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Lent
Sermons from Commons Church. Intellectually honest. Spiritually passionate. Jesus at the centre. Since 2014.
Today, we've got three questions. What is the way? Who is the father? And why the big secret? Welcome to the Commons cast.
Speaker 1:We're glad to have you here. We hope you find something meaningful in our teaching this week. Head to commons.church for more information. My name is Jeremy. I'm part of the team here.
Speaker 1:And thanks for being here with us today, especially because we find ourselves in the midst of our Lenten series. And Lent is the season that leads us towards Easter every year. It started last week and that is why I'm wearing this purple stole to remind us of the season and our anticipation. If you've never seen something like this before, that's what it symbolizes. Now, every year, our goal is to prepare ourselves well for the story of resurrection.
Speaker 1:And this year, we have decided to spend our time in the gospel according to John. And in particular, chapters 13 through to 17 where the writer records for us one of Jesus' last conversations with some of his best friends over dinner. Now, sometimes this is called the last supper. It's the meal that we remember in the Eucharist. But in this series, we are really focusing in on what Jesus has to say in this last chance to speak with his friends.
Speaker 1:So we've called this series one last thing, because in a lot of ways, these chapters are sort of record of everything Jesus wants to get off his chest and on the table knowing what is about to come in the next couple of days. And so last week, we started in John 13. Today we're in John 14. And unsurprisingly next week we will be in John 15. However, before we go there, let's look back at where we've been briefly here.
Speaker 1:Because this conversation starts on a really fascinating note. Jesus welcomes his friends over for dinner and when they arrive, he immediately takes off his outer robe, wraps a towel around his waist, and then gets down on his knees to wash their feet. Now, this is a cultural thing, but it's also a symbolic thing. You see, in the ancient world, washing your feet when you enter a home, this was not uncommon. Sort of like taking your shoes off when you enter someone's home today or not, as I said last week, like those American barbarians who wear their shoes in their homes, which is weird.
Speaker 1:Right? Everybody knows this. Okay. However, what was uncommon even in the ancient world was for anyone who wasn't a slave to wash someone else's feet. And that is a little awkward.
Speaker 1:And so that's where Peter shows up for us to say all the things that we are sometimes afraid to say. Jesus, this is weird. And it's uncomfortable, and it makes me feel strange, and this is not how I want to picture you. Because you're someone I look up to. Someone I respect.
Speaker 1:Someone that I want to see myself in, and that's really the problem, isn't it? That we all want to follow someone we aspire to be. And so to see that person play a role that we don't want for ourselves, this is uncomfortable. And that's the point. And Peter at least has the guts to come out and say it.
Speaker 1:Name the fact that Jesus is, by his actions here, subtly destabilizing all of the structures that we use every day to find our value. But here's my favorite part. Jesus says, Peter, you don't understand, but one day you will. Because this isn't about making sure that your feet are clean. This is about cleansing you from all of the ways that you judge and compare and create hierarchies of who's more important than another in your imagination of the world.
Speaker 1:And then Jesus ends and he says, Peter, you are clean. And I love that. Even though you don't get it right now. And even though you might not for a very long time, Peter, even though you might not ever completely understand what I'm doing, You are welcome here in this story. And that is very good news for someone like me who desperately wants to love Jesus, and yet still struggles with this drive to prove myself to others over and over and over again.
Speaker 1:Now, what we didn't have time for last week was the pivot that Jesus makes away from Peter after this moment. In verse 10 Jesus says, those who've had a bath need only to wash their feet, their whole body is already clean. And Peter you are clean, though not every one of you. For verse 11, he knew who was going to betray him. Now what's fascinating here is that instead of immediately calling out Judas and saying also by the way it's that guy, let's get him, because that's exactly what I would have done in that situation.
Speaker 1:Jesus actually continues on with the idea of foot washing. He says, listen, what I'm doing here, you now need to do for each other. Because I've set an example for you so that in this community, no one should be holding themselves up above another. And any time you start to think that you are better or more important or somehow more significant than someone else, then your job is to find a way to elevate them. Even if that means you get down on your knees and you serve them.
