Our Sermons

Bible Passage: John 6:59-69
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  August 29, 2021

Pew Research conducted a landmark study in American religion in 2018. Their statistics find the U.S. is steadily becoming less Christian and less religiously observant overall. (No surprise.) However, they found that Christians attend religious services at about the same rate today as in the early 2000s. They split the participants into 2 groups based on church attendance. They found that 62% of Christians go to church at least once or twice a month, and 37% attend just a few times a year or not at all. Now, these percentages are almost identical to a study done in 2009. In other words, Christianity is declining in America not because Christians are attending church less often by percentage, but because there are just fewer Christians period. This is interesting to me because you’d think that the highest percentages would have shifted to those who attend infrequently if the numbers were shrinking. But because the percentages remain consistent, it means that people are leaving from both categories at roughly the same rate. It means that faithful churchgoers are leaving the faith at roughly the same rate as nominal Christians. A lot of that probably has to do with my generation and how many young adults are discarding the faith of their fathers. 

But whatever the case, this isn’t just a matter of statistics and percentages, is it? Dearly loved souls in our own families, some of our own friends, former members of Eastside have turned away from Jesus. We live in an increasingly secular society and we are constantly aware of the contestability of what we believe. Each one of us knows how hard it is to trust in Jesus and live according to his Word today. Now, we may think that we live in a great age of unbelief, but this is not the first time many people have left Jesus. Jesus was rejected in his own time as well. Why? Well, simply put: The Bread of Life Can Be Hard to Swallow. Let’s turn to John 6 for the final week of our Bread of Life series and see what advice Jesus has for you and me today,  as disciples who follow him even as others turn away.

We begin with verse 59: He said these things while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 When they heard it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching! Who can listen to it?”  The word translated as “hard” was used primarily in medical language. It refers to limbs that have become stiff or inflexible. So in the figurative sense, they are saying that Jesus’ words are hard because they are inflexible. His words aren’t misunderstood, it’s the opposite. He claims that he came down from heaven and that only in him will they find eternal life. He is forcing them to refine their intentions in following him. Do they believe is from heaven—do they believe he is God, or not? It reminds me of the Liar, Lord, or Lunatic distinction that C.S. Lewis wrote about. If you don’t trust that Jesus is Lord, then you must accept that he is either a liar or a lunatic, because he claimed to be the Lord. There’s no wiggle room. Jesus doesn’t bend to fit into different interpretations, he says he is from heaven and remains inflexible on this point.

This is a huge reason why the Bread of Life can be hard to swallow, isn’t it? Jesus speaks hard truth and we live in a society that is only inflexible on one thing: remaining flexible towards truth. There are many moral teachings that are increasingly counter-cultural in the Bible. There are claims that clash with popular thoughts on science and history. There are quite a few accounts that are not easy to read. If these hard teachings become something you resent or are embarrassed about, they will become a hindrance to your faith. If there is a hard teaching you are struggling with, please talk to someone about it. Set up an appointment with me or Pastor Berg and let’s wrestle with it together. The Bread of Life can be hard to swallow, so don’t be ashamed to admit that there are parts of God’s Word that are “hard” for you. The Bread of Life Can be Hard to Swallow, so keep chewing on it. Keep wrestling and the Lord will bless you, the Holy Spirit will work in you. The key is that you don’t grumble or begin to stumble in faith.

Look at what Jesus says in verse 61: But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, asked them, “Does this cause you to stumble in your faith?  The word for stumble here is sort of softened in translation. The root of the word describes the stick that springs a trap or a snare. This isn’t a speed bump in faith. It isn’t just something offensive. It’s an obstacle to faith that you can’t seem to get around. It is a snare that stops you in your tracks. Do you know what happens when an animal is caught in a snare? If they aren’t killed by suffocation, they are still as good as dead because they are defenseless. They will either be easy pickings for a predator or the hunter, or they will slowly starve to death. I’ve seen this happen to a person’s faith. There was a couple at a church I once served at. They had an issue with God’s Word and I asked to discuss it with them. They agreed but didn’t respond to my emails. Then they started to drift. They didn’t come to worship as often and then I didn’t see them at all. The hard teaching had become a snare that slowly choked out their faith.

