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