-"The High Water Mark"

Sermon-Year B Proper 16-August 26, 2012-"The High Water Mark"


The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

An old woodsman gives this advice about catching a porcupine: "Watch for the slapping tail as you dash in and drop a large washtub over him. The washtub will give you something to sit on while you think about what you’re going to do with a very angry porcupine."

John 6:56-69

Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This 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." He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, "Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father." Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" Simon Peter answered him, "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."



In 1863 the Civil War had been going on for two years and the South had won almost every major battle. The leader of the Confederate forces Gen. Robert E. Lee had a vision of how to end the war. He would invade the north and defeat the Union forces on their own ground. At a small town in Pennsylvania called Gettysburg Lee attacked dug in union forces and almost won the war for the South. On the 3rd day of the battle, the southern forces attacked up a long hill. At a place that became known as The Angle the confederate forces almost broke through the northern lines. But they didn’t. It became the greatest Union victory and was the beginning of the end for the South. This point in the wall, The Angle, has been called famously, “The High Water Mark Of the Confederacy”-it was the nearest the south came to winning. It was their high water mark-and the beginning of the end.

For the last 5 weeks we have been hearing about Jesus feeding the 5000. It was The High Water Mark of Jesus’ popularity. People have been chasing Jesus, stalking him. Mark 6: “32And Jesus and the disciples went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.33Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.” The people have been so smitten with Jesus that 5000 hungry people with no food have spent the day just trying to be near him. And he fed them! But then, he told them who he was. Why he came. And what following him would mean. And slowly and inexorably, painfully, embarrassingly –they drifted away. Until we come to today’s gospel. It is within hours of the high water mark of the feeding of the 5000 hungry adoring. And today we hear that the only people left surrounding Jesus were his few closest followers.

The Rev. Dr. David Lose professor of Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary writes

“No wonder, then, that many of those following Jesus now desert him. And at this point we need to be careful, for it's always tempting to write off those who gave up on Jesus as people too stupid or lazy or unfaithful to believe. But note that John calls these folks not simply "the crowds," as in earlier passages, but rather "disciples." The people in today's reading who now desert Jesus are precisely those who had, in fact, believed in Jesus, those who had followed him and had given up much to do so. But now, finally, after all their waiting and watching and wondering and worrying, they have grown tired, and they can no longer see clearly what it was about Jesus that attracted them to him in the first place, and so they leave...and who can blame them?”

What do you think those followers are saying as they walk away? “It’s not what Jesus said, it’s the way he said it!” or , “he seemed so good, too bad he blew it with that crazy teaching his body being food for us” or –make one up yourself. Think about the ways that Jesus has failed you. Think about the suffering you’ve seen. Or the injustice and unfairness of life. Think about how little God seems to show up in your life, or all the ways you are a spiritual person not even needing Jesus. Think about how you are struggling recently, and God seems ….nowhere. That’s the people close to Jesus-the last to leave.

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" … Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?"

Doyou think it’s hard being a follower now? Imagine watching 4988 people walk away and only you and 11 others are left. When Jesus asks "Do you also wish to go away?" you know what Peter wanted to say, “CHRIST YES! Of course I want to go away. Who wants to stay here???”

If you take your faith seriously, if being in relationship with Jesus is important, if following Christ is a high priority for you, there are going to be times when you say, “Christ ,yes, I want to leave!” Remember 99% of the people drifted away. But when we are in a serious, life changing relationship, there are times when we want to leave. Jesus wanted to run away when he was in the garden. Nicodemus, Peter, Thomas-those closest to Jesus at one time or another wanted to leave. How many times I have listened over the years to people who wanted to drift away-because love was just too hard. How many times have you felt that life/relationships were just too hard? When Jesus asks, "Do you also wish to go away?" Peter is dying to leave. He is so disappointed, angry at Jesus for his teaching, his failure, his missed opportunity. Jesus was at his high water mark-how could he blow it like this????

