Pentecost 13, August 22, 2021

Lots of us struggle with the idea of eternity.  It’s hard to wrap your head around the idea of something going on and on and never ending. Especially for kids, it can actually be kind of frightening.  Eternal things are hard for us to imagine.  I don’t know if I’m scared about it, but I’m not sure I’m actually comforted by the whole idea either.   In fact perhaps in our minds it’s at best something we don’t fully expect to understand until we get to heaven.  Or, worse, perhaps it seems to us like just a religious fantasy.

Our Gospel for today from John speaks about eternal things – eternal life.  This is a typical theme for the Gospel of John.  In fact, john’s Gospel begins, not with the story of Jesus’ birth or his childhood beginnings but with Jesus just appearing out of nowhere – like he is stepping out of eternity.  And throughout John’s Gospel we hear the language of eternity and eternal life.  “He who believes in me will never die but have eternal life.”   Over and over in John.  17 mentions of eternal life in the whole Gospel of John.  And in John chapter six – this Bread of Life chapter that has served as the basis for our Gospel reading these past several weeks – a chapter filled with this language of living forever and eternal life – there are six mentions of eternal life.  John shows us a Jesus who comes from eternity and offers us eternal gifts.

What we discover in this chapter is that the people were confused by Jesus’ words about eternal life.  In fact many people left Jesus because they could not understand it.  It was because they too were struggling with the idea of living forever—about food and drink that would satisfy eternally so that they would never have to eat and drink again.  They wondered how Jesus – a man like them – could offer something so beyond their ability to comprehend – something that would last forever.  “This is a hard teaching.”  They said.  “Who can accept it?”  I think we’d agree.  It’s hard to wrap our heads around eternity.

So what are these eternal gifts?  How and when do we receive them?  And what does eternal life and living forever really mean?

Eternal life is more than a continued life after death. . . something in our future . . . something we have to wait to receive when we get to heaven.  It is now.  Living forever doesn’t just mean immortality, it means living today! Eternal life begins in baptism.  That’s where it began for all of us.  When we were bathed in God’s grace and wrapped up in his love.  That’s where we got connected to eternity.  That’s where we receive eternal gifts. 

Eternal things are real things.  Very real.  And very much for the present reality.  They are eternal because they are always available – despite temporal conditions.  They transcend feeling and experience.  They are eternal because they are available to all.  They are based on what Jesus has done and not on anything we have done.

Joy is an eternal gift.  In John’s Gospel Jesus says his joy is made complete in us.  We can know this joy even in sorrow – even when all we feel is sadness because this joy sees beyond our grief and disappointment into the completeness of all that God has done for us.

Peace is an eternal gift.  Jesus said to his disciples, Peace I give you, not as the world gives.  This eternal peace is know even when all around is chaos.  Because this peace settles us into the promises of God and helps us to trust him.

Love is an eternal gift.  Jesus said, As the Father has loved me, I have loved you.  That love God has for his only Son is the love that will never leave us.  It is a love we see when we look to Jesus – when we look at the cross. 

Living with these gifts is living eternal life.  We are living eternity today.  Right here eternity meets present reality as we gather at this table.  Here we grasp eternal gifts.  Here we taste and see what only God in Christ can give us.  Here we turn to him alone and say, “Lord, you alone have the words of life.”  Here we know eternal joy – eternal peace – eternal love.  These are things we don’t have to wait until heaven to receive.  These are gifts that never expire; they are never withdrawn; they never stop giving us what we need.  They come to us even without our prayer or request.  And they are given to us now to strengthen us for today.

You do not have to be religious person to connect to eternity.  You do not have to be a particularly good person to receive these eternal gifts.  Actually it was the religious, righteous people of Jesus’ day who didn’t really get it and who rejected Jesus.  Remember these words of Jesus about eternal life began with a hungry crowd . . not a pious crowd, not a well put together well dressed crowd.. . . not a particularly appealing group . . . just some regular folks like us . . . who needed something that would satisfy a deep longing.   

Jesus is stepping out of eternity today . . . into our midst to meet us here. . . to speak to us words of life . . . to join us at this table as the Bread of Life . . . to give us the gifts we hunger for . . . and to hold us in a grip that never lets go.  And that’s living in eternity.