Pastor John’s Sermon
MAY 10, 2020 JOHN 14:1-14
As we begin this morning, I would like to wish all you Mothers an incredibly Happy Mother’s Day. In recent weeks, your task has become even more stressful. Whether you are a mother of a young child or one who is old enough to retire you never stop worrying about them and praying for them. Today, I am praying for you. May you experience the never-ending love of God, and may you have wisdom and an increase of love for your children and all the world’s children.
Secondly, let me make a confession. Let me share something I believe to be true. It is not necessarily true that the older you get the wiser you become—especially if you are talking about intellectual wisdom. At least that is what I have discovered about myself. I find myself in much the same place Jesus’ disciples were in the scripture we will read from John 14:1-14. And, sometimes the older I get the more I find I do not understand many things that I once thought I understood perfectly well. Life can be confusing, can’t it?
We find that Jesus’ disciples were in the same boat.
After Jesus had been with the twelve disciples—these twelve who had been with him from the very beginning—they still did not understand what he was all about. They seemed to be no wiser than they were at the beginning of the journey. Oh yes, they had heard and seen much but they did not necessarily understand it.
Listen to the conversation as John’s gospel reveals it in chapter 14.
14‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2In 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. 4And you know the way to the place where I am going.’*5Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ 6Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’8 Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ 9Jesus 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”? 10Do 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. 11Believe 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. 12Very 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. 13I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.
Now, let us go back and put the lesson in context. If we read chapter 13, we can get a better idea about the confusion of the disciples.
In that chapter we find it began with Jesus washing his disciple’s feet before Passover. We notice that Peter did not understand what Jesus was really about because he told Jesus in the beginning that he could not wash his feet. But then he decided he could not only wash his feet but his hands and his head as well.
Jesus then tells the disciples that one of them will betray him and then he gives them a new commandment. Notice verses 33-35.
Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now, I say to you, “Where I am going you cannot come.” I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.
You and I remember the verses about the new commandment. And that is why I urge you again not to let your independence and political issues get in the way of doing what Christ told us to do. If we love one another we will not do something to put anyone in danger.
But, let me go back to call your attention to the verse we often rush over. In verse 33 Jesus told his disciples: “Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now, I say to you, “Where I am going you cannot come.”
Can you imagine the confusion and anxiety the disciples must have felt? In just this one chapter Jesus has them all feeling very unsettled. In verse 33 the disciples were like children who hear that their parents are going on a trip and they cannot come. The children are anxious about being without their parents and they wonder what will happen to them while they are gone. Don’t they care for us?
As we turn to our text for today things do not get much better.
Jesus tells them “Don’t be troubled.” It is like a person who is afraid of heights being told not to be afraid of heights. Do not be afraid! That does not help very much.
Last Sunday we reflected upon a shepherd who leads out of the gate and takes the sheep with him. Now Jesus seems to be saying that the shepherd is going out on a way that they cannot follow. Hearing this sort of talk from the shepherd does not seem reassuring.
“Don’t be troubled.”
They sure had good reason to be troubled. The storm clouds had been gathering. Jesus had encountered much hostility. And then there is the problem of just what specifically Jesus is planning. Is he going to be a revolutionary? He is criticized by the powerful religious leaders. Is he plotting a takeover? Or will Jesus be content simply to teach some beautiful but hard to understand principles? It is all very troubling.
We can imagine the disciples saying,“Come on, Jesus, give us reassurance, and tell us why we shouldn’t be troubled.”.
By the way, it may be a fine point, but there are some biblical scholars who look at the original language and think that the words “Believe in me” might be better translated, “Trust in God. Trust also in me.” The word “trust” is more relational than the rather abstract and detached word, “believe.”As we think about this text this morning, keep that in mind and see if it helps.
Putting all that aside, Jesus responds to his disciples by saying, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. 2In 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? 3And 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
What is that supposed to mean? Where is this “father’s house”? Is he speaking metaphorically? And what does he mean by saying, “I am going to prepare a place for you.”? Is he leaving us? If he leaves us, can we trust that he will return? Again, when he says that he is going away and he is returning, is he speaking literally or figuratively? If we cannot somehow figure out what he is talking about, then we are anything but reassured.
And may I just remind you again to whom these words are addressed? Jesus is talking to his inner circle the Twelve. These are the people who followed Jesus every step of the way, heard all his teaching, and witnessed his wondrous works. And now, many chapters deep into this gospel, they do not have the foggiest notion of what he is talking about.
“You know the way to the place I’m going,” says Jesus.
In desperation and frustration, Thomas finally has the courage to ask the question that must have been on everybody’s mind, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How in the world can we know the way?”(Thanks for your candor, Thomas.) We not only do not know where you are going, but we do not know the way either.
And Jesus’s answer to Thomas’ question? “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” That’s an answer?
What we would like is for Jesus to say something like so many of us preachers are prone to do,“Here are the six sure steps to following my way. Here is how you need to walk if you are going to walk my way.”
Or perhaps he might say “Let me carefully define my truth for you. Write this down. Let me state carefully and clearly the specifics of my truth.”
No. All he says is, in effect, “You want to know the truth? You would like to know the way? Here it is. I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Just last Sunday we heard Jesus speak of himself as a gate, a door. Now he speaks of himself as the way and the truth. Jesus has not just come to open the gate, or to show them the way, or to tell them some truth because he himself is all of that. The truth about Jesus is Jesus. The way to Jesus is Jesus.
