Lost it

Today's Scripture

Jesus has completely lost His mind. That's what they were thinking. Jesus had said many things up to this point that were brilliant and life-changing - particularly around the love of the Father and forgiveness. He had also shared some things that left them scratching their heads -'blessed are the poor' the 'meek will inherit the earth.', etc. - but this? This was just madness. And their reaction said it all: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Their response to Jesus and his restatement tell us everything we need to know about the type of statement Jesus was making.

OK - fictional scenario. A highly respected business leader is speaking at a conference. Everyone is hanging on his every word, because they believe he is teaching them the secrets to business success. They look forward to implementing his ideas with great vigor in their own endeavors. As he talks, he casually slips in this reference: I'm an elephant dealer, and you are going to need an elephant. Some eyebrows raise, some question their hearing.

Sensing their confusion, he says - no, seriously, you have to get an elephant from me, and then you have to lick it. It's the only way you can have the kind of success that I've been talking about. A success that will last forever, you will never have to work another day in your life, and you will have much left over to pass on to your children. At this point, hearing his tone, and seeing the serious look on his face they say: surely this is some kind of joke, or ruse or metaphor. You can't actually think that we are going to buy elephants from you and then 'lick them'.?

The speaker then says to them: I swear to you by my mother, on a whole stack of bibles, under the penalty of perjury that what I mean is exactly this: you must obtain from me an elephant - a real true elephant, and then LICK IT. If you don't do this, you will not have the success that I have been describing to you and so you might as well leave. I don't really have any other ways to tell you.

Many of them left. Most of them. Even some of those who had worked with him and had witnessed his great success. They thought: He's lost it. This is just madness. After about 15 minutes, the crowd had cleared out and this respected business leader - surprised that so many, who had come wanting to know his secret for unparalleled success, had walked away from it, looked down and saw a dozen or so people still sitting in the front. He said: aren't you going to leave with everyone else.

They said: we have seen too much. We know that you absolutely have the secret to unparalleled success. While it seems weird to us, and we don't understand why it works, we are actually willing to lick an elephant if that's what you say is necessary. We don't have any other business skills, and haven't done all that well on our own, so we are willing to bet that what you are saying is true and it's going to work. All those who walked away looked back on these superstitious fools.

Months later, after the business leader had completely disappeared from the business world, there was a wave of new products and services that were taking the market by storm, and the markets were buzzing about this unparalleled success. Many who had attended the conference but walked away from the whole ridiculously elephant idea recognized some of the emerging business leaders as the group of losers that had stayed at that conference. Could it be?

I could carry this story on a few millennia into the future - which I may in the next few days - but I think perhaps you are getting my point. Jesus was clearly saying something that seemed preposterous - gross, even. But one thing that was not happening was a 'metaphor'. No one in the audience reacted like it was a metaphor, they vociferously challenged it. The 'metaphor' idea was immediately quashed by Jesus - using several key phrases: Amen, Amen - this is not only a term that meant 'testifying to truth', but by saying it twice, Jesus was saying that it was not just true but 'a truth'. (the apple falling from my hand is true, gravity is A TRUTH). To add additional emphasis - he said my flesh is TRUE food and my blood is TRUE drink. Confronted with the departing crowd, there was no attempt to explain that He didn't mean 'actually eating my flesh'. Instead, He invited those closest to Him, who had encountered every divine sign that He had done, to walk away also. He would throw away every bit of work and teaching that He had invested in them over this 'hard teaching'. He would abandon His entire Apostolic plan if they would not believe this one central truth about what He would share with them.

I would go so far as to say that if they were not willing to believe in this one central thing, that we would not know Jesus today. There would not have been a 'Last Supper'. There would have been no testimony to the Resurrection. There would have been no Acts of the Apostles. Saul of Tarsus would have been successful in completely quashing whatever remaining stories of Jesus' miracles might have been circulating. They would have walked away at the end of this 'bread of life discourse', and the threat of Jesus to the Sanhedrin would have faded.

Now, I trust the plan of God more than that and know that something different would have occurred in the great plan of God to bring us home to Him in heaven. But we can't possibly underestimate the importance of this foundational teaching to the Christian faith as we know it today. It would not exist like this if the Apostles weren't willing to embrace this seemingly crazy teaching. What about you? Would you lick an elephant?

MAY 12 - The secret to being Hooked on Joy. I will present the keys to living a life that is fueled by a joy that overflows to those around you. St. Richard Church 7 PM. You won't want to miss this one.