John 14:1-14
[Jesus said,] “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 there to prepare a place for you, I will come again to take you to myself, so that where I am, there you will be also. And you know the way to the place that 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. And from now on you do know him and you have seen him.”
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and still you 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 the Father is in me and that I am in the Father? These 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 that the Father is in me. But if you do not, believe 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 might be glorified in the Son. If, in my name, you ask for anything, I will do it.”
Since it’s NBA playoff season, I came across what is apparently a phenomenon in the world of the NBA post-game press conference: dumb questions, asked by sports writers of NBA players, after a game. There are compilations of them all over YouTube, but I found this one – kind of short and sweet – thanks to Jimmy Kimmel.
So, we’ve all heard, I suspect, that “there’s no such thing as a dumb question.” I’ve said it before, in classes and Bible studies and whatnot; to adults and kids; to other people’s kids and my own, I’m sure. And it’s mostly true. If they are genuine and heartfelt and curious, there really is no such thing as a dumb question. This is the way any good teacher should approach a student; how any mentor should engage a protégé; any guide should embrace a follower; any messiah should encourage a disciple, maybe. But some people – kids and adults alike – and apparently sports writers and reporters after an NBA basketball game – put that notion to the test? (I’m looking at every teacher who’s ever had a Class Clown in their midst. And anyone who’s ever been the Class Clown, too.) There really can be dumb questions waiting to surprise even the most patient teacher or player among us.
Anyway, I kind of wonder if Jesus wasn’t thinking something along these lines when he was being questioned by Thomas and Phillip in this morning’s Gospel. I’m not sure you could call them “Class Clowns,” but Jesus seems sort of surprised, if not exasperated … maybe even disappointed … by their questions.
Jesus offers up what seems to be a preconceived notion, a no brainer, something he expected they would have understood. He’s like, “And you know the way to the place where I am going.” But Thomas gives us our first hint about his doubting ways when he wants to know more. “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?” He wants a little more clarity, it seems. As is his way.
Phillip wants to see something else, too … something more, something different, something better than what he’s already witnessed. “Lord, show us the Father and we will be satisfied,” he asks. “Come on Jesus, just show us this ‘Father’ you’ve been praying to and talking about and that’ll do it. Just make it clear and we’ll know … it’ll all make sense … then we’ll be satisfied. That will finally make all the difference.”
And Jesus is like, “Guys. You’ve seen it. Don’t you know? Remember when I turned that water into wine? Remember when I drank from the well with that woman in Samaria? Remember when I saved the life of that boy who was sick and that time I helped that lame guy walk after 38 years? Remember when I turned that other kid’s lunch into a feast for 5,000 people? And when I stood up for that woman who was caught in adultery? When I gave that blind man his sight and raised Lazarus from the dead? Remember when I washed your feet, for crying out loud! Have I been with you all this time, Phillip, and still you don’t know me? You still Don’t get it? You still don’t understand? You still don’t see?
In Jesus, what had been invisible could now be seen. In Jesus, the power and presence of God showed up living and moving and breathing, in the world. In Jesus the divine who had here-to-for been unknown became knowable. In Jesus, so many of our questions turned into living, moving, breathing answers.
And the questions weren’t answered by well-crafted sermons, or by theological treatises; by Q & A sessions in between worship services, or with crystal balls, either. Jesus answered the questions of his day and age by all of that living and moving and breathing … by being in the world. I think this is why the disciples didn’t always get it and I think it’s why we miss the point sometimes, ourselves.
Questions about grace were answered when Jesus forgave the unforgivable and welcomed the outsiders others refused to make room for.
Questions about mercy were answered when Jesus healed the sick and shared bread with the hungry.
Questions about justice were answered when Jesus spoke out against the hypocrites and turned over tables in the temple; when he empowered women, welcomed children into his presence, and when he broke bread with outcasts and sinners.
Questions about love were answered by the cross and questions about God’s power over all things were answered by the empty tomb.
What I get out of today’s Gospel – and the questions the disciples raise – is not simple answers, which are always tempting and maybe what we’d prefer. What I get out of this morning’s Gospel is a different way of finding answers. Jesus didn’t sit around arguing about who might be right and who might be wrong. He didn’t debate the theological merits of the questions the disciples were asking. And Jesus didn’t shout the answers or scream the instructions IN. ALL. CAPS. from behind a keyboard, by way of a post on social media.
Jesus became the lessons his life was meant to teach. He practiced and personified the way, and the truth, and the life of faith everyone wanted to know more about.
Jesus didn’t just talk about grace – he extended it to anyone and everyone.
Jesus didn’t just offer up “thoughts and prayers” about justice – he worked for it.
Jesus didn’t just dream about mercy – he shared it.
Jesus didn’t just sit in worship or around tables to read and study God’s Word for his own benefit – he preached and proclaimed it; he passed it around and poured it out in the form of himself, like so much bread and wine, to whoever would receive it.
Jesus didn’t just preach about the love of God, I mean. He embodied it.
And that’s our call, too – for ourselves, for each other, and for the world around us.
This morning, we’re sharing “first communion” with some of our young people and we’re baptizing Clive Blackmon, too. Like Thomas and Phillip, these young people can and should come to us with all kinds of questions about the place and presence and power of God in their lives and in this world.
And I hope they will learn from all of us – not just by what we say and teach and preach, even – but by what they see, feel and experience about the lives of faith they witness among us. They will learn about grace by who and how we forgive one another. They will learn about generosity and sacrifice by why and how much we give of our time, our energy and our money, too. They will learn about justice and service by the work we do in the world. They will learn about love by those we welcome among us.
And so will we.
This can be hard, holy work, for sure. But Jesus promises that we’re up for it … that as believers we will do even greater works than his own. And I believe that, along the way, we will reveal and receive answers about our own faith – maybe even the ones we can’t always put into words – when we live and move and breathe as the very body of Christ – as the very love of God – as the very presence of the divine – in the world, and for the sake of the world, in the name of Jesus who showed us how to do it all in the first place.
Amen
