Finding our Way – John 14:1-14

Have you ever been tempted when walking on a defined path in the woods to just suddenly veer off and take a new path – one that is not as well marked because few people have ever taken it?  If you did, how successful were you with your adventure?  Did you find it easy to navigate? Did you have a compass or GPS?  Did you find your way back in good time? Would you ever try that again or have you?

Most of us prefer to stay on the well defined path when it comes to hiking.  We may know how to navigate in the concrete jungle of our modern communities and even navigate down the clearly marked concession roads that surround them but to actually see an opening in the woods that has no marker and head down it probably seems foolhardy at best and perilous at worst.  We are so tied to schedules and events in our lives that require us to be at certain places at certain times that most of us would hesitate to even attempt such a thing.  If we do choose to go hiking, we probably would go to a well organized site with clear trail markers telling us if the path is easy, medium or hard, whether it requires extra equipment such as walking sticks and water.  We also would like to know the length of the trail we will be taking so as to be sure of finishing in time to get to our next activity.

For the majority of people throughout time, the story of their lives remained the same.  They took the defined path through life, the one that they had been taught to follow.  It may have been a path that led to their employment – most often in the same business as their father. It may have led to marriage – most likely someone from the village in which they lived.  And their path in religion probably followed what they had been taught by the leaders of their local school or temple.  In fact people lived predictable lives.  The thought of going in a completely new direction would have held too many risks.

Those people who chose to follow Jesus when he called them had probably been living their lives in that very same way.  There is no doubt that Peter, James, John, and the others had given no thought that their lives would ever change.  They had been born, had grown up in their homes with their parents and siblings, had adopted the livelihood of their fathers and had married girls from their village. They expected nothing more of life than to live in peace, to offer their sacrifices at the temple, to seek to live according to the laws of God, to love their wives and children and to provide for their needs. The thought that their lives would actually change was the furthest thing from their minds.  But there was also a restlessness sweeping across the land in those days.  Whether openly expressed or not, many of the people were feeling oppressed by their religious leaders, beginning to question the direction in which the leaders were taking them and beginning to doubt that their God really was a God who loved them and wanted to know them as he had known their ancestors.

It is in this time that God broke into the world in the form of the person known as Jesus of Nazareth, the son of a carpenter.  Jesus himself was living the life that others around him were living.  He grew up in his parents’ home with his siblings and learned the trade of his father.  In time he would be expected to take the lead in the business as his father aged and to marry an appropriate woman who would care for him and the family they would be expected to have

This was to be the path of his life or so everyone around him thought.  But there was a different path that Jesus was to take.  It was a path that would bring him into conflict with the authorities of the day and lead to his death. But it also was the path to reconciliation and eternal life with God.  In those days God had become a distant figure – one more of mythology than reality.  People still made their sacrifices in the hope that God was still there and cared for the people but they were questioning his love for them. There seemed to be no compassion, no real forgiveness from this God – only condemnation and retribution.  Instead of feeling free to be in relationship with God, the people felt burdened and hemmed in by the rules and commandments.  While they understood and appreciated the importance of rules and commandments to guide their lives, the many interpretations and additions made were overwhelming.  Many had lost hope and their faith had become a shell.  They may have lived that life on the outside but on the inside there was little left.

The message that Jesus brought was refreshing and energized the people who heard and accepted.  He touched the heart and soul of the people and rekindled in them the knowledge and emotion that God truly cared and loved them.  They learned to follow the commandments of God not out of habit but out of love.  They would seek to do what God asked of them because they truly sought to experience the life God had created them to live.

For those who chose to listen to Jesus and follow, this meant taking a path that veered off from the path they had come to know. It meant stepping off the accepted trail and taking a new road.  As long as Jesus was with them, they knew the path to God for they were following the One who was sent by God.  He was there to teach them where the path led and could always show them the way.

In our passage today, Jesus was speaking to the disciples of leaving.  He was going to the Father.  He was not going to be there to guide them on the path. How would they be able to know which way to go?  If he was going to leave, they needed to know where to find the Father so that they could go to him.

I am sure that the mystery of the incarnation of God in Jesus was something that was quite difficult for them to wrap their heads around – and they have not been the only ones to have difficulty with that.  That Jesus could be the Father that he spoke of seemed incredible.  How could the One who stood before them be the same One to whom he was going?  How could the Son also be the Father?  It seemed unnatural to them.  The idea that God himself had been living and eating with them, teaching them, and guiding them seemed impossible.  And yet just as Jesus had declared himself to be not only the gate to the sheepfold but also the shepherd, so he was declaring that not only was he the Son of the Father but indeed the Father.

For the disciples, the mystery of God had been revealed in a way no one could ever have imagined. They had seen the face of God in the man Jesus.  They had experienced the love of the Father in the care of the Son.  The path they had taken with Jesus indeed was the way to the heart of God; the path they had taken with Jesus indeed was the truth about God; and the path they had taken with Jesus indeed was the path to true life, a life with God now and for eternity.

There are many paths that we can take in this life.  We can spend our lives exploring many of them.  Some will take us somewhere while others will lead to dead ends.  Some will demand much of us while others will demand little. Some will be safe while others will be dangerous.  But there is one path that will lead us to a sense of peace and hope that no other can give.  And that is the path to God the Father led by the Son Jesus.  This path will lead us throughout this life to places of fulfilment and hope; this path will be led by our God who will walk with us in suffering and in joy, forgiving our stumbling and encouraging us to be reconcilers and reconciled.

Finding our way in this life will never be easy but if we seek for God in our life, we will find him and finding him we will find the path we are to follow.  And God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit will guide us, nourish us, and preserve us unto eternal life.  AMEN.