Speaker 1:And there are a thousand different ways that each of us can do this in real life. But if you are at all like me, and tend to have a big voice in the room, then one of the most important ways you can elevate someone else is to simply be quiet long enough to really listen to their story. And I think that is one of the ways that we really struggle to serve each other in our society today. At least, I know that it's one that I'm working on. Now, today, chapter 14.
Speaker 1:And, today we have three questions from three disciples and three new ways to think about how Jesus reveals the divine in and through us. But first, let's pray. Lord of lonely places, who bends down to wash our feet, who understands that power is designed to serve and strength is meant for the weak. Would you invite us to follow you? To walk in your way.
Speaker 1:To experience your truth, and in that to discover your life in and through us to the world. Where we have found our identity in comparison. Might we be shaken? And where we have elevated others above ourselves, might we learn to see your face in all people? Where we have perhaps denigrated ourselves and imagined that we are worth less than another.
Speaker 1:Would you lift our face to meet yours? And in your eyes might we see a true reflection of ourselves. Loved and welcomed and esteemed as your beloved children. Continue to be the way for us and help us to walk in it. In the strong name of the risen Christ we pray.
Speaker 1:Amen. Okay. Today we've got three questions. What is the way? Who is the father?
Speaker 1:And why the big secret? And those three questions come directly from three of Jesus' disciples. Because in fact this entire chapter 14 in John is structured around a little q and a sesh with JC. In verse five, Thomas said to him, Lord, we don't know where you're going. How can we know the way?
Speaker 1:In verse eight, Philip says, Lord, show us the father and that will be good enough for us. And then in verse 22, Judas, Iscariot, just a popular name at the time, he said, but Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world? So these three questions. What is the way? Who is the father?
Speaker 1:Why the big secret? That's our agenda for today. But before that, we actually have to backtrack just a little bit here to the start of chapter 14 to set the stage. Because starting in verse one, we find Jesus saying, do not let your hearts be troubled. Now, the reason that he is saying that is because he has just ended the previous chapter talking about how he's going to die.
Speaker 1:And so his friends are understandably confused and a little bit scared by what they've just heard. Now remember, Jesus has actually been hinting at this all along, all through the gospels. But you really start to get a sense here that things are imminent and the disciples are picking up on that, and that has them a little bit freaked out. And so Jesus basically says to them, listen, you gotta trust me on this one. You believe in God, believe also in me.
Speaker 1:And this word believe here is the Greek, pestero. And for some reason, it is often translated believe in English, but really trust is the better translation. And the reason for that is that pistuo is not primarily about what you think to be true. It's about what you are willing to trust yourself to. So you can believe whatever you want about God.
Speaker 1:The question of is really about who you trust to do good for you. And that's what Jesus is saying here. Guys, you have come to think one thing about me, but that's not going to happen the way that you expected. So do you trust me? Truthfully, that is about as good an encapsulation of my faith journey as it gets.
Speaker 1:In about twenty years of following Christ now, I have found myself constantly having my beliefs and my ideas, my thinking about the divine reshaped and transformed, sometimes even against my will. And yet, have never been able to shake this idea that I have trusted myself to Jesus. That's what faith is. You trust God, now trust me. Jesus isn't done here though.
Speaker 1:He says, my father's house has many rooms. If that were not so, would I have told you that I'm going there to prepare a place for you? If I go and prepare a place for you, then I will come back and take you to be with me, so that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place that I'm going. And this is of course where we get Thomas famous question, what is the way?
Speaker 1:But first, there's one more thing here. The NIV says, my father's house has many rooms. And that's a really interesting phrase, partly because there are at least a few different ways we can think about this. First of all, house is the word, which is think more home than house. That make sense?
Speaker 1:This is a home or a dwelling. This is not simply a structure with four walls and two bedrooms and one and a half baths. That's not really the point. Okia is where you live, where you dwell. And basically I think we kind of understand that he is talking about heaven here whatever that is.
Speaker 1:But that leads to a really interesting part because rooms is the word monai in Greek. And this absolutely can be a resting place like a bedroom, but it can also be a stage of life where we dwell or rest. So the Greeks would talk about monai or stages of development in life. And the Hebrews wrote about the stages of heaven as one moved closer to God. And because of this, there were a lot of early Christian writers who took this passage to mean less that there are many rooms in God's house and more that there are many steps and stages in God's presence.
