Ninth Sunday after Trinity

Ephesians 4.25-5.2; John 6.35, 41-51

As we've moved into St. John's gospel these last few weeks I've been talking about maturing in the faith, about making the daily decision to follow Christ and as St. Paul says to grow into the 'full stature' of Christ; and last week we thought about the childlike faith that God wants us to have but also about moving on by committing ourselves wholeheartedly to what Jesus teaches and preaches.

The dialogue between Jesus, the disciples and those who come to them to hear Jesus is centred at present around Jesus being 'the bread of life'. And in that we are thinking about Jesus being our spiritual nourishment. To the 'untrained' ear the words we read today from St. John's gospel don't sound very appealing, with references to eating and drinking Jesus's flesh and blood. But how else do you get over the point, and this image surely does, about Jesus and His Spirit being our spiritual food and drink, our spiritual nourishment. And just to push it home in a contemporary sense, it's often said these days that 'you are what you eat'. You might recall the tv advert for Green Giant sweetcorn and the two little boys eating it with great relish when they remember that saying. I expect they've only taken to heart the 'giant' bit. I don't imagine they'd want to grow up green. But the point is well made. If we are to be Christlike we need to be nourished by him. There have been huge theological debates about how this happens and especially in terms of the eucharist, which have raged for centuries, but for now we can let those pass us by and just take on this idea of Jesus himself being our spiritual food and drink so that we might become evermore like him and so grow into His likeness today.

And some of that likeness is recounted by St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians and especially in that part of it that we've read this morning. St. Paul gives out this list both of instructions and characteristics of Christ likeness. What it means in terms of thoughts, words and deeds to be mature in the faith, remembering that we are continuing our reading from last week where St. Paul is talking about maturing in the faith. But I'd like to draw your attention to a sentence in the middle of this reading which gives the motivation for doing our best to align ourselves with these instructions and characteristics. Because it's necessary to know why we are being asked to do something especially if it's asking us to stretch ourselves somewhat and maybe to step out in faith in behaviour and thinking that seems at first difficult because it's not what might be called our natural inclination. And the sentence is this; and as I said, it's right in the middle of the reading - 'And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.' Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked.'

Remember that St. Paul is talking to baptised Christians; people who have given themselves to the Christian way of life. They've made that commitment and so have set out on that road to growth in Christ, to maturity as Christians. So any behaviour that is alien to that way of life, that isn't congruent with what they profess, isn't just a lapse in standards or misbehaviour. It goes much deeper than that. It pierces right to the heart of their relationship with God. It grieves Him. And it grieves Him because it shows a lack of love for others and so a lack of love for Him. And that's why St. Paul goes on after the sentence right in the middle to talk about behaviour and speech and thinking that is and shows forth love for one another and for God.

So what we are being asked to remember is that when we follow the Christian way, we are not just living up to a standard, we are living a relationship, with God and with one another that has to be cared for and nourished and worked on, just as any relationship of love has to be worked on. And when things go wrong, repentance and forgiveness is the way that things are put right. And that putting right is a two way thing; repentance on the one hand and forgiveness on the other. That's how it works. We work to develop our relationships in love and in that way grow into the likeness of Christ, becoming mature in Christ, and when that goes wrong we are given a way of putting things right, again in a Christ like way, the way of forgiveness. And there is no other way if we are committed to the way of Christ. We can make all sorts of excuses and have all sorts of explanations for how we live and relate to one another but when it comes down to it, for Christians there is only one way, the way that does not grieve the Spirit of God, but delights Him.

Over the next couple of weeks as we continue to read this part of St. John's gospel we hear all sorts of arguments that arise out of peoples' misunderstanding and unwillingness to understand, but we'll leave that until then. For now we simply need to come to terms with what keeps us going in the faith, what keeps us moving forward in the Christian faith. And that is receiving our nourishment for our spiritual growth from God through Jesus Christ. And developing the awareness that we are building a relationship of love with Him and our neighbour, that is ever more precious as we build it, so that when it breaks down it is grieving to God. And that in itself should give us the will to always want to build one another up in faith so that we all come to the full stature of Christ, firm in faith and love for one another.