The Way

SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON APRIL 20^th, 2008

John 14:6 "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by me."

The irony of this statement is that if it wasn't for Jesus, we wouldn't know about the Father.   Jesus taught us that we have a heavenly Father who loves us and cares for us - but in the world this is not something that is obvious. Life is unfair, bad things happen to good people, often the world seems an awful mess; where is the loving Father, who numbers even the hairs of our head?

But Jesus did teach us that there is a loving Father - and in this chapter of John 14 he expands in a very deep, and sometimes difficult, explanation about this loving heavenly Father. He told Philip that He and the Father are one.   As if this is not difficult enough, at the same time he said: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by me".

We are on dangerous ground here. For though we believe that the Church is inclusive, and therefore all are part of God's love - some people would contradict the words of John 14:6 and say that Jesus is just one of many ways to God. Indeed you could walk to a near-by church and probably hear that from the pulpit this morning.  Of course to say that is in direct contradiction to what Jesus said.

It does raise questions what about good people who aren't Christians, who don't know Jesus. What about Hindu's, Buddhists, Muslims and Jews? What about those pseudo christian groups who don't believe that Jesus is the Son of God? These are real questions in our multi-faith, multi-cultural society.

So firstly let me affirm that Jesus' death and resurrection was for the salvation of all. For everyone - whether they know it or not.  

Secondly, Jesus himself said that he came not to condemn the world but to save it. So it's not a matter of non-Christians being condemned - for he came to save them as much as he came to save us.  

Thirdly, if Jesus is the Christ, the Word of God, then all people who believe in a loving creator God will surely recognize in Jesus when they see him, everything divine and good that they had hoped for and believed in. Otherwise all those rooms in Heaven that Jesus spoke of are going to be pretty empty!

Now I'm not giving an excuse for living a care-free life, and then concluding with a death-bed confession at the very last moment. Not at all! For the fact is that none of us is worthy to go to heaven - and we need to start now, not in the last five minutes of our conscience life. 

If Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, why waste precious time now on alternatives?

Jesus' statement also proclaims the big difference between him, and the founders of other religions.  

To all those others it is a scandal that Jesus claims to be the salvation of the world. The Church is often a scandal, because that is what we believe and proclaim. To other religions there can be no person who is the salvation of the world.

But it is not just a case of him being the Word made Flesh - the teachings of Jesus are inseparable from the man himself.   Although other religions have significant individuals, there is no recourse to them, such as there is to Jesus in the Christian Faith. Even the Buddha pointed away from himself as of no import.

Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and many other faiths, all seek the salvation of the individual from within - by their own spiritual paths and efforts.

But not so with Christianity. When Jesus says we should take up our cross and follow him, he is asking us not to just follow his example, but to identify ourselves with him. And particularly his sacrifice, by which he overcame death and won for us eternal life.   He can only ask us to do this if he is indeed the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Otherwise we are both foolish and deluded.   

So don't tell me from a pulpit that Jesus is one of many ways to the divine.

Christianity centers on this individual, Jesus - who is the salvation of the whole world. And the world receives its salvation from only this individual - who does not exist for himself alone, but for the whole world.

These complicated, but truthful, teachings are illustrated in another way by the Epistle reading today, from 1 Peter.  

Scholars believe that the first Epistle of Saint Peter is actually a sermon preached by Saint Peter at an Easter Vigil Service in the evening of Holy Saturday, when people were to be baptized. There are references to light, water, and being made a new people.

Picture for a moment in your minds Saint Peter preaching in the dark, perhaps in the catacombs or in some Roman house, with all the faithful Christians holding their lighted candles at this Easter Vigil Service. Several adult converts are waiting to be baptized.  

Addressing this assembly he says to them: "You a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people; that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him, who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light".

What a wonderful image and what a profound experience for those early Christians. And as those converts prepare to be baptized and received into the Church, they know the truth of this. They are not just saved as individuals, but are being joined to Christ's body, the new people of God.

The Church is not only One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic - it is also a royal priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices. It is also a chosen race, a holy nation, God's own people. The people of the New Covenant are all those things, because in Christ God has bound himself to this people - and has let himself be bound by them.

The New Covenant is granted by God as grace, which abides even in the face of his people's faithlessness.  

How can this be?   We are sinners, how can we be holy?  

The Church is holy, and we are holy, because of God's love - and despite our sinfulness.  

And lest we be too spiritual about the Church and how it should be - Saint Peter also throws up a very practical image.   Living stones, he says, built up into a spiritual house. And Christ Jesus is the chief corner-stone.  

Then quoting Psalm 118, which we sang so joyfully at the Easter Vigil and on Easter Day, Saint Peter says: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, this is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our sight".   Here Saint Peter is reminding us that our faith - and the Church - were founded on nothing less than the Risen Christ, the stone which the builders rejected.  

Indeed - the Church can only be this chosen race, this royal priesthood, this holy nation, because of the Risen Christ.

And because he is the Risen Christ, can he really be the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  

And what a wonderful way it is.