John 14: 6
“Jesus said, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'”
O God, You make the minds of Your faithful to be of one will. Grant that we may love what You have commanded and desire what You promise, that among the many changes of this world our hearts may be fixed where true joys are found; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
We are now in the fifth Sunday of Easter. We never want to loose sight of Easter. Because every Sunday is a celebration of The Resurrection. Because Christ lives, He is the way, truth and life.
Your life in Christ is always in the present. In light of Easter Jesus is our only way to God. After all, what other man has ever from the dead?
Only when we do the Jesus truth in the Jesus way do we get the Jesus life.
For without the way. There is no going. Without the truth. There is no knowing. Without the life. There is no living.
1. Without the way. There is no going.
Hold onto this promise. "I am the way." He won't let you down now. 'I am the Way.' In Him you see God. In Him you meet and will meet God. His teachings will guide your feet. His presence will sustain your spirit. In all the twists and turns your future path may take, hold fast to Jesus, He is the Way.
"In my Father's house are many dwelling places" (14:2). I am the Way.
"I go to prepare a place for you" (14:3). I am the Way.
"I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also" (14:3). I am the Way.
"If you know me, you will know my Father also" (14:7). I am the Way.
"From now on you do know him and have seen him" (14:7). I am the Way.
"Whoever has seen me has seen the Father" (14:9). I am the Way.
Jesus is the Way. He is the truth.
2. Without the truth. There is no knowing.
Jesus is the way for those who dwell in an abyss of misery, futility and pain. Jesus is the way for disciples going through the motions. Jesus is the way for those who fear their questions are too basic. So bring your questions. Even your hardest questions to the God Jesus makes known.
For this God can handle them. Indeed, this God wants them. And when you are next to your wits end. When your hearts are troubled. And your blood pressure is racing with anxiety -- look to Jesus, the one who preached God's mercy and taught God's love. Who healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind, and made the lame to walk. And then conquered death so that even the grave can no longer claim you. Because what you see in Jesus...this is what God looks like. This is who and what God is. Love, perfect love, for you, for all of us, and the whole world.
Jesus is the Way. He is the truth. He is the life.
3. Without the life. There is no living.
The life you live is not your own. The life you live is rooted in Christ. "You are, for the sake of Christ, loved and treasured and of value in this world. Apart from your perception. Another's evaluation. Or your own feelings or failures. It’s a reality that comes from outside of you, hanging there on the cross." *
This does not mean that we are free from suffering, failure or loss. We often fail and fail miserably. The stuff of self identity is the difference between the words "do" and "done". In the words of John the Baptizer, "I must decrease. He must increase." The life you live is not your own. The life you live finds it's identity in Jesus Christ.
St. Paul reminds us, "And since Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you." - Romans 8:10-11.
The life you live is not your own. The life you live finds it's identity in Jesus Christ
* Rev. James Wetzstein Chapel of the Resurrection, Valparaiso, IN 29 March 2014
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