Jesus turns to his disciples and asks, “Do you
also wish to go away?” With this we come
to the conclusion of five Sundays focusing of the feeding of the 5,000 and its
meaning. All the people who have been
following Jesus, crisscrossing the Sea of Galilee several times, take offense
at what he says and leave. Only the
Twelve are remain.
Jesus does not make it easy for the
multitude. His language seems intentionally
designed to confound and repulse. “The
one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood will live forever.” Actually, “eats” is not the most accurate
translation. The verb Jesus uses
literally means “to gnaw.” “The one who gnaws on my flesh…” The cannibalistic overtones alone are
offensive enough, but there is more. The
bible strictly forbids the eating of flesh with its blood still in it because
it associates blood with life. Those who
hear Jesus take his words to be blasphemous and an abhorrent violation of God’s
commandments. Sure, Jesus gave them food
so they all ate and were satisfied, but even this sign is not enough for them
to stomach his teaching.
Do you also wish to go away?
I mentioned a few weeks ago I have been
re-reading Scott Peck’s book The Road
Less Travelled. In it he talks about
the process of transference:
Transference is that set of ways of perceiving
and responding to the world which is developed in childhood and which is usually
appropriate to the childhood environment (indeed, often life-saving), but which
is inappropriately transferred into
the adult world.
He describes a patient who, as a child, was
constantly disappointed by his parents.
They forgot his birthday, didn’t follow through on a weekend trip, and
never got him a promised bicycle.
Gradually he learned he could not trust his parents and remarkably accepting
this realization made his young world a better and safer place for him. The problem was he transferred this into
adulthood, holding to the notion you can’t trust people. As a result, he could not hold down a steady
job and his marriage failed.
Peck calls an idea like “I can’t trust my
parents” and “I can’t trust other people” a ‘map’ by which we navigate life. There are nearly as many different maps as
there are people. One person’s map may indicate
“God will love me no matter what I do” while another’s may state “God will be
angry with me if I make a mistake.” If
we are going to pursue what is true about life we must be open to challenge
what we believe because the maps we carry can and do become outdated.
Challenge and change can be a very scary
proposition. It is easier to cling to
the known, to the tried even if not true, than to set off into unchartered
waters. Peck contends there is only one
single impediment to spiritual growth – laziness. Summarizing his book in the late chapters he
writes:
In examining discipline we were considering the
laziness of attempting to avoid necessary suffering, or taking the easy way
out. In examining love we were also
examining the fact that nonlove is the unwillingness to extend one’s self. Laziness is love’s opposite. Spiritual growth is effort.
Peck contends laziness is the original sin
residing in each one of us. Adam and Eve
were lazy because they did not challenge the words of the serpent. Their spiritual growth and health required
them to go to God and ask more questions about the command not to eat the
forbidden fruit; to test the words of God against the words of the serpent. Either they were not willing or did not see
the value of mustering the energy necessary to question their maps. Laziness is not about how hard or how little
you work. It is about your willingness
to engage or to avoid spiritual growth and health.
All of this provides a helpful lens through which
to ponder today’s reading. The
multitudes following Jesus all around Galilee are operating off outdated
maps. Jesus needs to demonstrate who he
is if his words are to be believed, but when he feeds the masses they want to
make him their king. They want to
shoehorn him into their map of a messianic political figure sent from God to
liberate them from foreign control.
For four weeks now we have listened to Jesus
challenge them with his new vision of the Bread of Life and what he has to
offer. For four weeks now we have sensed
they do not get it. They do not understand
this new sacramental thinking and how it can lead to spiritual growth and
health. They are content with
sacrificing the flesh and blood of animals.
They cannot conceive of consuming God’s flesh and blood as a means of
life and eternal life. So the walk away
offended, disappointed, and… lost in their laziness.
So Jesus turns to his disciples and asks, “Do you
also wish to go away?” Peter, in his
most shining moment, answers, “To whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know you are the
Holy One of God.” The remaining
disciples are open to challenge and willing to do the work required for
growth. The creedal statement we have
come “to believe and know you are the Holy One” is
interesting. It is worth noting belief
comes before knowledge. You have got to
believe in the process before you experience the results. You have to put your trust in God before
growth can happen. You have to believe
in yourself and your ability to change before change begins to take root. Or you can just walk away.