Jesus then says, “If you have really known me, you will also know the Father. From now on you know him and have seen him.” That really does not help our anxiety either. We do not really know Jesus. We have demonstrated that by our questions. So, it does not help much for Jesus to say that if we know him, we know the Father. We do not know anything.
Now Philip blurts out, “Lord, show us the Father; that will be enough for us.”
I must say that I am grateful for Thomas and Philip. The rest of us are all sitting here smiling and nodding like we know exactly what Jesus is talking about. At least Philip and Thomas care enough to be honest about their questions.
Jesus replies, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been with you all this time?” I do not know whether Jesus said this in exasperation or in wonder. “You guys have been hanging out with me all along the way, all of this time, and you still don’t understand?”
But isn’t that often the way it is with Jesus? There are people listening to me today who have been with Jesus nearly every step of your life journey. You are a regular attender at church. You have listened to more sermons than one could count. And yet, you managed to have found this place to listen to the scriptures, hear a sermon, and still you do not understand as clearly as you might like.
I hope that those of you who are relative newcomers will take heart. These are people here who have known Jesus for a long time and still do not fully comprehend him. That may be depressing to some of you newcomers to think that. And yet, that is the way with Jesus. Rarely is he completely comprehensible. Rarely does someone walk away from church saying, “Now I get it. At last I really, fully know Jesus and so I am confident that I completely, fully know God.”
I am sorry. If you thought the whole point of worship this morning, the whole goal of my sermon, is to enable you to have complete comprehension of Jesus, I expect you will be disappointed. It was not so for the first disciples of Jesus, and it probably will not be so for us.
Well, John, what then are we to do? It is right here that Jesus says something that I find to be the most amazing part of this passage.
“I assure you that whoever believes in me will do the works that I do. They will do even greater works than these because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask for in my name, so that the Father can be glorified in the Son. When you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.”
Can Jesus be serious? To these disciples who have openly confessed their confusion and lack of comprehension, Jesus says, “You’ll do the same works that I do. In fact, you’ll do even greater works than I.” Then he promises them that whatever they ask of the Father, in his name (that is, in the spirit of Jesus), the Father will grant them.
Lay aside from your mind, just for a moment, the boggling statement that Jesus will grant us the ability to do even greater works, and let your mind focus for just a moment again to whom Jesus was speaking. At least Thomas and Philip were honest about their incomprehension. The other ten did not have the courage to admit their cluelessness.
Here we see the inside group, the best students in the class to whom Jesus had shown and said everything he has got… and they do not understand anything.
And it was to them, even to them—the worst students in the worst class imaginable, to them, after they had all flunked the exam, not knowing for sure who Jesus is, where he is going, or what he is up to—that Jesus promises that, because he is so closely related to the Father and because they are so closely related to him, they will do even greater works in the world than he has performed before them.
“You’ll do the same works that I do.” The miraculous healing, the raising from the dead, the words of truth and insight: you will do the same.
This is good news. I expect that there are some of you think that the whole point of church, the purpose of gathering for worship, is better to understand Jesus. Over the years, you have heard some things about him. Now you are here to get the facts. Perhaps you do not have much church background, so you are here seeking the essential information that you missed. Or maybe you grew up in the church, but the church you grew up in gave you a lot of misinformation. So, you are here to get your head straight.
Lots of luck. We are talking about the eternal God, God’s Son, the one who is totally at one with the Father: do you really expect there will ever be a day when you get your head completely around that?
Others of you have been sincerely attempting to understand Jesus. Who is he? What does he expect in your life? What does he want from you? You have been trying to pay attention. Maybe you have launched out on a program of careful Bible study. That is all good. I wish you well. But as somebody who has tried to pay attention for many years, somebody who has studied lots of scripture, I can tell you that Jesus is tough to understand. If his own inner circle, the first twelve disciples, have difficulty comprehending him, what hope is there for us?
Well, maybe our hope is found in today’s Gospel. Maybe the point of Jesus is not to understand Jesus. Perhaps he is saying to us here that even though we are not sure, not 100% certain, of who he is, even if we do not exactly know where he’s headed or what that means for us, that’s okay. He seems more certain about us, much more certain than we are about him. He says that we, even in our incomprehension, even despite our questions, we will do the same works that he does. In fact, believe it or not, we will do even greater works.
I want you to think about that for a while. Think about the ways that the promises of Jesus, even this astounding promise that we will do even greater works than he, are being fulfilled by you. Take that with you into the world day after day.
By the grace of God, you may come away from Christian worship this day with something better than answers, something more valuable than intellectual certitude.
Whatever Jesus wants to do in the world tomorrow, he chooses to do it through you. He does not wait for you to get your head straight about him. He has his head straight about you. Even though we cannot always to be faithful to him, he makes promises to us.
Hold on to your hat. Get ready to be surprised. You will see Jesus’s promises fulfilled in the coming week.
We often say that someone is best known to us by their works, rather than their words. Is that what Jesus is saying to his disciples? Perhaps Jesus is inviting Thomas and Philip and the others to recall to their memory the works that Jesus has wrought in their time with him. There was the water to wine thing, then Lazarus brought back to life, a miraculous feeding from just a little bread and a few fish, and many more signs.
Maybe the identity of Jesus is revealed by his works?
“Who is he?” is a question best answered by “What does he do?”
What do you think? I love the dialogue that Jesus and his disciples had. Share your experiences and ideas, I would be happy to hear them even if you disagree.
In the meantime, there are the ever growing number of people who need to be fed, there are those who need a friend, there is hope and love to share.
And remember in these days the words of Philippians 4:8,
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.