Year A Pentecost 2023 Gifts

Year A Pentecost, 28 May 2023

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Gifts”

Collect: Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free-- and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

John 20:19-23

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

Some things come unexpectedly. Some things take time and work. Some things are and will remain adequate but nothing special. And that is just the way it is.

If you are in Christ, and a part of his Church, his Bride, his very Body on Earth, then you have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That is a promise, and what we celebrate here on Pentecost today. Sometimes it comes in a flurry, but for me, more often I hear it as that still small voice of reassurance or possibility whispering when I need it most. But to hear it (or maybe him or maybe her) then I need to still myself so I can resonate with God’s Holy Spirit. I think the Spirit was described ambiguously in Scripture because it was ambiguous. All of us experience the Spirit in our own unique way. Your image of the Spirit and mine are very different, just imagine how different it is across the Church of Christ.

Today is when we mark the beginning of the Church, when it stopped being a ragtag band of Jesus’ followers to a throng of thousands from across the Roman world. All those hard to pronounce names in our Acts reading, God had selected people who could hear and believe and take the Good News home with them after worshiping in Jerusalem. It was a mighty day for them. There were over 3,000 baptized in the Trinitarian pronouncement of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and became a part of the family. We were brought in in the same way, thanks be to God! And when they left, they left with the Holy Spirit within them.

And if we are in Christ, and a part of his Church, and we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, then we will have things come about in our lives as we grow and learn and serve.

There are the Fruits of the Spirit in our lives and we are all open to that. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5) Those are things all of us can, and in my opinion, should seek. 

When fruit is born, it comes from the maturity of the plant making it, and conditions that it finds itself in. We are no different. If the Spirit is moving and active in us, and we make our environs hospitable to growth, the fruit will come. All of them in their time.

But fruits are the rewards of our continuing growth and maturity. But do not confuse fruit with gifts. Gifts are Grace, free, nothing we did to deserve it, nothing we can do to stop it except to leave it unwrapped. In our reading this morning from I Corinthians, St. Paul breaks down some of the gifts of the Spirit. These are different. Charisms, true Grace-filled gifts, that we have been given to make a difference in Christ’s Church.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 

These gifts are from God. It is for God’s benefit to accomplish the work that God has set out. It might bring us attention or notoriety, but it is not about us or necessarily for us. We may benefit from the receiving of the gifts, but that is not its purpose or intent. These are for God’s glory and the building up of Christ’s church.

I will unpack each of these. This is not even Paul’s definitive list, but it is good enough for today. First…

To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, 

Wisdom is not knowing stuff, but what to do with what we have. Wisdom is something we are taught to chase in Scripture, and relish. It is the reward of a good and devout life. But Wisdom from the Spirit is about being there as the wise sage for the good of the Church. Second…

and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 

Knowledge in this context is about knowing things that cannot be known otherwise, words that are intensely and clearly true to the one receiving them, and the giftedness to share with Christ’s Church this Knowledge in a calm yet persuasive way. This is not sales, or convincing anyone of anything, it is the gift of unalterable Truth with capital T. Third…

to another faith by the same Spirit, 

The gift of Faith is a hard one to see as that important. We all have faith to some extent or we would not be here. Faith as a spiritual gift is believing when it is all but impossible. It can come in the middle of a crisis, like COVID, when we calmly convince people to hang on just a little bit longer and it will all be okay. It can come when grief is palpable, and we need anything and everything to see light when we are surrounded by darkness. And yes, it can come in the midst of budget discussions, sometimes faith is all we have in budget discussions because all sense seems to have left a long time ago. Fourth…

to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 

Gifts of healing can come in so many ways. The right medicine at the right time. A loving touch when we are hurting. Remember your mom kissing and blowing on a boo-boo? Nothing felt better. The Gift of Healing can be like that. And sometimes, very rarely the miraculous happens. It is rare. It is not expected, but sometimes God steps in and works through this gift and miracles occur. And the fifth says just that…

to another the working of miracles, 

You know it when you see it. If I tried to give it any parameters I couldn’t, so I will stand on what I said about it in healing and leave it at that. Sixth…

