St. Christopher's Episcopal Church: Sermons

Last Sunday | Two weeks | Archives | Home page

A Sermon Preached at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, Oak Park, IL
on the Fifth Sunday of Easter, April 20, 2008 (Year A, RCL)
by the Rev. Paris Coffey

"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." " - John 14:6

At the risk of boring you with a story I've told before, I want to talk today about Sherwood, a Rastafarian guide who led a group of pilgrims in Jamaica to Bob Marley's home and mausoleum. I say pilgrims, because that's what a few of us were on this bus tour into the lush, tropical mountains of Jamaica. The tour was called The Spirit of Reggae, but I confess I was more interested in the Rastafari religion practiced by Marley, father of reggae, Sherwood our guide, and million plus other people worldwide. My first question, though, met with a sharp reply from our guide who said, "Don't call it a religion, mon. It's a way of life."

I was instantly intrigued, remarking that Christianity had once been called "The Way," which suggests Jesus may not have come to start a new religion but to show us how to live. Sherwood nodded and began to describe the way of life practiced by those Rastas who take its principles seriously, meaning, he said, "All who're not just there for the ganja. Rasta," he said, "is a way of life rooted in love that empowers the oppressed and eliminates poverty, in part by living lightly on the earth." Sherwood expounded on this as we made our way up the mountain, pointing out nutritional and medicinal properties of the local vegetation. "Use what you have, and don't have more than you need," he said, stressing the importance of selflessness, humility, and respect for others in the Rasta way.

"All of this," I thought to myself, "sounds strangely familiar," making me wonder what Christianity might look like if we walked the walk of Jesus rather than talking the talk. What would it look like, for example, if Jesus truly was for us, as he says in today's Gospel, "The way, the truth, and the life"? Jesus doesn't say, "I am doctrinal faith, orthodox thought, and verbal acknowledgment of the above." On the other hand, he does add that "no one comes to the Father except through me," words that have become a weapon in the hands of some Christians over the ages. In fact, they've become a rallying cry to prove that only Christians are saved, while all other poor souls are condemned by God.

Nothing could be further from the truth in John's Gospel, and yet this cry can reach still higher heights of lunacy in many, if not all, religions whose believers cry, "Mohamed is the only way, Moses is the only way, Jesus is the only way." What's worse, some claim even more narrowly that "MY way is the only way," as Christians condemn other Christians, Jews other Jews, or Muslims other Muslims who don't think or live precisely as they do. We see such narrow-mindedness in the old joke about a man who dies, goes to heaven and is promptly shown around town by St. Peter. Laughing and talking, the two make their way through heaven's streets until approaching a thick, high wall, St. Peter shushes his companion. "Be very, very quiet," he says, to which the man replies, "Why? Who's behind the wall?" St. Peter looks around cautiously then whispers, "The Missouri Synod Lutherans; they think they're the only ones here."

The same, of course, could be said of various factions of Episcopalians, Baptists, Presbyterians, etc., or of Catholics and Protestants, Orthodox and Reformed Jews, Sunnis and Shiites. Indeed, the same might be said of us, for although we express horror at such shameless exclusivity, I'm sure God throws up his or her hands with ALL of us at times, saying, "Jesus Christ, what can I try next to get the point of my love across?" Love can get lost in religion, which is why I'm sure God appreciates the reggae album of Ziggy Marley, oldest son of Bob and Rita. Entitled "Love is my religion," it expresses the heart of God's hope for us, and yet how tough it can be to LIVE such hope - to put right-living above right thinking, and inclusivity above our exclusive claim to God.

Such exclusivity seems somehow to be inherent in human nature, although God - in whose image we are created - is anything but exclusive. This means we need to unpack the verse from John where Jesus says, "No one comes to the Father except through me," examining at least two items. First is the fact that Jesus doesn't say, "No one comes to God," but "no one comes to the Father." And second, when he says "no one," he means "none of you,"¹ for John writes to a very particular community of faith. Originally Jesus' followers had thought "The Way of Jesus" was part of Judaism, much as Anglicanism was initially part of the Roman Church. Eventually, though, there was a clear split with Judaism, forcing John's community to carve out a new religious home for themselves.

Moreover, they had to carve out their own identity, and so John describes a particular relationship with God - God the Father - made known in the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. God is not some generic deity here, but the tangible presence of God's love to the world in Christ² . What's more, God calls the disciples in John's community to bear this love into the world with their lives. It may be that they'll have to use words as well, but their primary call is to action. It's a call to make God's love REAL in the world by living the way Christ lived and doing the works he did - with love, forgiveness, humility and self-sacrifice.

It sounds impossible, but Jesus tells this community and those of us who want to be part of it that we CAN live as Christ lived and do the works he did because of God's indwelling Spirit. It's why Jesus could do what he did as acknowledged when he says, "The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works." Even more amazing, Jesus says that with God's Spirit in us we will do greater works than his because he goes to the Father. No wonder we pray in Rite Two, "Unite us to your Son in his sacrifice," or in Rite One that God "may dwell in us, and we in him." Such prayers acknowledge the power of the indwelling Spirit, recognizing that "my Father's house" - the dwelling place Jesus speaks of in today's Gospel - is in not just a synonym for heaven but refers to the Divine Spirit that dwells within each of us.

For our part, all we have to do is believe, which sounds like no small order, and it isn't. It is, though, made easier by our fellowship of faith - by being together in worship, sharing our experiences of God's presence, encouraging one another in a counter-cultural way of life, and by being part of God's fellowship - Father Son and indwelling Spirit. As the saying goes, "Many hands make light work," including the work of believing as a woman discovered when she got lost on a country road. Pulling a map from her glove compartment she tried to plot her way, but since reading and driving don't mix, she drove into a ditch instead. Her car wouldn't budge, and so abandoning it she headed to a nearby farm for help.

Hearing the woman's story, the farmer said, "Warwick can get you out of that ditch," and pointed to an old mule standing in the field. Skeptically, the woman eyed the mule, but with no other options she headed back to the ditch with Warwick and the farmer. Hitching his mule to the car, the farmer snapped the reins shouting, "Pull, Fred! Pull, Jack! Pull, Ted! Pull, Warwick!" And the mule pulled, releasing the car with little effort. Amazed, the woman thanked the farmer, patted the mule and asked, "Why'd you call out all those other names before calling Warwick?" The farmer smiled and said, "Old Warwick's just about blind, but long as he believes he's part of a team he don't mind pulling."

Today's Gospel tells us we are part of a team in "The Way" Christ calls us to live and the love he calls us to share. We're not Lone Rangers, engaged in some private mystical union with God for our fulfillment alone, but part of a Way of Life that, similar to the Rasta Way, includes selflessness, humility and respect for others. It includes empowering the oppressed, eliminating poverty by living lightly on the earth and sharing what we have. It even includes smoke - incense, not ganja - but most of all it includes relationship with God made public in its love, so that the love revealed to us in Jesus Christ is made real in the world.

This is OUR way. It's not the only way, nor the way to God for everyone. It is, however, "The Way" to God for those so called to "the way, and the truth, and the life," not by intellectual assent, but by living into the power and glory of God who through us - all of us together - can do great things for great good.

Amen.

1. Gail R. O'Day, "The Gospel of John," The New Interpreter's Bible: Volume IX (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995), p.744.

2. Ibid.