I’m starting this sermon with a really old illustration because things have gotten so much worse that to introduce it with a contemporary example would take more than one sermon to adequately address it. So think yourself back a couple of decades, to 2002.
That’s when football coach Ron Brown was rejected by California’s Stanford University. He was an assistant on the staff at the University of Nebraska, and early that year was interviewed for the head coaching job at Stanford. After traveling to Los Angeles, Mr. Brown got no further than an initial round of questioning. The reason, according to an April 11 story in the newspaper the Daily Nebraskan: “It soon became apparent his religious views, among other things, were incompatible with Stanford’s liberal student body and active gay community.” This astonishing statement was not even challenged by the Stanford authorities. Mr. Brown told the student newspaper he was amazed at Stanford’s bluntness. “If I’d been discriminated against for being black, they would’ve never told me that,” he said. “They had no problem telling me it was because of my Christian beliefs.” [World, April 27]
Alan Glenn, Stanford’s assistant athletic director of human resources, admitted that: “[Brown’s religion] was definitely something that had to be considered. We’re a very diverse community with a diverse alumni. Anything that would stand out that much is something that has to be looked at....” If they’re so diverse, why is there no room for Christians?
A few years ago, the Williamsburg Charter Survey on Religion and Public Life found that 92 % of surveyed academics demanded a “high wall of separation” between church and state; 1/3 claimed that evangelicals are “a threat to democracy.” The big media in our society, along with higher academia, have habitually over the last six months compared conservative Christians to the radical Taliban. “When you’ve seen one fundamentalist,” these folks tend to say, “you’ve seen them all.”
If you think I’m exaggerating, look up the April 27, 2002 issue of World Magazine for chapter and verse.
But the point of my mentioning all of this is not to inflame anybody’s paranoia... although sometimes paranoia seems to be the only healthy response - but to ask the question, “Why?” Why are some people so afraid to expose themselves to the claims of Christ? Why are they so threatened that they cannot even allow the Christian point of view equal time in the national debate? If they really believed that they have either the high ground - either intellectual or moral - you’d think they’d enjoy poking holes in the people someone, I think it was H. L. Mencken - called poor, ill-educated and easily led?
I think the problem is that they know they’d lose. I think the problem is that the cold wind of reality has been signaling all too clearly that their emperor has been strutting around with no clothes on. Because the fact of the matter is that this passage from John, which contains one of the most frightening words in Scripture for the militant anti-Christian - I refer, of course, to john 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This astonishing claim, if true, would knock their entire foundational worldview into the dustbin of history, along with the rest of the destructive ideologies of the 20th century.
Anyway, as I was saying before I so rudely interrupted myself, this passage from John contains all the ingredients anyone really needs to live a life of more completeness, more wholeness, more satisfaction and fulfillment than any of the faddish philosophies which have dominated our cultural elites for the last century.
That’s a pretty all-encompassing claim, isn’t it. I better be able to prove it. But I think I can.
First of all, what do people need to be happy? Psychologists say that people need three things.
First of all, they need something to do. Not necessarily gainful employment, that is to be paid for their work, but to feel as though their time and labor somehow adds value to the world. Secondly, people need something - ideally some one - to love. People need to love even more than they need to be loved - all though by all means do try to direct your affections to someone who is likely to return them. It’s really a lot better. And, finally, they need something to look forward to. As the great poet Robert Browning said, “Man’s heaven must exceed his grasp, else what’s a heaven for?”
I think that psychologists have stumbled upon some real Scriptural truth here. But of course they’re missing a key ingredient. Real happiness, real satisfaction, comes from doing work that really does add value to the world. Real fulfillment only comes when what you love is worthy of being loved. And unless you are hoping for the right thing, you will be disappointed when - if - you achieve your goal. And so today’s passage (helped along by a handful of others) points us toward the right work to do, the right object of our affections, and the right aspiration.
Okay. We all need something worth while to do. For all too many people, work is what they do while saving up for a vacation. But that’s not the way it’s supposed to be. Let’s look at what Jesus said about work. Jesus said, “ Very 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.” [v. 12]
Now, some people think that this means repeating the miracles of healing and other signs and wonders that Jesus did when he was here on earth. But I don’t think so. Because Jesus repeatedly pointed people away from the signs - which were there to authenticate his mission, to establish his credentials, and instead pointed to the transformation in relationships: the love for God, the love for one another, the willingness to serve, the devaluation of the world’s currency of status and wealth. These are the ends towards which Jesus points the work of the church, his body in the world.
The work we are to do in Jesus’ name can be of many different kinds. The first and most obvious kinds are to repeat in modern dress the work he did among us: that is, to heal, to feed, to comfort, to teach. In fact, “to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners...[Is 61:1] But it doesn’t stop there. Martin Luther, and Calvin after him, and indeed all the Reformed church from then on has always taken Paul’s letter to the Colossians seriously: “Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters, since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you serve the Lord Christ.” [Col 3:23-24] As the sign over Ruth Graham’s sink says, “Divine service performed here daily.”
All work done for the glory of God, will glorify God. This doesn’t mean that you should never seek a position that fits your gifts and talents better, that pays or has better opportunities for advancement. What it does mean is, don’t miss the opportunity to serve God in the place where you are, in the mistaken belief that there’s nothing important there to be done, or something important there to be learned, or someone important there you are to reach. Learn to see your world with Christ’s eyes.
Ok, the second thing people need is someone to love.
It’s true that nowhere in this passage does Jesus talk directly about love. What he does say is, “Believe also in me." [v. 1] Now, this of course means to trust him, but trust him to do what? Trust him to kick out the Romans and make the disciples rich and powerful and respected? No. When Jesus said to trust him, he means to listen to what he said, believe it to be true, and act on it - even when we don’t completely understand it. What was the most important thing that Jesus taught?
