John 6:66-69. Who do we follow/serve? 30/8/06
(66) From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. {67} "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. {68} Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. {69} We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
Josh 24:14-18
"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. {15} But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." {16} Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! {17} It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we travelled. {18} And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God."
This morning we continue with our theme of Jesus as the ‘Bread of life.’ But here we are faced with the question, where to from here? In the face of people falling away from following Jesus and the truth of his word; we too are being confronted with the same question; "You do not want to leave too, do you?"
Yes Jesus’ words with regard to eating his flesh and drinking his blood, is a hard teaching. It doesn’t fit into our way of thinking. Yet as we heard last week, it is truly a great and awesome thing that he has made available for us, and the sustaining of our faith. But despite this many people back then chose to walk away and seek to be god’s people by some other means. They wanted to follow that which was pleasing to their senses and to their self-centred thinking. Surely being God’s people must fit into the kind of thinking that is reasonable and readily seen to be acceptable.
Today we face the same thinking on this same issue of Holy Communion and on many other issues as well. It would seem that we want to follow the line of least resistance and which is the most sensual on many different issues that are facing the church at this time: whether it be worship, women’s ordination, lay involvement in worship, ecumenical issues and many others. What seems good to us as human beings and which panders to our selfish way of life is that which we will hold to and follow. We would sooner focus on what we do and think, rather than follow our Lord and that which he has to say to us.
We therefore have many turning their back and no longer following Jesus. For many there is still the desire to be religious and spiritual, but it seeks to follow that which fits into our way of thinking and which is reasonable to us. The name Jesus is used, but it is a Jesus of our own making. It is a Jesus whose death on the cross is barely mentioned. It is a Jesus who inspires us to live in a way that we think is pleasing to him and to us. It is a Jesus who avoids anything we think is negative and unpleasant. It is a Jesus who is ‘outwardly loving’ but which downplays his truth and doctrines.
In our western world today we have a mass exodus from the Church that has been passed down to us from the early church and which is centred very much on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross and his resurrection. Along with that there is a move away from baptism as the means whereby God connects us to Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection; and from the eating of the real presence of Christ’s body and blood in Holy Communion. Also the inerrant truth of God’s Word is no longer deemed to be as important as it really should be. It is all too hard for us as human beings and it does not fit our cultural thinking. As a result many no longer follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
But it is here that Jesus’ question is put to us: "You do not want to leave too, do you?" We here need to come to a clear understanding of where we stand and who we need to follow and serve. I believe that we like the children of Israel in our reading from Joshua need to decide very clearly who we are going to follow. Is it the gods of our society and self, or is it the true and living God? Is it the God who has revealed himself in the Scriptures, or is it a god who is moulded to suit ourselves? Is his word, the Bible, the truth, or can we pick and choose what we believe? Is Jesus Christ and his death on the cross absolutely necessary for our salvation, or do we have to also contribute something toward our salvation? Is Jesus the bread of life or do we need something else? Important questions for us at this time.
Surely we too can only say along with the disciples; Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." Or with Israel; "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! There is no other sensible and reliable alternative. There is no other means of being sure and certain.
Surely Jesus Christ and his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, mean that he alone is our one and only source of salvation. He alone is the true and living God. Here in Jesus Christ, it is clearly seen that God has come into our world: he has taken on our human form so that he could be the sacrifice which enables forgiveness of sins to be extended to each and every one of us. He knew that there was no way that we could make up for our lostness and sin by our own means; even in some small way. Yet he came and did everything that was necessary for us and for our salvation. He was raised from the dead three days later so that we can be absolutely sure that he is God Almighty himself and that he has won eternal life for us.
He has made it quite plain that he is the bread of life which came down from heaven. He has given us all that we really need for this life and the next. In our baptism he promises that there he connects us to himself and to his death and resurrection. He has given us his flesh and blood to eat and drink so that we can have eternal life. All guaranteed by he himself; who died and rose again for us.
