B, Pentecost 10 Proper 13 - John 6:27-29 "Hard to Do"

[Jesus answered the crowd],“Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”  Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”  Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”    (John 6:27–29 ESV)

What is the hardest thing to do?  What is the most difficult thing you have ever done? 

At times the hardest thing might be something quite “everyday”! But there are occasions when life changing events test our perseverance!  It could be something silly; something that makes you laugh or your family laugh at you.  But then again, the hardest thing to do might bring you the deepest sadness or the greatest fear.  Everyone has something they find hard to do.  It’s no wonder, for the most part, we prefer to do things we find easy to do.

When Jesus is followed by the crowd, he comments on what they find easy to do.  Jesus says to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” (John 6:26 ESV)

In other words what they found easier to do was what pleased them rather than look deeper into why this pleasing thing happened in the first place.  “To seek” literally means for a Hebrew “to worship”, so this crowd of Hebrews plainly worshipped Jesus because he filled their bellies rather than seeking eternal life from our Father in heaven.

In just the same way we find it easy to seek Jesus because of our desires and wants rather than what God wants.  Why is that?  Perhaps worshipping our Father in a God-pleasing way is a hard thing to do.   I can ask myself, “Am I living my life to please God, or am I living to please me?”

Jesus goes onto say, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” (John 6:27 ESV)

Notice Jesus here refers to himself as the Son of Man on whom God the Father has set his seal.  Jesus takes the title of humility as one who serves.  And so, with these words he swings the focus from their bellies back to him as the giver of a better food than earthy bread. 

But they ask Jesus, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” (John 6:28 ESV) In isolation it is a great question, but they have not really heard what Jesus has just said to them.  That he is the Son of Man who “gives” and on him the Father has stamped his seal of approval. 

From our understanding and patience, we might find Jesus’ patience and work with these people a hard thing to do. But Jesus perseveres; he continues to be the humble Son of Man, the servant of salvation! He takes their question and uses it to teach them one of the central tenets of the Gospel. Jesus answers them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:29 ESV)

And Jesus’ hard work doesn’t end here.  He continues this dialogue which is recorded in John 6.  However, not only does he continue it, he lives it!  His work is also the sacrifice on the cross by which we eat his flesh and drink his blood.  He is the true food and the true drink that gives eternal life.

So, the work of God is to believe in him whom the Father has sent!  How hard it must have been for the crowd to believe what Jesus says here in John six prior to his death, resurrection, ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost!  The hardest thing for them to do, was to believe that someone might be sent to do such a thing, let alone the Son of God himself!

Today we too are called to do the work of believing.  We might laugh at ourselves or others that we can’t do everyday commonplace things.  We might be deeply saddened at the death of love ones or in times of great trial. But to do the work of believing is surely the hardest work to do. 

It becomes apparent just how hard the work of believe is when we start to peel back the layers to why Jesus has to come to us in the first place.  The crowd demonstrated this with their misunderstanding and questions of Jesus and we continue in the same way. The Holy Spirit continues to wrestle with our Old Adam, the human spirit, turning us back to Jesus.

You see we find it easier to believe in ourselves in three different ways. We would rather trust our ability to choose and do our own work.  We find it easier to hang on to our own truths or own understanding and mental ability with all their hidden motives. And we would rather determine our own way of living.  How we seek or worship God!

The hardest thing is to believe as God would have us believe when there is a world of junk food gods out there to feast upon.  And just as the crowds of Jews found it difficult to receive what Jesus was saying, we also find it hard to stop filling our bellies with all the junk food ideas and beliefs out there today that take the focus from the eternal food God the Father want us to consume!

Believing is hard to do because it requires us to know we are sinners in our being and in our thoughts, words, and actions. This has to happen first! Then believing trusts Jesus’ death to cover our sin and our sinful being!  This means we believe Jesus is both God the Son and Son of Man; powerful enough to beat sin by being humble enough to bear our sin.  And thirdly believing receives the Holy Spirit, so we have courage over our human spirit to tell others how God has forgiven our sin and to also forgive sin.

In short believing requires you to acknowledge your weakness and be forever dependant on Jesus’ work of salvation by letting the Holy Spirit deal with your human spirit.

Our human spirits continually wrestles with the Holy Spirit to take back power to work our own forgiveness, to fashion our own self-motivated truths of deciding what is good and what is evil, and to seek or worship different gods in place of the one true Triune God.

God gives us his written word, to hear, to fashion us, and to be a mirror in which we can examine ourselves.  He gives us his word to encourage and further deepen our faith, and he gives us parents, pastors and mentors to teach and model the faith as those who have gained wisdom from God leading them in their struggle with sin.

 Finally, Jesus gives us prayer, so we can join in with him and his intercessions before our Father in heaven.  We pray in Jesus name and by the power of the Holy Spirit, acknowledging: that there is a holy God who hears us in heaven; that his kingdom is coming and we must go through the death of self and physical death to enter it; that God’s will is being done on earth despite the mess we’ve created; that he provides; that we can demand him to help us forgive others as he has forgiven us, that we still struggle with temptation; and that every day of our earthly lives we need deliverance from evil.

Doing the work of believing is the hardest and best work ever done in us. This is the work of allow God to do what he needs to do in us. 

Let us continue to allow: the Father to provide for us; for Jesus Christ to continue saving us; and the Holy Spirit to continue calling, gathering and enlightening us with all the gifts of God. Amen.