Sermon - John 14.1-14

John 14.1-14

Starts as if Jesus talking about escaping this life to live in a disembodied heaven. But this is a dangerous misinterpretation – could lead to a wrong attitude to this world and our mortal life.

Towards end of passage it becomes clearer that J is talking about the importance of living as kingdom of God people here and now:

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these… John 14.12

How can this be? Because Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. John 14.6

The Way

One of scariest experiences of my life was being the passenger of a blind taxi driver! (Formby to Woodvale 1979). The driver’s reply to my expression of alarm? “Don’t worry, I know the way!”

There are times when all of us wonder about the great questions of life. Where did I come from? Where am I heading? Who am I? What is life all about? Thousands of young people demonstrating in cities all over Spain are asking these questions, as they express their despair and anger at the lack of job opportunities. Everyone from Tolstoy to Freddie Mercury has asked these kind of questions. Not long before he died, Mercury said this:

You can have everything in the world and still be the loneliest man, and that is the most bitter type of loneliness. Success has brought me world idolisation and millions of pounds, but it’s prevented me from having the one thing we all need – a loving, ongoing relationship.

He was right to say a loving, ongoing relationship is the one thing we all need. But can any human relationship completely and consistently satisfy that need? Even a perfect marriage dosn’t last forever because one partner dies first. As Christians, we believe that all of us were created to live in a relationship with God and Jesus said I am the Way… Jesus is the only one who can bring us into a relationship with God which goes on into eternity.

Without Jesus, we are a bit like that taxi driver – winding our way along, with no clear picture of what is going on, bumping into things as we go and hopefully getting from A to B without killing anybody! If we follow Jesus as our Way, we see things we would not otherwise see. The meaning of life becomes clearer and we have a purpose. We also become less of a danger to others.

Also remember that the Way we live during our journey is vital – not just the fact of arriving at the detination, but how we live during the journey. This is why the Bible gives us so much information about how Jesus lived his life – partly as a model for us.

Someone recently pointed out to me how almost all the hymns in most hymn books are about the birth, death or resurrection of Jesus. Hardly any are about his life in bertween! I think we need to write some new hymns. Because life is more like a ballet than a taxi ride. The Way that you move to the music, building beautiful patterns with the other performers (guided by the great choreographer!) is the whole point…

The Truth

Secondly Jesus claimed to be the Truth – an extraordinary claim. Now many people today say it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere. But this is only partly true. Sincerity IS important and of course arguments about whose beliefs are correct and who is a heretic have led to much of the violence and ugliness of history. But believing UNTRUE things, even if we are sincere, can have terrible consequences.

For example if you believe God will be pleased with you if you strap explosives to your body, walk into a crowded place and detonate…

Or if you believe your race or religion makes you superior to other people…

On the other hand, seeking to believe what is true, seeing things as closely as possible to the way they really are, puts us in touch with reality and helps us become wise and good. It can also make life more meaningful and enjoyable. E.g. If you have a huge inheritance in the bank but don’t believe it is there or if somebody really loves you but you don’t believe them, you miss out. Having belief in TRUTH makes all the difference.

And Jesus doesn’t just talk about the truth, he IS the truth. He is the exact image of God. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father”. Surely that makes him the most important person in history to meet, to learn about to believe in and to follow. And this must be true for us and for everyone else too.

God promises to reward you if you earnestly seek the Truth, even if this leads you to question things you’ve been told to believe. I want to make it clear that this is a Church where it is OK to have questions (ask me or your home group leader… join a Roots1 or Routes2 course).

The Life

Jesus said elsewhere (Luke 12.15) that a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his posessions. Although looking at human society today you’d think it did!

Jesus said I am the Life, which is obviously a far more bold claim than to say this or that is the meaning of life… but what did he mean? I think he was referring right back to the origins of human life and right forward to the end of time, to the goal of human history. The Adam and Eve story in Genesis teaches that death was never part of God’s plan but that it came into the world as a result of human rebellion against God, human rejection of the simple, open, loving relationship they had initially enjoyed. Human beings made a choice to abuse their free will and live as God’s enemies instead of his friends and partners in creation.

If we fast forward to the end of the Bible we see in Revelation (echoing Isaiah and other OT prophets) that God’s plan is to rid the world of sin and death and restore all things to perfection in a new created order at the end of this era. When Jesus came among us – God in human form – this new era began, the era of eternal life or the kingdom of God.

The resurrection of Jesus proved that the kingdom of God had broken into human history and made it possible for people to live here and now as kingdom of God people, living by God’s values and priorities and working with God in his saving and renewing work.

I’d say the key is to do LIFE ENHANCING things for other people and avoid doing LIFE DIMINISHING things. You can think of your own examples in each situation. Are there things I habitually do which are life diminishing? What can I do instead which is life enhancing?

Conclusion

How seriously do we take the claim of Jesus that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life and how do we present this idea in a world which is highly suspicious of such claims?

If Jesus’s claim is true, as I believe it is, how can we work effectively with him to unleash the potential of his way and help others be part of what God is doing in the world today?

I was struck by a contrast last night between the Sant’Egidio community’s anniversary service in the Cathedral, with the people who are normally out together with some of us, serving the poor, dressed in white and desperately trying not to make a mistake in the very formal service … and the demonstration in Pl Catalunya of young people crying out in despair at the hopelessness of life. They needed to encounter the Way, the Truth and the Life … but we had shut him away in a dark building and a dry ceremony. We (all Christians, all Churches) need to work with God in releasing the potential of the Way, the Truth and the Life, in helping others be part of what God is doing in the world.

A flying instructor of mine (I’ll call him “Joe” to protect his identity) liked to have a few beers at the airfield before driving home. Joe’s argument was that even with 5 pints of beer and a whisky or two inside him he was a safer driver than a sober 80 year old man. Now Cliff may have had a point – especially when I think back to that taxi driver - BUT life is not about getting away with it or being adequate or better than some other poor soul. Life is meant to be lived to the full, abundantly, generously, honestly - as a man, woman or child of God, a citizen of God’s kingdom, living in the way, the truth and the life of Christ.
We end with an interesting and challenging video (Get Service - see previous post) to help us think about putting these ideas into practice. Let’s live it, show it and share it.