to another prophecy, 

Prophecy is not fortune telling or telling the future. There could be some of it in Prophecy, but prophecy is speaking for God. It could be about sin which needs conviction, uncovering crimes that need to be corrected, or hope when all seems hopeless. Prophecy is speaking for God, and sometimes God talks to us about what is to come, but never think it is limited to that. The gift of prophecy is so we can hear God’s word to us, no matter what it is. Seventh…

to another the discernment of spirits, 

Discernment is knowing what to do and when to do it. Discernment is parsing the zeitgeist and platzgeist, the spirit of the times and the spirits of a context or place. Truth is often shrouded with deceptions, half-truths, and outright lies. All of them shroud the Truth that cannot seem to get a word in edgewise. Discernment filters out the hubbub and gets to the Truth and lifts it up for the rest of us. Eighth…

to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 

Tongues is portrayed two ways in the New Testament. Sometimes it is actual foreign languages, where people can quickly and easily make sense of this new “tongue.” This is what happened on the Day of Pentecost. The other way glossolalia is described is ecstatic utterances. What we may describe as gibberish. But however you interpret tongues, notice that there never comes the gift of tongues without the gift of interpretation. They go hand in glove. Why on earth (or heaven for that matter) would God give us an unusable gift. God is not about putting on a show with mortals. God has already put on a show declaring God’s love and intent in what we call Nature. The heavens and all creation declare the glory of God. God does not need show-offs spilling nonsense to get our attention. Tongues, if used, has a purpose and way to understand. Don’t be afraid of this one. If it does not make sense, let it go. And finally…

All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

The gifts come from and are activated by the Spirit at work in us. Yesterday my oldest graduated from St. Catherine’s. It was a huge day. And we gave a gift. The gift is only wonderful if it is opened and used. And we love our child, excuse me, young adult now,  and know that what we give will be appreciated and used fully. The Spirit is no different. But an unopened gift slowly dissipates if not used for Christ’s Church and for God’s Glory.

But I like to think of the Spirit like my dad when he gave me my first baseball glove. When I got it, it was stiff and unusable. But he worked with me, and showed me how to oil it and work the leather. He showed me how to put a ball in the pocket to form it perfectly, and then oil it and bake it at a low temperature like 250. We pulled it out, worked it, and did it again. 

Soon the mitt fit my hand perfectly and the pocket fit a ball perfectly. It was, and now 40 years later, just right. I have grown, but the gift grew with me. My glove is mine. A gift that the giver showed me how to work and make it all my own.

Spiritual gifts are much the same. Unique, precious, something we have to work to make comfortable and second-nature to us. But when we do, oh the things we can do and the places we can go. For God’s glory and for the good of Christ’s church. 

Happy Birthday, Church! Open your gifts! Use them. Appreciate them. Give them away! You have been blessed to be a blessing! Amen

Year A Easter 7 WED 2023 The Good News of the Kingdom of God

Year A Easter 7 WEDNESDAY, 24 May 2023

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“The Good News of the Kingdom of God”

Collect: O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven:

Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has

gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Luke 4:38-44

After leaving the synagogue he entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked

him about her. Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them.

As the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various kinds of diseases brought them to him; and he laid his

hands on each of them and cured them. Demons also came out of many, shouting, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he rebuked them

and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Messiah.

At daybreak he departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowds were looking for him; and when they reached him, they

wanted to prevent him from leaving them. But he said to them, ‘I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other

cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.’ So he continued proclaiming the message in the synagogues of Judea.

Good morning. I loved the scene Luke sets here for us this morning. Peter’s mother-in-law is

sick. Jesus heals her. And she jumps up to serve everyone. I know this is a sign of the

miraculous, but also of some deeply assumed stereotypical roles here.

Then we have demons being cast out proclaiming his authority over them as the Son of God,

until he rebuked them to silence. Once again, a sign of the miraculous as well as Luke being

able to point out to the readers that Jesus is obviously the Messiah to the demons, so his reader

“most excellent Theophilus” (and everyone else) should clue in as well.

