Taking Stock of Your Soul: Pre-Sermon for Sunday, August 22 - John 6:68-69

Simon Peter answered [Jesus], “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” (NRSV)

This past Sunday, I wasn’t feeling quite right—so to be on the safe side, I went and received a Covid test. Even though I’m fully vaccinated, I did not want to take any chances—especially with all these mysterious variants circulating out there.

From Sunday afternoon on, I self-quarantined until the test results came back on Tuesday—which was not easy for me to do. But it gave me a lot of time to think. What I felt mentally, emotionally, and spiritually was far more pronounced than any physical symptoms I was feeling.

I thought about what a huge toll the events of the past sixteen months have taken on my soul. For a while, it was looking like we could put the Coronavirus behind us—and now it feels like we’re heading right back into the furnace once again. What’s this going to mean for our children going back to school? What’s it going to mean for our congregation and its long-term future? Church hasn’t been the same since the pandemic. Participation and giving are down, and it’s growing increasingly more challenging to carry out our mission.  Meanwhile, our nation’s longest war has ended with the Taliban quickly taking over Afghanistan. Droughts and wildfires continue to ravage the American West, an earthquake and hurricane have struck Haiti, 

Many of you, I’m sure, are going through the most difficult time of your life right now—and there is very little to suggest that better days are ahead. 

Make no mistake—all of this takes its toll on the soul.

It is for this reason that I urge you, over the next several days, to take stock of everything that is burdening your soul. This is important, because when frustration, anxiety, and anger are left unchecked—they may express themselves in ways that may be harmful to you and others. 

The only real and lasting rest from these burdens is the love of Jesus Christ, which we share in together as people of God. We are church together so that we can feast on this love which is all that can truly satisfy the hunger of our souls. We are church together because we live among neighbors who share that same hunger—which only Jesus can satisfy. 

Now, more than ever, you must accept no substitutes for what only Jesus can give to you: the bread of life that is his body and blood. As Jesus’s disciple Peter declares, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Jesus’s arms are open wide to you, and he wants to receive from you all that is weighing you down. Only from Christ comes the life and the love that can lead us through this perilous time with confidence and hope. And indeed, with Jesus present among us, we can bear much fruit for the healing of the nations, casting out the demons of despair and rising together into life renewed.