The Purpose of John s Gospel THE MEANING OF OUR BAPTISMAL EXPERIENCE. The Work of God Defined John 6: 25 10: 21

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1 THE LECTIONARY STUDY for August 23, 2009, John 6: Some Gut Trip Analysis is provided as a sermon starter. The color of PENTECOST is red. This is the 12th Sunday after Pentecost using Lectionary Plan B. The Color is Green if you re using Kingdomtide. The Christian Year is in it sixth element: Advent, Christmastide, Epiphany, Lent, Eastertide, and now PENTECOST. This season represents the 2nd half of the Christian liturgical year. In the first half (Advent through Pentecost Sunday) the story of Jesus birth, life, death and resurrection is told, up to and including the birthday of the Church. The second half represents the ministry and message of Jesus. THE GOSPEL OF JOHN: The purpose of the Gospel of John is to explore the meaning and significance of our baptismal experience. You will find it helpful to keep this purpose in mind as you plan your sermon. Gut Trip Analysis determines that the baptismal experience is a surrendering of our lives; i.e., to die to the things of this human world in order to experience the renewal of living the fully humane life that is pleasing to God. Think about it for a moment. Isn t surrender the purpose for which the Christ is born again and again in our lives? (For more on this topic go to my web site to link on the IHOP Bible Study at A WEEKLY HINT: Use of the The ONE THING to get said. Our UMC Kansas West Bishop, Scott Jones, frequently reminds us to, Keep the main thing the main thing. In this same way, every sermon needs to make only one point. This is what usually makes children s sermons the best message. Write out the ONE THING you want to say, and then stick with it. The Purpose of John s Gospel THE MEANING OF OUR BAPTISMAL EXPERIENCE The Work of God Defined John 6: 25 10: 21 To do the work of God John 6: 25 8: 11 Helped by God John 6: 60 7: 24 A hard saying John 6: 56 69

2 GUT TRIP ANALYSIS RECOMMENDS THAT YOU MEMORIZE THE FOLLOWING: Living the synthesized life is embracing our Outer Human experience that is modified and valued by our Inner Spiritual Resources. Living from the inside out is living the synthesized life. We are not HUMAN BEINGS having a spiritual experience. We are SPIRITUAL BEINGS having a human experience. About today s scripture. The sixth chapter of John is not easy preaching and, including today s scripture, we had five tries at it. Getting this material ready to send on to you is both frustrating and rewarding. It is frustrating to wade through the old code words of bread, blood and heaven, and it is rewarding because these terms strike to the heart of the Good News. Yet, to get to the Good New is quite a dig because of the Greek metaphors John uses. The four previous sermons are summarized here in order to set a larger context for the last sermon in this series in John: John 6: 1-21: Focus What happens when we take Jesus into our boat? One Thing-- Spiritual awakenment on the far shore John 6: 24 35: Focus We feast when we live in the skin of Jesus One Thing Use the resources from the other side. John 6: 35, Focus Heaven is living like Jesus One Thing--- Jesus is our last day, and our New Day John 6: 51 58: Focus---We are nourished and refreshed on the body and blood of Jesus One Thing---Real Food and Real Drink (based on The Really Real) John 6: 56 69: (Today) Focus The offence of Jesus One Thing We are defined by our life in Jesus and not be our situations (victim to victor!) A Gut Trip Analysis of Jesus message of the Good News. What is the purpose of a football game? Of course, it is for the teams to get the ball across the goal line. What prevents one team from scoring? The other team? Not so! If the other team is eliminated from the field there is no football game. The other team is not our problem; it is a part of our HUMAN SITUATION. The new question becomes, then what is preventing our team from scoring? The answer could be the lack of team work, spending too much time in the locker room, not enough time on the practice field, etc. This illustration is used to demonstrate that Our Human Situation never is our problem. Our problem is the relationship we take to our human situation. Are we victims or victors? The GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ is that we are victors. This is the meaning of Jesus death (to victimization), his crucifixion (the demonstration of our need to die to our human situations), and his resurrection (the demonstration of our freedom to no longer

3 be victims but victors). NOTE: This does not change our human situations. However, this does transform our relationship to them. Our experience of this transformation is freedom. This is living the Awakened Life. I m leaving the following from last week s assignment to remind us of how the Jewish and Greek approaches are different. This material is applicable to this week s sermon. The Human Realm of Reality, The Real. The Spiritual Realm of Reality, The Really Real The Real is characterized as the Finite and experienced as pain, stoicism, slavery, and no exit except death. (You can add cancer, war, terrorism, etc.) The Jewish Messiah (The Chosen One) will restore the nation of Israel. In the Human Realm we experience the hopelessness of living without a hope of escape! The Really Real is characterized as Infinite or eternal and experienced as freedom, unity, abundant living, health, God s home, the heavenly bakery (Vs. 6: 48) in which the Bread of heaven is kneaded and sent to us personified in Jesus as the (Greek Christ/Logos, the Anointed One) who comes to the world of individuals. In coming to us, the story of Jesus death and resurrection offers the world an escape from hopelessness! The Really Real also can be characterized as the intuitional, the metaphorical, the insightful. Also it can be identified with the empirical and/or the indicative, which is to say that we experience it all of the time, yet we are blind to it or we just never get around to naming such experiences using our old Christian Code Words. For example: We are speeding on the highway and a patrol pulls us over using the red light. What is our experience? Suddenly we are profoundly awake, we are being held accountable for acting less that being humane and gracious. The Christian Code word for this experience is the Resurrection, or an aspect of the Awakenment. In Greek dualism, the Escape route from hopelessness is through BAPTISM! In Baptism the story of Jesus Christ s death and resurrection becomes our own personal story. Of course this story is rehearsed every time we have Holy Communion. In BAPTISM we die a death like Jesus Christ by going under the water to die. Some support a notion that this is a symbolic death. Gut Trip Analysis supports the notion that we literally die. Others assume we die to hopelessness. In BAPTISM we experience a resurrection like Jesus Christ by rising UP out of our watery death up into the realm of the Really Real to live eternally in God s presence. Vs. 6: 44B, Jesus raises us UP at the last day. We are raised up as new creatures (Paul) through Jesus Christ who himself is our Last Day but also becomes our New Day. One last note: It is this difference between Jewish Gut Trip Analysis and Greek Head Trip Analysis that pastors have an obligation to clarify. Also, this is where Biblical literalists and Biblical progressives tangle. We have lived with a Head Trip paradigm for 600 years since the beginning of the 16th century with the Renaissance, the Industrial-Urban Revolution, Newtonian physics and the Reformation. However, Gut Trip Analysis by restating the question, What is our experience, we transform our understanding of the Bible and transcend our Head Trip illusions that, I know more than you do about the Bible. Everyone has an experience of the Bible that adds fresh insights if we learn to listen with our guts. The task at hand is crucial and important. WES

