Pentecost X Proper 14

Pentecost X Proper 14 Do not complain. Whoever believes has eternal life.

Eternal life is God’s plan and pattern for the soul. Love is the natural state of the soul.
Fear keeps the soul distracted and enmeshed in its own separation from Eternal life and Divine love. This fear is very real. Fear itself is not an illusion. The separation that fuels the fear is also not an illusion. It is the demand of the separated soul for control that weaves the spell of illusion that enslaves humanity to the condition of unbelief.

In this passage of scripture, Jesus does not contrast faith with unbelief. Unbelief is certainly part of the problem Jesus addresses. Jesus focuses our attention on the consequence of unbelief. That consequence is shame and blame. The voice of shame and blame is the voice of complaint.
The Bible some times identifies the voice of complaint as murmuring. The people heard Jesus’ teaching. It was not an easy teaching to hear. It would have been appropriate and even desirable for the people to ask Jesus about this teaching. Jesus was in fact waiting for a response.

The people did not so much respond to Jesus as they murmured and grumbled and complained amongst themselves. They ignored Jesus and turned to each other. They asked, how can this be? How can he say such things? We know who he is. We know his family. How can he say he is the bread of heaven?

Questions, honest questions, are the invitation to faith. Murmuring, grumbling, complaining close the door to faith.

The person who cultivates complaint in the place of honest question is the person who is enslaved to the prison of shame and blame.

Shame is recycled guilt. It is the guilt of the original choice humanity made to separate from God rather than continue in a relationship with God. Shame is that voice in the soul that recognizes its mistake but refuses to make a different choice. It rejects personal self responsibility. It chooses rather to blame some one or something else for the problem.

Humanity chose separation from pride. The pride of humanity said: we are the image and likeness of God. We are lords of creation. We are so powerful we can exist independently of God and stand with him as equals. The shame of humanity is the recognition that we are not equals with God. The blame of humanity is the defense against seeking reunification with God.
Shame warps pride into despair. Shame says, I am so bad even God, if God even exists, cannot help me.

The people who heard Jesus heard the voice of God. They were not willing to be that close to God. They turned from Jesus in their shame of speaking with God face to face and instead of asking him to help them understand they complained to each other about him. From shame they moved to blame.

Blame is the way the soul attempts to mask the pain of guilt and shame. There was nothing in Jesus worthy of blame. Jesus used his divine power to heal and to help. Jesus used his teaching authority to invite people back into a relationship with God. There was nothing blameworthy in Jesus’ actions or words yet the people found fault with him and in that fault found an excuse to distance themselves from him. He was right there. They were so close. They made a real choice to perpetuate separation.

Reunification with God requires faith. It requires an honest self assessment of the soul. It requires the courage to look at our lives in spirit and in truth. The truth is that we all do things that are not good. The truth is that we all evade personal responsibility for our spiritual lives. The truth is that in Jesus Christ our Heavenly Father is personally reaching out to us in divine love and compassion with outstretched arms.

As we claim the courage to see God as He is and ourselves as we are we are able to take the next step in our spiritual development. That next step is faith.

Faith is not a blind leap in the dark. Faith is the courageous embrace of the truth of God, the truth of the human condition, and the truth incarnate in Jesus Christ.
The evidence we seek is as close as our next breath. The problem is not the lack of evidence. The problem is the lack of courage in a separated soul to see the evidence. Because, the evidence points to two aspects of the same truth.

The first aspect is that God designed the human soul for eternal life. The second aspect is that humanity rejected God’s plan and purpose and chose separation: separation from God, separation from eternal life, separation from divine love and compassion.

That is why Jesus brings forth the truth that he himself is the bread of heaven. Jesus just doesn’t teach about life. Jesus just doesn’t demonstrate what life can be like. Jesus is life.
Jesus is the very pattern by which, through which, and for which God the Father created us- all of us, each of us.

Doubt is part of the human condition but doubt itself is the invitation to faith. The process from doubt to faith is the process of coming to Jesus with our questions. It is the process of self examination in the company of the Holy Spirit.

Solitary self examination perpetuates separation. Self examination with other unbelievers perpetuates unbelief.

True self examination requires the courage to come to Jesus with all of our doubts, shame and blame. As we enter into self examination through a dialog with Jesus Christ we begin to find the courage to accept the truth about ourselves wherever the truth may lead.

The Bible is very clear. Jesus is very clear. All who seek the truth will find it. And, they will find it in Jesus Christ. For truth is not just a set of facts or principles. Truth is the divine, rational, creative pattern of the universe, the logos, the co-eternal word of God who became a human being in Jesus Christ.

It is Jesus who offers to walk with us. He is there in all of life’s joys and in all of life’s sorrows. His attention to our needs and concerns never falters. He wants us to speak with him. He wants us to grow in self responsibility. He wants us to come to the place of spiritual maturity where we can live by faith and perceive his presence in all things, in all people, and in the eternal life of the blessed sacrament of his body and blood.

What God offers in Jesus Christ is eternal life here and now. That eternal life is a new way of living. It is a new way of making choices and setting priorities. It is a quality of life that transforms all of our experiences in life. It is a way of living that emerges through the process of an eternal relationship with the co-eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ. The relationship produces the faith. The faith gives us the ability to perceive the truth: Eternal life is God’s plan and pattern for the soul. Love is the natural state of the soul.

Whoever believes has eternal life.