13th Sunday after Pentecost

Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Wisdom is a major theme in our readings today. Oh, how I would like some! Life has become so confusing. We are relentlessly bombarded by messages of all kinds: commercial, political, social, religious, financial, environmental. Often those messages are conflicting. How do we know what is true anymore? How do we decide what to believe, what to do, whom to support? Yes, some wisdom would be wonderful.

According to our reading from the Letter to the Ephesians, wisdom is understanding what the will of the Lord is. We find out about God’s will through scripture. But most clearly and powerfully, God’s will is revealed to us through the ministry and teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We learn to understand what the will of the Lord is by spending time with Jesus.

In our gospel story, Jesus uses that word so beloved in the Gospel according to John: abide. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. According to Miriam-Webster, abiding means to remain stable, to continue in a place, to sojourn. Jesus invites us to sojourn with him, to bask in his presence, and to be filled with the good news he offers.

The verbs Jesus uses also highlight the need to spend time with Jesus. In English, they are all translated as “eat”. In the original Greek, however, he first says “eat”, and then he speaks of “gnaw, chew, ruminate”.  As we will hear next week, his audience responds to this by saying, “This is a difficult teaching; who can accept is?” We might agree with them. It is difficult to accept Jesus’ crass language about gnawing on his flesh.

Yet the metaphor he is using is actually familiar to us. Think of all the ways in which we talk about understanding something or wrestling with something in terms of eating.

      Give me some time to digest that.

      Sink your teeth into it.

      Revenge is a dish best served cold.

I am eaten up with jealousy.

      I am still chewing on those comments they made about me.

      Jesus is using the same image here: What he says, what he offers, what he teaches, what he is willing to do for the people will take some time to sink in. He is asking them to chew on it, ruminate on it, ponder it, digest it, savor it. Jesus is asking them to spend time with what they are hearing and seeing.

It is in this context that he speaks of abiding. By eating the bread he offers, his flesh and his blood, and by taking the time to actually ingest all that he is, we abide with Jesus; in fact, by ingesting Jesus’ presence in bread and wine, Jesus will abide in us. Amazing, right?!

Having Jesus abide in us, will have an effect on how we show up in the world. This is where I am turning my attention to the Letter to the Ephesians. This is how today’s reading begins: “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

Up until now, the letter has encouraged its readers to rejoice in the grace of God offered them in Jesus Christ. God’s grace has adopted them as God’s children and promised them salvation, has touched them with comfort, strength, and healing, and has made them members of a supportive, holy community. All that God did for them in Jesus Christ.

Now, says the letter, all this grace will shape how you live. The beginning words “Be careful” sound a little threatening, but that is not the writer’s intent. It’s more like “pay attention then” or “be intentional” about how you live.

And what is supposed to shape how we live? The wisdom of God. And what is that wisdom? Knowing the will of the Lord. And how can we know the will of the Lord? You guessed it, by abiding with him. Ephesians mentions worship where we gather with other believers and sing God’s praise together; we also hear God’s word from scripture and one person’s thoughts about that word; we pray; we participate in the Lord’s Supper; we spend time with our Lord and his people.

Living according to God’s wisdom is something we learn over time. It is a skill we need to develop.

We just watched the Olympics. I am constantly amazed by those athletes who manage to run faster than anyone or jump higher or twist in more complicated patterns or what have you. The athletes have a talent for their sport that they were born with. But then they have to develop that talent with years of training. Week after week, they practice, study, exercise, watch their diet, watch their sleep patterns, surround themselves with coaches and supporters and teammates. Being an athlete doesn’t just happen; it takes determination and dedication and work.

Learning God’s wisdom is like it. When we were baptized, we received the Holy Spirit. That Spirit is active within us and gives us the talent, the natural inclination towards divine guidance. We, then, have to develop that talent with determination and dedication. Week after week, we worship, we read scripture, we engage in daily devotions, we surround ourselves with people who support our journey, we enlist coaches, we seek inspiration, we serve, we practice gratitude and generosity and all the other gifts of the spirit.

In this fashion, we abide with Jesus and Jesus abides in us. Over time, Jesus’ will becomes second nature to us.

Yes, it takes time, because we have to unlearn the behavior and thought patterns the world teaches us and instead ingrain the will of the Lord.

If you have ever been in therapy, you know what I mean.

You go to a therapist and explain what you are struggling with. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the therapist could just say, “Stop doing that and do this instead” and we could just go home and follow the advice and live happily ever after? But that doesn’t happen.

It doesn’t happen because the depression or addiction or anxiety or relationship struggle or emotional pain or whatever brought you to the therapist’s office isn’t a logical puzzle with a logical explanation and a solution that allows you to flip the switch and everything is perfect.

Learning new ways of thinking and acting and interpreting the messages you receive from others takes a long time. You are shifting beliefs and attitudes that are deeply ingrained in your heart and soul. Replacing them with healthier patterns is a lengthy process, for sure. But it leads to a healthier, more joyful way of being.

Likewise, learning to live in God’s wisdom is a lengthy process that requires ongoing awareness, ongoing diligence, ongoing effort. That’s why the Letter to the Ephesians urges care. Make sure you pay attention to your words and actions. Make sure you spend enough time with Jesus and Jesus’ people to train your discipleship muscle. Make sure the way you live and act reflect the grace of God, the wisdom of God, the love of God, the will of God for this world.

As the election process heats up and tensions between different sections of the population increase, we need that divine wisdom more than ever. And the world needs us to act according to God’s wisdom more than ever.

Ephesians says the days are evil. Sometimes, it definitely feels like the power of evil is way too strong, doesn’t it? As Professor Caroline Lewis points out, this verse is not meant to encourage us to look for enemies and label them as evil and blame them for everything wrong with the world. There is too much of that going on in today’s media landscape. Scapegoating like that is never helpful and often leads to terrible injustice. As a German, I know that only too well.

What the letter wants to highlight is the fact that we are surrounded by a world that operates according to different values from us Christians and that constantly wants to draw us into its way of thinking. The majority of Americans are no longer affiliated with any religion. That means that the majority of the citizens of this nation do not know Jesus’ love, do not know God’s wisdom, do not know the Lord’s will for this world. As a result, their priorities and behavior patterns are different from ours. That creates an ongoing struggle for us.

That’s why we come to church. We come here because we crave time with our Savior. Here, God helps us internalize his will and wisdom. Here, siblings in Christ sing with us, pray with us, and support us. Here we can discuss the messages we hear with one another and together discern God’s will. Here we are reminded why we engage in the struggle: because what God wants for us and this world is so beautiful, so hopeful, so loving, so life-giving.

Abiding with Jesus teaches us what this world could be like if God’s will were done on earth as in heaven. Eating Christ’s body and drinking his blood around his table of grace reveals to us what peace and beloved community could look like. Gnawing on Jesus’ words makes us restless and dissatisfied with the way things are and urges us to live and act guided by God’s will and wisdom. Internalizing God’s will gives us a compass to navigate these overwhelming times. It blesses us with guidance and with hope.

As people of God and for the sake of the world, let us commit to “be careful then how we live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time.” Amen.