Ask a dozen people, and you’ll probably get a dozen answers. I think the best way to figure out the most important thing that Jesus ever taught was what he himself said was the most important. And that’s the very question one of the scribes asked Jesus. Matthew and Mark both tell the story, “Which commandment in the law is the greatest?” [Mt 22:36] is the way Matthew put it. And Jesus answered without a moment’s hesitation, no looking up at the sky and drawing out the suspense. He said, simply, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” [Mt 22:37-40]
I remember, back in my misspent youth, how many people went off to India in Beatle George Harrison’s footsteps, asking this guru or that for the meaning of life. How many people have crammed New Age bookstores and the religion shelves at Barnes & Noble looking for the answer to that same question? Because it really is the same question, isn’t it. “What’s the greatest commandment?” and “What is the meaning of life?” are simply two ways of asking why are we here? What are we to do, or be? What are we - and our lives - for?
The shorter Westminster Catechism asks, “What is the chief end (that is, purpose or goal) of man?” And answers it, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”
Who - what - are we supposed to love? God, and our neighbor. Everything else that Jesus did was simply love in action. And there is no other love in heaven or on earth that is more completely requited than our love for God. The shoe is, in fact, on the other foot. God’s love for us was perfectly required only in Jesus Christ. We love, in fact, only "because he first loved us." [1 Jn 4:19] But it is what we were made for. And as we respond to God’s love by loving one another, and doing Christ’s work after him, we will find our own capacity for love and our own capacity to receive and enjoy God’s love grow at a rate unimaginable when you first begin to follow his lead.
OK... Now we come to the third thing we need to be happy. And that is hope. Jesus spoke these words to his disciples on the night he was betrayed, on the night he was about to leave them for what they initially thought would be forever. He’s tried to tell them that it isn’t all going to be smooth sailing but they haven’t wanted to pay attention to the unpleasant bits. So now he is, for the moment, coming at the issue from another angle. Neither approach works, as we know. All too often, we don’t understand what God has had in mind until we turn around and look back at it from the completed perspective. But we do know the end of this story, and so we can understand and apply to our own situation the same truths that Jesus was trying to get across to the Twelve.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus said. In other words, no matter how bad things look, don’t lose hope. Don’t panic. It’s like the time he was sleeping in the boat while they were night fishing and a storm came up. The disciples were afraid, not realizing that his very presence in the boat was what guaranteed their safety. Jesus is in the same boat with us, too - he’s been through what we’ve been through, whether it’s disappointment or betrayal or not knowing where your next meal is coming from. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.” [Heb 4:15 ] He’s there with us, and he’s there for us, and as long as we follow in his footsteps we won’t get wrecked.
So what have they got to look forward to? What have we got to look forward to? Not just being rescued from storms, or having meaningful work to do and people to love here on earth. “In my Father’s house,” Jesus said, “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." [v. 2-3] The KJV uses the term mansions, but that doesn’t mean that we should expect palaces. That’s not what the word meant back in James’ day. The point is that our hope is for eternity, not just for today and tomorrow. A time will come when we will be with Jesus forever in a place especially prepared for us. Furthermore, not only is he preparing a place, he’s coming back for us. We aren’t going to arrive at that great depot in the sky and find that all the taxis have been taken and the station master has gone to lunch.
But it’s not just a promise. It’s also a warning. Because even though Jesus explains where he is going, answering Thomas’ question, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” they can’t get there by themselves. We can’t get there by ourselves, anymore than we could swim to London. Just knowing the destination isn’t enough. “Man’s heaven must exceed his grasp,” wrote the poet Robert Browning, “else what’s a heaven for?” He, of course, meant that we are so built that we are not happy unless we are looking forward to something that we don’t have yet. But heaven truly is beyond our grasp, without Jesus as escort.
Some scholars believe that this passage refers to the Second Coming, when Jesus comes in glory to judge the world. Others believe that this refers to Jesus’ appearance to the disciples after the resurrection. I agree with the second interpretation. Because it was after Jesus arose, and then ascended, that he gave them both their marching orders and the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to love God and our neighbor as we are commanded to do. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to see and do the work Jesus wants us to do. It is, in fact, the Holy Spirit who enables us to follow Jesus Christ through the dark of this world, seeing ahead of us the place where Jesus has gone. It is the Holy Spirit who unites us to Christ, so that we cannot get lost even when we can’t see two inches in front of our noses. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to know and recognize God as our father, and heaven as our home. [Rom 8:15] It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the assurance that the disciples lacked, that long-ago day in Jerusalem. “And hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us." [Rom 5:5]
Who do you know who wants to be happy? Do you know anyone who thinks they could be happy if only those pesky Christians would stop making them feel guilty about their self-indulgence, their self-centeredness, their insistence on defining reality, morality, and the meaning of life for themselves?
How do you love your neighbor, that person who wants to be happy just as all of us do? Is it not to invite them to join you - to join us - on the journey to the Father?
One of my favorite poets, W.H. Auden wrote:
"He is the Way.
Follow Him through the Land of Unlikeness;
You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures.
He is the Truth.
Seek him in the Kingdom of Anxiety;
You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.
He is the Life.
Love Him in the World of the Flesh;
And at your marriage all its occasions shall dance for joy.”
There is only one way to the home everyone longs for, whether they know it or not. There is only one way to the Father - even for the people who’d rather call him Mother. And in addition to all that is promised at the end of the road, on the way there are adventures unimaginable, joys unspeakable, work rewarding beyond measure, and love unequaled. Invite your friends.
