John 17:1-11

Jesus, raising his eyes in prayer, said:

“Father, it’s time. Display the bright splendor of your Son so the Son in turn may show your bright splendor. You put him in charge of everything human so he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge.

And this is the real and eternal life:
That they know you,
The one and only true God,
And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

I glorified you on earth by completing down to the last detail what you assigned me to do. And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor, the very splendor I had in your presence before there was a world.

I spelled out your character in detail to the men and women you gave me. They were yours in the first place; then you gave them to me, and they have now done what you said. They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that everything you gave me is firsthand from you, for the message you gave me, I gave them; and they took it, and were convinced that I came from you. They believed that you sent me.

I pray for them. I’m not praying for the God-rejecting world but for those you gave me, for they are yours by right. Everything mine is yours, and yours mine, and my life is on display in them. For I’m no longer going to be visible in the world; they’ll continue in the world while I return to you.

Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life that you conferred as a gift through me, so they can be one heart and mind as we are one heart and mind.”

What was Jesus doing?

That might seem like a basic and elementary question but it’s one of the most important questions Jesus-followers can ask. What, exactly, was Jesus doing?

In today’s gospel Jesus tells us exactly what he was doing. He was giving “real and eternal life to all in his charge.” (And since, in the sentence immediately preceding, Jesus claimed he has charge of everyone, that means he was giving real and eternal life to everyone.)

Jesus has given us real and eternal life! That’s great news! But it’s great news in the same way that it’s great news to hear someone tell us “You’ve won a prize.” Our initial excitement and dopamine rush gives way to the important second question: “What prize? What, exactly did I win?”

What, exactly, is real and eternal life?

Jesus answers simply: real and eternal life is that you know the one and only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one sent by God.

To know God is to enjoy real and eternal life. The entirety of Jesus’ earthly purpose was to help us to know God.

Every insight about the kingdom of Heaven,

every overturned temple market table,

every parable about seeds and lost things,

every physical healing,

every social norm broken,

every jug of water turned to wine,

every prayer to the Father,

every endured lash and drop of blood,

every promise of forgiveness…

...everything Jesus said and did was a reflection of the true nature and identity of the divine.

What was Jesus doing? He was showing us that the world is in the hands of a God who is actively, competently, and compassionately caring for all creation.

In studying the works of philosopher Dallas Willard I encountered a claim of his that, to be frank, I found offensive. He claims “The world is a perfectly safe place for us to be; and if we place ourselves in God’s care, no harm can come to us.” (The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard).

Maybe that suggestion rubs you the wrong way also. I mean, it’s not even safe for us to gather in our church building.

Dallas Willard follows his provocative phrase with some important nuance. He says harm is different from hurt and clarifies that Christ-followers are not immune to the pain and suffering that exists in this world; however, this pain and suffering are not from God and they will do nothing to negate God’s promises of ultimate grace, love, hope, and peace. This is simply a reinforcement of the scriptural promise of Romans 8:39 that there is nothing in the world that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Jesus believed that the world was a perfectly safe place for him. He had faith that he lived in God’s care and he was never in harm’s way. Pain and suffering? Yes, he felt that in abundance as he navigated the landmines of human sin, greed, fear, and lust for power. Yet, through it all, he was able to see that God was in control, believe that he was loved, and be so filled with God’s grace that he could share it with everyone.

Jesus’ earthly purpose was to help us to know God. We can know God by looking to and emulating our teacher, Jesus. We can live the same life that Jesus lived; we can have Jesus’ faith, Jesus’ assurance, and Jesus’ love.

At this point I think a sermon illustration is in order. Now, I need to offer a word of caution up front. I was taught in preaching classes to be careful about sermon illustrations because they can easily take over the sermon and be the only thing people remember.

I am about to show you something and I don’t want this to be the only thing you remember about my message this morning. I hope that you will remember both the illustration and the larger point about how we can look to Jesus to know about God and to trust that the world is a perfectly safe place for us to be.

This is Obi, our new puppy.

Obi is two months old and has been a part of our family for two days now. In the weeks leading up to getting Obi I read a dog training book about positive reinforcement (Training the Best Dog Ever by Larry Kay and Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz) and came across a few sentences that struck me as beautiful theological insights. The authors, write,

“...the bottom line is that a dog is a living, breathing creation of God that desires love and security.”

“A well-trained dog that is truly connected to his owner will feel happy and safe, and have more success in our human world.”

“Good leaders don’t have to act like bullies to command respect–not in the human world or in the dog pack. Pet dogs don’t need to be bullied to become your loyal follower. Pet dogs love to follow leaders who provide food, shelter, and safety; leaders they see as benevolent and fair.”

By virtue of nothing other than his being a creation of God, Obi deserves to feel happy, safe, and successful. The way he will feel happy, safe, and successful is if his human family meets his needs and acts benevolent and fair. If he feels loved and safe, then we will have done our jobs as his dog-parents.

Everything we do in our training regimen is an attempt to reinforce the idea for Obi that his world is a perfectly safe place for him to be. We cannot promise Obi that his life will be free from pain. At some point in his life he will experience hurt; but we can promise him that we will do everything we can to make him feel loved and safe.

