Fifth Sunday of Easter /
John 14:1-14 / Rev. Gayle
M. Highness
There’s
No Place Like Home
How many of you have seen the movie,
“The Wizard of Oz?” That is one of the most beloved stories of all time.
When I was little, we didn’t have
VCRs, so the only way to see the Wizard of Oz was on TV once a year. That was
such a big deal, when the Wizard of Oz was going to be on.
There’s something about that story
we can relate to so strongly. Perhaps
it’s that sense of feeling out of place and misunderstood. We’ve all had that
feeling of yearning and searching for something that eludes us – that is beyond
our grasp – somewhere over the rainbow.
In Dorothy’s case, that something
was home. In the beginning of the movie – she didn’t want to be “home” in
As you know, she tries and tries to
get home every which way, until finally she comes to understand that she has
had the power to get home all along.
There’s something a little bit like
this going on in today’s gospel reading. The reading is part of Jesus’
conversation with his disciples the night before he died. He was trying to prepare
them for a future where he will no longer be with them physically. His words
weren’t making sense to them, though.
Don’t be troubled,” he told them. “Trust me. I’m
going to prepare a place for you where my father dwells. And if I go and
prepare this place, I will come again and take you to myself so that where I am
you may also be. And, by the way, you know the way to where I am going.”
“We don’t know where you are going,” Thomas said. “How
can we know the way?”
“I AM the way, and the truth and the life,” Jesus answered. “No one comes to the father except through
me. If you know me, you will know the Father also. From now on, you DO know him
and have seen him.”
But as soon as Jesus said that,
Philip said, “Show us the Father, and we
will be satisfied.”
“No – no, Philip – you don’t get it,” Jesus as much as told him. “I just said, if you know ME, you will know
the father. Stop looking for something else. Look at me. Come to me. Dwell in
me. I am the way. You know ME.”
Isn’t this the way things are for us
too?
How often in our lives of faith does
our relationship with God seem like it exists somewhere over the rainbow -- some
idealized place where happy little bluebirds fly? Anywhere but here in Kansas/Illinois
where life is frustrating, messy, uncomfortable and
things are not quite as they should be?
In our recent council meetings we
have been talking about ways to be more pro-active about marketing our faith
and our church. These can be difficult conversations because it’s hard to
articulate what it is we are really trying to do.
On one level, we want our church to
grow. We want more members, and more money to support the ministry. We want a
secure future for this place.
And yet we know those are not worthy
ends in themselves. No – what we want is for people to hear the good news of Jesus
and to have faith in their lives. That’s what God wants. But in order to do
that, we need to get our message out – we need to let people know we’re here
and that they are welcome.
And so we try to keep the focus in
the right place, but still the goal seems to be somewhere over the rainbow,
where whatever we’re doing and whatever
God is doing is different than what
it is here and now. And we have to do something to get there. It’s hard not to
make it “up to us.”
That’s just one aspect of the way we
struggle with our mission as God’s church. There’s another aspect of the
struggle which is INSIDE the church.
As wonderful as this congregation
is, I sometimes yearn for a church somewhere over the rainbow where people are
standing in line to teach Sunday School and where
everyone attends Bible studies eagerly and where no one complains about anything
or anyone – everyone is happy.
And then there’s that aspect of the
struggle of living faithfully that is IN HERE – in our hearts. Somewhere over
the rainbow is me living this
wonderful life of faith where I always feel close to God, where my prayers flow
perfectly from my lips, where everyday begins with an hour of peaceful, deep
and uninterrupted meditation, where all my bad habits are cured, and where I am
wise and calm and spiritual, with all the right answers.
OK,
that’s an exaggeration. But the point is, we often feel dissatisfied in some
way with our lives of faith and yearn for things to be better than they are.
Now what if we would take all those
“yearnings” – for that healthy, growing evangelizing church; for that super-motivated
active congregation; for that peaceful, intimate walk with God – and what if we
put those concerns before Jesus and said, “Lord.
We don’t know the way. How do we get there? How do I get there?
Then, we would hear Jesus say to us,
as to Philip and the rest of the disciples, “I
AM the way. Come to ME. I have prepared a place for you so that where I AM you
may also be.”
The way to be there with God – wherever you think THERE is – is to be here with Jesus. Right
here. Right
now. To DWELL. To ABIDE in
Christ. To be in a relationship with God by being in
relationship with JESUS. Here is where it begins and ends. With Jesus.
Our home is in God and we can’t get to
God any other way than through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Because Jesus IS the way to the Father.
Where do we find Jesus? We find him
HERE in the scriptures, HERE in the waters of Baptism. HERE in the bread and
wine; HERE in this Body, in one another, and out there in the neighbor – the
least of the brothers and sisters.
How do we KNOW Jesus? We don’t need
ruby slippers to get to him. Jesus comes to US and offers the gift of grace,
which is the forgiveness of the sin that separates us from God. We receive this
gift of grace through faith – by acknowledging that we NEED forgiveness and
believing we have RECEIVED it.
How do we REMAIN at home in Jesus? Like we remain in any other relationship. We talk to him. We
listen to him. We eat with him. We trust him. We expect him to be around.
As Dorothy said, “There is no place
like home.” Our home is in God, where Jesus has prepared a place for us and has
come to take us to himself. It’s not somewhere over the rainbow in some far
away heaven. It is with Jesus here and now and always. Amen.