You Are What You Eat

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 15 (Year B)

John 6.51-58

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 20:55)

 

They say, “you are what you eat.” This phrase, or at least the concept, has been around in secular culture for quite a while. It has its origins in a French gastronomic essay published in 1826. While the actual phrase wasn’t used, the theme of the essay was that the food one eats has a bearing on one’s physical health and state of mind. The actual phrase did not enter English usage until the 1930s. There was then a resurgence with the hippy era of the 1960s, and it has been in popular usage ever since.[1]

 

Now this primarily relates to what we eat as influencing our physical and mental wellbeing. But what about our spiritual wellbeing? In a way, the original espouser of the concept of “you are what you eat” was not the author of a gastronomic essay in 19^th century France, but Jesus Christ in first century Judea. This concept is really the essence of today’s Gospel reading. Particularly Jesus’ statement, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them” (Jn 6.56). While quite familiar to us today, even comforting, Jesus’ words would have been strange to the original hearers. In fact, they would have been downright disgusted by what they heard.

Read more!

Taste and See That the Lord Is Good

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 14 (Year B)

Psalm 34.1-8; John 6.35, 41-51

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 20:20)

 

Our Psalm for today ends with the verse: “Taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are they who trust in him” (Ps 34.8). I have always found this to be an interesting image, albeit a little cryptic. I mean, we can see that the Lord is good based on God’s actions throughout salvation history, some parts of the Old Testament notwithstanding. The overarching message of the Bible is that God is loving, compassionate, and merciful. That God provides for the needs of his people. This view of God being good is far easier to see in the New Testament, with God coming to live among us in the form of his Son Jesus. With the forgiveness of our sins and the promise of eternal life made possible through Jesus’ death and resurrection. As the Psalmist points out, we can plainly see that God is indeed good through God’s actions as recorded in Scripture. But what about the “taste” part? How can one taste that the Lord is good? I wonder that every time I read this portion of Psalm 34. Yet, I’ve never taken the time to ponder that. Until now.

Read more!

Give Us This Bread Always

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 13 (Year B)

John 6.24-35

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 19:00)

 

Today’s Gospel reading is reminiscent of the old “Who’s on First” comedy routine popularized by Abbott and Costello in the 1930s. The premise of the sketch is that the two comedians are discussing a baseball team and trying to determine which team members are playing which positions. Because the players have names such as “Who,” “What,” and “I Don’t Know,” answers to questioning about players and their positions come off as non-responsive. The humor is due to each member of the conversation using the same terms, but having differing understandings of the meaning of the terms used, naturally leading to talking in circles as they try to communicate. A humorous demonstration of how different frames of reference can lead to miscommunications and misunderstanding.

 

The same thing is happening in today’s reading from the Bread of Life discourse in the Gospel according to John. But instead of “Who,” “What,” and “I Don’t Know,” the differing frames of reference revolve around “bread,” “eternal life,” and “the work of God.” Both parties—Jesus and the crowd—are talking about being fed. Only they have different ideas about what that means. Rather than being a source of humor, this is a source of frustration for all involved as they seek to define their terms and establish a common ground for communications. (But then again, this is an ongoing challenge in John’s Gospel.) In so doing, the interaction really does serve to highlight the miscommunications and misunderstanding in a way that actually serves to underscore Jesus’ message.

Read more!