“Setting Troubled Hearts at Rest: A GPS for Life’s Journey”
John 14:4-6
1,630,000,000. That’s the number of internet sites that deal with security. Is there any doubt we live in a security conscious age? But how do we know that number is significant? I googled two other terms and discovered that for the word ‘sin’ there were only 1,400,000,000 sites and the word salvation landed on only 66,700,000 sites. Is there any doubt we live in a security conscious age? According to the dictionary security means freedom from danger, care, apprehension or doubt; safety; precautions for defense; an assurance or guarantee. Wouldn’t you like that to be a description of your life? That may partially explain all the security that is part of our everyday lives. There’s Social Security – Homeland Security – border security – security guards – security deposit – job security – and I’m sure you can add to the list. Is there any doubt we live in a security conscious age?
We’re not too far removed from Jesus’ disciples. On this night in the Upper Room with Jesus they were frantically insecure about their life’s journey. Jesus, upon whom they had pinned their hopes, to whom they had entrusted their reputations, and for whom they had given up everything was saying farewell. He was talking about going and coming, dying and living; they were confused and frightened about their future. Where were their lives headed? What was the purpose of these past three years and what would be their purpose in the future? Couldn’t they just go where Jesus was going?
Knowing their insecurity Jesus offered them a GPS for the road ahead – a GPS which, if followed, would give them the security they so deeply desired.
First of all, JESUS GAVE THEM A GOAL. To have any hope of security, one must have a purpose, a goal for life. Jesus said that the goal in life is TO KNOW THE GOD THE FATHER. For Jesus the direction of life was always God-ward. It’s one thing to know about God or to believe certain things about God; but that’s not the goal of life. The goal of life is to know God as Father. Just this past week I began reading a book written by Shaun Alexander. I know Shaun. He’s a former NFL player. I can tell you where he played his college ball, who he played for in the NFL, what team records he still holds, and how many Super Bowls he played in, and even why he no longer plays. I know he’s a Christian. I know him - but then again I do not know him. I’ve never met him face to face; I do not have a relationship with him. I do not know his heart. This is what Jesus is saying. The goal of life is not just to know God but to know God as Father. That’s why Jesus referred to His Father so often, why He taught the disciples to pray to “Our Father who art in heaven…”, and why He portrayed a loving father through teaching the parable of the Prodigal Son. For Jesus the deepest meaning in, and the grandest purpose for life was to know God as Father.
And THROUGH JESUS WE SEE OUR FATHER. Jesus repeatedly identified Himself with His Father. “If you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father. I and the Father are one. I am in Him and He is in me. I am going to my Father’s house.” John, in fact, in introducing Jesus in his Gospel (1:12, 18) said “…to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God…No one has ever seen God but (Jesus) has made him known.” The Heidelberg Catechism (Q & A #26) has a beautiful explanation for the meaning of the declaration from the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe in God the Father Almighty…” It states “… the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by his eternal counsel and providence, is my God and Father because of Christ his Son…”
But why is it so IMPORTANT TO KNOW GOD AS FATHER? There are two reasons. First, only in knowing God as Father can WE REALIZE WHO AND WHOSE WE ARE AND WHAT WE POSSESS. The apostle Paul painted it this way (Gal, 4:4-7 NLT): “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.” Only when we know God as Father can we realize that all God has, all Jesus has, is ours.
Second, it is through knowing God as Father that WE CAN TRUST GOD.” The Catechism continues its explanation of “God the Father Almighty” by beautifully stating “…I trust him so much that I do not doubt he will provide whatever I need for body and soul, and he will turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this sad world. He is able to do this because he is almighty God; he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father.” We can trust God because of His PROVISION for us: “he will provide whatever I need for body and soul…” Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear… Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?... And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”
We can trust God also because of His TRANSFORMATION of life. “… he will turn to my good whatever adversity he sends me in this sad world.” Romans 8:28 claims “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose.” As the great Biblical commentator William Barclay once wrote, “When we believe that God is Father, we also believe that such a father’s hand will never cause his child a needless tear. We may not understand life any better, but we will not resent life any longer.”
Thirdly we can trust God because HE IS FAITHFUL. “He is able to do this because he is almighty God; he desires to do this because he is a faithful Father.” Jesus taught (Mt. 7:9-11 NLT) “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” Jesus told the disciples that the goal of their lives was to know God as Father.
Then JESUS GAVE THEM A PATH to follow. “I am the way and the truth and the life.” JESUS IS THE WAY. Certainly Jesus taught the way through what He said, and showed the way through how He lived. But Jesus is more than a ‘way-pointer.’ He’s more than a guru, a philosopher, or a wise sage. Jesus said that He Himself is the way. Jesus is the way from where we are to where we want to be – with the Father. Jesus is the way because He went through Calvary, because He died on the cross and opened up the way to the presence of the Father. Jesus opened up access to the Father; Easter had to occur before anyone could be in the presence of the Father. Remember that at the moment Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This was the curtain that kept people from the Holy of Holies, and that prevented people from going directly into the presence of God. Hebrews 10:19-20 (NLT) states it clearly: “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.” I have a granddaughter who loves Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz – and she loves to wear ruby red shoes. We have no need for ruby red shoes on our journey home – the ruby red blood of Jesus has already paid the way for us! Jesus is the way.
