Kahu's Manao
Keawala‘i Congregational Church
United Church of Christ (USA)
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Sunday, April 20, 2008
The Rev. Kealahou C. Alika
"A Place with God"
1
Peter 2:2-10 & John 14:1-14
Jacob was dying but he chose not to tell his two sons. Micah was four years old, Joshua six. The diagnosis was made a few years earlier. At first the treatments for his cancer seemed to work. He was feeling better and looking better but as the months went by his health slowly declined.
His wife Rachel supported his decision not to tell their two sons at least not until the boys would begin to see for themselves that their father was sick and to understand that he was not going to be able to do many of the things they once did. Whenever anyone questioned him about his decision he would respond by saying he wanted to spend whatever time he had left playing with his sons and having them remember him in that way.
“I want them to remember me as someone living, someone who was alive. I want them to remember days we spent being together playing and eating, running and talking.”
“I do not deny that I am dying,” he said. “But as long as I am alive, I will live. When the time comes the boys will know and though they will be upset and feel sad, I also know they will remember our walks on the beach and our playtime.” So it was that he spent his days with his sons preparing them and himself and his wife, Rachel, for what was to come.
Our reading from The Gospel According to John occurs in the days before Jesus’ death. It begins with his farewell to the disciples and concludes with a prayer. (John 17). Jesus prepares the disciples for what is to come and through that process he also begins to prepare himself.
If there is any doubt that the disciples are anxious when Jesus indicates to them that he is about to leave them, we only need to recall his words to them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” (John 14:1) What becomes important for Jesus is the recognition that he shares an intimate relationship with the disciples that is characterized by trusting and knowing. This same relationship of trusting and knowing is something that Jesus shared with God.
His death and departure will not sever his relationship with the disciples. Rather it will fulfill that relationship.
The same relationship of intimacy also existed between Jacob and his sons Micah and Joshua. There is a trusting and a knowing between father and sons. That is what Jesus shared with God when he spoke of God as “father.”
Jesus knew that Philip and the other disciples were anxious about what would happen to them once he was gone. After all he was leaving them behind in a world that was indifferent and sometimes hostile to them. But he did not dwell on their anxiety. Whatever may happen to them, Jesus offered words of assurance to the disciples and those who were a part of the early church.
First, there was the promise of an abiding place with God and second, the promise of a sure and clear way to God. (John 14:5-7) The third promise was that of a power not only to sustain them in the world but to enable them to do even greater works than Jesus did. (John 14:12) (Preaching the New Common Lectionary: Year A, Craddock, Hayes, Holladay, & Tucker, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 1986, page 206)
The promise of an abiding place with God and the promise of a power to sustain in the way, the truth and the life that is ours in the Risen Christ are clear sources of comfort. However the promise Jesus makes that “no one comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6) is not so clear.
For centuries many have argued that it is clear. There is no other way especially when one reads the text in a literal way.
The writer of The Gospel of According to John was convinced that the way to the God whom no one has ever seen was Jesus Christ. The question we must ask ourselves is whether or not such a statement of exclusivity was a polemic? In other words was the writer’s intention to speak out against another prevailing view and understanding of Jesus? Against whom was the statement directed?
Some have said that the writer of John was aware that there were those who owed their allegiance and loyalty to John the Baptist. Others have pointed out that the writer had to contend with what was being said in the Jewish synagogues. Still others contend that the statement was addressed to those who minimized the fact that Jesus was born, lived, died, and was resurrected.
In the end the overall concern for the writer of John is that the promises were made not only to the early disciples but to the early church. They are also promises made to us and to the church in our own day and time.
There is the promise of an abiding place for each of us that we must not confuse with a location or a building. The poets will say that such a place is near to the heart of God and that such a place is everywhere.
As we continue through this Easter season there is the promise of a sure and clear way to God through the Risen Christ. There is the promise of power to strengthen and sustain us in the world. For such promises, we give thanks to God.
“Whatever happened to Jacob?” you may ask.
Jacob died.
Micah and Joshua will hold memories of all that their father said and did close to their hearts. They will remember what he taught them about living and they will find strength in such memories, strength that will sustain them through the coming years.
What would we say of our own living and dying? If each of us could offer our own "farewell" to one another, what would we say about our place with God, about life, about death?