John 14:1-14
Today's scripture is part of a beautiful passage that we often read at funerals. When we are grieving the death of a loved one and are facing death head on, we need the assurance of Jesus that there is something more. We want to believe that there is a place beyond this life where Jesus and God welcome us - that we have a place in eternity. From the beginning of time people have wondered about that place. Famous authors have written about it. Artists have drawn pictures of it. Hymn writers have given us songs about it. Even though we have no direct experience of what it means to be in heaven, we each have a picture of what it will be like in our hearts and minds. I can't promise you that your picture is exactly right, but I can tell you I believe there is something more than this life and that it's good.
John records that Jesus tells the disciples that the way to this good place is through him. For Christians, this has come to mean that our faith is the only way to heaven. We must believe in Jesus in the way our religion describes as our admission ticket to the next life. Every religion wants to be correct in their belief, and we're no exception. Believing in Jesus is indeed a way to goodness in the next life. Over the years that's been a comfort to many people. It's also caused a lot of trouble. Years ago, when I was teaching world religions, I asked students why they took the class. I wanted to meet at least some of their expectations if I could. One was quite sure of his answer - he took it to find out about the beliefs of all the people who were wrong. Once I thought of Christianity as the only right answer, but since I've met wonderful people who hold a great variety of beliefs, I no longer think of our faith in that way. I prefer now to say that we have one right way. There seem to be many other ways that also work. It's a multiple-choice question and the answer is at least most of the above.
If the purpose of religion is to help us form strong communities, hold helpful values and find comfort when life is hard, then there are many right answers. Every major world religion holds some truth about how to live a good life and build a good society. Often, they are all saying the same or very similar things with slight differences in inflection. What they hold in common far outnumbers their distinctions. That doesn't mean we need to give up what we believe and adopt another. It does mean we can be informed by many. Right now, our Tuesday morning book group is reading a book by Buddhist author Thich Nhat Hanh. We've been surprised by how often he repeats stories from the Bible or quotes Jesus. He respects those stories and their teachings, and he interprets them in ways that can be helpful. We may not always agree with him, but we're given something important to think about.
In recent years I've come to think about Jesus words, "No one comes to the father but through me" in a new way. I believe that Jesus' life shows us what it means to know God as love. Jesus shows us the one he calls Father. In him we get a glimpse of what God is like. If our goal is to know God and become more and more connected with God - to become one - then Jesus shows us how to do that. If people accomplish the same goal through the teachings of another religion or another leader, aligning themselves with the same values and principles Jesus followed, then they are coming to God in a same way. I sometimes say, "All who come to the Father come through me." Whether they name Jesus as their pathway or name another, people who come to the same goal align with Jesus, just as the teachings of Jesus align with those of many other religions. We're all connecting with the same God, no matter what vocabulary we use. Jesus himself says if we want to see God, we look at the work Jesus did. We commit to his lifesty e and his values. We love as he loved. We serve as he served. We work for justice and mercy like he did.
First century people weren't talking about the Kingdom of God as the place we call heaven. It wasn't a different place or a different life. It was the life and the world they were a part of reformed according to God's vision of justice and love. Jesus talks often about the Kingdom or reign of God being among us and within us - not a new place in a distant time. The work he did to connect people to one another and to include them in community was creating the Kingdom of God. In that Kingdom everyone ate, everyone was respected, everyone could play a role in the community. In God's kingdom the rich don't take advantage of the poor, the powerful don't harm the weak, women and children are valued, rulers don't abuse the conquered. In God's kingdom the highest value is love and love shapes every action. Jesus didn't ask the disciples to follow him so that someday they could leave this life and go to heaven, he asked them to join him in creating the Kingdom of God in their time and place.
Eventually when the movement didn't bring about cosmic change in the world, the church began to talk about God's kingdom as a place in the next life. This life was hard, but the next life would be perfect. This life was painful but the next would be bliss. In this life people ignore God and live by many different priorities which aren't love but in the next life all that will be swept away.
All that may be true, but it didn't become the focus until the dream of living in God's way in the here and now was so slow in coming. The problem with focusing on the life to come is that we let ourselves give up on shaping this life by Jesus’ vision. We give up on the very thing that Jesus told us brought us to God - living by the rule of love.
One of the most important parts of this whole story comes a few verses farther along than what we read: My peace I give to you, I do not give as the world gives, do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. The assurance of eternal life can take away our fear of death. If what comes next is better, than we can face the end of this life with peace. Jesus gives us peace as his promise to us. That promise isn't only for life after our physical death; it applies to this present life as well. Jesus faced opposition and danger because of his vision of a life built on love, but he faced it without fear. He believed so strongly in the possibilities of life as he envisioned it that he wasn't terrified of what might happen to him. His life demonstrated what it's like to believe that love is stronger than hatred, stronger than evil, stronger than death. You can hear him saying to the disciples, this movement is going to face some tough times but don't give up. Don't give in. Don't be afraid. What is possible is so much more than what is. Keep going. I'm with you.
This passage gives us assurance for the next life AND it gives up hope and assurance in this life. We are doing our best to create the Kingdom of God as Jesus understood it by living it into existence. We are multiplying love on this earth by loving. We are multiplying justice by being just. We are multiplying acceptance by accepting. We are making the reign of God visible in the work and the words. Always Jesus is with us in that effort. We can hear him say, "Do not be afraid."