21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - True Grit

Rubens “The Triumph of the Eucharist over Idolatry” (1625)

You may well have seen John Wayne’s oscar-winning Western classic “True Grit” or the Coen Brothers’ 2010 remake, or perhaps you read Charles Portis’ original 1968 book. It is a tale of a drunken, hard-nosed U.S. Marshal and his side-kick Texas Ranger, who help a stubborn teenager track down her father’s murderer in dangerous Indian Territory. Despite the odds, fending off outlaws and rattlesnakes, the young woman shows true grit and never gives up until justice is done.

John’s gospel is a very different narrative, but the stakes were equally life-and-death for his early Christian audience. They knew well of St Stephen’s death, recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. Emperor Nero, scapegoating Christians after the great fire in Rome, was the first of ten emperors to sponsor persecution of Christians in the following centuries. Christians “were always subject to oppression and at risk of open persecution” (Bernard Green, Christianity in Ancient Rome The First Three Centuries, p. 120).

In addition to the external threats, Christians were hammering out their theology. Gnostic Christian sects denied the incarnation, insisting that Jesus was merely a human being who had attained enlightenment through secret gnosis, or divine knowledge, and taught his disciples to do the same.

These battlegrounds are the background to John’s gospel, written towards the end of the first century. Romans and gnostics alike ridiculed the orthodoxy of eucharistic theology. These Christians were cannibals and superstitious illiterates. But John the Evangelist’s sophisticated apologetic pulls no punches (6:53): “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” Between verses 52 and 57 of chapter 6, John uses the phrase “my flesh” no less than 6 times, slamming home the point. The doctrine of the Incarnation is a cornerstone of Christian faith. The word itself in Latin incarnare derives from the noun caro or carnis, literally meaning ‘flesh’ from which we get the word carnivorous. St John opens his gospel with the assertion (1:14): Et verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis; “And the Word became flesh and lived among us.”

We see clearly in today’s gospel that many of the early Christian disciples were struggling with this incarnational eucharistic teaching; and it is not just a first century phenomenon. The Eucharist caused division in the Reformation, and to this day there are some Christians who deny this Johannine theology. “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it” (v.60).

Our Lord is clear. This is non-negotiable. “Does this offend you? … The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe” (vv.63-4). This was a watershed moment: “Because of this many of his disciples turned back, and no longer went about with him” (v.66).

We are at a watershed moment ourselves, in these times of pandemic. The Church has survived the “death of God” in the 60s and the horrific abuse scandals of recent years. But now our doors are closed, for more than 200 days in the past 18 months we have had to resort to online Eucharists. Each time our doors open and close, the tempatation is real, to give up and stay at home rather than recommit to Christian community.

“How about you?” our Lord asks the twelve. “Do you also wish to go away?” St Peter answers on all our behalf (vv.68-9): “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” There is no choice, when push comes to shove. We have tasted the Bread of Heaven, and there is no turning back.

As Christians we must draw on the true grit of St Peter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St Stephen the martyr and all the saints. Ultimately it is the true grit of our Lord that lifts us all up. In these challenging times, grit is even a topic of study for psychologists, and the field is worth looking at for its faith implications. Angela Lee Duckworth, in her book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverence (2016) tells a tidy little parable of grit: “Three bricklayers are asked: “What are you doing?” The first says, “I am laying bricks.” The second says, “I am building a church.” And the third says, “I am building the house of God.” The first bricklayer has a job. The second has a career. The third has a calling.”

We are all called to build the house of God, again and again, in these pandemic times. Every time the church doors shut and are opened again. And it is not just the Vicar, or the Staff, or the Parish Council who are called. It is all of us. Every member of our Church. It takes grit, true grit, to rise to this challenge. I pray that God will grant each one of us the strength, resilince and perseverence we need, in the Eucharist, and in power of the Holy Spirit who sustains us all.