Introduction: This passage is near the beginning of Jesus’ farewell address to the disciples. As scholar William Barclay writes: “In a very short time life for the disciples was going to fall in. Their world was going to collapse in chaos around them. At such a time there was only one thing to do—stubbornly hold on to trust in God…If, in the darkest hour, we believe that somehow there is a purpose in life and that that purpose is love, even the unbearable becomes bearable and even in the darkness there is a glimmer of light.”
John 14:1-7, 27
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, “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…
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
Prayer: Creator, You have shaped a place for us made of love and held in grace. It is filled with the whispers of the ancients who followed You and sculpted our faith. Breathe into this place again, that we may know Your way, Your truth, and Your life. Amen.
These words of comfort are so lovely. I used them only yesterday at my uncle’s memorial. I think that just about everyone loves them. I could listen to them again and again. “Do not let your hearts be troubled…Do not let your hearts be troubled…Do not let your hearts be troubled.”
And yet there are also words in this passage that make us uncomfortable. I always stumble over the words, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” Those words have been used to exclude people and to threaten people. That is sad because the fact that we belong to Jesus doesn’t not mean that we own Jesus. There can be no question that many fine people live lives to the glory of God without knowing the name of Jesus. Not knowing His name doesn’t mean that He isn’t working in them. People can come to God through Jesus in many ways that we may not understand. It is good to remember that earlier in John, Jesus says, “I have other sheep not of this fold.” Therefore, I would remind you that Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Jesus has the situation gently in hand.
But let’s go back to the idea of comfort. Jesus comforts us by reassuring us that in God’s house there are many dwelling places. There is room enough for all. We can fit in and we don’t even have to squeeze.
For some reason this idea reminds me of how cramped we can be in an over-loaded car. At our house we still play the “Game of Life.” It’s a simple game where you almost always end up rich and comfortable. The only problem is if you get too many children, and getting children is encouraged in the game. There are only six seats in the little cars. If you get more that four children they don’t fit in the car.
That’s not a problem in heaven. God has plenty of room for us all. But as Thomas asks, “How do we know the way to get to heaven?”
Jesus answers with one of the most powerful statements in the Bible. He says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
I was thinking a lot about this idea that Jesus is the way. He doesn’t just tell us the way, He shows us. He is kind of like one of those GPS navigation system. GPS stands for the “Global Positioning System” that was originally designed for military use, but now is open to all. There are 24 satellites that circle the earth pinpointing where you are and where you want to go.
I would suggest that we have a better GPS. Ours is the “God Positioning System.” Because of Jesus, we know how to live, how to position ourselves in the world. We each have an internal gauge that points to the right thing to do. Jesus has shown us that love, grace, and forgiveness lead us on the way.
Yesterday when I led my Uncle Bruce’s memorial I got to speak about him. Many of you know how much I loved him. As we prepared for the service, Aunt Julia, his daughters, Susan, and Ann, and I sat down to talk about Uncle Bruce, we found ourselves talking about how wonderful he was. Julia said, “We’re making him sound like a saint!” He was as close to a saint as I’ll ever know. He was kind, considerate, funny, encouraging, loving, smart, patient and generous. Well, you see, he was pretty much a saint. He wasn’t perfect, but he was pretty close.
His daughter Susan said that he knew how to help people. Susan remembers him explaining, “If you are going to help someone, help them immediately. Do more than they ask. Stay with them until you are sure they need absolutely nothing else.”
A perfect example was the way he helped Susan when she was moving from one apartment to another. He got down on the floor with her and scrubbed the old apartment so Susan would get the deposit back.
Uncle Bruce knew the way that Jesus described. He relied on his GPS, God positioning system. We know the way, too, but sometimes we don’t follow it. We’re too busy. We don’t have enough money. We aren’t sure what to do…But those are excuses we give ourselves. They are not the truth.
The truth is that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, Who laid down His life for us. Do you remember Jesus’ words—words describing the truth of the self-giving love of God in Jesus Christ? “Greater love hath no man than he who lays down his life for his friends.”
This is not a sophomoric love. This is the most powerful force in the world. This is the love of self-sacrifice. In his book, Facing Your Giants by Max Lucado tells the story of Ernest Gordon who was a prisoner of war in Chungkai, Burma, during World War II. He was near death with diphtheria and death seemed preferable to life in the pitiless jungle heat.
He had entered the war in his early twenties, a strong Scottish man, but then came his capture and months of backbreaking labor, daily beatings, and slow starvation. He and his fellow Allied prisoners began to behave like barbarians, stealing from each other, robbing dying colleagues, fighting for food scraps.
Then two new prisoners were transferred to the camp. Though they were also sick and fail, they heeded a higher code. They shared their meager meals and volunteer for extra work. They cleanse Gordon’s ulcerated sores and massage his atrophied legs. They give him his first bath in six weeks. His strength slowly returns and, with it, his dignity.
Their goodness proves contagious, and Gordon contracts a case. He begins to treat the sick and share his rations. He even gives away his few belongings. Other soldiers do likewise. Over time, the tone of the camp softens and brightens, Sacrifice replaces selfishness. Soldiers hold worship services and Bible studies.
Twenty years later, when Gordon served as chaplain of Princeton University, he described the transformation with these words:
‘Death was still with us—no doubt about that. But we were slowly being freed from its destructive grip…Selfishness, hatred…and pride were all anti-life. Love…self-sacrifice…and faith, on the other hand, were the essence of life…gifts of God to men…Death no longer had the last word at Chungkai.’ [Max Lucado, Facing Your Giants, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2006), 53-54]
Thos prisoners followed their GPS, their God positioning system to find the truth of self-giving love which leads to life. The third thing that Jesus says in our passage is that He is the life. There is more to life than we see.
I’ve become hooked on a new television show. It’s called “Eli Stone.” The premise is that an ambitious young lawyer begins seeing visions, hearing voices (mostly George Michael’s), and following instructions that lead him to do the right thing in a whole series of events. Suddenly, he is taking on pro bono work and even taking cases against the clients of his own firm. Needless to say, everyone including his brother, who is a doctor, thinks he’s crazy.
His brother discovers that Eli has a brain aneurysm. While that explains some of the things that are happening, it doesn’t explain how he suddenly knows things that have happened in the past and some things that may happen in the future.
Thursday night’s episode was the season finally. In it Eli has decided to have an operation to remove the aneurysm. I sat there crying through it all. Since I’m hoping the series will be continued, I’m going to risk giving you the ending.
Through the whole show we are following him through the surgery, events in his office, and a case he is arguing. In the surgery, he hemorrhages. They have removed the aneurysm, put he goes into a coma.
In the end, Eli realizes that he’s between life and death. With the help in his mind of his spiritual advisor, he realizes that he has a choice. He can live. Eli never sees or hears God, but suddenly he has a deep realization. He says, “If I can choose, does that mean there is more for me to do?” This is more for him to do. He regains consciousness.
Jesus gives us life because there is more for us to do! Do you believe that? I hope so because I’m sure that your internal GPS, God positioning system, is telling what to do so that you can follow Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life. Amen.
