Julie Kae SigarsToday's Readings: Acts 7:55-60 • 1 Peter 2:2-10 • John 14:1-14 Chuck took a ride in a Tesla this week. A good friend had studied it, researched it, searched his soul, so to speak, about it. Bought it. And took Chuck for a ride. Several hours later, Chuck was still nauseous. Moving so fast, so quickly. He certainly wasn’t used to it. Remember, Chuck is the walking man. Change can be hard, and even make us sick at our stomachs. The idea of change can do the same. “Change” needs to be framed… folks need to be prepared. Jesus knew that change was coming and tries to prepare, to frame it, for his disciples. They had been with him for three years. Surely they would understand, somehow, deep within, they would know how this would be. They weren’t ready for the G forces awaiting them… Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life: George Herbert came from a wealthy family, was a poet and an Anglican priest. A contemporary of Herbert said that “he wrote poetry like he actually believed in God.” Another said, “He was a soul composed of harmonies.” One of his poems, "The Call," takes its inspiration from our John text. Come, My Way, My Truth, My Life. You can swim in the depths of this poem. Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life: A way that gives us breath. A way that is spirit-filled. A way that is incarnational. A way that forms community, “us”… A truth as ends all strife. A truth that removes the troublings of the heart. A truth that speaks to all of creation. A truth that embraces all people. A life as killeth death. A life that says no to death. A life that offers paradise to all. A life of hope. In our gospel reading, Jesus is beginning his farewell speech. Jesus is saying goodbye to his disciples. He is preparing them for his death and resurrection. He will wash feet and feed them. He will be a servant. Jesus says goodbye…offering encouragement, hope, and clarifications (just in case his disciples might misunderstand) which, in turn, offers clarification for the new believers in the early church who are hearing this Gospel of John.... Thomas says: But we do NOT know where you are going…How can we know the way? Godspell: Where are you going? Yes, hearts were troubled. And Thomas did not understand.. This way is not a map…. This way was Jesus standing before him. This Jesus, This I AM was difficult for Thomas. The way is not a map (that Thomas was looking for). This way is something knowable, like a person. The way, the truth, and the life are incarnational, not concepts to be grasped or propositions to consider. Jesus is not speaking of secret knowledge, He is the embodiment of the way and the truth and the life. Then Philip pipes up: Show us the Father…. Jesus responds with Jesus, God in him, and Jesus in God… the image of being embedded in one another… nothing can separate them…. We are loyal to each other. Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart: A joy as none can move… embedded with me and in me. A love none can part…part of us…nothing can come between. A heart as joys in love…our hearts are not troubled… Finally, after trying to clarify, Jesus offers this. And it surprises me that I have never stopped on this verse before… Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. If you do not, if you cannot, then believe me because of the works themselves. Do this in remembrance of me. Be the church. I am embedded in you. Stephen seemed to get it. He was church. And even as he was dying, he mirrored Jesus in asking forgiveness for those who killed him. In 1 Peter, we hear of being living stones… stones that are solid, but alive… to be a place of substance that can be church, being formed as a people, all of us, a called priesthood, living stones…. Andy Goldsworthy story of iron stones…the red…we have red/iron in our blood…but stones seem alive….in the river…. Friends, sometimes we want clear-cut answers…. Sometimes we do not want poetry that seems to be beyond us…. sometimes we, like Thomas, want to just say: Hey, Jesus. Give us some facts. We want GPS to get us there, efficiently, no wrong turns. Don’t make us sick to our stomachs. Can’t everything just stay the same? Sometimes, like Philip, we want to diminish the cosmic so that we can see it, when the Cosmic Christ is standing right in front of us, and all we can really do is taste to see that God is good. Jesus and his disciples were together for three years. Had experienced so much. Yet, quickly it seemed, hearts were troubled. They knew, but they didn’t know they knew. I Am. Words of comfort…not conditions. You know me, I know you. As D. Mark Davis writes: Incarnational truth is different than doctrinal truth. If we use this verse to prove Jesus is the only way to salvation, what we are really saying is “this doctrine about Jesus is the truth. That is not the same as saying Jesus is the truth. ….Our encounter with truth is more like a relationship than a choice. Jesus’ frustration with Thomas and Philip is that they keep asking about the way, the truth, and the life as if the way, the truth, and the life were something other than the very Jesus standing before them. The I AM statements are not about doctrine. They are about the incarnational reality of Jesus Christ. It is about relationship not a concept. It is poetry, not doctrine. If you have trouble, then concentrate on the works of Jesus to figure it out. For a brief while George Herbert was in parliament. In his mid-thirties, he gave up secular ambitions and returned to his first desire, taking the orders of priesthood, becoming rector of two small parishes near Salisbury. Poet priest known for unfailing care for his parishioners, bringing the sacraments to them when they were ill, and providing food and clothing for those in need. If you have trouble, then concentrate on the works of Jesus to figure it out. This way, this truth, this life, is moving, breathing, living. At the table, all who hunger for the pure spiritual milk will be gladly gathered and taste and see that God is good. All who were lost and scattered will be gathered as a called priesthood of all who are loyal to this Way, this Jesus, who is before us. Here, the Way stands before us. Here, in truth, we will be feed. Here, our Life is embedded with Christ. Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:
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