Sermons from Mission Hills UCC San Diego, California Rev. Dr. David Bahr [email protected] May 7, 2023 “The Way of Jesus is the Way of Love” John 14: 1-7 – Common English Bible “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. 2 My Father’s house has room to spare. If that weren’t the case, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you? 3 When I go to prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me so that where I am you will be too. 4 You know the way to the place I’m going.” 5 Thomas asked, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you have really known me, you will also know the Father. From now on you know him and have seen him.” For You may be familiar with these words: In my Father’s house, there are many rooms,[1] or In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places, or In my Father’s house, there is plenty of room, or if you grew up on the King James, In my Father’s house there are many mansions. How many of you have been at a memorial service that included talk of pearly gates and golden streets leading each of us to our own mansion in the sky? I don’t know about individual mansions but it certainly speaks of a vision of God that is expansive. Jesus spoke these words to his disciples on the night before his crucifixion. They are the beginning of what are known as Jesus’ Farewell Discourses – unique only to John’s gospel – a series of teachings stretching from chapter 14 to 17. He is preparing them for his death, he’s reassuring them of his continued presence, he’s promising them the comfort of the Holy Spirit, he’s encouraging them to live in unity, and especially, Jesus is exhorting them to love. They’ll know you are my disciples by your love. The passage begins, “Do not be troubled.” These are words of encouragement to “trust in God. Trust also in me. My Father’s house has room to spare. I’m going to prepare a place for you and I will return to take you with me. [But don’t worry.] You know the way to the place I’m going.” Thomas asked, “Lord, how can we know the way?” Great question, right? But imagine, if the disciples who have spent a year learning from Jesus, maybe 3; if they don’t yet know the way, what chance do we have? So, Jesus responded, “Hey dummies…” Well, probably not, but if this were Mark’s gospel, Jesus might have said, “How can you still be so clueless?” After all this time together, how can you not understand that I’m the way. Oh, but if only Jesus would have stopped there. Instead, he continued with, dare I say, one of the most misused verses in the Bible – “No one comes to the Father except through me.” Misused but not necessarily mistranslated. Of 62 English translations of that verse, 36 of them say, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” 13 translations say, “No one comes to the Father, but by me.” Some of the others say, “The only way to the Father is through me.” They’re all pretty clear that Jesus is the “only” way. But, although this may be the answer, what is the question? This may be what it says, but what is it saying? What is the question? Thomas asked Jesus, “How can we know the way?” Thomas didn’t ask, “What happens to people if they don’t believe in you?” He didn’t ask, “Are non-Christians going to hell?” Of course, at the time, there were no “Christians” so everyone was a “non-Christian.” But let’s be clear: Jesus wasn’t setting up criteria to keep certain people out. You know, up in heaven, Peter and Paul had a dilemma. Peter was in charge of checking people in at the gate. Paul was in charge of keeping track of people. But Paul kept finding more people than Peter had been admitting at the gate. This discrepancy greatly annoyed both of them. They couldn’t figure it out. Then one day, Paul came running to Peter and said, “I found out what’s been happening! It’s Jesus. He keeps sneaking people in!”[2] After all, Jesus has just talked about the expansive “many” rooms. Plenty of room. Room to spare. He may have said, “The only way to the Father is through me,” but by it, he wasn’t also saying, “and keep everyone else out.” In Peter and Paul’s heavenly scenario, Jesus had to find a way to get around the misuse of his words. The question Thomas asked was, “How can we know the way?” Jim Burklo answered by saying, before doing anything else, “we must fall in love.”[3] It is not to first adopt the right set of beliefs and recite the words of a creed. It has nothing to do with believing “about” Jesus. It is to be moved by his example of love. It is to hear his words and marvel, to fall in love with, the possibility of a world transformed by love. Jim described being 16 years old on a backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevada mountains with his youth group. We got to the top of Kearsarge Pass, with its spectacular view of alpine lakes and peaks. As we rested, our leader read aloud from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. There, at 11,760 feet, Jesus’ words came alive when he heard, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” He said, “My chest exploded with radiating warmth. I was overwhelmed by the love that Jesus preached and practiced. I realized how hard it would be to love my enemies, but the voice of Jesus, calling across the centuries, vibrated within me. When we put on our backpacks and resumed our hike, I took my first step on the trail and began my commitment to walk with Jesus, one foot in front of the other, on his path ever since.” What is falling in love? It is aching for our divided world so much that we commit to loving our neighbor. And when we feel anxiety about our place in this world so much so that we don’t know our own worth, falling in love is hearing Jesus say to not just love God and our neighbor but to love ourselves too. To fall in love is to set aside judgment of both others and ourselves despite our many faults and failures – and theirs. Please know that what others say about you, especially what Christians say, if it is not about love, it is not the way of Jesus because no one shall come to the Father except through love. The way of Jesus is the way of love. No one shall come to the Father except through love. We might think this is a call to action to extend more kindness and compassion in the world – and yes, it is. Except that it’s more than acting with kindness and compassion. How can we know the way? Jesus has been showing his disciples a path that if we love Jesus, that love will transform us from the inside out and allow us to do more than we ever imagined ourselves. I don’t know what to do with the people whose toxic and hateful rhetoric causes such terrible agony to so many people, especially transgender people right in this moment, that they think the only solution is to kill themselves to escape the pain. How can I possibly love those who think that being the most cruel is a winning strategy? I know that on my own I can’t love some people. But on the Jesus path, I trust that with God’s help, I can. And as often as I fail at it, I can fall in love all over again. Not to find a new lover but to return here every week to hear the vision of God of an expansive life where there is room for everyone. Or go into a closet in our room where we can close the door and listen only to the voice of Jesus who invites us to follow the way, the truth, and the life. The way of love, the truth of love, and the life of love. The way of Jesus is not to disparage one another but to love. It is not endless hopelessness or cynicism but love. The truth of Jesus is that despair isn’t the way to a transformed life. Love is. Not some cheap sentimental wish but the hard work of justice. A Jesus-centered life is to know that returning hate with hate gets us nowhere because the way of Jesus, the way to God, is through love. Only love. Because in my Father’s house, there are many rooms, many dwelling places, many mansions – plenty of room. Room enough for us all. If this wasn’t so, it wouldn’t be of Jesus, because the way of Jesus is the way of nothing except love. [1] I’m using “Father” instead of a more inclusive “God” because Jesus is talking about his intimate relationship. “God’s House” doesn’t communicate in the same way, I believe. [2] Story frequently told by Peggy Campolo, referenced in Red Letter Revolution: What If Jesus Really Meant What He Said?” by Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo [3] Jim Burklo, Tenderly Calling: An Invitation to the Way of Jesus, St. Johann Press, 2021. Jim is a UCC pastor and a Dean at USC
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