{"id":7157,"date":"2021-09-29T05:08:24","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T12:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=7157"},"modified":"2021-10-05T16:06:33","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T23:06:33","slug":"you-have-the-words-of-eternal-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=7157","title":{"rendered":"<div style=\"font-size:40px\" style=\"color:rgb(0,0,0);\">\u201cYou have the words of eternal life.\u201d<\/div>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Pentecost-19.pdf\">Click here for a pdf version.<\/a><\/p>\n<div style=\"color:rgb(0,0,0);\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<html>\n\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\">\n<meta name=Generator content=\"Microsoft Word 15 (filtered)\">\n<style>\n<!--\n \/* Font Definitions *\/\n @font-face\n\t{font-family:Wingdings;\n\tpanose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}\n@font-face\n\t{font-family:\"Cambria Math\";\n\tpanose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}\n@font-face\n\t{font-family:Calibri;\n\tpanose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}\n@font-face\n\t{font-family:\"Open Sans\";\n\tpanose-1:2 11 6 6 3 5 4 2 2 4;}\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\n p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal\n\t{margin-top:0in;\n\tmargin-right:0in;\n\tmargin-bottom:8.0pt;\n\tmargin-left:0in;\n\tline-height:107%;\n\tfont-size:11.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Calibri\",sans-serif;}\np.MsoNoSpacing, li.MsoNoSpacing, div.MsoNoSpacing\n\t{margin:0in;\n\tfont-size:11.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Calibri\",sans-serif;}\np.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph\n\t{margin-top:0in;\n\tmargin-right:0in;\n\tmargin-bottom:8.0pt;\n\tmargin-left:.5in;\n\tline-height:107%;\n\tfont-size:11.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Calibri\",sans-serif;}\np.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst\n\t{margin-top:0in;\n\tmargin-right:0in;\n\tmargin-bottom:0in;\n\tmargin-left:.5in;\n\tline-height:107%;\n\tfont-size:11.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Calibri\",sans-serif;}\np.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle\n\t{margin-top:0in;\n\tmargin-right:0in;\n\tmargin-bottom:0in;\n\tmargin-left:.5in;\n\tline-height:107%;\n\tfont-size:11.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Calibri\",sans-serif;}\np.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast\n\t{margin-top:0in;\n\tmargin-right:0in;\n\tmargin-bottom:8.0pt;\n\tmargin-left:.5in;\n\tline-height:107%;\n\tfont-size:11.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Calibri\",sans-serif;}\n.MsoChpDefault\n\t{font-family:\"Calibri\",sans-serif;}\n.MsoPapDefault\n\t{margin-bottom:8.0pt;\n\tline-height:107%;}\n \/* Page Definitions *\/\n @page WordSection1\n\t{size:8.5in 11.0in;\n\tmargin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}\ndiv.WordSection1\n\t{page:WordSection1;}\n \/* List Definitions *\/\n ol\n\t{margin-bottom:0in;}\nul\n\t{margin-bottom:0in;}\n-->\n<\/style>\n\n<\/head>\n\n<body lang=EN-US style='word-wrap:break-word'>\n\n<div class=WordSection1>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>A sermon\nfor the 19<sup>th<\/sup> Sunday after Pentecost<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>John 6:56-69<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>You have\nheard this text. They is important words. You is thinking that, I can tell. You\nis thinking that they is important.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>How can you\nsay \u201cYou is\u201d \u201cThey is\u201d? These examples show something about language. In the\nSeventeenth Century, the time of Shakespeare, the upper and lower classes had\nno trouble saying: \u201cYou is.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>These\nusages were lost in the Eighteenth Century when the middle class became\npowerful and wanted to be \u201ccorrect.\u201d But in German, French, and Latin, and\nGreek and many other languages, that difference between \u201cyou\u201d singular and \u201cyou\u201d\nplural continues. \u201cThey is\u201d is found in Ebonics. The question is: Is Ebonics a\nproper, separate language? Is it a variety of English, or something we call\nargot or slang? <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>We ask\nourselves: What is language? The dictionary says this or that, but a dictionary\nis a history book. It is not something that has the authority of final meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>What about\ngrammar? You have been taught \u201cthis is good grammar\u201d and \u201cthat isn\u2019t.\u201d But when\nyou look at languages and how they develop, even some of the grammar changes. When\nwe look at other languages, we wonder: How did they develop? They are very\ndifferent.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>For\nexample, \u00a0in World War II the Navajo language was used for code speech because\nthe Japanese didn\u2019t have anybody who could translate it. (The problem isn\u2019t\nthat the Navajo language is unique; it is part of a larger family called the\nAthabaskan.) <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>What about\nthat unique language that is found only in Finland, Estonia, and Hungry? It\nturns out that that is probably part of a larger family called the Turkish\nfamily. One is surprised to find out that the language in India called Hindi (and\nthey have two proper languages in India, English and Hindi) is related through\nSanskrit to English. It\u2019s part of the larger family of Indo-Iranian languages. <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>The biggest\nproblem is that little language for the people living between France and Spain,\nthe Basque family. Nobody is able to find that it has any relation to any other\nlanguage. <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>How does\nlanguage develop? Is it purely a matter of usage? Of the relativization of\ncommunication? Or is there something in us that is innate, and that\u2019s the way\nit should be, that there is a sort of right way and wrong way, a universal\ngrammar (Chomsky)? Linguists debate this. The majority view is that the\ngrammatical shape of language is a matter of usage. <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>Questions\nof religion are entirely different. Questions of religion, because they deal\nwith the ultimate, what is forever, have one final meaning. And it really is,\nof course, the question of salvation. The way to sort that out is stated by\nLuther and many others: Whatever is final for you, whatever ultimately is decisive\nis, for you, God.