4 The Key to this sermon is to ground the following before you begin writing. This means to define the word, describe your experience of it, and then illustrate it. Getting this grounded in your own experience and illustrated will change your sermons from ho-hum to a real message of victory and hope. Along the way, I ve shared a thought or two to inspire your efforts. Code Word/Phrase Definition Experience Illus./Film Clip Vs. 56A, Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood Vs. 56B, Remain in me. Vs. 57, Living Father Jesus is the demonstration of living as a spiritual reality having a human experience The meaning of living the humane and gracious life while working for justice and mercy Vs. 58A, Your forebears eat the manna and died Vs. 58B, Feed on this bread and live forever. (Treat forever as theological time) Vs. 59, Synagogue at Capernaum (treat as theological geography) Vs. 61B, Does this offend you? Vs. 62A, Son of Man Vs. 62B, Ascend to where he was before From the Book of Daniel. Emphasis is on the humanity of the Christ revealed in Jesus Jesus Christ lives in the realm of the awakened Vs. 63A, Spirit gives life

5 Vs. 63B, the Flesh counts for nothing What does this mean for our jobs, bank accounts, car, possessions, family history, etc.? Vs. 64, There are some who do not believe Vs. 65, Why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father enables them. Vs. 66, Many turned back Vs. 67, Do you want to leave too? Vs. 68A, To whom shall we go? Vs. 68B, words of eternal life Vs. 69A, We believe Eternity is not a place but the relationship we have with Christin-God who is experienced as Perfect At-One- Ment this is what is eternal! Belief is experienced as surrender. (We surrender to the experience of physics to fly the airplane.) Leap of faith Vs. 69B, We know Vs. 69C, Holy one of God The suggested sermon title (or sub-title of the theme) is: Vs. 61B, Does this offend you? The Capital Verse: Vs. 64, Yet there are some of you who do not believe

6 The ONE THING to get said: Define our lives by Jesus rather than by our human situations. (Victim or Victor) The EXISTENTIAL AIM: Baptize all life in Jesus at all times The Theological focus: Justification as awakenment The Itch: We take too much for granted AN OUTLINE BASED ON THE SCRIPTURE ** The Lowery Loop The Pre-ITCH: (Initiate the ambiguity) Raise a question about the language used in creedal statements. How to they help or hinder the surrendered life? THE ITCH: (Drive home the ambiguity) Often it is hard to follow Jesus A. Vs. 60, Who can accept these hard teachings? Vs. 56, Cannibalism? Ground: Eating flesh and drinking blood? B. Share how the worldviews of the Jews and the Greeks changes the experience of heaven Illuminate C. Vs. 61, Not offended yet? Check this out 1. Share the implication of what Jesus tells us for our world, our house, job, bank account, car 2. Share the significance of what Jesus tells us for our family history 3. How does what Jesus say reflect on our Lake Woebegone values? Ground THE SCRATCH (Provide an analysis of the above) Any wonder the followers of Jesus left? A. Why is this message of Jesus offensive? Share your insights B. In light of this information what does it mean for us To Trust God? 1. Illuminate C. What does it mean for God to trust us? 1. What does God trust us to do about 2. Making gods out of our families, job, bank account, children or grandchildren? C. How does God trust us to handle 1. Denominationalism? 2. Political parties? 3. Capitalism? 4. War mongering? THE AHA (Offer an enlightened/awakened solution) Jesus offers the chance to leave A. Vs. 61, Some of the followers grumbled because they were offended

7 1. Illustrate some ways this message was offensive to the followers How do people grumble? B. Vs. 68, Jesus asks the boys, Are you offended yet. Do you want to leave? 1. Share their response Get it a Gut Trip experience Note: Share the significance of their response in relationship to their surrendered life 2. What in the experience of knowing Jesus words. Illuminate THE GOOD NEWS: (So what?) So what happens to those who live the surrendered life? A. By living the surrendered life what happens to the things that offend us? Illustrate B. When we pull every human experience through the ethic of WWJD, then what is our relationship to the following: 1. Our job, house, bank account? 2. Our family history and our children? C.. Vs. 65, How is this being enabled by God? Ground Postlude: (Cinch the deal!) Provide a closing illustration or story to sum up the One thing to get said. Use the Send Out at the close of your service to nail this point as the last thing your congregation hears before leaving the sanctuary.