The Way to the Father

Synopsis: When Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” what did he mean? Did he mean that people must believe in him (Jesus) to be saved, or are we missing the deeper meaning of his words?

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Today’s message is entitled, “The Way to the Father.” You might be thinking, “That’s easy. Jesus is the way to the Father. Didn’t he say, ‘I AM the way the truth and the life – no one comes to the Father except through me?’” Yes, he did say that, but is that what he meant, or are we missing the deeper meaning of his words?

Let’s take a look at that passage found in John 14:1-14.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”

In these times, we can easily relate to Jesus’ disciples in this scripture reading. Since 2016, America has been embroiled in political strife. We’ve been hoping for political salvation: to make America great again. We weren’t envisioning a global pandemic for 2020. Now, our hopes and dreams for our country and for our personal lives are completely uncertain.

We’re justifiably troubled and in need of comfort.

Jesus and his disciples were in Jerusalem celebrating the Passover meal in the upper room on the night he was betrayed. Jesus had just predicted not only his betrayal but also Peter’s denial. Rather than talking about his defeating the Romans and being crowned king, Jesus spoke about his upcoming betrayal and crucifixion.

This was certainly not the future his disciples had envisioned; it was the one they feared the most. The terrible reality of what was about to happen to Jesus was finally beginning to sink into the minds and hearts of the disciples, and they were justifiably troubled.

Jesus tries his best to comfort and encourage his disciples before he goes away. At the end of the previous chapter, Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to a place where “you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward” (John 13:36).

Jesus’ disciples did not understand what he meant when he said that he was going to the Father because they did not yet know who they really are, so how could they follow him? Jesus knew that later on, they would follow him, so he assured them that he would save a place for them.

This, my friends, is the main reason we created time. Jesus had no more need of time at this point. His journey back to God was almost complete, but the disciples needed time. Like the story of the prodigal son who needed time to realize that he would be far better off returning to his father’s house instead of feeding pigs and starving to death, we prodigal children need time to remember who we are and to make the return journey back to God.

Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” When Jesus first said these words, his disciples misunderstood him. That’s understandable. Jesus was speaking about a great mystery that no words can describe.

We too misunderstand what he meant by these words. Many Christians assume Jesus was speaking about himself personally; therefore, people must believe in Jesus to be saved. When we don’t know who we really are, this mistake is understandable.

When Jesus said, “I am,” he wasn’t speaking about himself personally. He wasn’t speaking from his human nature; he was speaking from his divine nature. He was saying “I AM” with all capital letters. He was referring to who he is beyond the human form called “Jesus.”

He was referring to the state John wrote about in the beginning of his gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

Jesus was crucified because he claimed equality with God. Certainly, if he had made this claim about himself personally, about his human nature, it would have been a preposterous boast at least and blasphemous at most. How can this crude, finite matter be God? God is eternal, and this ain’t.

Yet back in the mid-80’s, at the beginning of the New Age movement, in her autobiographical book entitled, “Out on a Limb,” Shirley McLain boldly declared “I AM God!”

This shocking declaration got us all thinking rationally not only about our own nature but also about the nature of God. Is God a who or more of a what? Since then, humanity’s concept of God as an entity separate from us, looking down on us from on high and judging us, has lost its appeal.

Now, I think most people conceive of God as more as a what. If we could see and feel this great mystery called “God,” what would we see? What would we feel? Since all we have is our human senses, it would help to have some sensory pointers.

You might have heard people describe God as Light. In fact, in John 8:12, Jesus says, “I am the Light of the world.” Again, he’s not speaking about his human nature; he’s speaking about his divine nature – his IAM nature in union with God.

If we could see God, we might perceive Light. Because of our medical advances, many people have died and lived to tell about it. Many described walking toward a dazzling, loving Light. So now, many think of God not as an entity who lives somewhere apart from us, but as a kind of energy that is all around us – not only all around us, but somehow also mysteriously within us.

Maybe that’s what Jesus meant when he said, “Believe in God; believe also in me.” And maybe that’s what he meant when he said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?”

Just as God is the Light, we are the Light. Who we really are is not like this form; it’s more like an energy – like light. And doesn’t light project many different forms on a screen, and yet, it’s all the same? Why can’t that be the truth for us too – that even though we appear in many different forms projected onto this screen called “life,” we are exactly the same – made of the same stuff.

God is like the Sun, and we are like sunbeams – an extension of God – an expression of God on this earth. Without the sun’s light, there would be no life on earth. Likewise, without God, who we really are would not exist.

