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Lord, may we hear your voice in the words spoken in your Name. Amen.
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This morning I have a question for you. What does the word
“home” mean to you? To many people these
days “home” means more than just a physical place, a
place you can hang your hat. It has come to mean, instead, a
place where you can hang your heart, a whole environment of
safety . . . security . .
. of warm welcome. It has come to mean a place that
nurtures deep relationships, a place that allows you to relax and
become your truest self. In fact, for many people that word
“home” signifies a place that nourishes the souls of all
who live there.
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So, no wonder, these days, the popularity of home decorating magazines,
home renovation shows, home gardening displays and even programs that
allow you to imagine the kind of home you might buy if you won the
lottery. Somehow, all these displays and programs satisfy profound
longings within us.
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But imagine now that deep sense of security suddenly being ripped
away – and you can understand the sense of panic the disciples
felt that night when Jesus told them he was about to die and leave
them to return to the Father. No wonder they felt confused and
distraught. Jesus had become, for them, their truest
home. And if he, now, was going away, what would become of
them? They would be left homeless.
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So, this morning, in our Gospel reading, Jesus is trying to reassure
his panicked disciples. First, he asks them to believe
him. But believing is something you do in your head. Jesus
wants them to believe him in their hearts. So he asks them to
trust – trust him, trust the Father, trust the relationship between
them all. “Trust me,” he says, “as a bride
would trust her soon–to–be husband when he tells her he is
going away to build their forever house on his father’s
property.” For that, in fact, is how marriages worked in
first century Israel. That’s how they were set up. And
Jesus” disciples understood those customs.
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In those days, you see, after the young man had secured the consent of
the girl he wanted to marry and the consent of her father, he would
then leave her. He would return to his own Father’s
homestead, there to build a house—or at least an addition —
for his bride. When all was ready in the new home, and a feast
had been prepared, he would return for his bride and escort her to their
new home, accompanied by her family and bridesmaids in a festal
procession. This is what Jesus was promising his disciples that
night – that they, in fact, were the bride of Christ, his chosen
ones. “We are family,”” he was saying to
them. “Trust me in this. Trust our loving
relationship. And trust that this is what I’m
doing – for us.
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It was a lovely promise, but for pragmatic Thomas, all this wedding
talk was a bit much. “Look,” he says, “We
don’t have a clue where you are going. How can we possibly
follow you? How would we know the way?”
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Poor Thomas. He hadn’t yet figured out that the Way of
Jesus, the kindly, compassionate, trusting Way of Jesus
isn’t something you know or you don’t know.
It’s something each person has to learn by walking in that Way,
by practicing that Way — day after day and mile after mile.
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This, after all, is what Abraham finally learned. He too
didn’t know the way – when he first started out on his
long journey. He became the Father of our faith only
after he had walked in Goda’s ways for many years. Only
after he had learned to trust God to show him the Way. Then,
finally, Abraham began to understand – that you only begin to
know God’s ways and understand them – as you walk in that
way – as you trust God and obey him.
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And then, of course, there was Moses. God also called Moses to
walk in the Way — without ever telling him exactly where they
were going, how they would get there or what it would all look like
when they arrived. Moses simply knew he’d been called to a
land God was promising to his people. And he would find out
more as he walked along the Way.
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You see, God is always asking his people to go on journeys, journeys
they hardly know much about. We are called to go ahead to a place
God will show us. It’s hardly surprising to hear, then,
this morning, that Jesus now expects his disciples to follow him to a
place they have never known, a land they can hardly imagine. He
simply tells them to start walking as they have seen him
walking – kindly, compassionately, reaching out in love to
all they meet along the Way. He trusts them to do this. And
as they do this, he tells them, they will get there. They will
find the place he has prepared for them in his Father’s house
and home.
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Well, you can see where this is going. For now it is our turn
to hear Jesus summoning us to get up and begin to walk in God’s
Way. Never mind that we don’t have it all figured out ahead
of time. Never mind that we don’t seem to have the right
map. Never mind that we don’t think we are worthy of the
call – much less up to its challenges. We simply need to
start walking – in all the ways of love — trusting that
Father, Son and Holy Spirit are walking right beside us.
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For in that faith, in that fellowship we will find our way home.
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Amen.
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