Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Proper 16: 1 Kings 8:[1, 6, 10-11], 22-30, 41-43; Psalm 84; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 6:56-69
Solomon has built the Temple, and the ark of the covenant has been brought by the priests to “its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim”. And “the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord”. This was by no means a foregone conclusion: after all, the Israelites thought that the Lord was in the ark, and up to this moment, the ark had lived in a tent on a cart, moving from place to place. Suddenly a nomadic God is given a home. Solomon’s speech prays that the Lord will stay in put, so that they can turn to the Temple to pray, so they always know where their Lord is. Solomon acknowledges the many other Gods known at the time, but the Lord God of Israel he says, “there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath”. The Temple gives the people of Israel a fixed place toward which to pray, but they need to make sure their God is there so that their prayers are heard.
In the epistle, Paul is concerned about how we clothe ourselves, in the “whole armor of God”. There is a belt of truth, a breastplate of righteuousness, and whatever shoes allow you to proclaim “the gospel of peace”. As someone who can’t wear all the shoes I would like to wear any more, I appreciate the sense that different people need different shoes! Our clothing is completed by the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit, “which is the word of God.” Paul imagines us surrounded by the tools of faith, to protect us from evil and from temptation. The tools of faith are imagined in terms of the uniforms of Roman soldiers.
Paul’s image of our being wrapped in tools of faith helps us think about today’s gospel. Jesus begins by saying that “those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.” You can’t blame the disciples for talking among themselves, and saying “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” Even if you leave out the macabre imagery of eating flesh and drinking blood, it’s hard. What does Jesus mean when he says that he abides in us, and we in him? Is it as literal as what Solomon imagines for the Lord in the Temple? Or not? And how do we abide in someone who abides in us? I am confused; this is a mystery.
But is an important one mystery. Jesus is talking about where we place ourselves, how we locate ourselves with him. Just as Solomon is anxious that they know that the Lord will stay in the Temple, Jesus wants us to stay with him, and he with us. Paul suggests it is easier if we wear “the whole armor of God”. Where are you? Can we own that we abide in Jesus?