My friends, allow yourselves for a minute to think of yourselves gazing upon your master (the way, hopefully, Obi will learn to look at me). Gaze upon your master who promises that you are loved and safe. This master provides your food, shelter and safety. This master is benevolent and fair. You feel happy, safe, and successful in the presence of your master. Your mistakes are not met with painful punishment at the hands of your master; but instead are met with a gentle reorientation to the correct path. Your hard work and faithfulness do nothing to gain your master’s favor because you are already highly favored. Your hard work and faithfulness are simply the automatic responses to your master’s loving actions. That’s a good life.

Jesus insists that the good life for you and I is to know the master--the one and only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one sent by God.

This world is a perfectly safe place for you to be because it is in the hands of a God who is actively, competently, and compassionately caring for you. Allow that image of God’s goodness to take hold of your heart, as it did for Jesus, and you will have the gift of real and eternal life.

Amen.

John 14:1-14

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 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? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 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. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

I do not have enough training in the science of psychology to even consider myself an armchair psychologist, but I have a hunch that a person sees his or her world through the lens of one, or maybe two, formative relationships that he or she has experienced. Most likely, this formative relationship is with one or both parents. Generally speaking, the way in which your parent has interacted with you has informed your sense of self and your place in the world, what to expect of relationships in general, and how you relate to other people. A good psychologist or counselor will help you revisit these formative relational experiences in order to help you understand whether what those experiences taught you are actually true or not.

I am not familiar with any qualitative data on the subject, but I would offer a second hunch, that parents in general try to do the best they can. You probably didn’t find a Hallmark Mother’s Day card with that sentiment “You do the best you can,” but I still think it’s good news.

We only know what we know; and we know what we know only through the way our parents taught us to know things. And even if most parents generally do the best they can, they are limited by the ways that they were raised to understand the world. The way I understand myself and the world is directly tied to the way my mom and dad understand themselves and the world...and, of course, how they interacted with me.

Our image of God, like everything else, is filtered through the lens of the one or two formative human relationships in our life. It is typical for children to think of God as very similar to their parents...bigger and more powerful versions to be sure, but still very much in line with the thoughts and behaviors of the parent. A child who grows up feeling safe and cared for by a parent will default to an understanding of God as safe and caring. By the same token, a child who grows up being abused by a parent will default to an understanding of God as abusive.

It takes considerable effort for people to adapt their understanding of God, especially if it goes against everything they have been taught by those early formative relationships. A child who grew up feeling safe and cared for by a parent finds it difficult to imagine God could ever be abusive. By the same token, a child who grows up being abused by a parent finds it difficult to imagine God could ever be loving and caring.

We are at a bit of a disadvantage when contemplating matters of the divine because we only know what has been allowed to pass through the lens through which we view and understand the world.

Today’s gospel scripture is a beautiful example of Jesus compassionately correcting some of his disciples misconceived notions about the divine. Jesus invites the disciples to use his life and ministry as the lens through which to view and understand the world. The text is saturated with patience, reassurance, promise, and hope. Jesus is addressing some deep-seated insecurities and mistaken assumptions about God that his disciples have adopted in their lifetime. Here, in the moments before his execution, Jesus urges the disciples to be filled with…

… peace (“Do not let your hearts be troubled”)

… faith (“Believe in God, believe also in me”)

… assurance (“If you know me, you will know my Father also”)

… and divine power (“the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do”)

Take comfort, my friends, in knowing that the heads and hearts of Jesus’ disciples were still filled with fallacies about God even after spending years in Jesus’ presence. Also, take comfort that Jesus’ promises of peace, faith, assurance, and divine power were communicated in a time of uncertainty, turmoil, and disappointment. This speech, after all, comes on the heels of Jesus’ prediction of Peter’s denial and Judas’ betrayal. None of this compromised the truth of Jesus’ great instruction: Do not be troubled, believe in God, you know what to do, and you will be able to do it.

Jesus’ earthly life shows the world what God is like in flesh and blood, so that we can have a more accurate understanding of who God is, as well as who we are.

God, it turns out, is Christlike. Everything that Christ did during his earthly life was what God would have done -- what God DID do. God does not have a shadow side, ulterior motives, or a secret identity. God was fully exposed in the person of Jesus.

God, it turns out, is a skilled craftsman, and storm-calmer.

God, it turns out, is a healer and miracle-worker.

God, it turns out, has no regard for our barriers of race, ethnicity, class, religion, and gender.

God, it turns out, pays all his laborers equally.

God, it turns out, has a taste for a good wine and likes being invited to dinner.

God, as it turns out, is willing to die to expose humanity’s fear and lust for earthly power.

God, as it turns out, has high expectations for those who claim to follow...but also has incredible patience and unlimited forgiveness.

God, as it turns out, needed Jesus to show people just how short they had sold themselves and how short they had sold God.

Each one of us has been raised to see the world through a particular lens; but this lens often keeps us from fully realizing who we are and who God is. There’s no button to push or magic wand to wave to break free from these limiting understandings. One cannot be enlightened in an instant. But there is work you can do to allow God’s identity and relationship to be the primary way through which you view and understand the world.

You can read the stories of scripture to become more aware of who God is and who God isn’t.

You can talk to God, as matter of factly as you picked up the phone to talk to that old friend last week.

You can seek out a psychiatrist or counselor to help you understand how and why you have come to understand the world the way that you do; and to see what you have come to believe about yourself that simply is not true.

And you can meditate on Jesus’ last words to his disciples in what was also a chaotic and uncertain time: Do not be troubled, believe in God, you know what to do, and you will be able to do it.

Amen.

A Perfectly Safe Place for God's People...and Puppies!

The Christlike God – John 14:1-14