“In the Preface to her book Amazing Grace, subtitled “A Vocabulary of Faith,” Kathleen Norris tells of an evening when she was making a presentation on this “vocabulary of faith” when a question was addressed to her concerning the real value of these “words of faith.” “I don’t mean to be offensive,” her questioner said, “but I just don’t understand how you can get so much comfort from a religion whose language does so much harm.” Taken aback momentarily (Ms. Norris understood the question all too well, for she had, herself, been distanced from faith and its vocabulary for many years), she struggled to respond when in a moment of inspiration it came to her that the problem lay in the word “comfort.” “I said that I didn’t think it was comfort I was seeking,” Ms. Norris said, “or comfort that I’d found. Look, I said to her, as a rush of words came to me. As far as I’m concerned, this religion has saved my life, my husband’s life, and our marriage. So it’s not comfort that I’m talking about-but salvation.” (pp. 3 and 4).

(This is from Craddock Stories 2001)

Famous preacher Fred Craddock was invited in 2000, in mid-October, to the University of Winnipeg in Canada to give two lectures, one Friday night and one Saturday morning. I went. I gave the one on Friday night. As we left the lecture hall, it was beginning to spit a little snow. I was surprised, and my host was surprised because he had written, “It’s too early for the cold weather, but you might bring a little windbreaker, a little light jacket.”

The next morning when I got up, two or three feet of snow pressed against the door. The phone rang, and my host said, “We’re all surprised by this. In fact, I can’t come and get you to take you to the breakfast, the lecture this morning has been cancelled, and the airport is closed. If you can make your way down the block and around the corner, there is a little depot, a bus depot, and it has a café. I’m sorry.” I said, “I’ll get around. I put on that little light jacket; it was nothing. I got my little cap and put it on; it didn’t even help me in the room. I went into the bathroom and unrolled long sheets of toilet paper and made a nest in the cap so that it would protect my head against that icy wind.

I went outside, shivering. The wind was cold, the snow was deep. I slid and bumped and finally made it around the corner into the bus station. Every stranded traveler in western Canada was in there, strangers to each other and to me, pressing and pushing and loud. I finally found a place to sit, and after a lengthy time a man in a greasy apron came over and said, “What’ll you have?” I said, “May I see a menu?” He said, “What do you want a menu for? We have soup.” I said, “What kind of soup do you have?” And he said, “Soup. You want some soup?” I said, “That was what I was going to order – soup.”

He brought the soup, and I put the spoon to it – Yuck! It was the awfulest. It was kind of gray looking; it was so bad I couldn’t eat it, but I sat there and put my hands around it. It was warm, and so I sat there with my head down, my head wrapped in toilet paper, bemoaning and beweeping my outcast state with the horrible soup. But it was warm, so I clutched it and stayed bent over my soup stove.

The door opened again. The wind was icy, and somebody yelled, “Close the door!” In came this woman clutching her little coat. She found a place, not far from me. The greasy apron came and asked, “What do you want?” She said, “A glass of water.” He brought her a glass of water, took out his tablet and said, “Now what’ll you have?” She said, “Just the water.” He said, “You have to order, lady.” “Well, I just want a glass of water.” “Look. I have customers that pay – what do you think this is, a church or something? Now what do you want?” She said, “Just a glass of water and some time to get warm.”

“Look, there are people that are paying here. If you’re not going to order, you’ve got to leave!” And he got real loud about it, so that everyone there could hear him.

So she got up to leave. And almost as if rehearsed, everyone in that café got up and headed to the door. If she was going to have to leave, they were as well. And the man in the greasy apron saw this happening and blurted out, “All right, all right, she can stay.” Everyone sat down, and he brought her a bowl of soup.

I said to the person sitting there by me, I said, “Who is she?” He said, “I’ve never seen her before.” The place grew quiet, but I heard the sipping of that awful soup. I said, “I’m going to try that soup again.” I put my spoon to the soup – you know, it was not bad soup. Everybody was eating this soup. I started eating the soup, and it was pretty good soup. I have no idea what kind of soup it was. I don’t know what was in it, but I do recall when I was eating it, it tasted a little bit like bread and wine. Just a little bit like bread and wine.”

Jesus comes to us in bus stations and being asked tough questions. There are lots of times when we want to leave, and get away. It will be difficult and sometimes we will look around and realize that everyone else has just drifted away. But this is not about comfort. It’s about salvation, and hope, and sometimes it’s about a warm bowl of soup. Where else can we go? These are the words of eternal life. Amen.