The Rev. Dr. Jean-Jacques D'Aoust           Easter V     4/24/05                      St Paul’s, Ft Collins

Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled

            The Gospel reading for today is from Jesus’ farewell address as recorded in the Gospel of John. It is the evening of the Last Supper. Jesus has washed his disciples’ feet, and Judas has left to do what he must do.

            As Jesus speaks to those who remain with him, he tells them: “I am with you only a little longer;” and he reveals that where he is going, the disciples cannot follow. But as he prepares his disciples for his absence, he offers words of assurance: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

            Jesus promises his eternal presence will be with them. However, to believe is more than intellectual assent. It involves committing the whole self to the care of God. If Jesus goes to prepare a dwelling place for them “in my Father’s house,” there will be room for all of them. Anthony de Mello, a Jesuit priest born in India, had a great sense of humor. In one of his books, he reports the curious way of praying of the Jewish mystic Baal Shem, who said: “Remember, Lord, you need me as much as I need you. If you did not exist, whom would I pray to?  And If I did not exist, who would do the praying?”

            Although Jesus will no longer be with them as an earthly physical presence, he will nonetheless stay with them. This sense of abiding or staying with Jesus is the focus of discipleship. To abide in Christ is to have reached the intended place – even as the journey continues. Eternal life begins even here and now, although as through a veil, when we “abide in the Son and in the Father.”  This is the promise of Jesus in the Gospel of John: everlasting, mutual dwelling in Christ.

            Thomas speaks for the rest of the group when he asks: how can they know the way to this place when they don’t know where Jesus is going. Jesus answers with some of the most familiar words from the Gospel of John: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

            As “the way,” Jesus is the one who leads to the Father. In addition, his life and teachings exemplify “the way” his followers are to live. He has, from the beginning of the Gospel, been identified with “the truth.” In the Prologue, he is described as being of “grace and truth.” And Jesus is the answer to Pilate’s question, “What is truth?”

            Throughout the Gospel, Jesus is also identified with life: “In him was life, and the life was the light of all people.”  Those who believe in Jesus have eternal life; Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

            “No one comes to the Father except through me.”  This exclusive claim is provided at this time as an assurance to the disciples, who face an uncertain future. It is not meant to be used as an attack on other ways. This view was not only an essential aspect of the Johannine community’s understanding of itself; it was also an affirmation of their faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the way to the Father.

            With the response of Jesus to Philip’s demand to “show us the Father,” the focus shifts from metaphors of place and way to a discussion of the relation between Jesus and God. Jesus replies that “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

            To know Jesus is to know the Father, to see Jesus is to see the Father. In all that Jesus has said and done it is the Father who has spoken and acted, because Jesus and the Father are never separated.

            Nor will the disciples ever be separated from Jesus. In fact, they will be empowered to do the very works that Jesus himself has done when Jesus is no longer with them.

            This ongoing work of the community will be possible because prayers made in the name of Jesus will be answered. However, these prayers are not to be in the service of self-interest, but in order that the Father may be glorified by the Son. The prayers are offered by the community to enable it to carry out the ministry entrusted to it by Jesus. Whatever is needed to accomplish that mission will be given to the disciples through Jesus – they only have to ask.

            In the Epistle for this morning, the author encourages us as we attempt to follow Jesus as the “way” and to act out our professed faith. First of all, there is no room for destructive behavior among us, and we are to rid ourselves of malice, envy, and slander. As newborns in the faith, we have to strive for the nourishment of the Gospel, the “spiritual milk” which will bring salvation.

            Jesus is the source of this new way of life. Though he was rejected by the world, Christ is the living stone, and is now the foundation or cornerstone of the faith. As believers, we should not fear to be identified with Jesus.  When we are truly united with Christ, we too are living stones, built into a living temple in order to offer acceptable spiritual sacrifices. As witnesses  to the Gospel, we are no longer scattered individuals, but now we have become a holy community, called by mercy out of darkness into light.

            The reading today from the book of Acts gives us another example of the challenges we will encounter as we live out our faith, just as Paul and Silas faced both acceptance and rejection while preaching in Thessalonica and Beroea.

            There, Paul preached in the synagogues, proclaiming that Jesus was the Messiah in fulfillment of the Scriptures. While some were persuaded by Paul’s arguments, there were others who became jealous. They formed a mob that searched one of the local house churches in order to bring Paul and Silas before the local authorities.

            The charges raised against Paul were that he had turned the world upside down and acted contrary to the emperor’s decrees by preaching “that there is another king named Jesus.” The claim, that Jesus is indeed the long-awaited Messiah, overturned religious reality and was politically subversive.

            To insure their safety, Paul and Silas were sent off to Beroea, where they again preached in the synagogue. Their message of a crucified and resurrected Messiah was accepted there, and many believed. However, when the Thessalonians learned of Paul’s success, they came to Beroea to incite local crowds against them. Thus once again, Paul was forced to depart to Athens to preach.

            Jesus invites us to see his life as the way we may live in the world with our unique abilities. Jesus is expansive in his love for the little ones of this world.          He is merciful with the unwashed and the stumbling. He speaks harsh judgment for those who use religion to burden others. He shares bread and cup with the needy.

            He opposes injustice. In Jesus’ words and deeds, we see the truth that he invites us to live day by day. Here is the way, he says, and my word, my love, my body.

            Jesus calls us with tenderness to a simple, trusting faith – a faith of a child who has yet to experience the pain of betrayal and fear. We are invited to believe that what Jesus has done in his life, death, and Resurrection gives our lives meaning and hope.

            We may walk the path before us with confidence because the One who is “the way, and the truth, and the life” has secured it for us.    Amen!