Speaker 1:It was a really interesting idea. If you kind of recoil at the idea of a static heaven where there is nothing left to learn or nothing to grow into, maybe heaven is actually full of new challenges and opportunities to know God in new ways. But as fascinating as I find all that, I actually think the simplest reading here is the best. Heaven has room for everyone. So where your house gets full, and listen, we have family visit at times, and our house has a grand total of 980 square feet to divide up, so things get tight quickly around our place.
Speaker 1:In fact, sometimes it's already tight with just three of us and a dog who live there. Fact, here's an image of my bed as I often find it regularly when I want to go to sleep. And that little section that I've circled there in pink, that's where I'm supposed to sleep. Beside the kid, behind the dog, six feet of me crunched up into that corner. So things get tight the more people who show up.
Speaker 1:Right? But I actually think this is Jesus' point here. He's telling his friends that in heaven, in God's home, it doesn't matter who shows up, there will never be less room for the next person. And that might sound obvious, but sometimes I think we need to remember that when God does something good for someone else, that does not mean there is less left for us. And that's what Jesus wants his friends to understand.
Speaker 1:I am going to do good somewhere else away from you, but that does not mean I won't be back. Whatever good I do does not take away from my love for you. But that of course leads us to our first question. Because Jesus says, there is always room and you know the way. And Thomas responds, actually no.
Speaker 1:We don't know the way. And here we get one of Jesus' most iconic statements. In verse six he says, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. Now, this is for my money one of the most compelling statements of Jesus found anywhere in the gospels.
Speaker 1:But it's also one that gets used inappropriately at times. And what I mean by that is, on the heels of Jesus, just talking about how expansive the kingdom of God is, this verse sometimes gets used to clamp everything back down into a very exclusionary framework. The tough thing about that is, in its context this is both expansive and exclusionary all at the same time. So here's how I view heard it used. Jesus is the only way to God, therefore you must accept Jesus into your heart, whatever that means, and say the sinner's prayer, whatever that is, or God wants nothing to do with you.
Speaker 1:Problem is, that seems to have very little to do with what's actually going on in this conversation. In verse five, Thomas says, we don't know where you're going. How can we know the way? Verse six, Jesus says, me. And that's a weird answer, isn't it?
Speaker 1:Well, there's two problems here as I see it. First, we don't think like Jews. And second, we don't read like Greeks. So we'll start with the reading, because that's a little easier. In English, we have a definite article, the, and we also have an indefinite article, a.
Speaker 1:And in English, the definite article usually highlights a singular or specific example. Whereas the indefinite article is one of many. So the way, the truth, the life means one way, one truth, one life as distinguished from all other ways. K. Easy enough.
Speaker 1:Except that other languages work differently. So Latin for example doesn't have a definite article at all. French for example has three definite articles. Depending on gender and number. Greek, well Greek has 24 different definite articles, more if you want to count the vocative case, which is rarely used.
Speaker 1:And they use them everywhere. If you got them, use them. Am I right? So if you wanted to talk about the tiny blue book on the short black table. In Greek, you would say, the tiny, the blue, the book, the short, the black, the table on.
Speaker 1:That's just how you talk. And all of that is to say that you can't immediately read all the weight of how English works back into Greek. It's just different. Now, hold on to that. Because we're gonna come back here in a moment, but first more importantly is how Hebrews thought.
Speaker 1:You see, when Jesus says, I am the way and the truth and the life, it all sounds very impressive to us. But for a first century Jew, this would have been mind blowing. You see, way, truth, and life. These were concepts in ancient Judaism that held incredible significance for their view of the world. And they were deeply interrelated.
Speaker 1:So Deuteronomy five says, you shall not turn to the right or to the left. You must follow exactly the way that the Lord your God has commanded. Later in Isaiah, the text says, whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, this is the way, walk in it. But then in Isaiah 35, there's actually a passage that talks about a time when God will return to his people. And God will be present to them and it says that there will be a highway then And it will be called the way of holiness and it will be for those who walk on that way.
Speaker 1:Now, if we pull this up here, you'll actually see that in most translations like the NIV on the screen, the way of holiness and the way are capitalized. And that's because most Hebrew scholars see this as a proper title. Way is a central idea in the kingdom of God. Now truth is similar. Psalm six.
