Full Devotion

Several years ago a couple of reporters conducted an experiment on the
streets of Miami, Florida. They printed up a copy of the Bill of Rights
in the form of a petition, put it on a clipboard, and then stopped
people on the sidewalk and asked them to sign it. As you know, the first
ten amendments to the United States Constitution are the Bill of Rights,
and they were adopted and put into effect in December of 1791. The
reporters were surprised at people's reaction when asked to add their
names to the so-called petition. Most people glanced at the document,
shook their heads, and walked on by without signing. Several people
became angry with the reporters and accused them of being radical
enemies of the American way of life. In fact, the experiment ended when
the reporters found themselves surrounded by a dozen or so passers-by
who were shaking their fists at them and calling them subversive
Communists who ought to be thrown in jail.

What the experiment demonstrated is what we already know. Many citizens
of the United States pay lip service to their country and its heritage.
They claim to be loyal and patriotic in every way. They say they are
proud to belong to a country as great as ours. And yet at the same time
they haven't the vaguest notion what the United States Constitution
actually says, and they consider the Bill of Rights to be a radical,
anti-American document. In other words, these people claim citizenship,
but they have not internalized the basic meaning of being a citizen.
They claim the privilege, but they will not eat and drink the ethos of
United States of America.

The same sort of thing is described in today's Gospel. Jesus says, I am
the living bread that came down from heaven. . . Unless you eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Most people probably think Jesus is talking about communion. He isn't.
He's talking about the difference between external lip-service and
internal embodiment. He's talking about the difference between admiring
him and actually taking up one's cross and following him. He's talking
about the difference between acting like a Christian on the outside and
being a Christian on the inside.

The Rev. Edwin D. Peterman, Senior Pastor, Christ the King Lutheran
Church, August 17, 1997.