Then Jesus escapes to a place alone, a deserted place, we are told. I cannot tell you how

wonderful that sounds. I need to do more of that myself. But then the crowds still find him.

They want him to stay, to stick around. But Jesus says the thing that was a deep and rich

abiding statement for me. It was what I needed to hear when I was preparing for this morning.  

‘I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I

was sent for this purpose.’

Jesus came to proclaim something that already was. That might not sound revolutionary, but to

some tired ears this morning it certainly was.

Jesus did not come to start something new. God is in charge, and Grace was already at work.

The Kingdom of God was there already, Jesus just came to clue everyone in on the fact.

We have been working hard lately, doing doing doing. But every so often it is nice to hear that

we are working in the fields, we are not homesteading and clearing the fields so that they can

be planted. Jesus’ work was to let us know what was, and that we are invited into something

that is all God’s responsibility.

Now we are urged to share that already existent Good News, but not to make or pioneer or

establish. It is a radically different concept.

We are an industrious people by nature, and we are about doing “new work.” We are about

building and conquering and establishing. But sometimes it is nice to not be that way.

In my work with the Triangle of Hope I am constantly confronted by our Ghanaian brothers

and sisters that God is in control, and that it is and will be okay. The heresy of our nation is

that “God helps those who help themselves.” While an industrious sentiment, that is not from

God. Jesus came to proclaim to every little town around Galilee the “Good News of the

Kingdom of God.” He was there to fill them in on what was.

It was then. It is now. When we get tired of doing good, or thinking that we have so much to

do, hear this. God is in control. The war is already won. We just need to clue in, and help our

family, our friends, our neighbors know that it is and it is open to them. 

Abide in that, and be comforted. Amen

Year A Easter 6 2023 Speaking of Desire

 Year A Sixth Sunday of Easter, 14 May 2023

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Speaking of Desire”

Collect: O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

John 14:15-21

Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

This morning we prayed one of those dangerous prayers, like in the Lord’s Prayer: 

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. 

The forgiveness part is far from dangerous, but the “forgive me like I have forgiven them” part. That conditional addition goes into some scary territory. 

This morning we prayed in our Collect: 

Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire.

We have settled for Sunday faiths not weeklong. For ease and not transformation. For smiles not ecstasy. The metanoia God wants is far from the polite courtesies we are prone to give.

We should love the Lord our God with all we’ve got, it should be first place in our lives, and yet somewhere along the way we settled for less than that. 

We are reading again in our book club an old favorite, The Screwtape Letters. We just got started so it is not too late to jump in. It is a fictional book of letters, an epistolary novel between a Senior Demon Uncles Screwtape and his nephew Wormwood. It is British wit at its finest. This week Wormwood’s human charge that he is commissioned to have damned to hell became a Christian, but to get him off the track to heaven Screwtape advised to keep him focused on the ordinary, the mundane, to settle, as it were, for the humdrum of walk-about life. It reminded me of another quote of Lewis in his sermon “The Hope of Glory.” I have used this quote before, but it speaks to so much!

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” 

God’s desires for us are what we prayed for, so that we can receive God’s “promises which exceed all that we can desire.” Like in an infomercial, “all this, but wait there’s  more!”

God does not want us to settle. God wants what is best for us, and God’s expectations and hopes, dare I say, God’s desires for us exceed anything and everything that we can imagine.

The week before last the Bishop strongly urged us to be at the Clergy Retreat. It was a profound time. Martin Smith was the speaker and his topic was Desire. I was intrigued. For like in the Lewis quote, I was so often told to flee desire. To shun Desire even.

But Father Martin, like Lewis, said that our Desires are not strong enough. We ignore and shun them at our peril. Even acknowledging the ones we know not to give into have lessons for us, and a counterpoised Longing-For from God that our desires can lead to.

Today’s Gospel is Jesus’ last shot with the Disciples. At the Last Supper lessons from John’s Gospel which we have been exploring these last few Sundays is Jesus giving those last minute instructions we humans are prone to do. Our loved one’s calling out as we leave with the “Be safe!” is just another way of saying “I love you.”

