Misunderstandings
Sermon
Some years ago, following a particularly horrific murder of a ten-year-old schoolgirl by a paedophile, not surprisingly there was awful trouble in the area.
There is something especially horrendous about paedophilia. When I talk to young couples who bring their children for baptism, the idea I use to illustrate the unfamiliar words of the promise, "I renounce evil," is that of paedophilia. It instantly rings bells with all parents of young children and is universally seen as thoroughly depraved and evil. The work of the devil himself. When they think about paedophilia, young parents intuitively begin to know what "I renounce evil" means.
After this particular murder, the News Of The World focussed people's natural revulsion by publicly "naming and shaming" paedophiles, and led to some very violent scenes. Houses of suspected paedophiles were attacked by angry mobs, even though in one such house there was only a teenage baby sitter and her young charges. Needless to say, she was terrified out of her mind.
The police were afraid that such scenes would send paedophiles underground so that it would become much more difficult to keep any tabs on them at all. The crowd were only concerned that all paedophiles should be cleared out of their area.
This means, of course, that all those men were relocated somewhere else, in somebody else's area. And someone else's children were at risk, because the police were no longer sure where those paedophiles were.
Paedophilia is a terrible thing, like a cancer on society. It's probably been around almost as long as human beings have been around, for the word comes from two Greek words meaning "love of children". But it's a misnomer, since it's nothing to do with love but only to do with a dreadful, twisted, distorted lust.
However, the irresponsible action of The News Of The World wasn't much better. It was more by luck than judgement that nobody was murdered during the riots, and a number of innocent people were driven from their homes simply because someone thought they might have been a paedophile. Nobody checked to make sure their facts were right. Nobody thought it was necessary to have a trial. Rough justice was dispensed by the mob and it didn't seem to matter that some of the wrong people had been targeted.
There was a huge amount of misunderstanding, and that misunderstanding was allowed to poison a whole neighbourhood. Relationships were probably damaged for ever, friendships destroyed for no reason.
Relationship breakdowns are almost always due to misunderstandings. And since it's easier to walk away from misunderstandings than to do the work to find out just how that misunderstanding has arisen and what it's about, many human lives are littered with broken relationships. And we are the poorer for that.
Jesus had the same problem when he was trying to talk to the people at some depth. He had multiplied the bread and the fish and fed the 5,000, and went on to explain that he was bread given to them by God. Just as God had sent manna to his people wandering in the wilderness under Moses a couple of thousand years previously, so now he was sending manna to his people in the person of Jesus.
But they didn't understand. They were confused and bewildered by his words, especially when he said, "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."
Many of the people were unable to cope with these very new and strange ideas. And so they reacted in a very human way. Instead of asking Jesus questions, or seeking to understand better, they took umbrage and left. They decided that Jesus was talking offensive rubbish, so they left in quite a hostile way. Perhaps they simply ignored the teachings of Jesus after that, or perhaps they became sworn enemies.
They misunderstood, and so the relationship broke down. They weren't prepared to do the work of finding out more, of delving deeper into Jesus' words and intentions, they simply walked away. And relationships cannot be healed if one party walks away.
But look what they missed. They missed the greatest gift God has ever given to the world, the gift of his son. They missed the benefits Jesus gained through his sacrifice on the cross; the benefits of eternal life, of a life held and guided by God, of a love and a peace which passes all understanding.
Of course, they weren't to know all that at the time, for the crucifixion and resurrection hadn't yet happened. But Jesus goes on in this passage to hint about the treasures he has in store for those who believe in him.
He says, "It is the spirit that gives life; the words I have spoken to you are spirit and life." But most of them didn't bother to listen, they just kept on going.
So Jesus says a little wistfully to his twelve chosen disciples, "What about you? Are you going to desert me as well?" And as usual, Simon Peter answers for them all, "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."
They still didn't understand, as became abundantly obvious in later events, but they believed. They were prepared to do the work necessary to begin to understand, and meanwhile they trusted in Jesus.
Sorting out relationships is always hard work especially when it involves misunderstandings, but it's always worth it. It's even more worth it when Jesus is involved. I don't suppose any of us will ever understand all there is to understand about God, but as long as we believe and work on our understanding, our relationship with him will deepen and strengthen. And then we shall really begin to discover the treasures he has in store for us.
