John 6:51-58
51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
Taboo
Every culture has something that it considers "Taboo." Something you don't talk about. Something you don't do. Something you don't eat.
If you go to an Arab country, it's considered Taboo to show the bottom of your feet. Several years ago when President Bush was giving a press conference in Iraq, a person threw his shoes at the President. Not only was this rude because he threw something at the President, but it was rude because he threw what many Arab people consider to be dirty and vile at another person.
In some African countries, it is Taboo to stand over someone of higher social rank - like a chief, mayor, or leader. In those places, the Leader should physically be higher than the person of lower rank as a sign of respect.
In many cultures around the world, it is Taboo to eat with your Left Hand. Even people who are left handed will eat with their right hand. The left hand is used for cleaning and hygiene purposes while the right hand is used for greeting and eating.
Here in the United States, we have our own Taboos. We have words that are Taboo. We call them cuss words or swear words. Some of them are words that are freely used in other English speaking countries and have no vulgar connotation to them.
To some people Tattoos are Taboo. Many people will judge a heavily tattooed person on sight without knowing their personality or anything about that person. That person could be the nicest person in the world, but because he or she is heavily tattooed, that person is judged to be "rough," or "weird," or "dangerous."
When I first became a Pastor, someone told me that I would have to keep my tattoo hidden. My tattoo is a small Cross and Dove - a Christian Tattoo. But, nonetheless, I was told that it would offend too many people. Well, I was not about to have it removed, and I am not one who is going to change much about my appearance to please others. In my first chance to meet the majority of the congregation, it happened to be a work night to get ready for our annual homecoming. Everyone comes to the church in their work clothes and does whatever work is needed around the church to "pretty it up." In a calculated move, I decided to wear a T-Shirt and Gym Shorts. Yes, I heard whispering - "He has a tattoo." So, I'd go to those people pretending not to hear what they said and introduce myself and try to learn names. Soon, after they realized that a pastor could have a tattoo, some of the "hardliners" began pulling me aside and making sure no one was around (I'm sure it looked like we were engaging in some illegal deal or something), and they asked, "Did it hurt?" - Chalk 1 Win for the Preacher.
In today's scripture, Jesus brought up a HUGE Taboo that sounded offensive to those who heard him. He said that his followers had to eat his flesh and drink his blood. We have to remember that was coming out of the mouth of a Jewish person to other Jewish people.
Jewish Law does not allow for the consumption of blood. Blood is life. Even when eating meat, Observant Jewish People will soak their meat in salt water to get the blood out before cooking it. So, what Jesus said was very Taboo.
But, in another way, it was very Jewish. We need to remember that the Jewish People in that day lived mostly in Israel, and Israel translates to something like "Struggling with God." Jesus brought the people into a debate that caused them to struggle with God. A struggle that didn't have an easy answer.
So, what did Jesus mean when he said, "Eat my flesh and drink my blood?" Did he mean that we are to take Holy Communion? I wouldn't rule that out - In fact that may have something to do with it, but there's probably more to it. Did Jesus mean full out cannibalism? Probably not literally. Jesus probably meant something between Holy Communion and Cannibalism.
We live in a Consumer Culture. Despite how much we consume, how often are we not satisfied? Think of your own house. Most of us have a bunch of stuff that we don't need and don't want that we got to impress people that we really don't like. We consume, but we're not satisfied.
We shop and buy clothes but always want more. We buy vehicles and then plan what we want the next one to be like. We buy houses but we're always trying to buy something to make them better. We buy, buy, buy, but we're not satisfied.
We work until we drop because we think our work will satisfy us, but it never does. We put our self-worth in our work at the expense of our families and friends, but all we do is stress ourselves out. We work all day and think about work all night. It seems that Child Sacrifice is still legal - except we don't actually kill our children - we just ignore them because of work. Will work take care of us when we're old? Will work sit with us on our death bed? Will work hold our hand when we are terminal? Yes, we need to work. Yes, there are times when we have to work more than we want. Yes, sometimes our families and friends will have to take 2nd place to work, but does that have to be the norm?
We are consumers of our addictions. People turn to the bottle for a source of relief. It only works for a while until it destroys their lives and relationships. People turn to pills to help them sleep because they can't turn off their brain. People take illegal substances to numb the pain in their lives. As Christians we should be compassionate and understanding - not condemning. Instead, we should wonder what makes life so painful that people turn to these things and then try to ease the pain and introduce them to the only One who can satisfy.
Jesus said in our scripture that we must consume Him - Flesh and Blood. I don't think Jesus is calling us to cannibalism, and even if he were, we're 2000 years too late. He may be talking about Holy Communion, but there's more. He's talking about total consumption - Flesh and Blood Consumption.
Only by consuming Jesus can we be totally satisfied. Maybe we won't be satisfied in material ways - Jesus didn't come to satisfy us with money or fame or power. Jesus came to satisfy us with holiness and as a byproduct with community with other Christians. Most importantly, Jesus came to satisfy us with unity with God.
So, how do we consume Jesus? Obviously, we must live in the world. Obviously we must take part in worldly things. That does not mean that we have to leave Jesus out of any part of our lives. Jesus can come to work with us. We can pray any time we want. We can talk to Jesus wherever we are. Prayer can be short or long - Just like conversations with friends. We can spend time in God's Word in the Bible. We can read the Gospels - The stories of Jesus - and see how his teachings apply to us today. We can look at every situation in our life and see where Jesus fits in and then let Jesus in. We must make Jesus part of our everyday lives - to the point of being Taboo.
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