Sermon

Sermon # 1042
May 22, 2011
John 14.1-14
Dr. Ed Pettus


"Finding Our Way"

"Do not let your hearts be troubled." Jesus has told the disciples that he will not be with them much longer and they are understandably trouble by this news. Any of us would be troubled if we heard someone we loved and cared for would be leaving. Jesus begins his farewell with the words, "Do not let your hearts be troubled." Most of the time, this is a hard saying. Who is not from time to time troubled, nervous, or anxious? We become troubled when bad things happen to us or to our family or friends. We get nervous when we face things that are unfamiliar. We are anxious when there is uncertainty about our future. “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” We are indeed troubled by death, loss, stress in relationships, and all that comes with being a part of the human condition. We are so inundated with troubling news every day that it becomes even more difficult to not be troubled. Even on our best days we can turn on the nightly news and get so discouraged by what we see and hear that we become troubled. Terrorism, fuel prices, politics and the list grows until we are not just troubled, but numbed by it all. Of course we can turn off the television and block some of the trouble from around the world or even in our own community, but trouble hits us personally and there is no getting away from it.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.” How? How, Jesus, can we live without troubled hearts? How can we see what we see in this world and not become troubled? How can we, like the disciples, lose someone close to us and not be troubled by it? Does Jesus mean for us to just be at peace 24/7 no matter what comes our way? Does Jesus mean for us to be constantly hopeful and always looking for the best in every situation? We’ve seen things go wrong, terribly wrong. How can we not grow troubled? I am troubled by the direction of the PCUSA and people on both sides of the ordination issue are troubled by the division this has caused in the church. We are troubled that some will leave the denomination, some will seek to reverse the ordination change. Some rejoice, others weep. What might be the most troubling result is that we are a divided people.


The disciple Thomas is like many today who are searching for the way to peace and hope. We are searching for the way where our hearts are not troubled. "How can we know the way?" That is Thomas’ question, “How can we know the way?” It is perhaps more difficult to know the way in modern times. Just look at the options. We are saturated with words like diversity, pluralism, and multi-culturalism. With those words come many religions, many beliefs, even many interpretations of scripture. We are asked to be tolerant, to accept that our way is not necessarily the only way to God. We are told to respect the rights of others to believe what they want to believe. We live in a very pluralistic society. One of the ideas today is that no single truth claim has the right over any other truth claim. That is, every truth claim must be equally true and no one has the right to claim his or her truth or vision of reality is more true than anyone else's. This opens the door for all kinds of views, theologies, interpretations and a diversity that is so far apart it can seldom find any way of unity. It all makes Thomas’ question all the more pertinent for today, “How can we know the way?”
Jesus is pointing us toward a relationship that reminds us of our hope and a promise for the future. Jesus is pointing us toward a relationship that really can bring peace and hope – that really can let our hearts be trouble free.


I read an article some time ago that discussed the concern of what the writer called the "lay liberal faith." At the core of this type of faith is that one faith is as good as another, as long as you are faithful to your truth. The article spoke of the understanding that no one has a right to witness to anyone else about their faith. These types of people have a concern for their children to have moral training, but any kind will do as good as another. In this particular article, the people being interviewed happen to be Presbyterian, but they could not give any reason why they were Presbyterian. As one said, they certainly don't believe in hell and eternal punishment. That is just old fogy stuff. The conclusion of the article was that many people have an assortment of religious ideas but no central cohesive commitment that is strong enough to shape their life. It is a vague belief firmly held. It is the kind of faith that is, what I call, “just enough faith.” Just enough faith to feel good about one’s self or just enough faith to not be a non-believer. The problem is it is also just enough faith to leave one with a vague belief that also leaves the heart more troubled than not.


How can we know the way? The way is offered in a multitude of ways in our culture: through other religions, through ideologies, humanism, naturalism, through politics, economics, science, and technology. If you want a search for truth you will soon be spinning in circles because everyone will be pointing you in their direction. Now we are faced with a denomination that is also divided. This is not the first time and will probably not be the last.


To be faithful to our confession, I have to say that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, for all persons. Now, our society today tells me that I cannot say that, at least I cannot say it to anyone else because I have to tolerate and respect their beliefs or lack of beliefs or their vague beliefs. To be faithful, I have to say that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, for all persons. I think that when I say that, I mean to acknowledge that I stand in this tradition by faith and it is not something that I can use to coerce other people, nor would I want to force it upon anyone. That gives me an appropriate humility, but that it is also where we must stand as believers – that this is our truth claim, which stands against all others.