So now we can simply look to Jesus Christ and his death on the cross and trust that he has done it all for us: we do not need to look anywhere else: we don’t need to ‘have to’ do something extra to make it all valid: we don’t even need to have the right feeling and emotions. He has done everything necessary. We can simply trust that it is all just as he said.
So also then can we simply trust that the Bible is God’s word: every word of it. There he has given us everything that we need to know as his people. It tells us all that we need to know with regard to our sinfulness and utter depravity because of our rebellion against God. It ever points us to the centrality of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for our salvation. It reveals to us all that we need to know for our living as his people, while we live here on this earth.
Throughout its history the Christian Church has always maintained that it is God’s Word alone that should guide and direct us as church. Scripture itself says that we must not add to or take away anything from his Word. So in the Ordination of Women debate it must be Scripture alone which determines whether it is allowable or not. And in all the discussion papers that have been presented so far, there is no clear scriptures which allow for the overturning of our current position. It is only the discarding of what Scripture clearly says in this regard that we are able to proceed. But then we are going against what the Bible itself clearly says we must not do.
Here we need to look back through the history of the Church and see how God has maintained and grown his Church as it has held to the truth of the Bible. Whenever it has done otherwise it has gradually lost its way. But before I sidetrack again, we can hold firmly to the truth of the Bible, because it is God’s Word, and it has proven to be correct over and over again. Jesus is the fulfilment and centre of all that is written in there.
So then we can entrust ourselves to Jesus Christ as the bread of life. We too can say ; Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." Or with Israel; " But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. And Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods!
Yes I pray that in these difficult days ahead, we can look to, follow and serve Jesus Christ alone. The temptation to follow the crowd will be great, but surely our great God and Saviour, is far more important than following the crowd. Then as we go forward with this as our conviction, I pray that he will bless us as he did his own disciples back then. Then as we do may all glory and honour go to him who it belongs; our great God Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN.
Pastor Roger Atze
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Toowoomba
(66) From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. {67} "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. {68} Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. {69} We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
Josh 24:14-18
"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. {15} But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." {16} Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! {17} It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we travelled. {18} And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God."
This morning we continue with our theme of Jesus as the ‘Bread of life.’ But here we are faced with the question, where to from here? In the face of people falling away from following Jesus and the truth of his word; we too are being confronted with the same question; "You do not want to leave too, do you?"
Yes Jesus’ words with regard to eating his flesh and drinking his blood, is a hard teaching. It doesn’t fit into our way of thinking. Yet as we heard last week, it is truly a great and awesome thing that he has made available for us, and the sustaining of our faith. But despite this many people back then chose to walk away and seek to be god’s people by some other means. They wanted to follow that which was pleasing to their senses and to their self-centred thinking. Surely being God’s people must fit into the kind of thinking that is reasonable and readily seen to be acceptable.
Today we face the same thinking on this same issue of Holy Communion and on many other issues as well. It would seem that we want to follow the line of least resistance and which is the most sensual on many different issues that are facing the church at this time: whether it be worship, women’s ordination, lay involvement in worship, ecumenical issues and many others. What seems good to us as human beings and which panders to our selfish way of life is that which we will hold to and follow. We would sooner focus on what we do and think, rather than follow our Lord and that which he has to say to us.
We therefore have many turning their back and no longer following Jesus. For many there is still the desire to be religious and spiritual, but it seeks to follow that which fits into our way of thinking and which is reasonable to us. The name Jesus is used, but it is a Jesus of our own making. It is a Jesus whose death on the cross is barely mentioned. It is a Jesus who inspires us to live in a way that we think is pleasing to him and to us. It is a Jesus who avoids anything we think is negative and unpleasant. It is a Jesus who is ‘outwardly loving’ but which downplays his truth and doctrines.
