Sermon: Anger or Bread of Life - 08/02/09

The Rev. Christine Leigh-Taylor
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, August 2, 2009
St. Clement’s Episcopal Church
Rancho Cordova, CA

Anger or Bread of Life

This morning our readings span from continuing the wrenching saga of King David in his later years to puzzling over Jesus’ offer of the ‘bread of life.’ In between, the letter to the Ephesians brings one perspective on the various activities: “Be angry, but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil.”

I’ll bet many of us have disobeyed this advice; we’ve not only held onto our anger, we’ve even nurtured it. To our detriment. Anger creates a poisonous barrier between us and the love of God.

We see several examples of anger running rampant in the story of David. By the time King David was an old man his many sons were duke-ing it out to see who could successfully take over his role. David’s eldest son Amnon was first in line. But then, in an act of arrogance as great as his father’s raping of Bathsheba, Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar. Then he threw Tamar out of his chambers, which made Tamar’s brother, Absolom, furious. It took Absolom two years of stewing in anger, but eventually he had Amnon killed. We could cheer Absolom. But, he may have had ulterior motives, such as improving his own chances at the throne. Absolom started building up an army, and when they were strong enough he openly claimed kingship.

David was angry at his own son’s attempt to usurp his father. David was obliged to lead his army against his son’s forces. Yet, when David’s general Joab informed him that Absolom was cornered, David pleaded with Joab to go easy on his son, even though he was his arch rival. When Absolom got caught – literally strung up – in the branches of an oak tree under which he rode too close, Joab and his men took advantage and killed him. Even with all Absolom had done against him, David still wailed in mourning at the death of his son.

There are some parallels between Absolom, son of David, who suffered a spear thrust through his side while hanging from a tree – and Jesus, son of God, who was also pierced by a spear while hanging from a ‘tree’ that had been shaped into cross.

Those are rather coincidental circumstances for sons of ‘important’ fathers. Absolom did avenge his sister, not that it did her any good – a raped woman in his day became a discarded woman. Absolom lived by anger, greed, ambition and who knows what other sins, and he died by them, as well.

Jesus, on the contrary, did not live in sin or die as a result of his own sins. However, he did give in to anger on occasion, a sign of his humanity. Trying to get his band of disciples, who would one minute ask what they had to do to spend eternity at his right hand and the next minute ask what the heck he was talking about –was frustrating for Jesus. He was impatient to be on the real business and destiny of his ministry. That impatience – call it anger - shows through many of the gospel accounts, including the one from John we read this morning.

There are also stories when Jesus’ anger erupted suddenly – as in his overturning the tables of the money-changers in the temple courtyard.

When Jesus started talking about the ‘bread of life’ he seems to have caused both confusion and anger among his listeners. Those who heard Jesus understood the audacity of his claims. Aramaic and Hebrew languages didn’t have a lot of words; instead, each word had many meanings, which could be discerned from the context. It is almost impossible that to think that Jesus’ audience thought he was speaking literally. Imagine taking some of the idioms of the English language word for word. “You’re pulling my leg” said to someone who is telling a lie does not mean that someone actually has hold of a leg. “It’s raining cats and dogs,” doesn’t signal a supernatural animal event. And so on. Introduce these to a new learner of English, and we can get a hint at the task of Bible scholars.

We may find our translations of Jesus’ statements puzzling, because they don’t relate to cultural idioms we know. This is why new translations of the Bible are constantly produced. But there was probably no ambiguity of language at all when Jesus said such things as these: “I am the bread of life.” “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” “I am the good shepherd.” “I am the gate.” “I am the true vine.” “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” “I am resurrection and I am life.” And “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst…” These were images so direct for daily life that there could be no mistaking that Jesus was saying something either stupendous or outlandish.

Can’t you sympathize with those who heard these claims and were puzzled or offended? Didn’t we watch this kid grow up? Don’t we know his family? Where does he get off spouting stuff like this?

As much as the countrymen of Jesus were used to language that served a variety of needs, they couldn’t reconcile themselves to what they actually understood Jesus was saying. That is, they didn’t believe, or couldn’t believe, or wouldn’t believe that someone so ordinary could actually be extraordinary. They constantly asked for ‘signs,’ – and they were given them. Ultimately, it came down to releasing pre-conceived ideas, maybe even anger, and opening their hearts to something new. A new form of spiritual nourishment.

These days, we hear these words of Jesus through the words and translation of scholarly interpreters. Their task is to read ancient texts in their original languages and try to figure out both what the words in a limited vocabulary meant in an ancient time and how to express those ideas today. Keep in mind, that Christians around the world read the Bible in their own languages. In Asian Bibles, I read that the phrase “I am the bread of life,” appears as “I am the rice of life”!

As I suggested at the beginning, our readings offer the option of clinging to personal agendas and angers as our spiritual nourishment. This is what motivates many people, and you know them. The alternative is to choose to feed not on anger or grudges but on the ‘bread of life.’

How could one do that? A few simple ideas for your consideration:

1) Do not let the sun go down on your anger. Resolve whatever differences are attacking your soul or your family before you retire for the night. Sleeping on them often produces festering sours. A caveat: if the grievance is very serious, a night of truce might be a good thing, but then you must address the problem readily the next day.

2) Consider what constitutes the ‘bread’ of your life. What is it that holds the central place in your day, without which nothing is complete? This may be an idea or an action, a prayer or a practice.

3) Recognize the power that your anger and your particular ‘bread of life’ have over you. Is it what you want? Is there a reordering you want to effect? If so, now is the time.

You may find Jesus’ words about ‘bread’ or ‘gate’ or ‘vine’ or other metaphors to be just images that stands for something else. “I am the bread of life” means that we need to commune with Jesus to nourish not only our bodies but our souls.

On the other hand, perhaps it is not possible to understand exactly what Jesus means in any of these iconic sayings. Perhaps the reality he refers to is mystical and neither literal nor physical. Perhaps all we can do is enter the image prayerfully and see where it takes us.