April 20, 2008 – The Fifth Sunday in Easter
John 4:1-14
Grace and peace to you from God the Creator, and from our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Goodbyes are always hard –watching your high school senior prepare to “fly” on their own, away from your nest, or as families of military personnel, perhaps fly into harm’s way. Some of you are in the process of saying goodbye to someone you love who is moving from this life to the next, or have felt the sadness that accompanies that goodbye. At times like these there is little to be done, but sometimes words of comfort and companionship are the only things that really do help a little.
Today’s Gospel passage from John, “in my Father’s house are many mansions” (as the old translation goes) is famous for its use at funerals. In fact, I heard it used that way first at my great Aunt Frances’ funeral. Frances, who was a creative whirlwind for all of her 93 years, lived a full life, and died peacefully. The pastor who preached at her funeral was new, and didn’t know her very well, but she used this passage, and talked about the beautiful room that God had prepared for my great aunt. She described that room, full of handmade quilts on the beds and an easel in the corner, looking out the window at the birds and the garden. In the front room was her little organ, where she could sit and make music to her heart’s content. Actually, the “heavenly” room was a pretty accurate description of my aunt’s earthly home, and it made be feel better, somehow, to think about the fact that God was providing her a dwelling place that was up to the standard to which she had become accustomed! It made me feel peaceful as well, to think that God is preparing, even metaphorically, a place especially for me.
Words of comfort at a time of goodbye-ing, is what our story today is about. Jesus is at the table for his final evening with his friends, and he is sharing his last teaching, his goodbye. Of course, they were confused by what he was saying, troubled by the foreboding that filled the room. And yet Jesus takes their faith and their fears in stride and speaks a word of gospel to them: “Believe in Me! Trust in God’s Promise! There’s a place for you!” What a lovely telling of the Christian gospel…there’s a place for you…one can almost hear the strains from that song in West Side Story, “There’s a Place for Us.” But there IS a place for us, now and even after our death. It is in the heart of God.
But their hearts were troubled. Are your hearts troubled this morning as you sit in this room among friends and family in the fellowship of believers? Jesus is speaking to you. He began what he had to say with “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Do not LET your hearts be troubled, (as if we were really in control of what troubles our hearts…) Believe in God, believe also in me.”
You know, worry is like the little creek that runs behind my house. Most of the time it is a tiny little trickle of water, which often dries up completely in the summertime. But in these past few weeks, with all the rain, it has become a torrent, rushing through the woods. And each time it takes a curve, it carves out a little more of the bank that holds it in. And sometimes, pieces of the bank fall into the creek. Just like worry, if it is fed, will pull everything around it into itself. These days seemed to be filled with worrisome things that trouble our hearts. Perhaps Easter was too early this year, and it is just too difficult to sustain that resurrection promise for 5 whole weeks. Perhaps it is financial stresses of our economy, or a “too-long” winter just finally breaking, or the simple fact that “April is the cruelest month” which marks anniversaries of massacres at Virginia Tech, and Columbine High School and Oklahoma City.
There is a story about an elderly Cherokee Native American who was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, "A fight is going on inside me, it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One wolf is evil-he is fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, competition, superiority, and ego. The other is good--he is joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too." They thought about it for a minute, and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win, Grandfather?" The Elder simply replied, "The one you feed."
Do not let your hearts be troubled. There is something in this story that troubles me, and as a side note I’d like to address it. It is the verse “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me.” Unfortunately, Christians have used this verse as a way to be superior, exclusive. But I would like to lift up the understanding of the famous German theologian, Karl Barth, who, when lecturing to a group of students at Princeton was asked, "Sir, don't you think that God has revealed himself in other religions and not only in Christianity?" Barth's answer stunned the crowd. With a modest thunder he answered, "No, God has not revealed himself in any religion, including Christianity. He has revealed himself in his Son.”
Jesus was addressing Jews, who were looking for a way out from under the strictures of the Law, NOT folks choosing among a myriad of world religions. These Jews were attempting to get back to their beginnings with God, when God was in relationship with them, and the way God “abides” in John is exactly what they were looking for – a God who dwells with the people, a tabernacle-ing God (rather than a God located only at the Temple in the center of Jerusalem.) They had lost the way to God, and could not even find it through the gift of the Law.
But Jesus doesn’t simply “show the way,” Jesus IS the way. Jesus is the place where God reveals that he is not a God far off that we need to find a way to get to – but a God who comes to us, and dwells among us, as Emmanuel, God WITH US.
And to make this point even more clear, let me share an insight from Pastor Brian Stoffregen’s Crossmarks commentary. He points out that the Greek word for house, “oi-kia,” is not only translated in the New Testament as “a physical structure,” but also as “a household, a community of people.”
I know that many of you enjoy the t.v. show, Desperate Housewives, and this past Sunday night the theme of the stories from Wisteria Lane involved some interesting conversations about faith. Lynette, the one who seems always to be capable of taking care of anything at all, suddenly decides that it is time to get to church, and turns to friend, Bree (think Martha Stewart) who is a Presbyterian, for guidance. In the conversation that follows, Lynette admits she has been convinced that it was her faith that helped Bree through her “ups and downs,” and she confesses that she has always envied Bree that faith.
Bree: But my faith did help me!
Lynette: Really? O.K. How?
Bree: It just did.
Lynette: Look, this has not been a good few months for me. I’ve been through cancer and a tornado-and I survived while others didn’t. I don’t understand. And I need to understand.
Bree: Why didn’t you tell me?
Lynette: Why didn’t you ask?
Who is outside your circle looking at you, seeing how your faith holds you up, and waiting for you to ask? Who needs your “dwelling place” in which to heal, or to be comforted, or simply to begin to understand at the side of a caring companion?
And how do we keep from being troubled? How do we find the “heart peace” that we keep losing when we stop trusting and let the fears set in? Well, like the disciples, we must believe in God and believe also in Jesus. Because, also like the disciples, we KNOW how to behave in the face of death, but we are just learning how to behave in the face of NEW LIFE.
“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” The promise of the Holy Spirit leads us beyond ourselves and connects us to the whole Creation and to each other. This is the Spirit that comes into the church as a result of Jesus’ resurrection. It is the same Spirit that moved over the face of the waters at creation, the same Spirit who was there at Jesus’ baptism, and the same Spirit that Jesus promised to send during that last dinner together with his closest friends.
To be filled with this Spirit is to be filled with God the Creator and with Jesus – because it is this Spirit that fills the body of Christ – this Spirit that builds the “house” of Christian community – this Spirit that creates the Father’s House: the presence of God, for the world, IN YOU. You ARE the Father’s House. You ARE the people of God. Amen.
