CAMINANDO WITH JESUS: Our Way Home
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.”
- John 14:1-14
The theme of John’s gospel is always the divinity of Jesus, and never more so than in this week’s passage, one of Christ’s last lessons before the Crucifixion. We reflect on it now, during Easter season, because it is a prediction that only makes sense in the context of the Resurrection. Before this, Jesus had hinted about leaving the disciples, but now he tells them clearly: I go now to prepare a place for you.
This bombshell gets their attention. In a flash, Thomas and Philip are all: Hey, wait a minute. You’re going where? To do what?
To make a point, Jesus often uses Peter in the role of everyman. He is good-hearted and very biddable. By contrast, Thomas is everyman with an attitude. He is the perennial sceptic. He needs convincing. Philip is another story. He is Johnny-on-the-spot: receptive, helpful, eager to please.
In framing this dialogue, first with doubting Thomas and then with fervent Philip, Jesus is boxing the compass of personalities. He is showing us that there are many dwelling places in his Father’s house. There is room for the Peters and Thomases and Phillips, and by extension there is room for all of us. We were never meant to be cookie-cutter Christians. We are all called to follow Christ, but not in lockstep.
For the same reason this gospel is an Easter message, it is a perennial reading for funeral services. It puts life and the afterlife in perspective as one whole life. It is an orientation class on where we are, where we are going and how to get there. It comforts. It inspires. It instructs: Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me…. I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
The Resurrection is the payoff to this promise. Jesus is pointing our way home. He is telling us: There are tough times ahead. But don’t be afraid. Trust me. The Father and I are one. Stick with me, and I will stick with you. Follow me., and I will take you home.
This gospel raises some challenging questions: What’s all this going home stuff about? Our senses tell us that right here, right now, is the only home we know. But Jesus is telling us that this is not our home. Sure, we have roots. We have an address. We have family and friends. But we are not home. Like passengers on a jet, our surroundings appear to be stable, when in fact we are hurtling through space in a thin aluminum and plastic tube.
This life is a passage, not a destination. The passage may be first-class with fine wines and filet mignon. Or it may be super-saver economy: squalid, cramped, uncomfortable, without even a bag of peanuts. But, whatever the amenities of your life, never mistake this passage for home. And because we are not home, Christian life this side of the grave was never meant to be in repose. We are on a faith journey. We are pilgrims. We follow the Lord. Spiritually, emotionally, mentally - we are constantly on the move, day by day, making our way home.
Sometimes we stumble. Sometimes we plod. But whatever our gait, with our faces to the Lord, every day we soar. His love sustains us. It draws us on. Jesus wants all of us: the good, the bad and the ugly. In fact, he has already left the ugliest part of us on the cross. Knowing our every flaw, he loved us in our sins before time began. He loved us in his torment. And now, he loves us in his risen glory.
When we falter, he is there. He is the hope that lifts us up and calls us on: calls us to take up our own crosses, to suffer our own Calvarys, to come home in our own resurrections. Jesus tells us he is the way for an awesome - yet obvious - reason. He and the Father are one. For our redemption, for our instruction, he is the love of God, the moving force of the universe made flesh, made into the exact same carbon-based organism that we inhabit and subject to the same appetites, the same flaws and failings. What better way to show us how to follow him than becoming one of us?
His way is simple, yet profound: In the face of all, love God and neighbor. Actively, deliberately, constantly, make living Christ’s love the purpose of your life, the way you face every obstacle, the way you embrace every opportunity. Live Christ’s love, here and now, and you’ll be halfway home already.
Alleluia! He is risen.
The Rev. Canon David Sellery is canon for congregational mission in the Diocese of North Carolina.
Tags: Caminando with Jesus
