How Do We Know the Way? - John 14: 1-14

For the past week two things have occupied my mind – graduations and the end of the world. For some the two seem to be intricately connected. For others, as far apart as you could possibly place two events. But in my mind they were linked by this passage in the 14^th chapter of John. Let me explain a little further.

I graduated last Saturday from Drew University with my Masters Degree while my brothers graduated yesterday with their bachelor of science degrees from Westminster College. Such large events tend to cause me to pause and reflect on similar events in the past. One graduation spurs me to think of others that my friends and family have experienced. I was brought back to my undergraduate college graduation from a very conservative Christian school, one that required a profession of faith in the application. I started to think back to the events surrounding graduation, but more specifically the bacholarette service, a traditional time of the celebration of God’s goodness and provision for the graduates and their families. At that particular service we were given a towel and told to go and tell people about Jesus.

Our most recent graduations stood in stark contrast. My brothers attended a school that is sponsored by a particular denomination, but does not require applicants to be Christians however almost all are. At this service, God was celebrated, but only a very particular Christian God. Drew is also associated with a particular denomination, it opens it doors wide to all who come to seek higher education. As such, all that come seeking God were welcomed at the baccholarete service. Muslims, Jews, and Christians gathered in one place to celebrate the God of Goodness in each of our traditions. With no one dimension or portrayal of God being held above another.

I started to ponder how each of these different services could be seen as a response to today’s scripture passage. Jesus gathers his disciples together for a time of teaching and tells them not to worry, that he would provide for all of their needs.

But of course, they did worry. And they became fixated on knowing both where Jesus was going and how they could get there to,. Jesus responded by saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. Without me, no one can go to the father… You know God because you see me.”

For my undergraduate institution this statement from Jesus was taken as a literal declaration. Jesus is the only way to have life. Therefore, people must be told about Jesus. While my evangelical school would not ascribe to the same belief system as those declaring that the world would end yesterday, in essence, weren’t they asserting the same idea? People need to be told the exact day the world would end so that they could get to know Jesus before hand – because if they didn’t they would never make it to the place Jesus was speaking of. Jesus is the only way to God.

My brother’s college took a slightly different view, but not too far off, when they declared that we give a very particular, albeit broader, picture of God praise. The God who was the parent of Christ Jesus, who is our holy example for living and eternal savior. We need to act in a way that helps other people see the Jesus in us and want to grab a hold of it. While not expressly stated, it can be assumed that we want people to see Christ in us for a purpose, that they will also come to know this one who is so important to us.

But Drew would respond to verse 6 in today’s scripture from a whole new perspective I believe. We cannot truly ever know all of Jesus, because Jesus was both human and divine. If we look at Jesus and see God, we must ask ourselves two very important questions: 1.) When we look at Jesus, who do we see God as? And 2.) Because we can never see all of Jesus, can we ever see all of God? As the Drew religious community came together they were stating with their actions and very presence that we can never truly see or know all of God and that God is big enough for all of our differences in opinion and diversity. For when we look to the actions and words of any who believe in God, they show us something profoundly new and exciting about the Divine. We need each other, in all of this diversity, in order to even catch a glimpse of this way and truth and life that Jesus was speaking about.

But who do we really see God as when we look at Jesus? Is it consistent for you each day? Or does God reach out to you, through the risen Christ, and reveal new pieces of the very nature of the divine when you need it the most or expecting it the least? Do you see God as the provider? The sustainer? The refresher? The rock? The gentle? The firm? The parent? The shepherd? The companion? Even when we have paradoxes within our own view of God, they all seem to fit together, because God’s truth transcends our limited capacity to understand. So can we ever really see all of God?

Perhaps the reason some rely so heavily on this verse for evangelistic purposes is because we have the desire to be right. We want to know the truth and own it. And if God is a little too big to be labeled and claimed for ownership, God may just be a little too radical and unpredictable. We would really like a God who is predictable and thinks like we do. I read a quote recently that said something to the effect of “If you find God hating the same people you do, its not God.” I would alter this quote but keep the same sentiment to say If you find God thinking like you do, its not God. This is not say that we should not authentically hope for people to come to know Christ, but we do not need to strive to convert those who already know their God, even if the Divine looks a bit different then we know it to be. We are called to speak life and truth to those who have lost their way, not to those who are on the same journey.

I also think we rely on this verse because some days, we really doubt that we know the way. We get so caught up in living in the business of life that we cannot even recognize the God piece in ourselves and others that is the reflection of Jesus’s goodness and direction.

When I was little my Uncle taught my cousins and I a game. He gave us each a heart sticker and as he placed it on our shirts he would say, “Jesus loves you.” Our task was to go up to someone whom we did not know and give them our sticker with the same kind words. For all people really need sometimes is a gentle reminder that they are cradled in the love of God.

Perhaps what we really need is the voice and courage to tell those around us how we see the light of God shining through them. And be open to hearing how God is working through us to bring life to others. We are each others reminders of the path that God has pointed us to. When we take time to affirm this, we have little need or desire to fight with others about what is the correct way to know God, because we see God’s very reflection in them.

So I ask you, are you willing to let people find there pathway to God through you? Are you willing to respond to what people see in you? And are you willing to look for your path to God through others? Amen.