Christ Church Riverdale

11 Pentecost                                                                                        August 24, 2003

Joshua 2:1-2a; 14-25; Psalm 16; Ephesians 5:21-33; John 6:60-69

“Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)

In last week’s passage from John’s gospel, Jesus spoke of eating his flesh and drinking his blood.  Today, we hear that many were offended by these words.  John writes, “They drew back and no longer went about with him.”  Jesus explains that it is the spirit that gives life, and that his words are spirit and life.

Many leave.  But some stay with Jesus, and for the first time in John’s gospel Jesus speaks of “the twelve” who remain.  Jesus says to them, “Do you also wish to go away?”  Peter answers, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.”

Jesus gives a choice.   I’m reminded of a verse from a hymn I like, “The Great Creator of the World.”  The verse goes: “He came as Savior to His own, the way of Love He trod; He came to win us by good will, for force is not of God.”  Force is not of God.  The choice is ours.  Perhaps more pithily, when Peter says, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” the implication is, “Who else is there?”

Today, as in Peter’s day, and as in more ancient times, the choices are many.  At the time of Joshua, it was accepted that there actually were competing gods.  There was the god of the hills and the god of the plains.  There was a god of one tribe and the god of another.  There was the god of this nation and the god of that nation.  The question was not their actual existence, but their power.  Israel came to believe that its God was mighty to save.  They remembered their escape from slavery in Egypt and, in Joshua, the conquest of Canaan at their entry to the Promised Land.  Later, in the book of the prophet Isaiah, Israel saw itself as a light to the other nations, and the awareness that God is one took root.

In our pluralistic nation, we generally accept that there are many legitimate paths.  As Christians, however, we also understand that these paths are different.  We ask the question Peter asked, “If not to Jesus, to whom should we go?”

Many who find themselves in the church today marvel in the insights of other religions and in the wisdom of other cultures, some more ancient than our own.  We may do Sufi dancing, or yoga, or read the insights of the Buddha.  But here we are, because there is really no other place to which, ultimately we want to go – no other place where we find eternal life.   No other Lord who is real to us.  When we die, it will be the face of Jesus we see and none other.

Peter speaks for the twelve: “We believe, and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.”  Peter’s words are our words, as we worship here today, praying for that holiness to envelop the world, and for our lives to be a witness to God’s love.

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