Show me the way to go home

John 14:1-14

Jesus said, "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."

Sermon

It’s another “I am” saying from Jesus today and one that has a lot of negative history both personally and ecclesiastically. One may be tempted to completely ignore the Gospel text and preach on something else, as I was, but when the Holy Spirit moves all we can do is let it move us.

“How do you understand John 14.6: ‘I am the way and the truth and the life’?” asked the person on the other end of the phone who was interviewing me for a position as a camp counselor at a Lutheran camp in Northwestern Iowa. I stood there, in the middle of my sophomore year college dorm room dumbfounded. I had just had a conversation with a close friend who was a frustrated Catholic at a Lutheran College and was exploring Buddhist meditation and his reasons made a lot of sense, so I was struggling to come to terms with that when the phone conversation began. I don’t quite remember what my response was but I remember how it started: “Well… I… ummmm… to tell you the truth… I… well, you see… what I’m trying to say is…” It’s amazing that I ended up with that job as a counselor in charge of caring for children and their faith during that summer.

Later that summer I heard a Lutheran pastor quote the same verse: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Then he asked the gathering of camp counselors from three different Lutheran camps in Iowa, “What do other religions offer?” The resounding cry was, “Nothing! Garbage! A trip to hell!” I sunk lower in my chair as I thought, “it’s amazing that these people got jobs as counselors in charge of caring for children and their faith during this summer.”

But it seems that’s the way this is read many times. Like we have discussed in Sunday morning Bible Study, anything from the Bible can be taken out of context and used to justify anything. And this verse is no different. Many a missionaries have been sent out to save souls for Jesus because those heathens aren’t walking the way, knowing the truth, and living the life. Many a people have been killed in the name of Jesus because they refused to proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior and give up their own religious faith, like in the Crusades or the Inquisition. And many a people have stopped being Christian because of the overly confident proclamation that it is my way or the highway or be a Christian or suffer eternal damnation like in a scene from Dante’s Inferno. Yes, it is true that taken out of context any Bible verse can be used to justify anything, and John chapter 14, verse 6 is no different. In fact, it may just be one of the favorites for condemning people of other faiths. Perhaps it is like Ghandi’s response to the question, “Who are the biggest threats to Christianity?” “Christians,” he responded.

Still, if we notice the entire Gospel reading it is less about excluding people of other faith traditions as it is about Jesus trying to help his disciples recognize how important Jesus is in their lives and how they are going to live after his death and resurrection. It is less about not knowing the proper answer to, “how do you understand this particular verse?” than it is about knowing that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life for you. It is less about teaching our children to exclude different people, than it is about teaching all of us—children, adults, and pastor—that Jesus is the way to life with God and the embodiment of that life.

And learning that takes a lifetime, at least that is what one retired pastor has told me. Christianity is not about who is in and who is out, but it is about a person named Jesus who is the Christ. And that person is the way for us. That person is the truth for us. And that person is the life for us. Sure, we can look forward to the time when Jesus returns and takes us to those dwellings in the Father’s house, but the question for us today remains: How is Jesus the way and the truth and the life for us?

Or “now where are we going again?” Because they seem like the same question only said a little differently. It may be a question that a lost motorist might say but it is also an honest prayer of a faithful Christian trying to make sense of things like Thomas and Philip trying to understand what Jesus is saying. Jesus may have been upset that Thomas, Philip and the rest of the disciples did not quite understand him, but now their words and our prayers of “where are we going?” are important words to have, because being able to ask those questions shows that we are not overly concerned about what we think. Being able to ask the question, “now where are we going again?” shows that we are not set in our ways but open to the way of Jesus and open to his truth and the life Jesus has set before us, because his way leads to truth and life more than any way that we may choose for ourselves. But the way that he offers, the way that Jesus is, is different from the ways that the world offers. And we are on the way.

The way that we walk is not of bigotry and intolerance but is the way of Jesus; the way of compassion and acceptance. The way that we walk is not of excessive concern about numbers of people or numbers of dollars, but is the way of Jesus; the way of trust in God. The way that we walk is not of self-importance, but is the way of Jesus; the way of selfless love and support for others.

And to be on the way of Jesus is to know truth and have life, something which we already are doing however small or great it may be, yet we need to be reminded of consistently. Yes, we are on the way, because we have been received by Jesus in the waters of baptism. We are on the way, because we know that having fellowship with Jesus in Word and Sacrament is food for the journey. We are on the way, but we are not at the destination yet and so we strive to walk the way even greater, and we strive to know the truth more clearly, and we strive to live the life more fully. But we are on the way. And thanks be to God for Jesus the way for us to walk.