My perception is that many Christians are saying that to be Christian means that I never assert or bear witness to my truth claim over against any other truth claim. I think that is also watering down the church and the gospel. We are afraid to make our truth claim, so we do not know what to say, or even worse, we do not know the way, the truth, and the life. I do not mean that we don't know what Jesus said or what the Bible says. I mean we may not know Jesus Christ himself.


Jesus did not say, “My teachings are the truth.” But they are truthful. He did not say, “My preaching is the way.” But it leads to the way. He did not say, “My parables are the life.” But they show us life. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” “I am.” Not the words, not the doctrines of the church, not the theologies of humanity, not the dogmas or systems or laws, not our interpretation of scripture, but Jesus Christ himself. Deitrich Bonhoffer in the book The Cost of Discipleship writes, “When we are called to follow Christ, we are summoned to an exclusive attachment to his person. The grace of his call bursts all the bonds of legalism. It is a gracious call, a gracious commandment. It transcends the difference between the law and the gospel. Christ calls, the disciple follows: that is grace and commandment in one. ‘I will walk at liberty, for I seek thy commandments’ (Psalm 119:45).” [p. 63]
Being Christian, and thus a disciple, means we are summoned to an exclusive attachment to the person of Jesus Christ.

Our proclamation is the unique witness to Jesus Christ as the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus himself is the way and the reason for the journey. To be on the way to the Father's house is to know the truth and to have the life of Jesus Christ; it is to believe in God and in Jesus Christ.

Some one may ask, "well, what about the Jews and the Muslims and the Buddhists and others? Are not their beliefs just another way to God?" It is not our concern to bash others because of their beliefs. I do not know about Tao or Buddhism or the Koran, but what I do know is Jesus Christ. That means that Jesus must be proclaimed as the way to God to all willing to listen. It is our call to proclaim the truth we believe. It is our task to proclaim Jesus Christ. It is not our calling to offer various options.


Ben Johnson has said, "I think we need to think about church and kingdom. That the Spirit is at work in a kingdom way in the kingdom of God stuff that's happening in the culture, but the church needs a narrowing of its focus, a clarity of its convictions. We need this so we can live out an authentic Christian life and let it be reflected in the culture and give us some keys for interpreting the culture.”

The apostle Paul had clarity of conviction. In 1 Corinthians 2.2 he says, "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified." Douglas John Hall says "what Paul means when he asserts that he is determined to know and to preach only the one thing, 'Jesus Christ, and him crucified,' is that for him this represents the foundation and core of the whole Christian profession of belief. That is to say, he intends to consider every subject from the perspective that one acquires upon it when it is considered from the vantage point of the cross" Douglass John Hall (p. 363-364).

Jesus Christ is the Truth - not a teaching, concept, or idea, but the person of Jesus Christ as the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is the way because he is the way to God. Jesus is the truth because he is the truth of God. Jesus is the life because he is the life of God among God's people.


We do not hold firmly to a vague idea or belief - we hold to a person in Jesus Christ as the way to God. We hold firmly to an exclusive attachment to the person of Jesus Christ.
All of life then becomes focused through the person of Jesus Christ. That is not to say that we will always have clarity of vision or that we will never be troubled in our hearts, but it is to say that the unique way to God for this community of faith and for you and me is Jesus Christ. In holding to that, we have confidence that the trouble for today is not the final word for us, but that there is a future filled with hope and joy and peace, and not a bit of trouble.

Sometimes we are confused by the complexity of our surroundings and it seeps into our faith and life. But when it all comes down to the core of our faith, we are founded in the centrality of Jesus Christ who is the way to God. We are rooted in the truth of Jesus Christ as the unique revelation of God. We stand firm in the belief that Jesus is the life and all else, all else will lead us to an eternal death.

How can we know that way? Jesus said, “Believe in God, believe also in me.” Only in knowing Jesus Christ. Jesus said in this passage, “I will come again.” He did not come yesterday, as some predicted, but he will come. On that day we will know fully the One who is the way, the truth, and the life. We look forward to that day, a day when we will indeed be free of all our troubles! Amen.