under construction: choosing the way

from my message on 8/26/12 from Psalm 119:1-3 and John 14:1-6

I was visiting with one of my clergy friends recently.  She used to work in a branch of health care. She made an observation that was so simple and so profound.  She said, "I discovered that when the pain went away, people's lives were changed."  She could do that on a physical level, but she wanted to do more than just treat bodies.  She wanted the whole person to be well, without mental, spiritual, relational pain.   She became a pastor.  When the pain goes away, people's lives are changed.

Unfortunately, the church often causes pain.  Our words, our positions, our theological stances wound people.  We clergy do it too.  I have done it.  Some of you have felt that wounding.  It may be hard for you to be in worship today.  Even though I believe that when the pain goes away, then people's lives are changed, we still find ourselves wounding people in the church.  These are some of the deepest pains we can have.

Especially when it comes to a verse like we have at John 14:6, where Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  We have used this verse like a sword.  We cut some people out.  We cut some people off.  We say, "Jesus is the only way, and you are not in."  We make the verse exclusionary, restrictive, harsh, and narrow.  Some of you may have been wounded by the use of this verse.  Is that the Jesus way?

I believe that when the pain goes away, people's lives are changed.  The Jesus way is about including as many people in salvation as possible.  I want to be about that way as we finish up this 3 part series on a path of discipleship.

Look at the Jesus way in John's Gospel.  Jesus meets Nicodemus at night.  I call him Nick at Night.  He is a Jewish  teacher, a Pharisee, high up in the religious hierarchy.  He is scared and meets Jesus at night.  Jesus welcomes him.  In the next chapter, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at high noon.  She is the polar opposite of Nick.  Jews looked down upon Samaritans as half breeds, outcasts, not true believers.   A good Jew would spit when saying Samaritan.  Jesus welcomes her.  Jesus heals a lame man.  He feeds the hungry crowds not just with bread but with the words of life.  He forgives a woman caught in the act of adultery.  He heals a blind man.  He raises his friend Lazarus from the dead.  He washes his disciples feet.  As I read it, he even washes Judas the betrayer's feet, and Peter the denier's feet, and the other ten who all desert him.  Jesus way is not to see how many He can exclude, but how many he can include.  He is trying to reach as many as He can with grace, mercy, and forgiveness.  When the pain goes away, people's lives are changed.  This is the Jesus way.

Thomas asks for all of us, "How can we know the way?"  And Jesus' answer is not a where but a who.  His answer is not a route but a relationship.  He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."  "In my father's house" could be translated as household.  We are invited to be a part of God's family.  Jesus wants to take us to himself.  I have preached on this passage so many times, but I never noticed this next part.  Does Jesus say he is the way to heaven?  No.  Does he say he is the way to God?  No.  Jesus says that he is the way to the Father, not a place, not a generic god.  Jesus is the way to intimacy with this particular God.  There may be other revelations out there.  Certainly there are other great world religions.  But we have a God who wants to be known throug a specific revelation in Jesus the Christ.  It is personal.  Jesus will even address this Father as "Daddy."  Please don't get caught up in the male language.  It is more about intimacy, nearness, relationship. 

We have a God revealed in Jesus who wants a close relationship with us.  When the pain goes away, people's lives are changed.  I heard a great story about this relationship on Thursday morning at a breakfast at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.  One pastor stood up and told us about a man in her church named Moses.  Doesn't every congregation need a Moses?  Moses doesn't have a high paying job.  He does his labor with dignity and grace.  Another man was impressed with the way Moses handled himself.  He asked him, "Moses, why is your life always together?"  Moses replied, "Because I know Jesus Christ."  "How do you know him?"  "You need to get into the Bible and get into a worshiping congregation."  The man followed Moses to his church.  The pastor said, "You should see the change in this man's life. He is on fire."  What did Jesus say?  "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."  When the pain goes away, people's lives are changed.

I was talking with Diana our Music and Worship leader about this message today.  She said she heard another line about pain.  If the pain is not transformed, it gets transferred.  If we don't give our pain to Jesus for him to heal, we transfer it.  Sometimes we shoot it out, spraying others with our anger.  Some of you may know about this.  Sometimes we hold it in, becoming bitter, and hardened, and sometimes developing a cancer of the soul that eats us up inside.  It the pain is not transformed, it gets transferred.  When the pain goes away, people's lives are changed.

This is what the psalmist says also.  Read Psalm 119, all 176 verses.  The psalmist doesn't give a bunch of rules, but the offer of a life-changing relationship.  He says, "Here's the way to life, to blessing, to happiness.  You can not merely survive.  You can thrive.  It is not about retribution, but mercy.  Walk in God's ways."

Here's the big ask of this message.  You have to make a choice.  What do you do with the pain?  Will it be transformed or transferred.  Will you let it go away so your life can be changed or not?  I cannot make you do anything.  The church can't.  God won't.  It is your choice.  Which way will you go? 

In this church we are offering a path of discipleship.  Your bulletin insert has information on how you can get started.  We would like for you to take a test, a self-assessment of your spiritual journey.  Let me see the hands of all you students who are going back to school.  I hate to tell you this, but it never ends.  After high school, I took 5 years to get my bachelor's degree, then 3 years to get my master's, and another 5 years to get my doctorate.  I suspect you adults can identify.  You probably have to get continuing education, attend seminars and such to keep up your credentials.  This is a lifetime journey.  It is not just true for school or work; it is also true of our spiritual journey.  We are offering this survey instrument to help you find out where you are in your spiritual journey.  You can take it online or hard copy.  These are blind scored.  We are not keeping the data.  It all about you and your relationship with Christ.  Then, you will be given a  nudge, that is a limited choice of what step you might take next.  Then you would keep going. 

All we want for you is to fall in love with Jesus, grow deeper in relationship with Him, and then serve Him and others.  It might look like this video.

(video of our Back to School blast with Parker Lane UMC where we had hoped to serve 50 kids, and actually helped closer to 200 children with school supplies, backpacks, and clothes.  Families got immunizations and health checks.  There were games and snacks.  The women's volleyball team from St. Ed's joined in as well as a men's fraternity from UT.  Lee Ann shared her story of how powerful the experience was for her.  Her life has been changed by serving others.)

The good news is that when the pain goes away, people's lives are changed.