live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ,” he is not talking about the condition of your heart. Paul is concerned with how our lives are lived right now. The issue is whether we seek to imitate the life of Jesus Christ. Any attempt to make our faith into an other worldly-life after death centered faith, creates a religion that has detached faith from its very foundation.
Nowhere is this more evident than surrounding the issue of food. Well fed people may be comfortable talking about the importance of spiritual food, but hungry people need to eat. The first symbol of our faith was not the cross but a fish. It was a visible reminder of Jesus’ passion for feeding people, with real food. Before he ever talked about faith, he made sure that people were fed.
Throughout the gospels Jesus seemed to travel on his stomach. It happened so much that Jesus was known by some as a “drunkard and a glutton.” Even the central act of our faith centers on the sharing of bread in community. We call it communion. While this act has taken on symbolic meaning, it only became symbolic for Jesus after people were fed. Jesus would use eating as an opportunity to teach. However, the teaching always came as part of a meal. And, these meals were never intended to remain merely symbolic. For people who have the luxury of eating out whenever the mood hits, the lesson that God intends us to share food and share resources may seem strange at best.
“On the night that Jesus was arrested he took the bread, blessed it, and broke it, saying; ‘this is my body broken for you.” Ever since that moment the followers of Jesus have tried make what we eat in that ritual seem as far removed from real bread as we can. Spiritualizing the teaching of Jesus, or, disconnecting them from real life – real bread – turns our faith into something that was never intended. Food is central to our faith. When this is fully believed by the followers of Jesus it is then that we will be at the forefront of the struggle to feed all people.
When Paul teaches about communion to the Corinthian church, he is furious about their table practices.
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup. (1 Cor. 1:27-28)
Traditionally we have been taught that this was about the condition of our hearts. But, what Paul is talking about is very earthy. Some in the community have great wealth and others are poor and this has been lived out in their communion practices. When they eat communion the wealthy folks eat and get drunk while the poor have nothing to eat. Paul is angry because Christians who refuse to share their resources have spiritualized their religious practice. From Jesus and to Paul, we are shown that our faith is intended to have real world, right now consequences. The good news is that they are placing us within the larger story of the God who created heaven and earth.
The Hebrew people had been slaves for many generations. They knew what a life of struggle was all about. Life in Egypt taught them well that the powerful will always do anything to protect their power. When tough economic times arose the poor are the first to suffer. This is how they had become slaves in the first place. So, life in Egypt gave them a hard lesson on the survival of the fittest. The economic order in Egypt was simple, the big fish will always eat the smaller fish. It was the natural order of things and ordained by god. Fortunately, the God of the Hebrews condemns this system and makes it clear it was NOT what God intended.
The problem facing the Hebrews is how to internalize this truth. When you spend your life in a system like this it is easy to forget that God condemns this system. Having been so trapped by this reality, the Hebrews had to be taught a different way. And the way God chose to help them unlearn this reality was through Manna. A white, flaky substance, that resembled bread, first fed a very real hunger and then taught an important lesson. The lesson was this: There is enough food for everyone. Everyone will receive according to their needs. The weakest in society will not go without. And, the strongest will not be allowed to hoard. After living in Egypt, even as slaves, this must have seemed ridiculous. So from the very beginning of their wilderness journey God provides for their very real needs while teaching them how God intends they live in the world.
It is out of this tradition that Jesus comes. Real needs in the real world are where Jesus spent his ministry. Spiritualized faith disconnected from the realities of life was the very thing against which Jesus preached. The life of faith has been about living differently IN the world. The life of faith is not about being comfortable with the world around us or simply living in critical opposition. Instead, it has been about meeting real needs first and understanding their deeper meanings. So what does this mean for us?
It means we are called to focus on the very real needs in our midst while understanding the deeper meanings. People are hungry all around us and there is even food insecurity in our midst. We can complain about the state of our nation, and complain we must. But our complaining is not much different from our brothers and sisters who spiritualized the gospel in previous generations. Our complaining must be accompanied by concrete acts.
Fortunately, eating together is something that we are quite good at. Last week we had a pitch in dinner. It might have seemed like a simple thing but it was a glimpse of the kingdom of God. We shared what we had. And those who had more shared from their abundance and even those who did not bring food ate, and what you brought was not the marker for how much you were allowed to eat. And when the meal was over there was enough food to send people home with food for another meal! In a world that says we are not responsible for anyone but ourselves, we came together so that everyone who gathered on that day would not leave hungry, unless they didn’t stay to eat. Real world need; deeper meaning.
Throughout October and November we will be talking more about food and ways for us to turn our words into actions. Right now we are asked to participate in bringing food for the Pilgrim food pantry. Each week people from our neighborhood go to Pilgrim and eat because of those who more give for those who need. In October we will also join with others in the Crop Walk. We will use our bodies to raise awareness on the growing ranks of the hungry in this city. Real world hungry with a deeper understanding is our calling. Every time we eat this bread and drink of this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again. Living a life worthy of the Gospel does not hinge on how we think or what we think or how we worship. It is about shared resources and real world needs. So let us share as we are able trusting that there will be enough to go around. And let us put actions to our natural inclination to critique the world around us. This is what it means to live a life worthy of the gospel of Jesus. And this is what it means to join the very real struggle for food. Amen? Amen!
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