A Mental Health Sermon: Chapter 6 of the Gospel
of John: 3/10/2018
This
sermon will focus on the Greek word peran, translated crossing over, other side,
went over. All four Gospels use the word peran in reference to Jesus and the
disciples crossing over during a raging storm on the Sea of Galilee. The other
side becomes a revelation point for deeper meaning as the storm and crossing
over serve as a pattern.
The
repetition of the word peran appears four times in a short space early verses
of Chapter 6 of John’s Gospel (1-26). English dilutes the impact with three different
translations for the same word. The
meaning and use of peran alone makes a visual difference. Repetition also
impacts with the words in this chapter: fear, food, receive, and belief.
Today
I am looking at the big picture in this chapter as it relates to our everyday
life. The depths of the chapter connect with the depths of our lives.
The
feeding story preceding the storm introduced by peran in verse 1, moves to receiving Christ, I am the bread
of life. The food of daily life becomes the
introduction to receiving the food of Christ Presence, flesh and blood, in
transcendent language. Many followers have no stomach for this kind of identification
in the words of Jesus as the Word. The storm on the lake is now a storm in the
crowd as they murmur and depart. They are unable to get beyond a literal language,
the same issue for Nicodemus in Chapter 3 of the Gospel.
The storm reaches the 12, and Jesus says, will you leave too. Peter speaking for the group. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (6:68) In an instant Peter is on the other side with his confession. Belief. A Belief in receiving Christ who is the food for Eternal Life.
The storm reaches the 12, and Jesus says, will you leave too. Peter speaking for the group. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (6:68) In an instant Peter is on the other side with his confession. Belief. A Belief in receiving Christ who is the food for Eternal Life.
The storm during the crossing becomes a
metaphor for the future storms. The Big clue
for this continuous is when Jesus appears walking on the water as the boat is
about to be swamped. The disciples register fear. They have a phobic reaction.
That’s the Greek word. Phobic Jesus recognizing
their fear says fear not. Do not be phobic. However, we have a different Greek
verb form providing an Aha!. Fear not continuously. Fear not in every moment, with
each life storm, with each crossing over. A Present imperative verb. It doesn’t
exist in English. We miss the meaning. Fear
not continuously. This is not
a one time command, its an ongoing command, for each new moment we face fear.
This
is our lives. We have a new place to apply the Chinese word for crisis, meaning
both danger and opportunity. Fear on the one hand and the other, the other side,
both here and not here. Peter and the disciples are never the same again. And
neither are we. Transformation is our destiny. We are destined to be new
creatures and a new creation in Christ. Here in this chapter we witness the
pain and resistance to transformation. Metanoia, repentance, experiencing
conversion, coming to a new mind generates fear, murmuring, denial, resistance,
many ways to leave the life long process of transformation and renewal.
The Trinity Cathedral
structure is made for peran in all four Gospels, our crossing over and
receiving Christ during the storms and transitions in our lives. Look at the
ceiling and you see the wood framing the bottom of a ship. The nave is the name
for where the congregation sits. Nave and navy connect in Latin. We have the
imagery of water. As figurative we are on lake Galilee every time we are here,
crossing over in both calm and turbulent times. The Altar, our food table, is
where we prepare to receive the presence of Christ anew for crossing over
continuously.
My own story is
continuously nourished here. I encountered a huge storm with wind and waves
when my son Matthew had a bipolar episode causing a disturbance. He was
arrested and jailed on the 22nd of July. The jail isn’t equipped to
handle mental illness even though that is what happened. Punishment to counter
behavior is their mode. With the defunding and deinstitutionalizing of mental
illness jails and prisons are now major mental illness centers. Learning how to
navigate the jail, the court house, the criminal justice system provided a steep
learning curve, I was fearful for Matthew’s future and forced to face my inner
feelings. We received good news came in early October. He was a possible
candidate for the Mental Health Court. The court is a two year program where
participants are held to different levels of achievement and monitored for
compliance. The sentences can then be reduced or dismissed.
Finding a long term
mental health bed in Judicial District 7 took 4 ½ months. Last week we crossed
over to the Andrew Jackson care center near Bellevue, Iowa. Another aspect of
our broken mental health system in having a lengthy wait for a long term bed.
As we move to the
other side I have become a member of the Mental Health Court Board. My mission
is to Increase awareness of this pilot program and the injustices in our mental
health system. Cathedral members are supportive. I am grateful. The court is
now part of the Outreach ministry. Members are coming on Fridays to observe the
court in session. Seeing the court in action, seeing lives change is the best
way .
The issue of mental
illness is with us as a nation, one in five have a mental illness. We have the
issue in our state, our county jails, right here in river city. At the same
time, simultaneously, I connect this issue with the footprints of the 6th
chapter of John’s Gospel in our Eucharistic prayer yet to be said in the
liturgy. When you read and hear this in the liturgy say Chapter 6 to yourself.
“And
here we offer and present unto thee, O Lord, our selves, our souls and bodies,
to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto thee; humbly
beseeching thee that we, and all others who shall be partakers of this Holy
Communion, may worthily receive the most precious Body and
Blood of thy Son Jesus Christ, be filled
with thy grace and heavenly benediction, and
made one body with him, that he may dwell in us, and we in him.”
We have
crossed over, we are on the other side, We are with Peter, “we have come to believe and know that You are
the Christ, the Son of the living God.”