The gift of the Triune God in Christ is abundant, eternal life here and now, and life to come after we die, and all need to be brought into this abundant grace.
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lect. 20 B
Text: John 6:51-58
Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
“I came that you may have life, and have it abundantly.”
That’s Jesus’ whole reason for coming, he says in John 10: that his sheep may have abundant life. Later (20:31), the Evangelist says that’s why John’s whole Gospel was written. So that you might come to trust that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and through trusting that you might have life in his name.
Life, abundant, in Christ’s name. It’s a life transformed by the love of God, a life lived in relationship with God, a life lived loving God and loving neighbor. That’s what it means for Jesus to save. Today he calls that life “eternal life.” He also calls it life in God’s reign. And it’s clearly a life all who trust in Christ can experience right now.
You know this because of one tiny word in today’s Gospel: “And.”
“And” changes everything.
For the second time in this discourse, Jesus says what he gives those who trust in him, who eat of his body and blood: they “have eternal life,” he says, “and I will raise them up on the last day.”
They have eternal life. It’s reality here and now for those who trust in Christ. “And” – there’s a second gift: life in a world to come after we die. We can live in God’s reality right now, the eternity of God’s existence, the reign of God, the abundance of God. And when we die we know we have a resurrection life. These are two gifts of God in Christ.
But Christians have too often omitted the “and,” combining the two gifts into just one, life after death. Every time we do that, devastation follows.
Because if you’re only hoping in Christ for resurrection after you die, faith is very individualistic.
If “Jesus saves” only means Jesus forgives you and raises you to life after death, the only thing that matters is are you going to heaven or not. If you love other people, you might care whether they’re going to heaven, too. But you wouldn’t have to. Even with our Lutheran insistence on the full and free grace of God, making Jesus’ salvation transactional like this is deeply individualistic. The only thing that matters is your final destination. Not your neighbor’s pain. Not the world’s suffering.
And it also means you aren’t challenged by Jesus’ teaching. You don’t need to change your heart, check your biases, confront your prejudice. You can do what you want and paste the name of Jesus on it, if you think the only thing Jesus cares about is heaven, and you think you’ve got a ticket.
All because you took away the word “and.”
This helps explain right wing Christian Nationalism in our country.
We despair at the evil proclaimed by these Christians who care nothing for the suffering of the poor, the refugee, the oppressed. Who resent children being given free breakfast and lunch at school. Who seek to control the bodies of other people, who absolutely reject and abhor anyone not like them, including those who understand their gender differently, or choose to love someone these Christians can’t tolerate. We wonder, how can Christians do this, believe this? How are we so close to creating a fascist dictatorship in this country and with of it driven by people who bear the name Christian?
Well, if the only thing that matters is that you are saved, and if saved only means life after death, then you don’t have to worry about anything else. That’s how Christians killed millions in the Crusades and countless wars over time. That’s why we had the Inquisition. That’s why people were burned at the stake because of their beliefs. It’s all because of missing the word “and” and assuming there’s only one thing about salvation that matters.
Of course, to believe that you have to ignore literally everything Jesus ever taught. His whole ministry was an invitation into the first gift, into the reign of God, into the eternal life of God lived here, into the abundance of life that following Christ is.
And Jesus teaches us that this abundant life, this eternal life now, cannot be abundant and eternal if anyone is excluded.
This is Jesus’ heart, and unless we’re prepared to delete the bulk of the Gospels and most of the New Testament, we need to take it seriously.
Love your neighbor, love even your enemy. That’s abundant life. Feed those who hunger, clothe those who are naked, find homes for those without. That’s eternal life. Care for those who are sick, welcome the stranger and alien. That’s life in God’s reign. See the face of God in every other person. That’s what Jesus came to invite you and me to live and know. Right now. And it’s abundant, eternal life.
But you can’t know God’s full eternity in your life right now if others are still suffering and oppressed. You can’t know God’s full abundance if others are still destitute and starving. That’s what Jesus the Christ says, and you and I know in our hearts it’s true. Until everyone, every child of God, knows this eternal abundance and can rejoice in it, none of us fully have it.
By all means cherish Jesus’ promise after the “and.”
You will have resurrection in Christ Jesus as God’s free gift: when you die you’ll be raised to new life.
Just cherish the “and” even more. Lean into the first gift, that the Triune God most deeply wants all God’s children to have life and have it abundantly now. To know the joy of God’s eternal love and life in their hearts and souls right now. To be fed and cared for and safe, all living in God’s dream of justice.
When we see the fullness of what Jesus means to do when he saves us, everything matters, everyone matters. And when we start living that way in the world, with our neighbors, with our enemies, when we all become part of that eternal abundance, this world will one day fully rejoice in this gift and grace. All of it.
In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
