As I think back to the years when my kids were growing up, I remember late afternoons and evenings when they would sit at the kitchen table doing their homework.   I would frequently sit with them as they worked, attempting to encourage them and help as necessary.  I clearly remember times when they would be working on something rather challenging, when they would not quite understand how to do something, when they just seemed not to be getting it.  At those times, they would often get frustrated and exclaim, “This is soooo hard!”   They just wanted to give up.  Well, today, we find something similar in our gospel reading.  The people are gathered together, listening to Jesus as he teaches in the synagogue.  And, when he is done, a bunch of his followers come to him and say, “Jesus, this teaching is soooo hard!” 

This is the last week of five in which we hear about Jesus as the bread of life.  Jesus has been telling the people this meal he offers them doesn’t come from the fields or the sea, but from his very own body.  Jesus says to them that those who eat his flesh and drink his blood will abide in him and he will abide in them, and that whoever does this will live forever.  The crowd, now referred to as disciples, say to themselves, “This teaching is so difficult; it is so hard.  Who can accept it?”  

Now, it is important to understand that the English translation giving us the word “difficult,” doesn’t quite get at what the Greek word really means.  In the Greek, the word means “hard”, as in solid and dense, something that would leave a bruise if it hit you in the arm.  So, what the crowd is saying is that this teaching is like banging your head against a brick wall.  It’s so hard.  You can’t quite break through it.  You can’t understand it.   They are saying, “This is craziness! This is insane.  This doesn’t make any sense.”  But does Jesus slow down? Make it softer? Does he explain any of it?  No.  Jesus ramps the sermon up a bit, saying, "Oh, I'm sorry, does this offend you?  Well, if this offends you, what if you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?  It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. But among you, there are some who don’t believe.”  I have to ask – does anyone understand what Jesus is talking about?   These followers don’t.  And so, not surprisingly, they leave. 

Well, again, the followers who walk off on the spot are so like us. 

You see, when things start to lose their meaning, or you don’t really feel like you understand, it is pretty tempting to just leave, isn’t it?  And, as I think about the church in today’s culture, I think we church people often speak in a language people don’t understand.  For many people, church just doesn’t seem to make any difference.  In light of all the other things going in our culture and world that do impact people’s lives, many today wonder why they should continue to go to church.  So, they quit.

How do you respond to that?  Does the church still have significance in your life?  Does the church speak a language you feel you can understand, or not so much?  I mean we use phrases to talk about Jesus like, “eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being of the Father.” We talk about resurrection from the dead and power through death, the Holy Spirit, forgiveness, loving your enemies, redemption and overwhelming grace.  Some days, it seems like the things we say within these four walls are probably as clear as mud to many people.

When we look again at today’s gospel reading, notice what Jesus does when the people leave.  Nothing.  He doesn’t do anything.   Why?  Why not just try to make it easier to understand?  Why doesn’t Jesus give the people what they want?  Isn’t that what most churches would do if put in a similar situation? If people are leaving a church in droves, many churches try to spice up the worship with a guitar and drum set.  Some try to make the sermons more interactive with a screen and cool videos.  But Jesus… he just lets them leave, without a word.  Now, I don’t know about you, but there is something about this that speaks volumes about love to me.  To be given the freedom to walk away.  To be given a choice.  To be told, “You can stay, or you can leave. It’s up to you.  I won’t force you either way.”  That response just seems to display a whole lot of love.

Well, when these followers leave, we then get one of the saddest lines in all of Scripture…Jesus looks at the twelve remaining disciples, and he says, “Do you wish to go away...