This John passage is
one of my favorites. It is, I believe, a great comfort and promise when we
struggle with life and particularly with death.
I heard it read during the telecast of the funeral
for President Gerald Ford. I was so captured by the grandeur of the cathedral
where the service was being held I was not paying particular attention to what
was being said. Speakers and pastors came and went when one in particular surprised
me. As the scripture was being read I recognized it immediately.
My first thought was,
oh no, not here, this reading is so deeply personal. I thought the televised
proceedings and the very public nature of the event was not the place for this
passage. For those weeping for their loved one I feared this reading might be
too raw a reminder that death filled the room.
But there is such a
reverence and sincerity about the piece.
It is Jesus’ boldest promise and at the time, I realized, the world will
hear it! There were former Presidents, world leaders, and dignitaries at the
service and these words of hope were the ones promising a power greater than
the greatest power this world has to offer. Influence, and prestige, and
dominance were being shown a safer place.
These simple,
intimately personal words directed to the family and friends of the President
of the United States of America trumped the greatest powers this world has
known. These same words were true not just for them; they are true for us too.
The effect of these
words and Jesus’ promise means he has extended his power to include all of us,
the highest and the lowest, President and pauper alike. We all have a place
with God in heaven. God’s power gives eternal life, and gives it in abundant
love.
John spoke to the
hurting world that day as he does this, “In my Father’s house there are many
dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare
a place for you?” Jesus tells us, “Do
not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.” No matter
the trouble, no matter what happens, we have a place with God.
It is not uncommon
for us to find such a place prepared for us growing up. It was true for my
brother, sisters, and cousins. At some point in our young lives we all found
ourselves living with my grandparents. It was the place God had prepared for us
when our young worlds were crumbling. It was our sanctuary, our safe place to
be. When troubling waters began to swell at home, our parents knew one safe
place for their children. Grandmother and Granddaddy’s was such a place. Unknown
to us and perhaps even undeserving, God had prepared that way for us.
Not only was it a safe
place to be, it was a safe place to grow. We lived through our teens relatively
intact. We were told we had to have jobs. We had to finish high school.
Everyone living there had to work. Everyone
had to follow the rules. Everyone had to carry their weight. We learned to live
the right way.
Along the way we were
deeply loved and safely cared for and we felt safe and our lives began to have
meaning. We discovered life and relationships in a place prepared for us where
our lives might do the works that Jesus had for us. God had prepared that place
for us and we were not alone.
In her book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek the author Annie Dillard tells how God
prepared her in her safe place for the work Jesus had for her.
She says, “When I was
six or seven years old, growing up in Pittsburgh, I used to take a precious
penny of my own and hide it for someone else to find. It was a curious
compulsion; sadly, I’ve never been seized by it since. For some reason I always
‘hid’ the penny along the same stretch of sidewalk up the street. I would
cradle it at the roots of a sycamore, say, or I a hole left by a chipped-off
piece of sidewalk. Then I would take a piece of chalk, and starting at either
end of the block, draw huge arrows leading up to the penny from both
directions. After I learned to write I labeled the arrows: Surprise ahead or
Money this way. I was greatly excited, during all the arrow-drawing, at the
thought of the first lucky passerby who would receive in this way, regardless
of merit, a free gift from the universe.”
It seems God has been
drawing arrows from the time of creation. Come here, I have prepared a place
for you. Live with your grandparents. Follow this way. Find a gift greater than
a penny. Follow this way and discover your savior, discover the unmerited gift
of God’s grace.
This story of God’s
grace is told again and again throughout scripture. For Abraham and the nation
of Israel God attempted to direct them to the promised land. God sent Moses to
lead his people out of slavery, through the wilderness and toward that same
promised land.
God sent Moses to give
the people God’s law. God sent prophets to speak of a Messiah who would bring
new direction to God’s grace. That Messiah, Jesus, came with completed
directions to God’s grace and even paved our way to it.
Yet with all this help
we have difficulty following God’s directions.
These two we read
about this morning were no different. They were fearful and Jesus’ attempt to
calm them and give them peace shows the depth of their struggle. Jesus wants
them to know peace following his death and assures them he will prepare a safe place
for them.
But Thomas does not
buy it. “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
Jesus assures them he
is the arrow on the sidewalk that will lead them and us to God. He promises he
is the grace they will receive to which the arrow points. Yet, like those
before us, we have difficulty following God’s direction.
The truth in John’s
gospel of our life being centered in God’s grace is what is difficult for us to
believe. We are the ones doubting. We are the ones who rebel and strike out on
our own thinking God needs our help. God must, for our life plan is not working
out like we think it should!
There is a wonderful story of a traveler from
Italy who came to the French town of Chartres to see the great church that was
being built. He encountered a workman, covered with dust and asked what he did.
The man replied he was a stonemason. He had spent his days carving rock.
A second man responded
he was a glass-blower and spent his days making colored glass. Still another
replied he was a blacksmith who hammered iron for a living.
Finally, the traveler
came upon an older woman with a broom in her hand. She was sweeping up stone
chips, wood shavings, and glass. He asked what she was doing and she responded.
“Me? I’m building a cathedral for the Glory of Almighty God.”
Is this not what we are doing here at Genesis
Presbyterian Church?
Jesus would tell us we
are building a cathedral for the glory of God. Jesus would tell us we are
drawing arrows on the sidewalk pointing the way to God’s kingdom.
It is time for us to bring out our brooms and our mops and
our hammers and saws and perhaps even our sidewalk chalk and continue our work.
For we are called by God to hide pennies in sycamore trees and in a hole left
by a chipped-off piece of sidewalk and write with bold letters for all to see,
Surprise ahead, Jesus is this way.”
Come, therefore, dear
ones to this place to receive in Jesus, regardless of merit, a free gift from
God’s kingdom. Receive the unearned gift of this safe place to be, this church,
this place in the arms of God’s grace, this place of unconditional love God has
prepared solely for you and for me.
Resist no more the
many rooms, some familiar, some strange, some darkened by our reluctance to
enter there. Come to those places opened by our Lord who sees our need before
we approach him with heart or voice and know his way.
For He is forevermore
our way, he is for all time our truth, and he is, beyond death, the love of our
life.
These are the places God has prepared for us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen 051814.gpc
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