Living With Amazement

Proper 13B; Ex. 16:2-4, 9-15; Ps. 78:23-29; Eph. 4:1-16; John 6:24-35

St. Paul’s, Smithfield, NC – August 5, 2018

Jim Melnyk: “Living With Amazement”

Theologian Abraham Heschel once wrote, “Religion is the art of learning to live with amazement.”  “Religion is the art of learning to live with amazement!”  I find myself thinking, “Yes!  What a poetic statement about religion.” In turn, Heschel’s statement leads me to think, “Perhaps the life of faith is about the art of learning to live with amazement as well.”  And then, as I reread each of today’s lessons – and I am filled with – of all things – amazement!

The first three chapters of Ephesians are a mix of theology and prayer while the final chapters are more about practical instruction in the faith.  The author – most likely a disciple of Paul’s writing after the apostle’s death – has already offered us an incredible “prayer report” to the church in Ephesus.  And while I have issues with some of the author’s ideas later in the epistle (especially the parts dealing with his theology on marriage and the whole wives be submissive bit), I find myself blown away as I listen to what we have read over the past few weeks, culminating this week with the author’s charge to “grow up every way…into Christ.”  I find myself wondering, “How is it that I so routinely forget how incredible the Bible can be?” 

The stories of our faith speak of a God who is infinitely intimate with creation!  Ours is a faith that proclaims a God who not only desires our love, but who first and foremost loves us – One who, through Christ, gives us access to God with boldness and with confidence!  That idea of an infinitely intimate God had to blow a few minds in the first century Hellenistic world of rational thinking – and I imagine it certainly sounds out of place to many twenty-first century philosophers and religious nay-sayers. 

I suspect there are many Christians today who would, for perhaps many different reasons, flinch at the suggestion that religion, or the life of faith, or the stories of our faith are about the “art” of learning to live in any sense of the word.  One might argue that art is such a subjective expression of the human spirit.  What I may see as art you might see as junk – or the other way around.  To say that experiencing life in God is in some way “art” may sound too subjective to the Biblical literalist or the religious fundamentalist – it may sound threatening to those who need rock-solid assurances and air-tight answers to the questions of their faith – that is, when they’re actually allowed to ask questions.

The author of Ephesians knows that the reign of God – the kingdom of God – the communion of God – won’t come by way of a well-turned phrase, a thought-provoking story, or by slight-of-hand.  God comes into this world in a wild paradox of power.  The true mystery of God’s reign has nothing to do with the ability of Jesus to feed a few thousand folks or skip across the deep blue Sea of Galilee as he did in last week’s Gospel lesson. 

The true mystery of God’s reign is all about a Savior in the person of Jesus who finds himself surrounded by incredible need, and an incredible hunger for God; and in response is filled with love and compassion, and the desire to act.  The power of Jesus comes not because he has the ability to act – to build picnics out of thin air (or out of a few loaves and a couple of fish) – or to walk across the waves – but because Jesus has the heart and the will to act; to act on behalf of the people of God in every age – wherever and whenever they are in need.

The author of the letter to the Ephesians understands this – and understands that the power of Jesus is his ability to touch people’s lives – to empower people’s lives – and to kindle our imaginations and our amazement – moving us to be Christ in the world for others.  The author understands what it means to find ourselves strengthened in our inner beings with power through the Spirit of God, and to “grow up in every way…into Christ.”

This is the power of the Christian faith and witness to the world – that the God of all creation – the God who somehow at the root of all things, brings all things into being – that this God dwells in our hearts by faith.  This I find truly amazing!

Through God in Christ we are rooted and grounded in love! That, my friends is the Gospel – the Good News.  Through God in Christ we are rooted and grounded in love! And when we find ourselves rooted and grounded in love, there is power within us that is the fullness of God made alive!  And when we find the world rooted and grounded in love – well, that’s the kingdom of God, – that’s the reign of God – that’s the hope of God – that’s the dream of God – made real!  Amazing!

The children of God wandering in the wilderness awoke each morning to bread from heaven virtually littering the ground on their behalf, and ended their day with quail filling their encampment to meet their daily hunger.  The Psalmist tells us these sojourners – these mortal children of Abraham and Sarah – “ate the bread of angels;” God having provided them “food enough.”  And they were amazed – well, at least while their stomachs were full.

The children of God surrounding Jesus in the wilderness eat their fill of bread and fish – perhaps even recalling Israel’s time in the wilderness and the words of the Psalmist – perhaps even thinking for at least a few brief moments that they, like their ancestors, are eating the “bread of angels.”  They are amazed – until they’re ready for their next meal – and then they want yet another sign of the inbreaking of God’s kingdom.  Most, it seems, have imaginations too little to understand the art of metaphor – too little to understand the parable of the feeding – too little to understand that they are standing in the presence of Living Bread.

And now we have this (holding up a communion wafer).  We have this tiny morsel of bread pressed into a simple circle – about the size of a quarter, though not as thick, and certainly worth a lot less when figuring dollars and cents.  What little monetary or traditional nutritional value!  How small a piece of bread we call part of a life-sustaining meal!  It takes an openness to mystery and an openness of the imagination – it takes the “art of learning to live with amazement” – for us to realize that like the thousands surrounding Jesus that day, we – holding this tiny morsel of food in our hands – that we are standing or kneeling in the Presence of Living Bread.  

This is the meal that marks us as followers of Jesus; and at this Holy Table, we take this Presence of Living Bread into us – and at a cellular level this Living Bread becomes a part of us, and we become a part of that same Living Bread.  We come to understand that “Jesus prepared a meal for the multitudes to remind us that we feed people not because we believe they deserve it, but because they are hungry” - hungry for food and hungry for God (JohnPavlovitz.com).

And so, allow yourselves to be amazed by the living Christ dwelling within you.  Allow yourselves to be amazed at the ability of the Spirit of God to dwell within you – to strengthen you – to strengthen your inner being.  Be amazed at the ability of God to root you – to ground you – in the power of love.  Allow yourselves to know the love of God in Christ – a love that surpasses all knowledge.  Allow yourselves to be filled with the fullness of God.  It’s beyond amazing. 

And then ask yourself – What is it God wants me to do with this amazing life of mine?  Because once we allow ourselves to experience that presence of God filling us and dwelling within us – then that power of the living Christ can and will be at work within us…and once at work within us, we can find ourselves accomplishing more than we ever dreamed possible.