In our western world today we have a mass exodus from the Church that has been passed down to us from the early church and which is centred very much on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross and his resurrection. Along with that there is a move away from baptism as the means whereby God connects us to Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection; and from the eating of the real presence of Christ’s body and blood in Holy Communion. Also the inerrant truth of God’s Word is no longer deemed to be as important as it really should be. It is all too hard for us as human beings and it does not fit our cultural thinking. As a result many no longer follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
But it is here that Jesus’ question is put to us: "You do not want to leave too, do you?" We here need to come to a clear understanding of where we stand and who we need to follow and serve. I believe that we like the children of Israel in our reading from Joshua need to decide very clearly who we are going to follow. Is it the gods of our society and self, or is it the true and living God? Is it the God who has revealed himself in the Scriptures, or is it a god who is moulded to suit ourselves? Is his word, the Bible, the truth, or can we pick and choose what we believe? Is Jesus Christ and his death on the cross absolutely necessary for our salvation, or do we have to also contribute something toward our salvation? Is Jesus the bread of life or do we need something else? Important questions for us at this time.
Surely we too can only say along with the disciples; Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." Or with Israel; "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! There is no other sensible and reliable alternative. There is no other means of being sure and certain.
Surely Jesus Christ and his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, mean that he alone is our one and only source of salvation. He alone is the true and living God. Here in Jesus Christ, it is clearly seen that God has come into our world: he has taken on our human form so that he could be the sacrifice which enables forgiveness of sins to be extended to each and every one of us. He knew that there was no way that we could make up for our lostness and sin by our own means; even in some small way. Yet he came and did everything that was necessary for us and for our salvation. He was raised from the dead three days later so that we can be absolutely sure that he is God Almighty himself and that he has won eternal life for us.
He has made it quite plain that he is the bread of life which came down from heaven. He has given us all that we really need for this life and the next. In our baptism he promises that there he connects us to himself and to his death and resurrection. He has given us his flesh and blood to eat and drink so that we can have eternal life. All guaranteed by he himself; who died and rose again for us.
So now we can simply look to Jesus Christ and his death on the cross and trust that he has done it all for us: we do not need to look anywhere else: we don’t need to ‘have to’ do something extra to make it all valid: we don’t even need to have the right feeling and emotions. He has done everything necessary. We can simply trust that it is all just as he said.
So also then can we simply trust that the Bible is God’s word: every word of it. There he has given us everything that we need to know as his people. It tells us all that we need to know with regard to our sinfulness and utter depravity because of our rebellion against God. It ever points us to the centrality of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for our salvation. It reveals to us all that we need to know for our living as his people, while we live here on this earth.
Throughout its history the Christian Church has always maintained that it is God’s Word alone that should guide and direct us as church. Scripture itself says that we must not add to or take away anything from his Word. So in the Ordination of Women debate it must be Scripture alone which determines whether it is allowable or not. And in all the discussion papers that have been presented so far, there is no clear scriptures which allow for the overturning of our current position. It is only the discarding of what Scripture clearly says in this regard that we are able to proceed. But then we are going against what the Bible itself clearly says we must not do.
Here we need to look back through the history of the Church and see how God has maintained and grown his Church as it has held to the truth of the Bible. Whenever it has done otherwise it has gradually lost its way. But before I sidetrack again, we can hold firmly to the truth of the Bible, because it is God’s Word, and it has proven to be correct over and over again. Jesus is the fulfilment and centre of all that is written in there.
So then we can entrust ourselves to Jesus Christ as the bread of life. We too can say ; Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." Or with Israel; " But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. And Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods!
Yes I pray that in these difficult days ahead, we can look to, follow and serve Jesus Christ alone. The temptation to follow the crowd will be great, but surely our great God and Saviour, is far more important than following the crowd. Then as we go forward with this as our conviction, I pray that he will bless us as he did his own disciples back then. Then as we do may all glory and honour go to him who it belongs; our great God Father, Son and Holy Spirit. AMEN.
Pastor Roger Atze
Redeemer Lutheran Church
Toowoomba
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