There is something especially horrendous about paedophilia. When I talk to young couples who bring their children for baptism, the idea I use to illustrate the unfamiliar words of the promise, "I renounce evil," is that of paedophilia. It instantly rings bells with all parents of young children and is universally seen as thoroughly depraved and evil. The work of the devil himself. When they think about paedophilia, young parents intuitively begin to know what "I renounce evil" means.
After this particular murder, the News Of The World focussed people's natural revulsion by publicly "naming and shaming" paedophiles, and led to some very violent scenes. Houses of suspected paedophiles were attacked by angry mobs, even though in one such house there was only a teenage baby sitter and her young charges. Needless to say, she was terrified out of her mind.
The police were afraid that such scenes would send paedophiles underground so that it would become much more difficult to keep any tabs on them at all. The crowd were only concerned that all paedophiles should be cleared out of their area.
This means, of course, that all those men were relocated somewhere else, in somebody else's area. And someone else's children were at risk, because the police were no longer sure where those paedophiles were.
Paedophilia is a terrible thing, like a cancer on society. It's probably been around almost as long as human beings have been around, for the word comes from two Greek words meaning "love of children". But it's a misnomer, since it's nothing to do with love but only to do with a dreadful, twisted, distorted lust.
However, the irresponsible action of The News Of The World wasn't much better. It was more by luck than judgement that nobody was murdered during the riots, and a number of innocent people were driven from their homes simply because someone thought they might have been a paedophile. Nobody checked to make sure their facts were right. Nobody thought it was necessary to have a trial. Rough justice was dispensed by the mob and it didn't seem to matter that some of the wrong people had been targeted.
There was a huge amount of misunderstanding, and that misunderstanding was allowed to poison a whole neighbourhood. Relationships were probably damaged for ever, friendships destroyed for no reason.
Relationship breakdowns are almost always due to misunderstandings. And since it's easier to walk away from misunderstandings than to do the work to find out just how that misunderstanding has arisen and what it's about, many human lives are littered with broken relationships. And we are the poorer for that.
Jesus had the same problem when he was trying to talk to the people at some depth. He had multiplied the bread and the fish and fed the 5,000, and went on to explain that he was bread given to them by God. Just as God had sent manna to his people wandering in the wilderness under Moses a couple of thousand years previously, so now he was sending manna to his people in the person of Jesus.
But they didn't understand. They were confused and bewildered by his words, especially when he said, "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."
Many of the people were unable to cope with these very new and strange ideas. And so they reacted in a very human way. Instead of asking Jesus questions, or seeking to understand better, they took umbrage and left. They decided that Jesus was talking offensive rubbish, so they left in quite a hostile way. Perhaps they simply ignored the teachings of Jesus after that, or perhaps they became sworn enemies.
They misunderstood, and so the relationship broke down. They weren't prepared to do the work of finding out more, of delving deeper into Jesus' words and intentions, they simply walked away. And relationships cannot be healed if one party walks away.
But look what they missed. They missed the greatest gift God has ever given to the world, the gift of his son. They missed the benefits Jesus gained through his sacrifice on the cross; the benefits of eternal life, of a life held and guided by God, of a love and a peace which passes all understanding.
Of course, they weren't to know all that at the time, for the crucifixion and resurrection hadn't yet happened. But Jesus goes on in this passage to hint about the treasures he has in store for those who believe in him.
He says, "It is the spirit that gives life; the words I have spoken to you are spirit and life." But most of them didn't bother to listen, they just kept on going.
So Jesus says a little wistfully to his twelve chosen disciples, "What about you? Are you going to desert me as well?" And as usual, Simon Peter answers for them all, "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."
They still didn't understand, as became abundantly obvious in later events, but they believed. They were prepared to do the work necessary to begin to understand, and meanwhile they trusted in Jesus.
Sorting out relationships is always hard work especially when it involves misunderstandings, but it's always worth it. It's even more worth it when Jesus is involved. I don't suppose any of us will ever understand all there is to understand about God, but as long as we believe and work on our understanding, our relationship with him will deepen and strengthen. And then we shall really begin to discover the treasures he has in store for us.