This body with this ego – this personal self – is like how the moon sometimes gets between the sun and the earth and causes an eclipse. We know there’s no way on God’s green earth that that little moon could ever totally block out the majestic sun. Imagine if the moon thought it could do that.

How arrogant!

When we identify with this personal self, we’re like the moon with that level of arrogance. We think that we’ve successfully blocked out God and ceased to be who we are. That’s impossible. This personal self seems powerful, but all it can really do is create … shadows.

An effective way to imagine our true nature visually is to repeat the mantra, “I am the Light,” and image God’s Light entering into the top of the head, filling every cell of the body, and then pouring out from every cell, but mainly from the heart. These bodies are powerful lighthouses when they aren’t being used to create shadows.

You might have heard people describe God as Love. In his first letter, John the evangelist writes, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him” (1 John 4:7-9).

So, we can visualize God and therefore who we really are as an energy like light. We can also think of God and therefore who we really are as love. That gives us a feeling sense – an idea of what it feels like to be who we really are. It feels like love.

We humans have a hard time understanding this because our idea of love is not the same as God’s. God’s Love is mysterious – just like everything else about God. We can’t describe it in words. 

But we can say for sure that it’s not like human love. Human love is exclusive. We love things in an exclusive way. I love ice cream, but I hate liver. We love people in this exclusive way too. We love certain people, and certain people we … don’t.

Our human love is also a gushy, giddy kind of love. It’s so dramatic. Humans love drama, and our human love is – of course – our idea of it – so there you go.

God’s Love isn’t like that. God’s love is inclusive. How can it exclude anything when God is all there is? God is therefore in an eternal relationship with everything he created, so how could he not love any part it? That would be like rejecting part of himself. That would be insane, and God is not insane.

We might come closer to understanding God’s Love a bit more after we’re married. Because suddenly, we are in a relationship “until death do us part.” That’s as close to the idea of eternity as we can imagine. At some point, the “honeymoon phase” – that gushy, giddy love – goes away. I don’t know about you other married folks, but I was sure glad when it did. It’s exhausting!

Yes, after a while, that gushy, giddy kind of love is replaced by something a lot less dramatic, but a lot more real, and that’s when the meaning of “I do” becomes clearer.

You see, love is more than just a feeling. It’s a choice. It’s an active thing. It’s a choice to actively be in a relationship. If we must share a place and our life with someone, isn’t it a whole lot easier when we get along and care for one another? Wouldn’t it be insane not to – unless, of course, we’re into PAIN?

Are we not in an eternal relationship with God, with our fellow human beings, and with all of Life on this planet? Of course we are! In that case, wouldn’t it be insane to reject anyone or anything that shows up in our life?

The sun gives its light and warmth to every living thing unconditionally. It doesn’t say, “Oh, I think that one’s evil, so I’m not giving that one any light. Plants give its oxygen to every living thing unconditionally. They don’t say, “Oh, I don’t like the color of that one, so I’m not giving that one any oxygen.

If something or someone is here, if it exists, then it automatically and unconditionally receives respect and care. That’s God’s idea of love.

Why are we so insane? Why do we eclipse the light on purpose, why do we cast shadows, why do we reject parts of ourselves? And why does God let us do that if it only leads to suffering?

Because we wanted to learn the value of love. When love is all there is, how can one experience its value? As the saying goes, “You don’t know what you got til its gone.” But if love is all there is, how can its opposite exist? It can’t in reality, but it can in our imaginations.

We humans are the only beings on this planet who have the opportunity to learn the value of love because we’re the only living things with the free will to choose to believe our own fantasies over the Truth. It’s up to each and every one of us to learn the value of love and to ultimately decide that nothing in this world is more valuable – because truly, there is nothing else.

How can we experience ourselves as God’s Love? Well, it’s simple but not easy. We practice gratitude for everyone and everything that’s showing up in our lives. Because that is how God feels about every person, every plant, every animal, and every single living thing on this planet.

God loves the unfolding of life on this earth, including everything that happens here. It’s all good because it’s all God, and it’s all teaching us the value of love. Think about the power of this pandemic to teach us all the value of love. Can you see all the people pouring out love in compassionate action?

Jesus tells his disciples, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.”

Love is the way to the Father. Because Christ is alive within us, we can now go to the Father though Love, but we must choose Love. We must value love more than anything else. So from this moment on, let us say, “I do” to Life.

Let’s pray together: Lord, we are willing to follow you to the place you have prepared for us. Help us to choose gratitude for all that is showing up in our lives that we may be the beacon of Light and the reservoir of Love that we were created to be. Amen.