Sermon Notes on John 14:1-14

How is it good news that Jesus is the only way to God?

I preach on this passage several times each year, but I can’t remember the last time I preached on it for a regular Sunday service.

You see, if I am allowed to choose, I almost always choose this passage for funeral services. Jesus has powerful words of hope here. “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places… and …I will come again and take you to myself so that where I am, there you may be also.” In other words, God has taken care of death for us. Christ is prepared. We have nothing to fear. There is a place prepared for us and Christ himself will come and take us there. When we pass from this life to the next it will be in God’s trustworthy hands.

The part of this text that I don’t get into at funerals is the last half. When people are mourning the loss of a loved one they generally don’t feel like getting into a theological discussion. But the last half of this text could either be incredibly uplifting or confusing and discouraging. It all depends on how you look at it.

When Jesus tells his disciples that they know the way to this place prepared for them in God’s presence, Thomas asks the clarifying question that we all would be dying to ask, “What place are you talking about and how will we know the way since we don’t know where you are going?”

Jesus’ answer has been at the center of the Christian faith since he said it, “We are going to the very presence of God the Father… and…I am the only way to get there”.

Most Christians agree on what Jesus said. Where we disagree is on what he meant by it.

For some Christians the meaning is perfectly clear. Unless you embrace the teachings of Jesus Christ (as they understand them) and what he accomplished on the cross for you, unless you make a decision to accept these gifts as your own, you cannot get to the Father. You will be separated from God for all eternity, probably in hell.

You’ve heard me say this many times, but I feel the need to say it again, “Believe as I believe or go to hell” doesn’t sound like good news to me.

According to this point of view, the God who holds the entire universe like a little ball of light, is cruel enough to condemn to eternal torture anyone who gets it wrong, who is born into the wrong house, or the wrong religion, or who has a bad experience, or a bad explanation of the Gospel. If they don’t come to understand and embrace this one narrow point of view, for whatever reason, God puts them in hell where they will be tortured for all eternity.

Does this sound like a God of love, justice, mercy, and grace? Does this sound like the God who took on flesh and walked among us in Jesus? Not to me.

In my opinion this interpretation of Jesus’ words is a typical human move to create those who are “in” and those who are “out”. It’s the usual stuff of making sure there is an “us versus them” and to set it up so that the “us” is always “us”.

Jesus gives us a clue as to the deeper meaning here when he tells Thomas that he and the Father are one. In other words if you look at Jesus you are watching the will of God at work. If you look at Jesus you are watching the heart of God beating in the world. If you listen to Jesus you are hearing the words of God being spoken.

So, since Jesus is the one who said, “Anyone who is not against us is for us” and “Is there no one to condemn you? Then neither do I condemn you” and “God did not send the son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him” I think we need to find another way of interpreting what Jesus said here. A way that falls in line with who he is, what he said, and what he stands for.

When someone asks me when I was saved I say, “2000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross”. I could say, “I was saved before time began, when God set in motion the plan for my eternal salvation”.

When Jesus died on the cross he destroyed the wall of sin that separated humankind from God. He clean blew it away. From that moment on, anyone who entered into the presence of God did so through what Christ accomplished on the cross. It had nothing to do with what they knew or decided or did. It was all God’s doing. It was pure grace. Everyone who came to the Father, came through Jesus and what he accomplished on the cross.

Some were aware of what God had done for them and entered into God’s presence with great joy. Some entered into God’s presence with great surprise. Sadly, I believe there are some who, for whatever reason, will curse God’s presence and flee from it for eternity, but I don’t believe for a minute that God sends anyone to hell. God is in the business of saving people, breaking down the walls of separation between God’s self and humanity. Condemnation is a human undertaking and a human project.

We worship and praise and thank God not out of fear. Not to secure a better mansion. We worship, praise, thank, and serve God out of gratitude.

You may remember that Jesus promised us something amazing in this text. He said that we would do greater works than he did. I believe a part of the “greater works” that Jesus was talking about has to do with us proclaiming this good news.

Do you know why we have a Good News Team? Do you know why we are starting a second campus in South Lyon? God wants everyone to know that they are loved and forgiven. No strings attached. No questions asked. Of course we hope that they will respond by embracing a personal relationship with God. That’s just more joy and life and peace for them. But the good news is really good news for everyone, “Because of what Jesus accomplished in his life, death and resurrection, you are forgiven. God has saved you. Just thought you’d like to know. Have a nice day.” Amen