A Sermon preached on
May 14th, Easter V, at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden
Acts 7: 55 – 60, I Peter 2: 2 – 10, John 14: 1 – 14
Today is German and US Mother's Day, so it would be tempting to preach
on 1 Peter with its image of God as a mother nursing the faithful who are
"like newborn infants, longing for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it
you may grow into salvation." Instead, I will focus on today's gospel from
John, with that famous line "I am the way, and the truth, and the
life."
This is one of the gospel passages we use at burial and memorial
services, and that is part of what our service is about today. It is both a
comforting and a difficult or controversial passage, especially when we
emphasize the sentence following the "I am" statement: "no one
comes to the Father except through me." This is often used to justify an
exclusive view of Christianity, that no one outside of Christianity, and often
also no one outside of a particular brand of Christianity, has access to the
Father, to God.
That is in itself a topic worth a whole series of sermons or as the
basis of a course of adult formation. For now, I just want to offer one
observation. Jesus' statement follows a question from Thomas, who like Philip
in the subsequent paragraph, is being particularly obtuse. "Lord, we do
not know where you are going. How can we knew the way?" he says. I can
just see Jesus reacting a little frustrated, perhaps even rolling his eyes
while thinking, do you ever listen to me? Then answering: "OK Thomas, let
me make it easy for you: you follow me, you follow my teaching, you follow my
example, and then you'll go where I'm going, to the Father.
His slightly more impatient reply to Philip is in a similar vein. Philip
says "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." To which
Jesus replies, "Philip you really haven't been paying attention either. I
embody the Father, and what I embody is love. All YOU need to see and know is
me, Jesus. And that goes for us too. Jesus is OUR way to God.
As you may know, a group of us have just returned from a pilgrimage to
Canterbury. So the term "I am the way" resonates with us. Some of the
group even felt that that was a little too much "way," i.e. walking
on our trip! The official website for the pilgrims' way to Canterbury gives 4
reasons for going on a pilgrimage:
1. To set aside time for God and to feel closer to God
2. To discern God's will and guidance in times of transition and difficulty
3. To be strengthened in faith
4. To be inspired by the example of all the saints who have gone before
Reason number four, following the example of others, is in part what
some of our readings are about today. Stephen's example, as recounted in the
book of Acts, has inspired many others who have been threatened and killed for
witnessing to their faith. Thomas Cranmer, author of our Prayer Book and first
archbishop of the newly separate Church of England used the same words when he
died at the stake: "Lord Jesus receive my spirit" and "Lord, do
not hold this sin against them." He was not always forgiving when alive
and in a position of power, but thankfully at this moment he remembered and was
inspired by Stephen's example, just as Stephen was inspired by Jesus and Jesus'
example, by Jesus' way, Jesus' truth , and Jesus' offer of life beyond life.
In just a moment, we will hear some stories about Father Bell, the
former rector of Saint Augustine's who died just over two weeks ago. They are
stories about how he moved and inspired people, how he acted as an example.
Karl was able to be an example not because he was a saint, at least no more and
no less than all of us, but because he was a follower of Jesus. He knew God
through Jesus, he chose to follow Jesus' way, to teach Jesus' truth, and to
live his life to the full. in his last months he looked back joyfully on an
abundant and fulfilled life. In her eulogy at her fathers funeral, Diane Bell
said he had told her just a few days before he died that he "had
absolutely zero regrets about what he had done with this life." And in my
last correspondence with Karl, I also
experienced someone who trusted implicitly that a new life beyond life was
beckoning.
"I am the way, the truth, and the life." This is of course one
of many of Jesus' self-descriptions in John's gospel, last week we had I am the
Good Shepherd and I am the Gate. It is also both a promise and a challenge. We
have to follow that way, we have to embody his truth, we have to live his life
..... which is not always easy. To help us, we have the example of those who
have gone before, Stephen, Thomas, Karl, and all the saints. And even more
importantly we have Jesus' promise that He will empower us: "Very truly, I
tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in
fact, will do greater works than these."
Amen.