Jesus cares about us too much not to warn us. And he challenges his hearers with a question: 62 What if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?  Jesus talks about his ascension. This is a sort of encouragement in cloaked language. He says, if you can’t believe that I came down from heaven, (even after the miracles I’ve done) would you finally believe if you saw me ascend up to heaven? Jesus promises to give them the ultimate proof if they stay with him. 

And then he continues with a warning: 63 The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh does not help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life…“This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is given to him by my Father.”. This warning is a bit obscure, but I’ll break it down. First off, the Bible is clear:  “The sinful mind is hostile to God.” That’s our sinful perspective, the “flesh” that Jesus talks about here. Our sinful flesh does not help at all when it comes to salvation. As Jesus once told Nicodemus: “Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” He’s saying, humans reproduce physical life, but only the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. The Bible also says: “No one can ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Cor. 12:3) Jesus warns that those who leave do so because they aren’t listening to the Holy Spirit of God. He reiterates, “No one can come to me unless it is given him by my Father.” A huge repeating theme in Jesus’ words, especially in John’s gospel, is that he came from the Father, that he is one with the Father, that he speaks what the Father has given to him to speak. Over and over again, Jesus shows that if people believe in God, they should recognize him as well. And if they reject him, they reject God and any chance of spiritual life. This whole section is Jesus’ way of telling the people to stick with him! He’s saying, “Trust me, keep listening to my words, keep walking, keep following me! God will show you that I am the Bread of Life!”

But his words fell on deaf ears. Here’s one of the saddest verses of the Bible: 66 After this, many of his disciples turned back and were not walking with him anymore. That they no longer “walked” with him is a straightforward enough way of saying that they ceased to be his disciples. In fact, many ancient teachers walked with their disciples while lecturing them. But on a symbolic level, however, it recalls biblical language about God’s servants who “walked” with him, like Enoch or Noah, and Israel’s call to “walk” according to the commandments. John again reminds us that to reject Jesus as Lord is to reject every command of God. You cannot be close to God unless you are close to Jesus. 

The word that really hurts here, though, is the word “disciples”. It’s the people Jesus had poured himself into, he had taken compassion on them, he had healed them when they were sick and fed them when they were hungry. And yes, Jesus knew this was to come, but that doesn’t mean it made it easy. Especially when the value of a soul lost eternally is something he could actually comprehend. 

This is one of the things I think is hardest to deal with as a Christian: to consider the value of a soul and see so many turning away from Christ. To know about the hope I have in Jesus and how everything else just pales in comparison. But this amazing gift is considered irrelevant to those we seek to share it with. My friends, consider the value of a soul and if you know of someone straying, please give them a call. Please reach out, because your Savior mourns for those who turn their backs to him. And he also promises that his Word can bring them back.

As much as it surely pained Jesus to see these disciples walk away from the synagogue, his eyes were now focused on those near to him. 67 Jesus asked the Twelve, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Note that Jesus appeals to the disciple’s desire, what they “want,” implying that he wants the commitment of their heart, not just their presence. He didn’t say, “Are you going to leave me?” He asked, “Do you want to leave…” which is a different question entirely. It’s the same question he asks you today. He doesn’t say, “Will you keep attending church?” He doesn’t ask, “Will you stay at Eastside Lutheran?” He says, “Do you want to leave me?” Jesus doesn’t want to command obligated slaves. He wants us to follow because we love him. Because we trust him. Because we know that he is our loving Savior.

And that’s the answer Peter gives: 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”  My friends, may our hearts say the same thing. “Who else would we go to?” Who else has done what Jesus has done for you? Jesus never turned and walked away from us. He gave us his perfect life and died in our place. For every time that we have considered walking away, we turn around to his unlimited forgiveness and peace. And, grace upon grace, Jesus continues to give us his Words of Spirit and truth, which convince our stubborn hearts time again to keep following him. His words are spirit and they are life, words which themselves inspire genuine love for the One who first loved us.

When Jesus ascended, his eleven remaining disciples stood there looking up into the sky. If they had the presence of mind to go back to this day in Capernaum, could they have remembered his words? “What if you would see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?” Do you think they doubted their decision to stick with him? No way. One day we will see our ascended Savior too. On that day, faith will become sight and we will celebrate that Jesus is worth following eternally. The Bread of Life Can Be Hard to Swallow, so keep chewing. We have been given the Holy Spirit and he will bring us home. Amen.