Sermon preached by the Rector on 20
November 2005Bible
Readings: Acts 9:1-9, John 14:1-7 The Bible
specializes in inviting us to do things that are, at first sight,
completely impossible. Take the beginning of what we've just heard as
the Gospel reading for today. 'Do not let your hearts be troubled.' I
don't know how you're feeling as you come to church today. It may be
that your life is entirely free of shadows and that you're completely
at ease and happy with the world. In which case, don't stop listening
but save this up for a rainy day! It's rather more likely that, when we
stop to reflect on it, there is something that is troubling our
hearts - maybe a whole series of things. It may something really big,
like major illness or a big decision or the prospect of a significant
change coming up soon. Or it may be something relatively trivial.
Something we don't feel we *should* be worried about - but we are
anyway... As we listen to what Jesus says here at the
beginning of chapter 14 of John's Gospel, we can, as it were, overhear
him saying to his first disciples, 'Do not let your hearts be
troubled.' Perhaps, in our mind's eye, we can imagine him looking round
at his disciples and then glancing up in our direction - and including
us in this wonderfully impossible invitation. Just as he once spoke to
a raging storm and everything became calm, so he speaks peace into our
anxious hearts - 'Do not let your hearts be troubled either.' So
let's find out how... The disciples at this point
have every reason to feel ill at ease. Jesus has just turned their
world upside down by telling them that he is about to leave them. He
spells it out in verse 33 of chapter 13: 'My children, I will be with
you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the
Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come'. They
should have seen it coming, of course. Jesus has been dropping heavy
hints for some time now. But how easy it is to push to one side news
that we would prefer not to have to come to terms with. But not any
longer. Now it's out in the open. The one who has become the centre of
their lives, the focus of what makes them tick, is about to leave them. Their
first reaction is what we would expect of followers who have developed
a profound degree of loyalty for their master. They want to go with
him. Verses 36-37: 'Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you
going?"...' Why does Peter want to know? The answer is clear from the
way Jesus replies. '..."Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but
you will follow later." Peter asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you."' Time for shock
number two. Oh no you won't, Peter. Later on he will discover the
extent to which the boot is on the other foot. It's not going to be
Peter who lays down his life for Jesus but Jesus who lays down his life
for Peter. For now, though, verse 38: 'Then Jesus answered, "Will you
really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the cock
crows, you will disown me three times!' Not only is their outer world
to be shaken to its foundations. But their inner world is to be rocked
as well. Peter is about to discover that his view of himself is rather
rosier than it should be. He isn't going to be able to live up to his
own expectations - let alone anyone else's. And
then Jesus immediately adds, 'Do not let your hearts be troubled.' Your
world is about to be turned upside down. Turmoil and uncertainty will
be the order of the day. But even so, there's no need to worry. Do not
let your hearts be troubled. It's an extraordinary
instruction for Jesus to give, isn't it! How can he say such a thing?
The answer to this question takes us to the heart of Christian
theology, to one of the most profound truths we celebrate as we gather
together for worship week by week. We may sometimes wonder if the
weighty issues that theologians have debated down the years are ever of
any practical relevance for us in the real world. Well here's one that
most certainly is! Do not let your hearts be
troubled! Why? How? Basically, says Jesus, because of who I am. In this
business of overcoming difficulty and defeating worry, what really
matters is the identity of Jesus. 'Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Trust in God; trust also in me.' If you've got a Bible open you'll see
that there's an alternative translation as a footnote - 'You trust in
God; trust also in me'. Another way of putting it would be this: 'Since
you already trust God, trust in me as well'. For, as he is about to
tell them in verse 7, 'If you really knew me, you would know my Father
as well'. We're left in no doubt about the way in which Jesus thinks of
himself. He and the Father are one. To know him is to know the Father. We
might expect that to be enough for the disciples, who had got to know
Jesus so well. But, fortunately for us, Jesus doesn't leave it there.
He goes on to specify what exactly it is about himself that warrants
such a degree of trust. He highlights three particular things in verses
2-4: 1) First of all, there's a bit more for them to
know than just the bald fact that Jesus is going away. They're to know
something about where he is going and why he is going there. We
need to bear in mind that this is the night before Jesus is to be put
to death. Given what the next few days are going to bring, it's vital
that the disciples should be prepared in this way. As far as everyone
else is concerned, this 'going away' he talks about will be the end of
him, an inglorious end to what was looking like a rather promising
career as a travelling preacher and healer. But that is not how Jesus
sees his death at all. And it's not how he wants his followers to see
it either. He doesn't want them to taken in by mere appearances. He
doesn't want them to think that he has just abandoned them. So he gives
them some answers. First, where is he going? Answer: he is going to his
Father's house. And secondly, why is he going? Answer: he is going to
prepare a place for his followers. Verse 2, 'In my Father's house are
many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there
to prepare a place for you'. I don't know about you,
but I'm inclined to wonder what exactly Jesus is doing in his Father's
house to get it ready for us. But that's to misunderstand what he is
saying. It's not 'I am going there and then, once I have arrived, I am
going to prepare a place for you'. As if Jesus is a sort of heavenly
Laurence Llewelyn Bowen who has spent the last 2,000 years redecorating
heaven for us! No, it's 'I am going there and it's in the way that I go
that I am going to prepare a place for you'. Jesus is talking about the
way in which his coming death on the cross will make it possible for us
who deserve less than nothing to become instead citizens of heaven. St
Augustine suggested that we think about the going of Jesus as something
which prepares heaven for his followers by preparing his followers for
heaven! 2) So, they're to know something about where he is going and why he is going. But then, secondly, comes
the wonderful assurance that Jesus is coming back again. Verse 3: 'And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to
be with me that you also may be where I am.' What does he mean? The
