May 3, 5th Sunday of Eastertide (John 14:1-14)

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Transcript

Eastertide (5th wk) – A Spacious House and a Long Road

John 14:1-14

Introduction

I spent the week in Boston at a conference with a lot of folks who carry deep church trauma—many were pushed out of communities, ordination, even jobs because of their convictions or who they were. I heard about racial injustice and those who carry wounds from hate. And I also witnessed beauty, courage, and hope. From the first note of the first song, tears were rolling down my face… The room swelled with hard-fought faith: “You are Alpha and Omega//We worship you our Lord//You are worthy to be praised.” 

No one there just believes what they were told—many have changed and grown over time–because healthy people do. Many have wondered if they have a place in the Church—have felt a great deal of trouble in faith––and yet they’re holding onto Jesus. It was beautiful. 

Today, we’re going to read from John 14. This is part of what’s called the “Farewell Discourse” of John’s Gospel. It’s Jesus’s long goodbye, just before his arrest and execution. As we read, see if you can spot the metaphors––we’ll explore their meaning:

Read John 14:1-14

Discussion: What do you notice? What do you wonder?

Did you notice that “don’t be troubled—believe” relates to “the big, big house with lots                and lots of rooms” and the “Way the Truth and the Life?”

This is all in a single thought… what connects them? 

Karate Kid. Mr. Miyagi. Daniel is weak and bullied at school. He’s got a smart mouth and little else. In one of the training scenes, he’s unfocused and all over the place. Mr. Miyagi teaches him to settle down and look him in the eye. To listen. To slow down and feel grounded and balanced… 

            Do you remember how he first started to teach Daniel?

                        Wax the floor. 

                                    Paint the fence. 

                                                Paint the house. 

Miyagi taught Daniel’s body long before Daniel understood what he was learning. There is a scene where the recognition happens: Miyagi says, “Show me wax the floor. Show me paint the fence. Show me paint the house.” At first, Daniel doesn’t get it—he starts to get down on the floor to wax again. “No no no. Show me what you know, standing.” It’s now a different situation—but what Daniel has learned applies in a different context. 

Jesus has been teaching the disciples implicitly the whole time they’ve walked the roads of Galilee and Judea. For three years, he’s given them tasks and lessons to teach them to live like him. In a few hours, he will be arrested and crucified. Everything he’s taught them has led to this moment—now they will need to trust him without him physically present. Same faith, new context. And to help them recognize what they already know, he uses two metaphors: Father’s house and the Way.

The Father’s house.

Jesus talks about his Father’s house only two other times—can anyone think of when? When does Jesus say, “My Father’s house?” As a boy in the temple and turning tables and cleansing the Temple. 

My “Father’s house” = Temple. A physical metaphor pointing us to a spiritual reality. The Temple is sacred space—the place people go to meet God. And Jesus clears the Temple because when the wealthy and powerful are welcome but others are crowded out, sacred space has lost all meaning. “My Father’s house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples!” You’ve made it a den of robbers. 

Let’s talk about robbers… and I’m sorry, we need a little bit of word study here—but it’s sooo good. Jesus used this same word in our text last week—about shepherds who enter the sheep pen rightly and robbers who come another way.It’s the same word Jesus uses as he flips tables: “you’ve turned my Father’s house into a den of robbers.” “Robber” is not the same as thief—kleptos—kleptomania. “Robber” (lestes) referred to those who took what belonged to others as their right—especially from oppressed people.

In that Temple scene, he is yelling to Religious Gatekeepers, “You will not turn my Father’s house into a hideout for people who take for themselves what belongs to everyone!” And here, as the disciples are about to watch those same Religious Gatekeepers arrest and execute Jesus, he says, “Don’t be troubled. I’m going to make space for you—outside the Temple, where the sacred isn’t controlled by one group!” My Father’s house has many rooms—big enough for all of you.

Thomas: We don’t know where you’re going. 

     Jesus: “You know the way.” 

         Thomas: “Uhhh, no. We don’t. 

