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Proverbs 9:1-6, Ephesians 5:15-20, John 6:53-59
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, West Valley City, UT
The Rev. W. Lee Shaw
Have you noticed that there are some Sundays when one or more of the propers, scriptures, just seems to speak directly to you? Such is the case today for me: “‘You that are simple, turn in here!’ To those without sense she says, ‘Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed.’” Yes, I can do that.
But we have other considerations today as well don't we? We continue in John's Gospel of a discourse by Jesus of his body and blood being the “true food” of heaven which offers life to the world. Assuming this is an accurate report of what he said in the synagogue at Capernaum I am sure it created quite a stir. I am also pretty confident that few people really understood what he meant. We, with 2,000 years of tradition and teaching understand this to be about the Holy Eucharist, the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. As we have explored these passages from John during the past weeks I have had a deeper appreciation for the words of our Eucharistic prayers, their elegance, directness and power.
As I mentioned Wednesday evening, at the Eucharist we recall our stories: the story of creation and salvation history, the story of Jesus in the upper room, and we recall our own story of connection with the Sacrament of his Body and Blood; of how we are taken, blessed, broken and given to the world through the Eucharistic mystery.
We also remember very specifically the life and death of Jesus Christ. We recall his resurrection and ascension. We look for his coming again. We recall one particular life at a particular time and place given for the life of the world. We recall one life given for us. I am reminded in the words of Dag Hammarskjold: “Acts of violence—Whether on a large or a small scale the bitter paradox: the meaningfulness of death—and the meaninglessness of killing.”
This week as I have thought and meditated on these matters I found myself returning again and again to that bitter paradox. And I found myself moving beyond the elegant liturgical language of the Eucharist to the hard language of daily life. I found myself focused on the words of Paul we just heard, “Be careful then how you live...making the most of the time, because the days are evil.” I believe the meaninglessness of killing makes them evil. How then am I to make the most of my time?
We continue to be assaulted with images of violence, suffering and death especially during the past couple of weeks, and particularly from the Middle East: Israel, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Among the dead: Kevin Zeigler (31), Kansas; Michael Lloyd (24), Texas; Kenneth Jenkins (25), Arkansas; Jeremy Long, (18) Nevada; Aaron Jagger, (43) Michigan; Ignacio Ramirez, (22) Nevada; Shane Woods, (23) Alaska; Jeffrey Brown, (25) California; Steven Mennemeyer, (26) Illinois. These nine young American servicemen were reported killed as of Aug. 9 in Iraq. They joined the over 2,600 American military deaths, over 19,500 American wounded in three years of war, and between 40,000 and 45,000 Iraqis who have been killed by military intervention. Last month, an average of 110 Iraqi citizens were killed every day! We now also have hundreds of deaths from Israel and Lebanon, mostly (of course) civilians, especially women and children.
This is not about how you feel about the current American administration and its policies in the Middle East. This is for me, about the loss to all of us of each of these young men and all others killed in this violence. The families of Kevin, Michael, Kenneth, Jeremy, Aaron, Ignacio, Shane, Jeffrey, and Steven mourn their deaths. There are thousands more to mourn, known and unknown. We are each diminished by every death, every injury, every child that cries at night due to the wars in the Middle East. Again I come to the words of St. Paul, how do I make the most of my time “because the days are evil?”
One of the great Americans of our Age, Eleanor Roosevelt said during WWII: “Someone died for me today and I need to either find or make a reason why I am worthy of that sacrifice.”
How am I worthy of the sacrifice of thousands of men, women and children in these “evil days” of war and horror in the Middle East? This I believe is a question each must ask and then answer in his or her own way. One person has responded in a very unique and powerful way. The Archbishop of York is now ending a seven-day vigil of prayer and fasting for peace in the York Minister. He has shaved his head and been anointed with oil. He has set up a small tent in a chapel of the Minister in front of an altar to pray for peace, to pray for wisdom and forbearance of world leaders.
I invite, I urge your prayers and action for peace. I invite you to look at how you make the most “of [your] time.” I invite you to look at how you are taken, blessed, broken and given to the world as a sign of Christ's peace? Toward that end as a parish we will begin to include in our Prayers of the People a specific intercession for Peace as well as prayers for those affected by the conflicts and those who have died, irrespective of nationality, race, religion, or status.
In the words of the Psalmist today: “Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.”