"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it. (John 14:1-14)
These words are so often read at funerals that it seems odd not to have a casket and flowers. These words are so often used to assure the family and friends of the deceased that the deceased is in a better place, a place assured from the day of their baptism. These are, indeed, words of encouragement but they are not so much about our life after death but about our life after Jesus’ death. It is about how we will live together as believers, in light of the reality that Jesus has died.
These are words meant as comfort for the disciples as they are forced to consider life without Jesus. A time that Jesus has insisted, over and over again, that they consider. Life as they know it will never be the same again. They are faced with change that they neither welcome nor for which they feel prepared.
Funeral words for us and no casket. Yet words for us to prepare us for a post-Easter life in a world that seems hostile and unwelcomed. Words for our life after Jesus’ death. How do Jesus’ words speak to us and our world? We know the same fear, the same disorientation as the disciples.
We live in a world of unprecedented change. We may be tired of hearing about it, but ‘change’ is nothing new and will not go away. In the midst of the disorientation of change we need something to give us hope, an anchor. And so we have these words, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” And “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
Words are sometimes too easy and not nearly enough. We can imagine how the disciples received these words. Their lives are turned up-side-down. The glory years of teaching, healing, the crowds, are a thing of the past. The intimate times of the daybreak breakfasts at the seashore, quiet times in the garden, times with Jesus, a faint memory. The wheels have come off -- arrest and crucifixion of Jesus, death -- and now they are huddled in fear. They have no idea how to go on, how to live, what all of this can mean for their lives in the future. “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Indeed!! These words, no doubt, seemed meaningless, they are troubled. Jesus seems so far away, they feel so very much alone.
We know how the disciples must have felt. We, too, are faced with unwelcomed change. The church as we know it is struggling, we are getting older, the “good old days” seem long gone and we are tempted to huddle in fear. The words come to us, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.” We are tempted to say, “It’s too late.”
We know fear and doubt. Change has gripped our world for so many years now, and not much of it has been good. We have watched towns die, schools close, hospitals down-graded, elevators torn down and churches close. We long for the “good old days”, for stability and an absence of fear. We feel lost and look for a way out of it all. We know Thomas’ wonder, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, how can we know the way.” We understand Philip who wants a road map. “Show us the Father, show us a sure sign of your presence in our lives and we may be fine.”
We want to cry out, “Lord, we’re afraid. Stop the change for a least some breathing space.” And Jesus says, “I go to prepare a place for you.” But this is not some over the horizon, “safe spot when we die” kind of place. This is a relationship with Jesus Christ that will go with us into whatever we will find in the future. Nothing that we know, except the love of God in Christ Jesus, will be secure. Change will continue, but we need not be afraid because Jesus is with us. Jesus does not promise us easy sailing, but he does promise we will not be alone. Thomas Aquinas is reported to have said, “If the primary aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in the port forever.” It is in the sailing of this life that Jesus promises to be with us.
We will need to travel light, letting go of whatever nostalgia would keep us from traveling into the future with Jesus. All that we might think will give us security, apart for Jesus, will only let us down. When jobs, health, family, wealth, politics, or whatever, let us down, all we can be sure of is that God is unchanging. This is nothing new, we have sung for years, Abide with Me,
“Change and decay in all around I see; O Thou who changest not, abide with me.”In the midst of all that changes, Christ assures us, “you will live in the presence of God, now and forever.” Change can scare but not destroy.
So how do we live? We live as people “on the way.” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The way is a journey and not a destination. We are to live as people on a journey. The metaphor of “journey” has been a powerful image for all of humankind. You see it in the Bible, in literature. The “Lord of the Rings” is a journey with peril, the premise of Star Trek is to “go where no one has gone before.” All great religions of the world describe themselves as journey. Jesus says “I am the way, the truth and the life, and that is enough for our journey, our only guarantee.
We travel as a communal people, seeking to include everyone, because Jesus’ love includes everyone. We need to make room for others. Jesus is the truth because, all we can really depend on, everything that has meaning for our lives is blessed by him. Love is to motivate us. Therese of Lisieux said, “through love alone can we be pleasing to God, and my sole ambition is to acquire it.”
The “way” is not about waiting for the time we check in to our reservation in that “mansion just over the hilltop.” The “way” is about doing what Jesus had been doing in our life today, and we are assured that we will do greater things. Jesus’ ministry was a short three years or so and covered very little territory. We are able to do much more. We are to do what Jesus did: feed the hungry, welcome the lost, heal the sick, lift up the oppressed. This text is not about life after death but about life in relationship with one who died for us.
This passage is about our life here and now, seeking answers to those big questions of life:
· Will our lives make sense?
· Will there be significance to them now?
· Will they all be absurd and pointless?
· What is the meaning of it all?
· What is to be believed?
· What is it we must do now to go forward with our lives? (Grant Gallup)
Jesus does not give us a how-to manual of life ahead, but he does assure us that he will be with us, that he is the way, the truth and the life.
The American poet W.H. Auden wrote:
He is the Way.“I am the Way the Truth and the Life”, Jesus says and we are invited to continue on the journey, not know what the journey may hold but only that Jesus goes with us, and that is enough.
Follow Him through the Land of Unlikeness;
You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures.
He is the Truth.
Seek him in the Kingdom of Anxiety;
You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.
He is the Life.
Love Him in the World of the Flesh;
And at your marriage all its occasions shall dance for joy.
Seeking God?
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relationship with Jesus Christ.
Click HERE to find out more about how to have a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted. Sermon shared by Roger Haugen on Apr 25, 2002.
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