Speaker 1:Teach me your way o Lord that I may walk in your truth. Psalm one nineteen. I have chosen the way of truth and I have set my heart on your law. But then you get passages like Isaiah 65 which says, he who is blessed in the earth will be blessed by the truth of God and he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of truth. Now that phrase God of truth is actually a specific name for God.
Speaker 1:It's Elohei Amain or truth God. And then of course we have life. So we get passages like Proverbs six which says whoever heeds truth is on the way to life. Here's all three ideas together. Or Psalm 16 where the poet writes, you make known to me the way of life but again you also get these references to the living God.
Speaker 1:Like Isaiah 37 which talks about El Kai or alive God. Point is, these are actually very well developed ideas in Hebrew thought, and each of them are names for the divine. And Jesus knows exactly what he's doing when he applies them to himself. He's saying, guys, our concept of way and our idea of truth, everything that leads to life, that's actually all me. And here's where our discussion of definite articles comes back into play.
Speaker 1:Because Jesus is not saying he is a way or a truth or a life. He is saying he is way, truth, life. It's a capital w t l. And the article functions here to help signal that Jesus is taking these huge Jewish concepts and he's turning them into titles for himself. I am way.
Speaker 1:But, do you see how in one moment that makes Jesus both very exclusive and incredibly expansive all at the same time? Because Jesus is saying, as if there is a way you have encountered the divine or truth you've experienced in your journey. If there is life that is now coursing in and through your body, that is and always has been in and through me. And yet, somehow at the same time, it's almost like Jesus is taking himself back from our attempts to systematize and concretize and limit the ways in which he is allowed to show up in the world. Because if there is way that leads to truth and into life, then Jesus is there.
Speaker 1:And maybe that there is bigger than we imagine it to be at times. You see once you get that Jesus is taking these massive Jewish titles for himself, then all of a sudden his answer makes a lot more sense in the light of Thomas' question. Thomas says, we don't know where you're going. How can we know the way? And Jesus says, just watch me.
Speaker 1:You don't need to know the steps, Thomas. That's not the point. You don't need to have the words. You don't need some arcane ritual to find truth in life. You just simply follow me there.
Speaker 1:Which is fascinating. Because then Philip jumps in and says, well why don't you just show us the father? That ought to be good enough for us. And Jesus responds, guys, have you not been listening to anything I've been saying? Now, I'm paraphrasing here.
Speaker 1:What he actually says is, anyone who has seen me has already seen the father. How can you say show us the father? Don't you believe that I am in the father and the father is in me? The words I say to you, I don't just speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the father living in me who is doing his work through me.
Speaker 1:So trust me when I say this, I am in the father and the father is in me. And what's really incredible here is that once you see that way, truth and life are titles Jesus applies to himself. And now Jesus responds to Philip is really just repeating what he's already been saying in a slightly new way. So my son has come to understand that often lettuce is the most important part of a salad. And that makes sense.
Speaker 1:Right? I mean, sure, we eat a lot of arugula in our house because rocket is obviously the coolest of the leafy base nicknames, but lettuce works. Alright? And so now, regardless of what kind of salad we are eating, my son just calls it lettuce. So last week, Rachel made a fruit salad and she gave it to Eaton and Eaton was blown away that you could have fruit lettuce is what he kept calling it.
Speaker 1:And why have we been eating lettuce made of lettuce when we could have lettuce made of fruit? This is incredible. Sometimes you just need new words to say things in new ways. It does sound weird that we call it a salad. And here Jesus says, guys, I am way.
Speaker 1:I am truth. I am life. And Philip says, why don't you just show us the father? And Jesus is like, dude, it's all salad. It's all the same thing.
Speaker 1:There's nothing you're missing here. There's nothing I've left out. I have nothing behind my back or up my sleeves. What you see here in front of you right now, this is all of it. And this is so central to Christianity.
