The ‘to whom can we go’ moment…

Joshua 24:1-2a,14-18     Psalm 34:15-22     Ephesians 6:10-20    John 6:56-69

This morning’s gospel passage is beautiful, vulnerable, tender and challenging.

It is so delicate I hardly dare speak about it.

For several weeks we have heard Jesus speaking of himself as the bread of life. He encouraged his early disciples, and us, to feast on him; eat his flesh and drink his blood…and some of those listening didn’t like it and now they speak out: ‘this teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’ and many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.  Then Jesus turns to his closest friends and asks them ‘do you also wish to go away?’  And Peter speaks this phrase that breaks me, every time. 

He says ‘Lord, to whom can we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God’.

I came to faith aged 4. I asked Jesus to come and live in my heart and I meant it. I heard bible stories and prayed and sung the songs and told my friends I was a Christian, even when they called me a Bible Basher. And then the bright lights of university turned my head, and alcohol and late nights made church entirely unappealing. Uni life turned into married life and that was tough and lonely and when married life turned into divorced life, my tiptoeing back into church was brought to an abrupt end, when I was told to leave.

By some miracle, in 2001, I found myself at a Christian festival, surrounded by bible stories and music and Christians – all the things I had relegated to the ‘too hard’ or ‘too boring’ baskets. And right there I heard this call from God that was so compelling, so all-consuming that I had to say yes. And that day, in April 2001, despite the faith and lack of it that had come before, on that day, I knew I was saying yes to Jesus, forever.

That day became my ‘Lord to whom can we go’ day – because I had believed and had come to know that Jesus is the Holy One of God. And from that day, it didn’t matter how tough it got, how much I liked or didn’t like what God was asking of me, it didn’t matter. Because I now knew it. And I knew there was nothing I could do about it – there was nobody else to whom I could go.

And in this passage, we hear Peter’s moment – yes this is hard teaching, yes this might even get us killed (and it did), but to whom else can we go, because you have the words of eternal life. We have believed it and now we know it is true. 

And I wonder if those words resonate with you.

I wonder if you have had your ‘to whom can we go’ moment too?

Maybe you remember that date and time, or those years where it happened gradually. And maybe you can confidently say, this is it; it’s me and Jesus forever, I can’t ever turn back.

I asked the residents of one of my care homes this week. Margaret said she chose to follow the Lord, aged 13, and never looked back. Then she thought about it and told the group about when her brother was killed in a motorbike accident at 18, and when her baby was stillborn a few years later. She said, ‘I was angry with God and decided I wouldn’t pray for 6 months…but I couldn’t do it, because I needed him’. She had believed and had come to know…so where else could she turn? To whom could she go? Her faith, her vulnerability is stunning. But equally as beautiful was Betty, there beside her, because she was honest about not being as sure.

Perhaps you aren’t sure either – coming to church and being part of this vibrant and supportive community is great. I’ll even go on the reading roster and make morning tea if you want, but do I really have to follow all the teachings of Jesus, because some of them are really hard. And you’re right; following Jesus is sometimes super hard.  And it’s costly; in time, money and talents.  And sometimes it doesn’t make us very popular.

This week has marked the anniversary of the Abolition of the International Slave Trade and the birthday of William Wilberforce.  He was an incredible man, who did amazing work for the liberation of slaves, and he did it in the name of Jesus. He did it because he had believed and come to know that Christ is the Holy One of God. 

One of the remarkable quotes attributed to him says ‘you may choose to look the other way, but you can never again say that you did not know’.  When we know that a new slave is bought and sold somewhere in this world, every 30 seconds, we can’t unknow it; we can choose to look away, do nothing, but we can’t delete the knowledge from our hearts and minds.

And it is as true for the following of Jesus, as it is for the crime of slavery.  When we really know, then we can make the choice to look away – we can turn back and no longer go about with Him, but we can’t unknow that Jesus is the Holy One of God. Those disciples that left that day had to face the fact that Jesus is God, but following Him is too hard.

And how about us?  Have you met the living Christ? Have you heard his teachings and know them to be true? Have you held him in your hands in the living bread of the mass? Do you recognise this tender determination of Peter, can you count the cost and say with him ‘to whom can we go… we believe and know Jesus is the holy one of God’. If you are in this journey for life, tell him again as you meet him at this altar, a few minutes from now.

And if you aren’t sure, come and receive the nourishment of the living bread that came down from heaven. Come and take food for the journey because it is sometimes tough, sometimes tiring, and we need the true food and true drink to be able to keep following. 

So let me end with this deep question from Jesus, asked afresh to us here and now, and then lets ponder our own answer: friends, do you also wish to go away?

Amen.