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>Generally\nwhat we think is: I\u2019ve got to live. Survival. That then, health and all the\nrest, becomes, perhaps for you, God. Or it may be success. Or it may be fitting\nin so I can be like everybody else. Keeping up with the Jones\u2019, whoever the\nJones\u2019 are in your context. <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>It is very\ncommon today to say that religion is like a cafeteria. Pick and choose. What\u2019s\ngoing on there is that <b>I pick and choose.<\/b> Whatever happens, whatever is\nfinal, that truly is God for you and me. <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>Very\ncommonly among us it is said: \u201cWell, it\u2019s just a matter of usage and history.\u201d\nThere are three reasons that is not true.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst style='text-indent:-.25in'><span\nstyle='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>1.<span style='font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\n<\/span><\/span><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>The first has to\ndo with science. It goes back to Aristotle, but it\u2019s succinctly stated today by\nthe philosopher Karl Popper: \u201cIf everything is true, nothing is true.\u201d That\u2019s a\nbasic principle of science. It does not apply to language, but it does apply to\nreligion.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in'><span\nstyle='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>2.<span style='font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\n<\/span><\/span><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>The second: If\neverything is true, if everything is relative, there\u2019s no justice. There is no\n\u201cright,\u201d because whatever is, is right. <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpLast style='text-indent:-.25in'><span\nstyle='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>3.<span style='font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\n<\/span><\/span><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>Third: If everything\nis true, there is no hope, and there is no meaning. After all, if there is no\nproblem, there is no solution, and we\u2019re in the swamp.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>John Calvin,\nthe other major Reformer of the Sixteenth Century, stated: \u201cOur hearts are\nidol-making machines.\u201d All of us fail to choose God. We choose whatever idol we\ncherish. Thank God, as the text today points out, it doesn\u2019t depend on us\nbecause he takes care of it. It has to do with his Word. <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>The sixth\nchapter of John, the concluding section, verses 56-69, speaks to all of this.\nThe Gospel of John is the second most difficult book in the New Testament\n(after the Book of Hebrews). It has so many levels of meaning, overtones, and\nother themes, but they all are meant to be there. Three examples:<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst style='text-indent:-.25in'><span\nstyle='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>1.<span style='font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\n<\/span><\/span><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>Many people know\nwhat is called \u201cthe little Gospel\u201d in John 3:16: \u201cGod so loved the world that\nhe gave his only begotten Son.\u201d And the next verse more or less repeats that.\nBut then in verse 18, which people overlook, it states: \u201cHe who believes in him\nis not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he\nhas not believed in the name of the only Son of God.\u201d That\u2019s clearly not\nrelativism or pan-grace-ism in which everything is love. <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle style='text-indent:-.25in'><span\nstyle='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>2.<span style='font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\n<\/span><\/span><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>John 4:24 states:\n\u201cGod is spirit and they who worship him must worship <b>in spirit and truth.<\/b>\u201d\nWe, then, without thinking about the rest of the Gospel, say there is some kind\nof vague spirit, whatever God is. But you recall in John 14:6: \u201cI am <b>the <br>\nTruth.<\/b>\u201d And then in John 14:26, 15:26, and 16:13, <b>the Spirit<\/b> means\nJesus Christ present among us. <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoListParagraphCxSpLast style='text-indent:-.25in'><span\nstyle='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>3.<span style='font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\n<\/span><\/span><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>John 13:35: \u201cBy\nthis all men will know that you are my disciples: If you love one another.\u201d\nIt\u2019s all about us having to do something. But in John 15:5-6: \u201cI am the vine;\nyou are the branches. . . . Apart from me you can do nothing.