Speaker 1:But it is also one of our core convictions here at Commons. Now we talk about being intellectually honest and we talk about being spiritually passionate, but then we will say we have Jesus at the center. And I love that language, but the truth is sometimes it doesn't fully get across the weight of what we mean when we say it. Because what we mean, and what Jesus means here is that we will never see God more clearly than when we stare at Jesus. And if you open the first page of your journal, or you go to the first about us page on our website, you will read that at Commons, we are completely fascinated with this complex and beautiful collection of texts we call the bible.
Speaker 1:But we worship Jesus. And the scriptures lead us to the realization that Jesus is the only exact representation of the divine and that God has always looked like Jesus even when we didn't see that clearly. So because of this, we have abandoned the idea of an angry violent God in order to fully embrace the good news brought forward by Jesus. Because we believe that Jesus came not to change God's mind about us, but to repair our imagination of God. And this is what Jesus is saying here.
Speaker 1:Guys, I am way. I am truth. I am life. I am the image of the invisible. I am the divine present with you.
Speaker 1:I am all of human longing made tangible and real in your midst in this moment. In verse 20, he will actually go on to say, one day you will realize that I am in the father and you are in me and I am in you. And if his friends weren't scandalized by his response to Thomas, then they are probably reeling a little bit right now. Because Jesus is just not letting up. And so Judas, not Iscariot, jumps in and asks, okay, why are you telling us and not everyone else?
Speaker 1:Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world? And, that is a great question. But, the answer here is perhaps in some ways the most fascinating part of anything that Jesus says in this chapter. Because after assuming for himself the titles of way, truth, and life, after affirming that in him we see the divine. Jesus now says, listen, anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.
Speaker 1:And my father will love them. And we will come to them and we will make our home with them. But anyone who does not love me will not obey me. Why don't I show myself to the world? Because anyone who loves me will walk in my way.
Speaker 1:Now, try to hear this in the context of this conversation and in particular, the context of this question. Because here's what we have in this chapter. Jesus, we don't know the way. Just watch me. Jesus, we want to see the father.
Speaker 1:Just watch me. Jesus, what about those who don't know? Just pay attention to whether they watch me. See, this entire conversation, every question and every answer, this thread is all about Jesus inviting us over and over and over again to just simply trust him. This isn't about who gets to the end.
Speaker 1:This is about who's willing to start. And don't misunderstand me. There's a time to talk about finishing well. In second Timothy Paul says, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race.
Speaker 1:I've kept the faith. And then in Hebrews 12 the writer says, let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. But here Jesus is all about the starting line. And it's less, have you towed the line, and it's more, are you willing to give it a try? Because sometimes, some of us get so worried about messing up the steps that it's almost like we're too afraid to take the first one.
Speaker 1:To which Jesus says, Thomas, just trust me. Philip, just trust me. Judas, trust me. Jeremy, trust me. This isn't a test.
Speaker 1:It's just about who you are willing to follow. And yes, you will mess up, and you will fall down, and you will step off the way from time to time. But in time, the spirit whom the father will send will teach you all things. And remind you just when you need to be reminded of everything that I've said because peace is what I leave with you. My peace I give to you.
Speaker 1:So do not let your heart be troubled. And above all else, do not be afraid. You see, sometimes I think we imagine that Christianity is all about Jesus grilling us with questions. Like testing our theology and inspecting our answers and measuring to see if we make the cut when really Christianity is about Jesus who patiently waits and responds to our questions over and over and over again. So my prayer is that you might honestly ask this day and courageously trust this week and then find yourself on the way throughout this life.
Speaker 1:Because your questions, your doubts, your inquiries and the things you want to ask of Jesus. This is what it means to trust him. Let's pray. God, help us as we continue to move towards this Easter season. To know that you are in and through every doubt and question and inquiry we can pose to you.
Speaker 1:And that instead of you grilling us with questions and inspecting our theology, you are sitting there calmly, patiently waiting to answer our questions. But might we know that your answer is always going to be trust me. And so Lord, as we continue to walk and stumble around trying to find your way. As we bump into truth throughout the course of our lives and as we slowly begin to find life. Would we trust that your spirit is in and through us?
Speaker 1:Teaching us, reminding us, bringing us into all things. And that when we fall, you are with us and beside us helping us stand again. And that when we are strong and moving forward, you are cheering us on inviting us towards the best expression of your kingdom. In the strong name of the risen Christ we pray. Amen.