With these words of the Psalmist in mind, let us turn to the dispute that we find in today's gospel's reading. God is God and we are not. To deny this, to challenge this, is blasphemy. Indeed, the crowd around Jesus knew the law in Leviticus that they were to stone a blasphemer. Throwing stones at this strange-sounding teacher was an act of obedience to the Almighty, for this teacher is committing the same sin that was committed in the Garden: Adam and Eve sought to make themselves into gods, so they tasted the fruit that was said to make them like God, as the Serpent said. Adam and Eve should have realized that they were not God. They were blasphemers, idolaters, trying to sit upon God's holy throne.

Is Jesus a blasphemer? This is the question in dispute in our passage. Earlier in chapter 10 of John, Jesus was asked whether he was the Christ. At the end of Jesus’ response, he had shocking words: "I and the Father are one." "I and the Father are one." Who is this who calls the Most High God "Father?" Moreover, how could he claim that "I and the Father are one?" He must be like the first Adam – ascending to the place of God, an idolater uttering blasphemy.

In spite of the danger of stoning, Jesus’ response is not one calculated to calm the crowd. He continues his strange double-speak or speaking double, we might say – I and the Father, I and the Father. My works are the works of my Father, Jesus says. Since I do the work of my Father, know that "the Father is in me and I am in the Father." These are strange words: "the Father is in me and I am in the Father."

These words were not only shocking then, they are shocking now. We want our own space. Don’t sit too close, don’t invade my privacy – if I can protect this fragile self, this fragile Ego, I might be able to get by. Put yourself first, we are told, because no one else will. Look out for your own interests. And build up yourself with positive affirmations: you can do it; you are good enough; I’m OK, you’re OK; If we think positively and try hard enough, we will succeed. In a culture where few things are dependable, with jobs hard to come by, an economy with an uncertain future, self-reliance can easily become the ultimate virtue: project a positive image of yourself, then rely upon yourself to get the job done. It’s the American way.

Jesus’ words are foreign to that outlook. "I and the Father are one. The Father is in me and I am in the Father." Jesus claims that he has a relationship of communion, of oneness, with the Father. This oneness does not threaten his own identity. This oneness never violates his true self. To the contrary, Jesus says that it is only "if I am not doing the works of my Father" that "you should not believe me." Jesus never works in autonomy from the Father. His very identity as the Son is one of communion and indwelling in the Father.

As if this were not radical enough, Jesus brings the contentious words of Psalm 82:6 into the discussion. "I said, you are gods." The Psalmist goes on to say "you are all children of the Most High." In this scandalous passage, the Most High God shows that he is not a self-enclosed deity, but that the word of God reaches down to people – giving them the honorific title of little g ‘gods,’ and making them into children of the Most High. Jesus, as a human, has not sought to become God. To the contrary, God’s word has descended into Jesus – God’s very Word has become flesh, showing the great humility of the one we call the Most High God.

Patristic writers liked to focus on the second part of this Psalm 82:6 passage, since Jesus has interpreted the passage in light of himself: "you are all sons and daughters - children - of the Most High." This verse is about us, the church fathers said: just as the eternal Word has condescended to become flesh, so God comes to us to make us his children: Children of the Most High.

Is this good news? It is not good news if our core virtues are ones of independence and autonomy. Suddenly, we find ourselves caught into the mysterious communal identity that Jesus was describing. It is not just "the Father is in me and I am in the Father," but "abide in me, as I abide in you." Our best efforts at controlling our own life are being shaken. "Live, abide, remain in me, as I do in you." We find that we are not independent and autonomous – our optimistic plans for controlling our own lives fall to the ground. We are no more independent than a branch is independent of its vine.

Soren Kierkegaard tells a parable of an ordinary day laborer who receives a sudden and shocking invitation from the King of the land. The invitation is that the King has chosen this laborer to take the place of his son: he is to come to the castle, to receive all of the privileges and responsibilities of the King’s own son. What is the laborer’s response? It is one of deep offense. Give me some grain for next year. Give me some money. But this plan of sonship is simply too lofty, too much responsibility, too much closeness for comfort. This is the scandal of God’s love, Kierkegaard says: God offends us with the lofty, glorious place that he reserves for us – God wants close communion with us, so that God is in us and we are in God. It is shocking. It is such good news that it offends us – we would rather keep our space and live a life that we can control, however banal that may be.

So, what keeps this shocking news from being the shocking news of blasphemy, like the sin in the garden? The problem with seeking the forbidden fruit is not that it is from a desire to be like God - it is rather that we want to be like God ON OUR OWN TERMS. Adam and Eve sin because they have their own way to Godhood - one that does not involve obedience and communion with the Most High. But the shocking news that we are sons and daughters of God is not blasphemy when we realize that we are children of the Most High on God’s terms, not our own. We discover our true identity when we give ourselves away – when we are lost in our love of God and neighbor, lost in our abiding and communing in Christ. The central story of our lives is not about Todd, not about Sandra, not about Ben, it is about being "in Christ," participating in Christ himself. Give yourself over to Christ. Lose yourself and find your "in Christ" self. For in Christ, we have food and nourishment to be who we were created to be – the lofty status of children of the Most High.

Christ is our only true food. As Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, the cup is our participation in the blood of Christ and the bread is our participation in the body of Christ. Thanks be to God! We can become ourselves by finding our "in Christ" selves, feeding upon Christ, dwelling in Christ, abiding in Christ, by the power of the Spirit of God.