Jesus was no different, he wanted his followers to have the best and to be their best. Nothing wrong with that. He promises that the Holy Spirit will come, and that we will have the Spirit with us through thick and thin. And then Jesus promises not to leave us orphaned. He sits at the right hand of the Father, and will work on our behalf. The Trinity resounds with love for us, and because of that love, they desire what is best for us and for all.

Jesus in his chapters of saying goodbye in John repeatedly comes back to those simple words of obeying his commandments. Do what you know to do. Simple. And that is what God desires for us and expects from us.

My oldest is heading off to university next year. Hard to believe how fast 18 years can come and go. I am already thinking of those last minute reminders that I will have to say, not because it needs repeating, but for Stephanie and me it is another way of saying “We love you.” The instructions, after 18 years of living together, have already sunk in if they were ever going to do so. Jesus had three years of on the job training with his team, and his final words were a comfort for both Jesus and the Disciples.

Jesus desired for them to be the Kingdom of God incarnate, the Ekklesia, the Called-Out Ones, the Bride of Christ, the Church. It cannot be more clear than that. He desired so much for them.

When we speak of desire, it is an inner longing, and like emotions, they are. We are not responsible for our emotions. They emerge. They happen. The ones we consider negative have much to teach us about who we are, what we have gone through, and what things we had to do or skills we had to develop to protect ourselves along the way. When I have an emotion come up, especially one that I do not want to be having, I will try very hard to not succumb to it. What I will do is observe that it is there. I may ask myself, “Where did that come from?” or “What triggered that emotion?” or even, “What did this situation remind me of that caused that feeling?” These are all legitimate questions, and it helps me use my emotions rather than having my emotions use me. Our wants and desires are the same. They tell us something about ourselves.

When we are fully mature we have our desires, the things that we want most and have shaped our lives to enjoy or eventually obtain. We play the long game. We don’t toy with those immediate desires, but root out what we really want, what we really desire, and we go for those.

That is the way God works with us, as well. God plays the long game. God wants to be in relationship with us and for us to have the best.

When we have desires, ask the “What question.” What was I feeling? What do I really want? What made my mind and heart go there? What was I really going for but missed?

And once we become those reflective practitioners of the faith, we will indeed begin to get those desires of the heart. Those things which we want most from our innermost self. And I trust that we will be desiring God. 

Desiring God.

To the faint of heart that sounds like an oxymoron. But loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength means that we need to desire God with all that we have and all that we are.

Think of the Olympic athlete whose parents got them up in the wee hours to practice before school, and after school, and every weekend. There must be in the heart of that young person a fire that cannot be quenched until the race is run. Or as Jesus put it in two one-sentence parables:

‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Friends, it is a story told in every faith and practice under the sun, for us to get what we want we have to be all in. Period. Quarter-time and half-time will not cut it. We must desire God, but, as Lewis wrote, “We are far too easily pleased.”

It takes time to shift our responses. It takes time to shift our actions. It takes even longer to move our inner desires to be in tune with God’s. But when someone loves you deeply and fully, it is far easier to love them back. And he first loved us and is working toward our fullness and completion, then and even now.

As Jesus promised: 

“Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

We live because of him. He becomes the blood in our veins and the breath in our lungs. He becomes the song we sing and the thoughts we think when we get up in the morning and when we go to bed. He becomes our all-in-all. 

That is my hope, and my desire. When we speak of Desire, may we not be ashamed. May we stand before God and be unashamed, because we have been transformed in his love for us. Thanks be to God! Amen

Year A Easter 5 2023 Five Thin Places

Year A 5th Sunday of Easter, 7 May 2023

St. James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA

“Five Thin Places”

Collect: Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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 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.”

Good morning, friends! Thank you to all who helped make yesterday so wonderful! We had a superb time, and it was thanks to all who stepped in and made it so special.

