I pray that we are able to consider our own hearts, to look for our own defiant nature, to allow God to strip it away and to enter into that fullness of life, not on our own, but with one another and with Her Majesty the Queen.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Please sit.
Jesus said, I am the bread of life.
Is Jesus talking about bread? Was Jesus talking about that most simple of foods, that thing that gives us mere existence? Was he talking about the manna from heaven, the manna that God sent down to the Israelites when they were out in the w ilderness that gave them everything, the ability to survive, to live life in its fullness? Of course, when Jesus is talking about the bread of life, it is that life that he is talking about, a full, spiritually enhanced life. Not mere existence, but life in its fullness, in the fullness of hope and of joy and of love and of hurt and of pain and of sadness.
Our Gospel sets up how we are invited to follow Jesus. And then what happens when we do. And it starts with that declaration I am the bread of life. If you follow me, you will live this life in its fullness.
So let’s work through how that happens. In the first instance, we meet Jesus. We meet Him in Scripture, in church, in one another, and sometimes in person. And in the moment that we meet Jesus, God works within us. Jesus appears to us.
We meet Him when we’re reading scripture. We meet Him when we pray. We meet Him when we come together. And God works in us. He works to remove our pride, most of all, he works to remove our defiant hearts.
And I’ve preached on this before about how our very existence in this life, that mere existence, not in Jesus Christ, attracts all sorts of stuff that drags on our heart, that locks our heart up in steel, so that when we meet Jesus, it becomes harder and harder to respond to His call.
But in that moment that we meet Jesus, the response is one of submission.
The response is one of shedding or pride or defiance and saying, yes, Jesus, here I am. What is it you want me to do with this life, this life in all of its fullness that you have given me? How can I live my life in service to you? It is an act of submission. It is a falling to your knees.
And I know that’s a deeply unpopular thing to say, that it would be better if I stood here perhaps and said, if you come to Jesus, you will be given the answer to everything and all your problems in this life will be solved and it will all be wonderful.
But that’s not the reality of following Jesus. Following Jesus in that moment that we meet Him is an act of submission. And it is only in that act of submission, it is only in that act of giving away all that we are and inviting all that He is in that we get to live that life in its fullness that Jesus talks about
That life full of hope and love and joy and of sadness, grief and pain. And what Jesus is telling us is that that’s not just now in this life, but for all eternity, even when all things end, we will be safe in Jesus hands. That act of submission opens the doors of heaven and Jesus work in us, in this world and in the next.
That full life, that act of submission, I don’t think is better exemplified by anybody in the last 100 years than Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
A life of dedication, of service, of humility, of constancy, all of which all of which was powered by and informed by her act of submission.
The Queen gave up all that she was so that she could serve in Jesus name. And I’m not projecting that onto Her Majesty. That is what she said, that is what she did.
There is no greater act of humility for a priest than sitting down at 3pm on Christmas Day and listening to the Queen’s speech, or, as I like to call it, the best Christmas sermon there is. Because it doesn’t matter how long I labour over crafting a beautiful Christmas sermon, she would, at 3pm manage to encapsulate her faith and how she lived it out in the world and how we could live it out in the world far better than I ever could.
She was one of, if not the most powerful person in this world. And yet she submitted herself to Jesus Christ. And if she can do it with all of that power and all of that opportunity to not do that, when she had everything that her heart could possibly have given her, that the world could have given her in terms of money and everything else, she still offered her life in dedication and in service, in humility and with constancy of faith.
And so today, as we pray for her soul, as we pray for a swift judgement and boundless mercy, I pray that we have the strength to follow her example.
I pray that we are able to consider our own hearts, to look for our own defiant nature, to allow God to strip it away and to enter into that fullness of life, not on our own, but with one another and with Her Majesty the Queen. Amen.