First Lutheran Church
May 7, 2023 + The Fifth Sunday in Easter
John 14:1-14 +[Jesus said to the disciples:] “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
“The Way”
Pastor Greg Ronning
“Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” I always appreciate “Doubting Thomas.” He keeps everything real. Especially in John’s Gospel. In the midst of the philosophical double speak, wandering run on sentences, quizzical riddles and deep esoteric mystery, he just blurts out the question we all want, but are afraid, to ask. In today’s Gospel Jesus is talking about “dwelling places” in “my father’s house.” He’s talking about coming and going, back and forth, preparing, embarking, and landing, “you know what I mean,” and Thomas is like, “No, I have no idea what you are talking about, I don’t know where you are going!” Jesus pauses and responds, “I am The Way.”
Life is hard, and we don’t always know “the way.” As much as we long to find that place where we can dwell, that place where we can find meaning and peace, that place where we faith replaces fear, that place where love and grace abide, that place that Jesus has prepared for us; finding our way to that place is not easy. I did a search on my phone, and “dwelling place with God,” came up with zero results. “GPS” was not going to help me. I tried the “Old School” method, and once again “dwelling place with God” was not on the index, but a somewhat similar result was listed as “N–15.” (How many of you remember that way of finding a place on a map?) As much as I want to find that place, as much as I want to go to that place, it’s just not that easy to find. And so, I find myself standing in the shoes of Thomas, asking the question, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” And Jesus pauses, nods in my direction and reminds me, “You know the way, - I am The Way.”
“The Way.”Before members of the early church took on the name “Christians,” they were known as members of “The Way.”The first recorded use of the term “Christians” is found in the book of Acts. In Chapter 11 we read, “… and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.” (Acts 11:25-26). The term “Christian” was used primarily to distinguish this new sect in Judaism as one that believed that Jesus was the Messiah.But once again, in the beginning, before Antioch, they were known as members of “The Way.” This description of the followers of Jesus can be found in the Ninth Chapter of the Book of Acts, “Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to ‘The Way,’ men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.” (Acts 9:1-2)
Let’s take a minute to contrast these two very different descriptors. The root word of “Christian” is “Christ.” Once again, this refers to our fundamental understanding that Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Christ. We believe in Jesus Christ. The New Testament Greek word translated as “way” is “hodos.” It is the common Greek word for “street,” “road,” “path,” or “way.” It’s also a word used to represent or convey a “journey.” Do you notice the difference between these words?
“Christian” is a more static word, it best describes our core belief, our doctrine, the tenets of our faith. It points to Jesus - the life and the teachings of Jesus, as the source and understanding of our faith. It strikes me as more of a “head” word. “The Way” is a more dynamic word. It is literally where “the rubber meets the road.”“The Way” invites, even demands, - movement and action. You are not static when you are on “the way,” you are not “standing still” when you are on “the road,” you are not fixed in one place when you are on a “journey.”“Christian” describes our identity, but “The Way” better describes the nature of our faith, the marks of our faith, what our faith looks like, how it moves, how it is manifest, how it feels, what it does. “The Way” is a “body” word.
We seldom, if ever, currently refer to our faith as “The Way.”We ceased using that word a long time ago. And perhaps, losing the essence of that word, that is why we don’t know where Christ has been and is going, that is why we don’t know where that “dwelling place,”that place prepared for us,is located. Too often we have relegated Christianity into a destination and not an adventure. Too often we have made it solely about the afterlife reward of “heaven.” But what if it was also about finding “heaven on earth,” here and now, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Perhaps if we “loosened up” on the idea of being a “Christian,” and engaged “The Way,” if we moved out of our heads and into our bodies,we would discover those things we desperately desire; that place where meaning and peace come together in our vocation, that place where our relationships with each other thrive, that place where faith, hope, grace and love abide – all in real time!
I suppose that brings us back to the same question with which we began, “How can we know the way?” Thankfully, unlike Thomas, we get to reflect on Christ’s answer, “I am The Way,” knowing the context of the whole story.
We know that today's appointed Gospel is part of Jesus' “Farewell Address” to his disciples, his last words to them before he is to be arrested, put on trial, condemned, and put to death. The road that Jesus has been on for some time, the road to Bethany and the raising of Lazarus, and then off to the Ephraim Wilderness for some time in prayer and solitude, was always leading to Jerusalem.So it is that we know that “the way” is “the way of the cross.”
I'd like to share with you some words that Lutheran pastor Dan Erlander wrote in his book, "Baptized We Live." A book subtitled,"Lutheranism: A Way of Life.” He writes, "It is here on the cross that God meets us." “In the abyss of despair, in the deepest darkness God comes. In the painful reality of our mortality, our ultimate lowliness, our weakness, God encounters us. This understanding does not deny God's presence in our joyful happy moments. Of course, God's there. God is everywhere. Also, this understanding does not mean that we must be emotionally depressed to be found by God. Rather God meets us most profoundly at the point of our deepest reality - our honest confrontation with weakness, pain, solitude, and death.”
Everyone knows that life is not easy. The roads we find ourselves on, the roads we choose, and the roads that choose us, - can be extremely difficult to traverse.Yet it is on the road, on the way, that Christ has prepared a place to dwell with us. And that place is on the cross, the shared space of God and humanity, the dwelling placewhere God can be held and where God holds humanity. And in this intersection between God and humanity, heaven and earth, our wounds are cared for, and we are invited to care for each other, to serve the wounded among us, to live out our calling, to find our joy expressed in the service of those in need. The cross is the place that God has prepared for us.
Jesus’ ministry began with a walk down a road. It began with a journey that took him from the comforts of his home in Nazareth into the Wilderness via a radical encounter with John the Baptist. The next road took him to Galilee where he came upon some fishermen. Jesus stopped and invited them to join him, “Come follow me.” They left their nets behind and together they continued down the road. And for the next few years they traveled from place to place, village to village, back and forth across borders. And along the way they shared the good news, they brought hope to the hopeless, healing to the sick, food to the hungry, and with each step along the way the kingdom of God came closer and closer. The ministry of Jesus was shaped by traveling down roads, the highways that led from point A to point B, the streets where people worked and loved, the roads that led to dead ends, and even venturing down the path less traveled to the very edges of life.
And Jesus continues to walk down the road even today. Just as he appeared to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he walks along side of us, ready to break the bread of hospitality that reveals his presence. And that is the invitation this morning, to walk alongside Jesus, to be on “The Way,” to be in that “dwelling place along the way,” sharing the good news with all those we encounter, especially those in need.
Experts remind us that as we grow older it’s important to keep moving. Once you stop moving, you stop moving!So it is with the faith! May the encouragement of faith keep us on “the way,” on the road to the cross, deep into the place where God and humanity dwell together, sharing brokenness and healing, in that place where our greatest joys serve to meet the world’s greatest needs, the place God has prepared for us. Amen.