things that Jesus says often have more than one level of meaning,
especially in John's Gospel. That's true here, I think. In the first
place, the return of Jesus can be seen as his resurrection, his
triumphant return from the dead. Then there's the sense in which, for
us as individual Christian believers, Jesus returns for us at the point
of our death in order to gather us to be with him for ever. And then,
thirdly, there's the anticipation of the return of Jesus at the end of
time to bring all his followers to be with him throughout eternity. Jesus
may appear to be abandoning his followers. It will certainly seem
like it. They will feel like orphans whose parents have suddenly gone
off and left them (verse 18). But, in fact, what Jesus will accomplish
in the next few hours will ensure their eternal salvation. Without his
death he would indeed have had to abandon them - to the consequences of
their sin and imperfection for ever. No contamination can be allowed in
heaven. But by going the way of the cross and guaranteeing the exchange
of his riches for their rags he ensures that abandonment is erased from
the agenda for good. 3) Jesus' followers are to
know something about where he is going and why he is going. They
also receive the marvellous assurance that he is coming back again. And
then, thirdly, Jesus tells them in verse 4, 'You know the way to the
place where I am going'. In other words, look, from all I've told you -
not just now but fairly constantly over recent months - you must surely
understand that my journey back to the Father will take me via the pain
and suffering of public execution on the cross. But
no, they don't. They're still mixed up about it all. And while the
others might have nodded and pretended they understood what Jesus
meant, good old sceptical Thomas is prepared to come clean and admit
that Jesus has lost him. Verse 5: 'Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't
know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"' Jesus
answers with what have become some of the most famous words in the
Bible. Verse 6: 'Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the
life. No-one comes to the Father except through me..."' It's
taken us a while to get here, hasn't it! Our text today: 'I am the way
and the truth and the life'. But, you see, the best way to understand
what the Bible says is to try and see it in context. Now that we have
the background of the beginning of chapter 14 in mind, we're more ready
to tackle what Jesus says here. There's something
rather special about the fact that this, one of the most wonderful
statements in the Bible, arises as the result of someone
misunderstanding completely what Jesus is on about! But on the plus
side, Thomas's question reveals how deeply loyal he is to Jesus.
There's another great example earlier on, back in chapter 11. Two days
after receiving news that his friend Lazarus is seriously ill, Jesus
announces that he intends to visit him. Thomas feels that this is a
rather risky undertaking and expects trouble if they venture into what
has become enemy territory. Bethany, where Lazarus and his sisters
live, is a bit too close for comfort to Jerusalem. John 11:14-16 tells
us that Jesus '...told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and for your
sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go
to him." Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the
disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."' If
you have a tendency towards gloom and despondency, rejoice (in as far
as you can manage it!) that you have a companion in Thomas! Among the
disciples Thomas is Eeyore! Someone for whom the cup is always half
empty and never half full. But a wonderfully loyal and true friend.
Ready to go with Jesus, no matter what the risk. 'Let us also go, that
we may die with him'! Perhaps that's why he's the one
who is keen to tackle this latest crisis that Jesus announces in
chapter 13. If Jesus is going away, then Thomas, like Peter, wants to
go with him. 'How can we know the way?' he asks. But no. This is a
journey which Jesus has to make by himself - to begin with. His
followers will end up at the same destination, yes, but their route
will be very different. For you, Thomas, 'I am the way and the truth
and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.' And
that's the essence of how Jesus explains the way in which we can stop
our hearts from being troubled. Because the really important issue has
been so decisively taken care of. The really important issue in life is
where we will end up after it. This is what 'coming to the Father' is
all about. And it's precisely this that Jesus invites us to trust him
with. Because he is the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to
the Father except through him. You see, it's not
that Jesus merely shows us the way: he himself is the way. It's not
that Jesus merely reveals the truth: he himself is the truth. It's not
that Jesus merely indicates where life is to be found: he himself is
the life. This is why there's a lot to be said for the assertion that
Christianity is not really a religion at all. It's first and foremost a
relationship with Jesus Christ. Religion focuses on sorting out who we
are and getting what we do on the right track. But Christianity is
primarily about who Jesus is and what he has done for us. And that, of
course, is what makes it unique. Back in 1963, the
famous Swiss theologian Karl Barth was giving a lecture to a group of
students at Princeton University in the United States. Afterwards one
of the students asked him, "Dr Barth, don’t you think that God has
revealed himself in other religions and not only in Christianity?"
Barth’s answer is said to have stunned the crowd like a bolt of
lightning. "No," he said, "God has not revealed himself in any
religion, including Christianity. He has revealed himself in his Son." An
extreme way of putting it, admittedly. But what else are we to make of
what Jesus says about himself: 'I am the way and the truth and the
life. No-one comes to the Father except through me'? What
Jesus is claiming is that a relationship with him is all we need. And
that there's nothing but a relationship with him that will do. And, you
see, once the issue of how we can 'come to the Father' is sorted out,
then all the lesser issues fall into place. If he can be relied on for
this, then why worry about anything else? As Paul puts it in his letter
to the Romans, 'If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not
spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also,
along with him, graciously give us all things?' (Romans 8:31-32). So
'Do not let your hearts be troubled.' Why? How? Because 'I am the way
and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through
me'. As we conclude, let's reach out as best we know
how and place our trust in the one who gives us the impossible command
not to let our hearts be troubled and then tells us how. I'd like to
suggest that we use something called the Jesus Prayer. Echo these
simple words in your heart and mind as we spend a few moments in
quietness together. 'Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a
sinner.' Amen. ©
2005 David
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