The travel planning has begun. Thanks to the generous gift in celebration of our ten years as your Pastors—Chris and I have decided to visit another of the holy lands of the earth—what I would consider number three on my list of holy places—right behind Minnesota where I was born and the land of Jerusalem and Bethlehem which I visited a few years ago—the next most holy land to a Lutheran Pastor has to be Germany—home to Martin Luther and the Reformation. What we have discovered in beginning to plan is that there is no one way to see the sites and places we want to see. There are many and various routes—The Castle Road—The Romantic Road—The Classic Road—Even the Fairy tale Road and the Goethe Road. The truth about traveling is that there are many routes—the most direct—the fastest—the most scenic—And what is right for you at one time is not the route for another time.
My father does not like express ways—He will take several extra hours to travel cross country through the small towns and past the various farm fields—I can’t understand it but then I am far more urban in my lifestyle than he is which means that the way we travel is different—yet we both can wind up at the same destination. And Jesus said, “And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” It is all so simple—the Way—Jesus said it of himself—I am the way—Know me, he said and you know the way. It sounds so simple and in one sense it is and yet, in another, well… To know Jesus is to know the way—As those who have been attending the Sunday adult forum have come to discover—there is no one image of Jesus that stands through all time and history—the book shelves are filled with more writings about who Jesus is then any other figure in history. Just last week we encountered in the gospel lesson and sermon the mixed metaphor pictures of the Christ as shepherd and as gate. The Jesus that we met in Sunday school hopefully was modified during confirmation and probably completely recast (if not cast off) during college and young adult years. The eternal Christ transcends the millennium but we have created doctrines and confessions, rituals and religions to define who Jesus is and in so doing set forth our understanding of the way that he represents. True to our human nature and needs we tend to presume that the way we know is the best and sometimes only way which leads us to presume to know Jesus better than anyone else—and so an exclusive truth claim is born.
An exclusive truth claim is at the center of most religions and faiths—It is the claim that a particular faith community makes to being the only faith or at least the truest faith. Some are humble enough to limit that claim to themselves only, but most of us know that the human ego being what it is—we can’t resist setting ourselves up as right and declaring that others will have to accept our truths and our way or have no part in our or God’s world. Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Most of us have to feel pretty lost to actually stop and ask for directions—and these days you have to be careful who you talk to. When I was growing up in southern Minnesota there were not a lot of alternative expressions of faith around—The religious world was pretty well divided into three groups—there was us—the mainline protestants mostly Lutheran but embracing Methodists, Presbyterians and a few Baptists—and then there were the groups that wouldn’t talk to us—folks from the Missouri Synod Lutheran and Wisconsin Synod—they wouldn’t talk to us because we weren’t Lutheran enough—and then there were the groups we weren’t supposed to talk to—mostly Roman Catholic—because they were too—well, Catholic. And then there was my friend Jill Gordon—the only Jewish family in town. She wasn’t one of us—but she talked to me—and I talked to her. Inevitably there came the question regarding “the way” and my friend Jill—Jesus said he was the way and no one comes to the Father except through him. I could understand how this fit for us—the mainline faith folk—And I came to recognize what it meant to each of the groups that made claims of having their own special take on the way. How that might exclude me from traveling with them but we still all had our fix on Jesus as the key to the way. My problem was what to do about those who didn’t know or recognize that there was no way without Jesus.
When Jesus made this declaration to his disciples It was offered as a word of comfort in the midst of the prediction of his death—Comfort that he would not abandon his disciples—He was calling them to faith. Here we enter the mystery and wonder of Christ’s teachings and life. We believe that God has chosen us—we believe because God has chosen us.—For most of us even before we knew what was happening the deal was closed with a little water and the words “…in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” God marks us as his own—a child of God. In Baptism this morning, Logan was marked with the sign of the cross—No matter how far Logan wanders from this place or what joys or sorrows or conflicts enter his life the fact is that Logan will always be the child of Mike and Amy—and a baptized member of God’s family of grace. This is the certainty that Christ proclaims to us in our Gospel lesson—He is the way—the “what ifs” are not a part of this story—there is only the affirmation that we are God’s people. Later this week I am heading to Ohio to bring number two son home from college—I have learned that the only way to make this trip is with guaranteed room reservations for the night we have to spend in Oxford when every other parent is also converging on the school and the same small town.—Guaranteed room reservations give you a certain confidence in traveling—relieves the anxiety of trying to arrive by a certain time—makes the scenery and events along the way far more enjoyable. Guaranteed reservations—that’s Jesus’ promise—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. Guaranteed reservations—and the terms of the guarantee are set by God—not human doctrine, creeds, rituals or confessions—by God.—Although we certainly like to try and make sure we have inserted our two cents—and tried to convince everyone else that we know better than God what we are doing.