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>All of this\nhelps us understand the sixth chapter of John. It starts out with the feeding\nof the 5,000. That\u2019s 5,000 males. That means there were about 20,000 people there\nincluding women and children. People were very excited. Bread and fish. But later\nin the chapter, it\u2019s evident that what is being described is not \u201cmiracle faith,\u201d\nbut something far greater. <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>John 6:56:\n\u201cUnless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you cannot inherit the kingdom of\nGod.\u201d And then John 6:60 shows the reaction: \u201cMany of his disciples, when they heard\nit, said, \u2018This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?\u2019\u201d Then John 6:62: \u201cThey\nwere offended at him. And John 6:66: \u201cAfter this many of his disciples drew\naway and no longer went about with him.\u201d Instead of 20,000, there were only\ntwelve and a few more. <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>What was\nthe problem? What were they offended at? What they were offended at was that\nthis was not a God who suited them. This is a God who said: \u201cI am Lord, and I\ncome to you in my body and blood.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>And then in\nJohn 6:62: \u201cWhat if you see the Son of man rising to heaven?\u201d That\u2019s obviously\ntalking about the cross and resurrection. That\u2019s not what they were thinking\nabout. They were thinking of restoring the kingdom of David over against Rome. <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>What happened\nthen? We have begun to see how the Gospel of John develops. <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>It states\nin John 6:64: \u201c. . . \u00a0\u2018[T]here are some of you who do not believe.\u2019 For Jesus\nknew from the first who those were that <b>did not believe<\/b> . . . .\u201d And\nthen in John 6:69: \u201c. . . <b>we have believed<\/b> and have come to know that\nyou are the Holy One of God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>It seems\nvery simple: You have <b>got to believe.<\/b> Yet here the Gospel of John takes\na turn. It states in John 6:65: \u201cNo one can come to me unless it is granted him\nby the Father.\u201d Already that has been said in John 6:44: \u201cNo one can come to me\nunless the Father who sent me draws him.\u201d That\u2019s because our hearts are\nidol-making machines. We never choose or decide for the true God. By ourselves\nwe always inevitably go wrong. <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>But the\nFather does it! And he does it his way. How does he do it? John 1:13 states\nthat believers are those \u201cwho were born, not of blood nor the will of the flesh\nnor of the will of man, but of God.\u201d (Also John 5:21: \u201cFor as the Father raises\nthe dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will,\u201d and\nJohn 15:16: \u201cYou did not choose me, but I chose you.\u201d) There is more of the\nsame in this text. It says \u201cthrough his words.\u201d John 6:63: \u201cIt is the Spirit\nthat gives life, the flesh is of no avail; <b>the words that I have spoken to\nyou are spirit and life.\u201d<\/b> Or as Peter then says: \u201cLord, to whom shall we\ngo? <b>You have the words of eternal life\u201d<\/b> (John 6:68). <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>At the\nbeginning of the sermon today we talked about \u201cYou is\u201d and \u201cYou are.\u201d That is\nin the original Greek in our text: \u201cYou\u201d singular. John 6:68: \u201c<b>You<\/b> have\nthe words of eternal life.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>The\nGospel of John begins: \u201cIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with\nGod, and the Word was God\u201d (John 1:1). Then John 1:14a: \u201cAnd the Word become\nflesh and dwelt among us.\u201d And John 1:29: \u201cBehold, the Lamb of God, who takes\naway the sin of the world!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>Our\nChristian faith is not a matter of agreement, or understanding, or decision-making,\nbecause we always produce idols. Rather, he does it! He does it through his Word\nand Sacraments. As we then celebrate receiving the Lord\u2019s Supper, it is he who in\nthis way, through his Word, his body, gives us life. <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNoSpacing style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in'><span\nstyle='font-family:Symbol'>\u00b7<span style='font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\n<\/span><\/span><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>John 6:68: \u201cYou\nhave the words of eternal life.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNoSpacing style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in'><span\nstyle='font-family:Symbol'>\u00b7<span style='font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\n<\/span><\/span><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>John 6:63: \u201cThe\nwords that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNoSpacing style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in'><span\nstyle='font-family:Symbol'>\u00b7<span style='font:7.0pt \"Times New Roman\"'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\n<\/span><\/span><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>John 6:51: \u201cI am\nthe living bread\u2026.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p class=MsoNoSpacing><span style='font-family:\"Open Sans\",sans-serif'>Amen<\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/body>\n\n<\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A sermon for the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Select <a href=\"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=7157\"> here<\/a> to read more or <a href=\"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Pentecost-19.pdf\">here <\/a>for a pdf document.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7157"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7177,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7157\/revisions\/7177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}