Sermon for Easter V

Via, Veritas, et Vita!

John 14:1-14

Fifth Sunday of Easter, A 2011

Baptism of Henry James Polley

Zion Lutheran Church

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Pastor Jonathon Bakker

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord, Jesus Christ, amen. The Holy Scripture for our consideration this day is the Gospel reading from St. John.

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; and from now on you know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to my Father. And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.”

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I wasn’t really expecting any of us to be left here today, what with the supposed ‘rapture’ set to happen last night at 6pm. Either none of us are true believers, or Harold Camping and his Family Radio network can now add themselves to the long list of false teachers who have repeatedly tried to predict Christ’s return. If I’d been paying attention to how big a news item this would become, he would have been an excellent example for last Sunday’s Gospel reading. Camping makes a strong contrast to the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd is the door for his sheep to abundant, everlasting life; but those who do not use the door are thieves and robbers. Camping teaches a different Gospel, which is no Gospel at all.

Still, the Lord always has the most incredible ways of teaching us his lessons. My own family has very recently learned a lesson from the Lord. We have been under considerable stress at home this week with the total failure of our septic drain field. As a pastor, I know that the house needs to be built on the solid rock; but as a pastor with a failing septic system, I have learned that the house also needs to be built near some sand! Of course, faith in Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life is the real rock upon which the house of our everlasting salvation is built.

Those who followed and supported Harold Camping and Family Radio have also learned a lesson. Jesus was serious when he said that, ‘of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.’ Now, there are reports of families that stopped working, stopped saving, and even some that stopped preparing for childbirth, believing that they would be in heaven long before the baby arrived all because of Camping’s idea. I admit that I’ve had more than my share of ‘rapture’ jokes this past week, but the truth is that false teaching is no laughing matter. It has tragic consequences.

We do not prepare for the return of Jesus by trying to predict it; we prepare by believing in his Son who came to die for our sins and who rose from the dead. We are to be ready at all times, and by the grace of God, he makes us ready through faith. No matter when Jesus returns, the only thing that will matter is whether or not we are his Father’s children through the adoption of baptism and faith.

The Gospel for today could not be more appropriate for our times. Even though I was certain that Jesus would not return last night, I still found myself wondering, ‘what if?’ What if he comes back really soon? What will it be like? What will happen? Harold Camping claimed that it would be the rapture, a false teaching that the true believers would be taken away while the non-believers would be left behind to suffer punishment for a period of time before finally being sent to the real torment of eternal damnation. What the Bible actually teaches is quite different.

The Gospel from John paints the true picture of what Jesus has in mind for us in the end. ‘Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me.’ Faith comes first, and calms our hearts in the face of all trouble. After all, there are many mansions in Jesus’ Father’s house. We can take his word for it. Jesus told his disciples about this as he was preparing for his passion. His death would make full payment for the sin of the world, while his resurrection would be the ultimate victory over death and the devil. Through that passion, Jesus secured a place for us with him in eternity. It is another reason for us to take heart when the grief and sorrows of this world attack.

He will come back; our Lord will return. None of us knows the day or the hour, but he will return, and that is also comforting. After all, why would Jesus have done what he did and suffered what he suffered if not for the sake of making us his own? He took on flesh, lived a sinless life, died for the sin of the world, and rose from the dead out of his great love for all of humanity and because he knew that it would accomplish our salvation. If any of us were to be with him and his Father and Holy Spirit forever in heaven, Jesus alone could do it.

As our Lord taught this to the disciples, he told them that they knew where he was going, and that they also knew the way to get there. They did not understand, however, and Thomas said so. ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way?’

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. It sounds simplistic, but what our Lord says is utterly true. He alone is the true God-man, the establisher of the world, and its Savior. His is the life which alone gives life to all who believe in him, and just as he is the door that lays itself down for the sheep, faith in him is the way to everlasting life. No one comes to the Father except through him.

These are among the most criticized of Jesus’ words. Many would rather that John had not included them in his Gospel. They exude arrogance and exclusivity. In no day or age, including the present, are they received by the masses with great joy or comfort.
To God’s people, however, to the sheep of the Good Shepherd, these words give wonderful peace and calm the troubled heart. When the changes and chances of life afflict us, this sentence from Jesus reminds us of the constancy of his great love. When selfish pride overcomes us, it also reminds us of our place in the world. Jesus alone establishes us in the Gospel and he alone brings it to completion at the last day.

And that last day will come, with Jesus returning in glory, to judge the living and the dead. We do not know when it will be, but with the comforting words from Jesus that he is the way, the truth, and the life, we do not need to be tormented by what we do not know. ‘Nobody knows the day or the hour,’ but God does not abandon us.
In this world there will be temptation upon temptation, and there will always be someone seeking to gain influence or power for themselves by claiming to have this or that secret knowledge from God or the Scriptures. Always go back to Jesus’ words here – I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.

We cannot predict when Jesus will return to judge the world, but I can tell you when he will be here next; Jesus will be present among us just as he has promised. He is here in the preaching and reading of his Word; in the speaking of the absolution; in the water and word of Holy Baptism, and he comes among us with his body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. Hear his voice and follow him; follow him all the way to eternal life!

To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, our Lord, amen.