What is It?

 The following is a copy of a sermon from the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, which I preached at St. Paul’s, North Andover, MA on August 1, 2021 at the 10:00am Eucharist.

What is it?

By Fr Paul Bresnahan

My grandmother was from Down to Maine and she spoke kinda funny. When I started in to complaining which I often done, she’d shake her wooden spoon at me and say; “Buddy Bresnahan quitch-yaw-bellyaching!”

Which reminds me of one of those old Burt and I stories. One time Willy and me was takin a load of lumber down off Tenant’s Harbah up to Rockland when a fog come up so thick you could hardly see nawthin’. Willy stahted in ta complaining; “Burt I can’t see.” “Neither can I Willy”. “But what we goin’ to do, Burt”. “Willy we’re going to drop anchah and set here-a-spell is what we’re going to do.” All the while Willy worried and Willy complained and finally I piped up “Willy quitch-yaw-bellyaching!”. Just then the fog lifted just a mite and I told Willy to go below and fetch up my Old Coaster’s Pilot. He done that. It was all worn and tattid and the bindin’ wuz busted and when I opened that Pilot to whar I figured we wuz, a puff of wind come up and blowed that page plum overboard. Willy ‘course piped up and said “O Burt, now what we goin to do!” After I thunk a bit I sed; “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We’re goin to get a sailing and head right into this next page heah and then by Thunder, we’ll know whar we be!”

Scripture tells us that the whole congregation of the Israelites complained in the wilderness. They were tired and hungry. They weren’t the least bit sure that this Moses knew where they were or where they were going. They had second thoughts about being free from slavery. At least in Egypt they sat by the fleshpots and ate their fill of bread, fruit and vegetables. But now they faced death in the wilderness. The ancient human constant kicked in; they complained. 

God heard their complaints and rained down manna from heaven. As they gathered it, they said to one another  “manna” which is the Hebrew word for “what it it”. So much of our relationship with God is a mystery. As we gather what the Grace of God provides we find ourselves in awe and wonder and say “what it it?”

There is something deeply human in this story. Presently we find ourselves in this wilderness. The pandemic is but one dimension of our heartache. We also face a racial reckoning, political deadlock, urban upheaval and street violence. The catastrophe of climate change brings fire, flood, and rising sea levels. The very democracy we once took for granted is now very much in question. As a people of faith we take all this to heart and offer it all to God. Our hunger is for some kind of Peace with Justice. And we complain.

God’s response to the human condition is yet more manna from heaven. It comes to us in the form of a child born in a manger who is in every way as vulnerable as we are. He was driven into his wilderness, so we are told, and was tempted sorely just like we are. He emerged from the desert transfigured. He healed the sick, the blind and the lame. He taught us a way to live like no other teacher ever has. 

We take his words to heart and memorize them. We love his stories. We are drawn to and challenged by his willingness to embrace the outcast; the leper, the prostitute, and the poor. In his final conflict with the Temple authorities he is tried and convicted of blasphemy. He is crucified, dead and buried. 

What emerges from this experience is the core of our faith:

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again. 

Our Gospel encounter with Jesus raises many questions. How do we face the challenges that come our way? How do we deal with our sorrow and the sorrow of those we love? How do we face into hateful hearts when they become violent? How do we face our own frustrations and disappointments?

Jesus’ answer in today’s Gospel; “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Here is God’s answer to the “what is it” in our wilderness. 

I love the “I am” statements in John’s Gospel. There are seven, a common biblical number.

I am the bread of life

I am the light of the world

I am the door of the sheep

I am the Good Shepherd

I am the resurrection and the life

I am the way the truth and the life

I am the true vine

In effect, when we say we believe in the Name of Jesus we do far more than give intellectual credence to a two syllable name. We are committing ourselves to a way of life. The name Jesus is shorthand for the love of God made flesh and blood. It means that when there is discouragement and defeat we proclaim hope and victory. When hatred and violence infect the human heart, with courage and resolve we stake our lives on love and justice. When greed and exploitation defaces the beauty of God’s creation, we dedicate ourselves to its conservation.

When sickness and death overcome us and we are bewildered by the enormity of it all, remember  Jesus. Jesus shows us to the Gate of Heaven. The Eucharist is a vivid reminder of the Holy Presence and Jesus is the Door! 

This is but the beginning of who Jesus is for us. Day in and day out, he changes our lives. He transfigures us. 

The Prayer of St. Francis is a “go to” prayer for people of faith the whole world over.  

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is

hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where

there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where

there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where

there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to

be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is

in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we

are born to eternal life. Amen.

What begins in the wilderness as bewilderment and complaint is now transformed by Jesus into faith. He is the way and the truth and the life. In our Baptism our focus is taken off self absorption and we become one with him in faith. Look at Paul for instance. Even in his imprisonment he did not complain but urged us on in ministry. He reminds us to “lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

If I ask “what is it”, what might I say? When I think of Jesus, simple, ancient instincts kick in. I care for those who are sick and dying, the sin sick and the sorrowful. Those who make a total shipwreck out of life, myself included. There is forgiveness for us all. There is redemption for us in Jesus. He pays the price gladly in order that there may be life in all of its abundance for everyone. What a Joy it is to know Jesus. 

Jesus shows the way through the wilderness. When we see the hungry we feed them; the homeless and the naked we provide for them. When there are outcasts, Jesus unfurls the full rainbow banner of his loving heart. There is compassion unlike any other on earth. He reaches out his loving arms on the hard wood of the cross so that everyone might come within the reach of his saving embrace. 

Jesus is the “what is it” of my life. He is my manna from Heaven. He is the incarnate love of God; that rains down from heaven and fills our hearts to overflowing with of love and compassion. This is what our tired old world needs now. It needs those who will love with courage in the Way of Jesus.  The only thing I know that can clean up the messes that mortals make is the love of God made flesh and blood in Jesus.

And that my friends is what it is. Amen.