            Jesus: “Thomas, I am the way!” 

Jesus is the Way. 

Many of you have been in church and reading Scripture all your life. Most of us have been hurt or disappointed by Christians at some point. But our experiences with those people provide a contrast to see Jesus’ character and posture clearly. We know what he’s like. So, what have you learned about Jesus and his Way—think about his posture toward God; toward others. What is his character? (Discuss)

The word “way” means, literally, “road.” It involves our actual movement—it’s a road, not a map. Jesus called disciples by saying, “Follow me.” “Follow me—that’s the way to God.” This isn’t some exclusive claim for Christian doctrine above other religions—it’s just not what he’s talking about. That wouldn’t make sense for a Jewish rabbi to say to Jewish people. It’s about how to be human—how to love God and neighbor well. He’s saying, “Thomas, you followed me around Palestine for 3 years. We’ve interacted with thousands of people—through metaphors and daily object lessons. You’ve seen how I live at every step. You have shared in the work. What have you learned?” This is his “show me, ‘wax the floor’” moment. Miyagi. 

Later in this passage, he goes on to say the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, will come to you and you will see Christ; the world will not see him, but you will. Those that love me will see me because they keep my word.  

When we learn Christ’s way—wax on, wax off—we find ourselves on the road to God… because those very practices of prayer and mercy, forgiveness and welcome are the road. All are welcome on this road, and all who walk it have a place in God’s house. It doesn’t say “perfect the road”—that’s not a thing. But he does say, “If you keep my words and practice them, you will know the truth and be free.” 

It is not possible to be a Christian and not learn to embody the character and posture and practices of Jesus. It's a way, not a map — not taking a position, but walking in his footsteps.

We live in troubling times—but so did they. Their world was never stable. And they found joy and peace and wholeness anyway––because they followed the Way (pause).

The song that I mentioned earlier—the one I heard in Boston that brought me to tears—is an African song. Israel Houghton brought it to America in 2005 after learning it in Zimbabwe, where the people had just experienced a total economic collapse; they were among the worst hit by the AIDS epidemic, with about 64% living in poverty. And they gave us this song out of their wisdom—out of what they learned about God in troubling times. “You are our beginning and our end, and we worship you our Lord. You are worthy, at all times, to be praised.” Praised! Because they found in Christ’s Way—and in the Father’s house––something worth praising. 

Some of you tell me how it all just feels hellish right now. I can feel it. You ask, “How does something like Christian nationalism do such harm?” It happens the same way it always has—when people try to control the house and gatekeep the road. 

There have always been robbers—those who take for themselves what is meant for everyone. Jesus turned over tables one time—that’s true––but that was a sign and not the finished work. In his death and resurrection, he bypassed the temple and the gatekeepers. Now the Spirit rests in the hearts of those who follow the Way; the Father’s House is open to those who walk Jesus’ road. And the more space we make for God, the more we dwell in that house. The more we embody Christ’s posture and character toward others, the more we realize that he is present on this road he paved for us.

CS Lewis, in his book The Great Divorce, has a scene where the Spiritual Guide says to the protagonist: 

“Son,' he said, in your present state you understand eternity...That is what mortals misunderstand. They say of some temporal suffering, "No future bliss can make up for it," not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory. And of some sinful pleasure they say "Let me have but this and I'll take the consequences": little dreaming how damnation will spread back and back into their past and contaminate the pleasure of the sin. Both processes begin even before death. The good person’s past begins to change so that their forgiven sins and remembered sorrows take on the quality of Heaven: the bad man's past already conforms to his badness and is filled only with dreariness. And that is why...the Blessed will say "We have never lived anywhere except in Heaven: and the Lost, "We were always in Hell." And both will speak truly.”        

If we spend much time at all in the gospels, you already know the way. Heaven is not a distant place we hope to enter one day; it is the presence of God we inhabit along the Way. The Father’s house is wherever we pray, wherever we serve, wherever we embody the life of Jesus together—and all are welcome.

Pray