In our Acts reading today we have this very moving story of the final earthly moments of St. Stephen, the first martyr in Christ’s name. He was so close to God that heaven came near, creating a thin space, and he saw Jesus seated at the right hand of God the Father. And for this he was stoned to death while Saul (who would later become St. Paul) oversaw the outrage. And like Jesus, Stephen asked for grace for those who killed his earthly form. 

Thin places are a well known phenomenon. When God shows up in a manifestation we call that a theophany (T H E O P H A N Y). But destinations are often seen as Thin Places. Shrine Mont is one of those for me. God’s Presence can be palpable up there. I have felt it in many spots around Shrine Mont.You may have as well.

In today’s texts, I think there are Thin Places that come through such a short text. These promises and ideas are so big, I want to touch base with each of them because we could mine these nuggets for years, and I hope you will. Here are FIVE Thin Places I see in John 14. I will go through them sequentially.

Thin Place ONE:

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.”

This is, and always should be, the Attitude of the Faithful. Is it? I mean really, is it always our attitude?

No. Of course not. That is why Jesus kept reminding the disciples and us to Fear Not. Or, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.”

That attitude of troubledness is where we have to start. Think on this.

If you are in a boat, a small sailboat to be more exact, and the wind is full in your sail, and you are racing with the wind things are great. But if you start rocking the boat, back and forth, more and more, then you no longer are racing downwind with a full sail. You cannot be rocking the boat and racing with the wind. God’s Spirit is the wind, and if we are rocking the boat we are missing the point. Our troubled hearts are rocking boats. 

Jesus starts with this because that attitude, Faithfulness, full sail in the Spirit of God, is prerequisite for all the other Thin Places we will explore today. Faith is the first, but necessary, step. 

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.”

Thin Place TWO:

“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.”

This thin place is our destination, or a promise of our final outcome. One of the great lessons of a life of faith is that we are Spiritual Creatures having a Physical Experience, not the other way around. But we are trapped in this physical form, and all we can see and smell and hear and taste and think and feel is filtered through this meat suit which has been given us to live in this environment. Like we need a scuba suit to dive the depths, or a hang glider to explore the heights, we are given a physical form to learn to live in God’s love on this earthly plain. It is something we slip on, and we will slip off.

Jesus goes ahead of us to prepare a place for us. He uses physical terms we understand, a mansion with many rooms, but I think it will be far more amazing and absolutely unimaginable. He uses terms we understand now, but I think we will be beyond surprised and overwhelmed with Awe with what awaits us. Except for one thing.

Jesus. Jesus will be no surprise. He is the Good Shepherd and we will know him and his voice as he calls our name, like we talked about last Sunday.

When we come to the end of our road, we are not dying. We are being born into the fullness of who we are. 

“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.”

Thin Place THREE:

Jesus said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

In recent times I cannot think of a statement that has caused more division than these words of Jesus amongst so-called followers of Christ. Some use it as a partition to draw legalistic lines of orthodoxy. Some use these words as a weapon against those who do not count themselves among Jesus’ flock.

Friends, I do not hear that. People who use it that way take it out of context. Thomas asked a question of Jesus in response to his words about heaven. Let’s put it back into context:

Jesus said (about heaven): “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.”

Thomas was worried about the way. He wanted a map. Jesus basically said, “I am the map.” The life he lived and the life he taught Thomas to live. He had the map already. He was afraid that he didn’t. Notice that rocking boat of fear? That is why Jesus started with the “Do not be afraid!” We all need to start there and trust that what we have is enough. What we have is always enough. That is the lesson of faith.

Jesus is the Map, and the Truth, and the Life. We can trust the Map. And the Map will lead us to Life, not Death. Friends, this is not about canonical or doctrinal purity. It is not about Jesus being exclusive. Jesus calls us all to what he is giving away freely. 

There usually comes questions about “Well, what about…” And then fill in the blank about alternate routes and competing directions. I want to say two things about those “Well, what about’s.”

