Location! Location! Location!

Text:  John 6:56-69

Theme:  “Location! Location! Location!”

13^th Sunday after Pentecost

August 30, 2015

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[a] and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

This Holy Gospel reading is the last part of a large chapter in the Holy Scripture.  The chapter is as significant as it is long -- and then some.  It begins with Jesus feeding the five thousand people.  The folks – literally and figuratively – ate it up!  Jesus had a blaze of fame.  They wanted to make Him king.  If TMZ or Entertainment Tonight were around, Jesus would be the feature story!

Jesus had other ideas.  The loaves and fish that fed the five thousand were food items that would perish eventually.  Jesus would give them something more:  the bread of life that will not perish.  He would give His flesh for the life of the world. 

The people did not understand – as we do not understand today.  Eventually, they departed from Jesus and no longer followed.  There are 5000+ at the beginning; at the end of the chapter, there are only twelve – and one of them is the devil’s man, Judas, who would betray Jesus. 

Jesus said:  “No one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”  That’s a very poor translation into English.  A more accurate way of putting it is like this:  “No one can come to me unless the Father drags them.”  More acutely, “You cannot come to me unless the Father pulls you kicking and screaming.”  That’s more like it.  We can’t trust our good works, our good intentions, our piety or patriotism, our willingness to go the extra miles, or all the volunteer hours we’ve put in.  None of that will bring us to God.  Only God brings us to God.  “No one comes to Me unless the Father drags them,” says Jesus.

At that point, the 5000 had dwindled down to a trickle.  Many no longer followed.  Only the twelve were left.  Jesus asks:  “You aren’t going to leave too, are you?”  Peter replied:  “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life!”

Peter knew where he stood.  He knew His location.  He was with Jesus –the Jesus who had with Him the words of eternal life. 

If you are going to build something that’s going to thrive, and flourish, and grow, and expand, you have to pay attention to location.  As they say in colleges of business administration and in real estate offices:  “Location! Location! Location!” Very little will matter – it certainly won’t matter for very long – if location isn’t front and center in the decision-making process. 

Today, in this location, we give thanks to Almighty God for the years of service rendered by our organist, Hyun-Kyung Lee.  We wish her the very best in her new assignment, and we, of course, hope to see her again on this journey through life.  Think with me of all the preludes, postludes, offertories, anthem accompaniments, and solos she’s performed.  When I was ordained in 2010 at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church here in town, I worked with other pastors to put the service together.  I didn’t know Hyun-Kyung well at all.  I knew it was a stretch, but I thought:  “I’m going to give it a try.”  I asked that the “Toccata” by Charles Marie Widor be performed.  It is a wonderful and amazing to listen to.  Yet it is a highly technical piece of music that is difficult to play.  It is a special favorite of my father’s and a favorite of mine too.  All Hyun-Kyung could do was say no, right?  I mean, no harm; no foul. 

I had kind of forgotten about it until I saw it.  There at the bottom of the ordination service folder the “Toccata” was listed as postlude.  I saw the tears in my dad’s eyes.  They were in mine too.  And I’m sure I won’t be the only one without a dry eye when we hear it again, at our own organ, today. 

My point is this:  Hyun-Kyung could not have played any of these pieces if, at the very least, she didn’t pay attention to location.  She located herself behind that pipe organ, and, there at that location, she practiced and practiced and practiced.  God was glorified and His people benefitted. 

This past week, as many of you know, John C. Langford died.  He was a very big man in all the very best senses of the term.  He loved God, his wife, his family his country, and his church.  He supported his minister and his minister’s family.  When things didn’t always go his way, when his position on this, that, or the other didn’t win out, John C. Langford didn’t angrily jump ship.  He didn’t change location.  He knew where the Words of eternal life were located, and he was at that location regularly.  I’ll remember him most at Christmastime when he adorned this sanctuary with that bright red blazer.

The day after John’s death, I was perusing social media and I noticed what a neighbor who lived down the street in my boyhood hometown had posted.  It included a link that reported the tragic deaths of four people on a South Dakota highway.  A truck made a wrong turn on an interstate, and there was a head-on collision.  One of the deceased was Pastor Ty Schenzel, a high school classmate of mine.  His wife and son-in-law were also killed instantly in the accident. 

I didn’t know Tyler that well in high school, we just found ourselves in the same classes, the same location (if you will) from time to time.  Some years after I graduated, I learned that Tyler had a kind of spiritual awakening and he became a youth pastor at a large non-denominational congregation in Omaha, Nebraska.  During his tenure there, he and his wife, Terri, founded the Hope Center for Kids.  It planted itself in a part of town (North Omaha) that needed hope.  Through the Schenzels, God raised up the people, the funds, AND the location.  As a result, thousands of young people were given hope while living in a blighted, dangerous neighborhood.  They were loved; they were accepted; they were valued; they were housed; they were fed; they were picked up; they were dropped off; people who put faith into practice with love surrounded them.  This is what the Schenzels did in their location.

I was devastated when I heard the news.  “God, WHY?”  That’s when the floodgates burst, and the Facebook feed was blasted with stories and testimonies and accounts of what a difference the Schenzels had made in lives of others.   One South Dakota resident who read the story of the crash followed a few links and found out more about the Schenzels.  She, too, asked God “Why?”  But when the full picture emerged about God’s love coming through the Schenzels, that trumped all.  Her faith was renewed. 

Within hours of Ty and Terri’s death, a memorial page had been set up.  One person wrote this:  “What does it say about you when almost 3000 people are in mourning together within just hours of hearing the news?  They brought us all together – black and white, rich and poor – the kingdom of God was the Schenzel front door.”

“The kingdom of God was the Schenzel front door.”  Location!  Location!  Location!  Are you at a location in life, where you can make a difference for God and others?  If not, why not?

In Old Testament times, the visible presence of God on earth was the Ark of the Covenant.  That was the location:  the Ark of the Covenant.   Eventually, under the reign of King Solomon (the son of David), the ark was finally brought to the new temple in Jerusalem.  On that day, at that location, Solomon offered a dedicatory prayer:

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built! Regard your servant's prayer and his plea, O LORD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today; that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, “My name shall be there,” that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive.

Out from the name of God comes the presence of God.  Jesus said:  “Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” It’s the Name that was put upon you with the water when you were baptized.  Again:  Location!  Location!  Location!

Speaking of location, at this location – 1114 W. University Drive, Denton, Texas --  Cristina Renteria will soon be baptized.  A dear, dear friend of FPC, Cristina – a long time member of our youth program and currently serving in our nursery -- has announced her attention to profess her faith and be baptized.  The name will be watered upon her.  Location!  Location!  Location!  That’s the sign and seal that even if the world forsakes you, God won’t.  You’re one of God’s children.

So a new week begins.  Sometimes it’s hard to get a handle on everything that happened in the week gone by.  How are we supposed to get a grip on a new one?  One recalls the title of an old favorite:  “Make the World Go Away”!  Those are the words of one who wants a change in location – for himself, or herself, or even the world.  I understand the feeling.  I believe that you do too.  There are times, more than we care to admit, when we’d like a change in location.

Perhaps the Spirit of the crucified and risen Christ is asking us the same question today in our location:  “You don’t want to leave too, do you?”

Grant us grace, Lord, to respond from our location:  “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.”

Amen.