“What Does it Mean to Choose God?”
August 25, 2024
John 6:56–69
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.’ He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.
When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’ But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, ‘Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, ‘For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.’
Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So, Jesus asked the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go away?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’
Joshua 24: 14–16 ‘Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.’
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Life has been described by some people as a series of choices. That is partly true. Obviously, there are times when our lives are impacted by things in which we have had no choice. Sometimes it is diseases of the body or mind that have enormous consequences for which there is no choice. In relationships, there are times when another person’s choices bring life-bending changes to you. Of course, accidents or the tragic death of a loved are never by choice. But when it comes to the responsibility that we have to live life and to do what life asks us to do, it is probably true to say that life is a series of choices.
In childhood, choices were made for us. Yet, most of this life is marked with choices we make.
This final passage in this month long look at John 6 places Jesus’ disciples at a crossroads. They have a choice to make.
Each of the five pieces of John 6 we have read this month have placed challenge before the crowds following Jesus. It has been a hard slog. People have offered disgruntled responses. Now things are getting more personal. Jesus’ own disciples complain, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” They have to choose whether to follow, to abide with Jesus, and so do we.
John’s Gospel is clear: “Many of Jesus’ disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.” Even people who originally chose to follow changed their minds. Which goes to show that making the choice for God isn’t just something we can do once. We must do it every day.
Anything worth choosing requires daily dedication. The person in addiction recovery cannot have just one drink. The married couple commit to life together for better or worse every day. The college freshman has to commit to studying to earn grades that keep the financial aid package in place.
Making a choice and sticking to it is not easy. We will make mistakes and at times our choices will turn out to be wrong. But when it comes to faith, making the wrong choice is not the end of the story. Not according to this gospel reading.
As Jesus looks out over his disciples, he admits that following him, leading a life of faith, ultimately is not really their choice at all. He says, “no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” One’s decision for God is superseded by God’s decision for us. Peter puts it plainly: “Lord, to whom can we go?” There is no other choice.
Jesus asks the handful of disciples still with him after many had taken offense at his teachings and walk away: “Do you also want to go away?” Jesus had taught some shocking things. “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them.” “Whoever eats me will live because of me.” Here at the end of chapter 6 there is a fork in the road and for everyone it is a time to choose.
Now, before any of my erudite Lutheran readers start to bristle about the concept of people choosing God, let me point out that what is at stake in these decisions is not the identity or eternal security of the choosers.
In John, the people who abandon Jesus are not starry-eyed newbies; John makes clear that they are already Christ’s “disciples.” Jesus has fed them, taught them, healed them, and loved them.
In the Old Testament passage from Joshua, it is clear the people are already chosen and beloved of God. Their long history with the Divine — of deliverance from slavery, manna in the desert, and steady direction in the wilderness testify to this grace.
No, what is at stake is whether or not God’s already-beloved-and-rescued children will choose — today, tomorrow, always — to live fully into who they are as children of God. It is a call to hold in tension two amazing and paradoxical truths: one, that God has already chosen us. And two, that we are therefore invited to choose (or not choose) God in return, not once or twice, but over and over again.
What does it mean to choose God? According to Jesus, it means “eating” — taking his very essence as the “Word made flesh” (John chapter 1) into our bodies and souls so that we exude the flavor of Christ to the world.
Choosing God and sharing the flavor of Christ to the world seems to confuse many Christians today. Choosing God means doing what Jesus did and living as Jesus lived. It means turning the other cheek. It means loving neighbor, even those with whom we disagree. It means forgiving as we have been forgiven. It means explaining your neighbors’ actions in the kindest way. It means losing our lives in order to gain them. It means trusting that the first will be last and the last first. It means denying ourselves. It means the cross.
Honestly, at this point in John chapter 6 it is stunning that Jesus had any followers left. The real miracle of the bread and fish story is not that Jesus fed five thousand people with a bag lunch — but that a handful of those people stuck around after he taught them that mere bread is not the source of authentic life. The miracle lies in this: “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (v. 63).
So, to those closest disciples who remain with Jesus that day, He asks, “Do you also want to go away?”
Do you find something vulnerable and poignant in the question? I imagine Jesus asks it with some sadness. He knows full well what he is asking of his followers, and he wants them to know that his love is a freeing love. They are free to walk away.
What has it looked like in your life when you have thought of walking away … from the church, from Christianity, from living authentically in the ways of Jesus? “Do you also want to go away?” Jesus asked.
The question has made people uncomfortable for centuries because the answer is sometimes yes. There are times when we do not like believing that Christian faith entails some choices already made for us. Think about them. Forgive. Give. Do not judge. Put yourself last. Love everyone. Love always. Love no matter what.
The truth is, even the most devout have times when they would rather pick an easier, less demanding, less costly version of believing in and living like Jesus. But here’s the deal: that version does not exist.
What does it mean to choose God? It is a question we must keep asking ourselves because the choice never goes away.
Choose this day. And tomorrow. Then all along the way “take and eat” of Him –so as to exude the flavor of Christ to the world while embracing the promise of the Chooser who says, “whoever eats me will live because of me” and “the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