Jesus is also THE TRUTH. Certainly Jesus taught the truth and lived the truth. But Jesus said He Himself is the truth. Truth is embodied in Him. David offered up an interesting prayer in Psalm 25:4-5 – “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior…” Jesus is the answer to David’s prayer! Jesus represents life as it really is. Jesus is the voice, the truth, from another world that sheds light on our world. He said “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (Jn. 8:12). There’s a short story by Carmen Corde that tells of a young woman who gives birth to a blind son. “I do not want my child to know that he is blind!” she informs family and neighbors, forbidding anyone to use telltale words such as ‘light,’ ‘color,’ and ‘sight.’ The boy grows up unaware of his disability until one day a strange girl jumps over the fence of the garden and spoils everything by using all the forbidden words. His world shatters in the face of this unimagined new reality. Jesus is that other-world voice for us that shatters all untruths.
Remember when Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” Jesus never really answered in words – but he left Pilate and went to the cross where He died. In doing so Jesus exposed the truth about what lies inside us, outside us, and beyond us. Is it any wonder John introduced Him (Jn. 1:14 & 17) “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth…the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came thought Jesus Christ.”
Jesus is also THE LIFE. He didn’t just talk about life or offer life – He Himself is life. Jesus repeated it often. (Jn. 10:10 RSV) “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (Jn. 6:35) “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry. And he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (Jn. 4:14) “…whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (Jn. 11:25-26) “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” Jesus imparts life to us. Eternal life is not a force or an intellectual concept. It is Christ’s own life shared with us. If I go to the proper circuit breaker and flip the switch off, the lights and power will go off. Power flows from the power grid through the circuits into this building. Only when we are attached to that source will we have power. So only when we are in relationship with Jesus do we have true, abundant life. That’s why John wrote (1 Jn. 5:11-12) “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
Jesus’ GPS for the disciples’ life journey was a goal, a path, and JESUS GAVE THEM A SEAL. “No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus gives A GUARANTEE that they were on the right path because there is no other way
to get to God the Father. This was the core of the preaching of the apostles that impelled thousands to turn to Jesus Christ. (Acts 4:12) “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (1 Tim. 2:5) “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom…”
Many today have trouble with this truth – it’s too exclusive, too judgmental. Listen – it’s not that we don’t understand it but that we understand it woo well and don’t want to accept it. We let our human reason and emotions get in the way. It’s not bigotry or prejudice to believe and preach it if it’s the truth. If it’s the truth we are philanthropists doling out God’s grace of life. And we know it’s the truth. Who else has paid the price for our sin? Who else can? Peter didn’t qualify; I don’t qualify; you don’t qualify; Buddha doesn’t qualify; Mohammed doesn’t qualify. Nature can teach us about God but cannot get us into God’s presence. Good works can point to God but cannot get us into God’s presence. Giving tithes or large sacrificial offerings can bless God and others, but cannot get us into God’s presence. The truth is that if there are other ways to the heart of our Father God, if there are other means of salvation, then Jesus didn’t have to die on the cross. It was nothing but a big show, Jesus is a liar, the Bible is not true, and the cross is robbed of its power.
Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Billy Graham and his wife, Ruth, was interviewed on CNN in December of 2001. She was asked about those who died on September 11th. If they were not saved by accepting Christ, the reporters wanted to know, would they go to heaven? She replied: “In my little book, Heaven: My Father’s House I tell about people who want to visit my father’s home in western North Carolina. They drive up the long drive and come to the gate. They knock on the gate and say: "Billy Graham, let us in. We’ve read your books; we’ve watched you on TV; we’ve written to you; and we want to come to your house." And my father says: "Depart from me, I don’t know you. You’re not a member of my family, and you’ve not made any arrangements to come." But when I drive up that same driveway and knock on the gate, I say, "Daddy, this is Anne, and I’ve come home." The gate is thrown right open, and I go inside, because I’m the father’s child. Jesus said that heaven is his Father’s house, speaking of God. Because heaven is God’s house, he has the right to decide who comes in and who stays out. He says he will welcome anyone inside his home, anyone can come, but they have to be born again into his family through faith in Jesus Christ. That gives us a wonderful hope, that when the time comes—whether death comes as a thief in the night as it did for those in the [World Trade Center] towers, or comes as an angel of mercy after a long illness—we can be assured that at the end of the journey, we’ll step right into our Father’s arms. We’ll be welcomed there, because we’re our Father’s child.”
Through this seal, this guarantee, JESUS FORCES A CHOICE. You must decide whether or not to believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the only way to the Father. C. S. Lewis out is powerfully: “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet can call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to.”
Your life can be secure. You can have freedom from danger, care, apprehension or doubt; safety; precautions for defense; an assurance and guarantee. We end where we began; just hear again the words of John: “…to all who received (Jesus), who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Will you choose to believe?