No one comes to the Father except through me is the declaration Jesus made. I do not believe that when Jesus made that statement he intended for me or anyone else to try to decide for Him and God who was to be included or excluded. When Jesus goes on to declare that those who believe Him will do even greater works than He did—I do not believe that he meant we were to be more aggressive than He was in condemning or judging or excluding from God’s kingdom those who do not agree with us or anger us. Greater works of grace—bolder acts of love—truer moments of humility—greater risks for peace and reconciliation—these are the truly greater works. The way is not defined by a particular moment or deed or confession or even belief—Let us remember that Jesus was a Jew—his disciples were Jews of various expressions of the Jewish faith—some could barely talk to each other—times don’t change that much when it comes to religion. The way is not captured by naming a particular faith expression—God had taken a wandering collection of tribes and made them into a people centered in the words of the Law and the prophets and committed to doing God’s will as they discerned it—Then came the Word made flesh and the family of God was discovered to be not one people but all who believed in the power of love—the miracle of grace—and the certainty that God is not removed from us but fully revealed in our midst. We proclaim this in the mystery of the sacraments and the power of prayer. We know to be true that which God has revealed to each of us—and we offer that truth to those around us in the belief that the Holy Spirit might be set free in others lives to lead them to discover the same grace and love that empowers our lives—But we do not play God—judging other’s sins—We may name the sin—we may declare someone guilty of the crime—but our place is to see justice done in the world—and let God be God—the judge of all eternity. We do not play God and create a list of who is saved and who is lost—We live in the promise of our place in the kingdom—Live—not rest—Live in witness to that promise. Our problem is that we too often have too narrow an outlook—We limit our vision—our hopes—our faith.
C. Edward Bowen tells the story of a traveler from Italy who came to the French town of Chartres to see the great church that was being built there. Arriving at the end of the day, he went to the site just as the workmen were leaving for home. He asked one man, covered with dust, what he did there. The man replied that he was a stone mason. He spent his days carving rocks. Another man, when asked, said he was a glassblower, who spent his days making slabs of colored glass. Still another workman replied that he was a blacksmith who hammered iron for a living. Wandering into the dark gloom of the unfinished building, the traveler came upon an older woman, armed with a broom, who was sweeping up the stone chips and wood shavings and glass shards from the day’s work. “What are you doing?” he asked. The woman paused, leaned on her broom, looked up toward the high arches and great rose window and answered, “Me? I’m building a cathedral for the Glory of almighty God.”
Our Sunday school children have been part of the fund raising through there dimes, quarters and dollars given each Sunday that helped Habitat International build houses in South Africa over the last few years. Kim J. just returned from working on the Lutheran Project Build team in South Africa and knows what an important ministry this is for our church. The other day a couple of our Sunday school kids were standing in the narthex in front of the concept drawing for the church building program. I overheard one of them ask, “Do you think we’ll get a gym?” The other replied, “No problem. If we can build houses in Africa a gym should be easy.” Jesus said, “greater works than these”. It is a simple matter of the way we choose to go—the journey of faith before us. There is a story told of a young man who left his home and family to seek his destiny—as he traveled he came to a point in the trail where the route forked in three directions—An old man was sitting on a stump in the shade of a tree at the trail fork—The young man spotted him and asked, “Tell me, sir, what do you know about these trails and where they lead?” The old man looked up at the traveler and said, “Well, a lot of folks pass here—Some go that way,” he said pointing down the first fork, “because that route leads to one of the fastest growing frontier settlements around—there is great farm land and the promise of a great city some day—lots of jobs and opportunities there—the promise of fine homes and a great future—Of course other folks like this trail,” he said gesturing at the second route—“There is lots of adventure this way with stories of discoveries of gold and amazing treasures for those who are willing to take the risk—hard work for most but the promise of fame and fortune—and then there is this way,” said the old man pointing to the third fork—“There isn’t much down this road except an elderly couple who’ve lived their lives feeding the travelers and tending the sick who needed a place to stay until they are strong enough to move on” The young traveler studied the various trails pondering the old man’s words, “Which would you take?” He finally asked. “Well,” said the old man, “I’ve traveled each of them in my day and now like you I’m here.” And with that the old man turned and walked down the third path.
Our life journey never ends until we rest in Christ—this we believe—this we know—this we confess. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
Amen.