1. I do not know about what I do not know. Jesus I know. Jesus I trust. I know in my heart of hearts that this way will work. Jesus promised us, and I trust Jesus. I believe him to be the Truth and the Life, so I trust that he is the Way. If someone asks me directions I tell them the way I know will work. I do not weigh them down with alternatives and options. Life, and our way in it, is hard enough. I tell them the way I know to be True as clearly and simply as I can.

2. Jesus said he had other sheep in his flock we do not know about in John 10:16. I will leave them up to Jesus. As I said, I trust him to be gracious and welcoming, and I will leave any sorting to him. That is above any of our pay grades. That does not keep me from teaching and preaching the way I know to be true, though. Jesus calls us to see him as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. That is what I preach and teach. Beyond that I leave up to him.

Find comfort here and not exclusion or legalism. Jesus is responding to Thomas to not worry, and have faith.

 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

Thin Place FOUR:

Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

The great idea of Christianity is that God is like Jesus. So many times I have heard the false idea that there is an Old Testament God with fire and brimstone, rippling with judgment, and then a New Testament God of Love and Grace. Jesus came to show us the true nature of God the Father in what he did and what he said.

There is an old phrase, “When your God hates the same people (or things) you do, you have made God in your own image.” I see Scripture as a continuing unveiling of our understanding of God. I do not see the problem with God, but with our understanding of God. This evolving of our understanding comes to full maturity in Jesus Christ, the Beloved. God calls from heaven at his baptism and at the Transfiguration so that it was abundantly clear. Jesus shows us what God is like, and has been like since the beginning. We just needed spiritual Q-Tips to clean out our ears. 

Don’t be offended by this idea. Abraham was about to kill his son Isaac when God stepped in to stop his hand. I do not see God doing a bait-and-switch, but Abraham was doing the ultimate act of devotion like the other Canaanite religions that he brushed against. So often we mistake our egos for the voice of God. That is one of Satan’s favorite tools. Thankfully Abraham heard from God that that was not what he wanted.

And that is why Christ promised the Spirit to us, to discern and hear God’s voice. As our Presiding Bishop says “If it’s not about Love, it’s not about God!” Neither Jesus nor God will go against that. Not now. Not ever.

“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

Thin Place FIVE:

Jesus said, “The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these…”

Our fifth thin spot in chapter 14 looks at one of the hardest things to believe amongst Jesus’ promises. He says that we will surpass his works of wonder through God in us!

That is quite… well, something. A promise? A threat? A hope? A reality? It all depends on how we see it, and how we see ourselves. We need to see ourselves as Jesus sees us. In the last section I said our egos can be used to have us miss the point, but a limited view of ourselves can get in the way of doing what God would do through us as well. It is the opposite extreme. We need to see ourselves as the fulfilling in our time of the Promise of Christ. And we are not the ones doing it, but rather God in and through us, with Jesus cheering us on. As he said, 

“…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.”

There is a reason why we finish our prayers, “In Jesus’ Name, Amen.” In a previous ministry job I served as the Head of a day school of 200 students. We had a Jewish family who attended, and loved attending the school. They appreciated how much their child was loved and cared for, except for one thing. 

As they said their blessing for their food, the child would add, “In Jesus’ name, Amen.” They said that they loved everything about their experience at the Church’s day school, but could we stop saying the prayers “In Jesus’ Name.”

I told them that I totally understood their concern. And I did. But I also added that we see Jesus as our rabbi, and that  he gave the explicit instruction to pray for things in his name. I encouraged them to talk with their child, and that no one at the school would require him to say it, but that Jesus taught us to do it and we need to follow his instructions. They had never heard that, and that made a difference. I told them I was happy to talk with the child when they were present to say he did not have to do that. We came to a common place of understanding, and mutual appreciation and respect. 

We pray in Jesus’ name for a reason. He asked us to, and he prays with us when we pray in his name so that we can fulfill his promise that we do what he did and more. Don’t forget that reasoning.

“The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these…”

Friends, we have explored a lot today. I hope you will continue the deep dive into this glimpses of glory through these thin place where God comes so near. And as we see God at work in us, may people see Jesus through you. That is what he wants! Amen