If only Jesus' followers were the same...

John 6:35-51

If you read between the lines of this week's text you'll find these words of Jesus:
anyone who comes to me I will never drive away...I should lose nothing of all that he has given me...Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.

This is of course a tenant of Lutheran faith... there is nothing we can do that will secure our own salvation and more importantly nothing we can do to screw it up. If only those who followed Jesus could utter these words to those they disagree with. What if instead of chiding each other we had to affirm each other.

Dear Fred Phelps, (insert whomever you disagree with theologically) I am so glad that regardless of the vile things you do that nothing can separate you from the love of God(dess), just as nothing I do could ever separate me from the love of God(dess).

What if we could not dismiss or disown others? This means that we cannot get rid of or abandon those who are no longer profitable, we cannot step over those who sleep on the sidewalks, we cannot abandon those in need of health care or ignore the hungry.

And this spiritual quest lasts forever. Yikes, that could change who we see as our neighbor. I'm not sure what would be scarier, if we held ourselves to this standard or our enemy!

Whiners get Bread from Heaven? I will Go and Do Likewise!

Exodus 16:2-15
What is the lesson from this text? Can it really be that if you whine to God(dess) you will get what you want? Perhaps. Lutherans believe that we always get more from God(dess) than we deserve - this is grace.

While there is a part of me that cautions against the simplistic understanding that if you pray for things you will get them like a genie waiting to provide wealth and fortune, if you but believe. While I do have had powerful experiences in my own life and in those I love of times when prayer heals bones, mends broken lives, heals addiction and other diseases, I also know a number of very faithful people who have prayed mightily and have not found relief from what plagues them.

It is too easy to say just pray harder, or that prayer doesn't work if you don't believe "enough." My Lutheran charisms always remind me that I am never "enough" for the "more than enough" that I get from God(dess).

I think this text and many of the angriest Psalms give us a better idea than prayer. Our God(dess) promises to be for justice, and yet sometimes we need to yell, scream and whine at God(dess) to help God(dess) remember and honor those promises.

This means we need to be yelling, screaming, whining advocates for justice on earth, not only in our prayer lives, but in our sermons, our letters and our interactions with those in power.

The Exodus text tells us that we must whine as we advocate to end hunger (our own and our neighbors).

If you pair this reading with the Philippians (1:20-30) we have good reason to believe that this whining, screaming and yelling can also be applied to our physical needs, our health and wholeness in our bodies. Certainly, the physical distractions that make it hard for people to be able to think, pray and advocate for themselves are issues that we need to care about as Christians if we want to help are neighbor be able to live a life that is worthy of the Gospel.

Note that I arguing that we make it possible for others to live the life they believe is worthy of the Gospel. I am not saying that we need to tell our neighbor what that means for them. As a community of faithful we can hold each other accountable, but ultimately we are better off when others have freedom (free for and free from their neighbor).

Lectionary Cycle B: Proper 20A/Ordinary 25A/Pentecost +19