PROPER 16, YEAR B

Sunday 22 August 2021

St. Uriel’s, Sea Girt

Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18

John 6:56-69

Today’s readings highlight the importance of telling the story of what God has done in our life together—and then making the right response!

 

The episode in the Old Testament reading takes place near the end of the life of Joshua. Having led the Children of Israel across the River Jordan to take possession of the Promised Land, Joshua summons all the people to Shechem—a town in the north of Israel which, before the fall of Jerusalem to King David several centuries later, functioned as the central gathering place of the Twelve Tribes.

In his speech, Joshua challenges the people to put away the gods their ancestors served in Mesopotamia and Egypt, and serve only the Lord. The people respond by reciting the great deeds that God has done for them: “It is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, and who did great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went …”

Some Old Testament scholars have speculated that what’s being described here is a periodically repeated liturgical ceremony renewing God’s Covenant given on Mount Sinai. Be that as it may, the key point is that the best means of recalling people to faithfulness is to tell the story, over and over, of the great deeds that God has done for them. In a similar way, the Church’s first task is always to proclaim the good news of what God has done for us in Christ.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus proclaims the good news of what God is doing in and through his own ministry. During the month of August, the Gospel readings have been taken from the sixth chapter of Saint John, where Jesus announces that he is the true bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; those who eat his flesh and drink his blood will live forever.

The inconvenient reality, however, is that those who hear the good news are free to respond (or not) as they will. Joshua is clearly aware of this problem as he addresses the Tribes of Israel. While he passionately exhorts them to serve the Lord, he also respects their freedom. There’s nothing authoritarian in his speech: no commands, no threats. Instead of “You’d better serve the Lord or else,” he says: “If you be unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve … but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Similarly, in today’s Gospel, when many of the disciples fall away in disgust at his words about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, Jesus also respects their freedom. He simply asks the Twelve: “Do you also wish to go away?” No commands, no threats, nothing coercive: just a gentle challenge to make a choice.

In both cases, our protagonists know how difficult it may be to respond positively to what they’re asking. Joshua’s words reflect his understanding of the powerful appeal of the ancestral gods and goddesses. He speaks as though he won’t be at all surprised if the people backslide and forsake the one true God—especially now that they’re living alongside peoples who still worship those same pagan deities. The subsequent history recounted in the Old Testament proves Joshua right. Again and again, large segments of the people fall away, with only a faithful remnant keeping the Covenant and continuing in the service of Israel’s God down to the present day.

Again, Jesus is unsurprised when large numbers of disciples draw back and fall away, murmuring amongst themselves: “This is a hard saying; Who can listen to it?” Knowing what’s in their hearts, he simply remarks: “It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail … This is why I told you that no-one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

Both these scriptural episodes are particularly apropos for us, who live in a time and place where so many people seem to be turning their backs on the Church and its faith and worship. This trend may sadden us, but it should not surprise us. It’s nothing that we haven’t dealt with before at multiple times in our history as God’s people. The good news, now as then, is that we’re here (whether in person or virtually!)—a faithful remnant choosing to follow the Lord even when it means swimming against the cultural tide.

So, we stand today in the place of those who answered Joshua, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods … We also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.” We likewise stand with Peter, who answers the Lord’s question by asking in turn: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Commenting on this passage sometime in the early fifth century, Saint Cyril of Alexandria wrote: “It is not the number of worshipers but those who excel in the right faith, though they are few, that are precious in the sight of God.” In other words, Cyril implies, Jesus is content to continue working with only twelve disciples after the multitudes fall away because he knows that these twelve have the right faith, as expressed by Peter on their behalf, to be the ones ultimately sent out to bear witness to his resurrection to the ends of the earth.

A few years ago, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI offered some thought-provoking reflections on the Church’s decline in Western Europe and North America. A smaller and leaner Church, he said, is not necessarily a weaker Church. As it loses social privilege and cultural approval, it must simplify its life and concentrate on what’s truly important. Those who persevere in attending worship and participating in the Church’s life will be those with the strongest faith, or at least the deepest knowledge of their need for God. The Church’s losses in the quantity of its numbers may be outweighed by its gains in the quality of discipleship as it responds to God’s call to engage in mission to a broken and hurting world.

In the coming days, as we approach our congregational discernment meeting, my recommendation is that we all reflect on the words of both Joshua and Jesus in today’s readings: “Choose this day whom you will serve,” and “Do you also wish to go away?” By God’s grace, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we shall be able to respond with the tribes of Israel to Joshua, “We also will serve the Lord, for he is our God,” and again with Peter to Jesus, “You have the words of eternal life.”