Sermon on John 14:6 for Easter 5

I met a person several years back while I visiting a hospital. He was a very pleasant man. I had come to the hospital to see someone else and I had a dyslexic moment. I wrote down the correct room number but I misread it. When you walk into a place expecting one person and finding another it can be disconcerting and that look must have shown on my face. The man in the room must have known instantly that I had erred but he clearly wanted company and I ended up talking to him. He had had some heart-related treatment and was actually doing quite well. He was a little bored sitting around and wanted to talk.

As often happens when in a conversation when one wears a collar, he turned the conversation to religion. He told me his beliefs and finally something to the effect that, “Well we are all on different paths to the same place, to the same God.”

He expected me to affirm his comment.

Instead I smiled and said nothing immediately.

Surprised, he said, “So you’re one of those folks who think the Jesus is the only way, I suppose.”

“Well, it is a little hard to argue with one’s boss on that one,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, there’s scripture,” I said.

“Where in the Bible does it say that there is only one way to God?”

I don’t know if he was really serious or not because he seemed to be an intelligent and well-read person.

In any case, I quickly quoted John 14:6: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”

He was not happy with my answer. He said he was surprised that an Episcopal priest would take such a view! He was sure that the verse in question was taken out of context and wasn’t really meant to be taken in such an exclusionary way.

We talked for another few minutes, and truth be told, it was very awkward. We finished cordially enough but I felt I not helped the cause of Christ.

What do we do with this scripture reading? How can a loving God exclude people – in some cases people that are near and dear to us? If Jesus is the only way; isn’t heaven going to be a sparsely populated place? When Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” does he mean it? Or does he not?

As Christians, we cannot ignore these questions. They are very relevant. And we should have an answer. Just who does get to go to heaven?

The first thing worth saying is that Jesus also tells us to judge not lest we be judged. Fact is, I don’t know who is going to heaven. In many ways it is not my business. In the past I have spoken about the Christian virtue of humility. That pertains here. This is God’s business not mine. I can’t read people’s hearts but I am not called to either. Thus I can say with great assurance that God will save who God saves.

The second thing that I must do is affirm Holy Scripture as authoritative. We are called to place ourselves under Scripture. In this case I can’t – and no one really should – quibble with the clear meaning of God’s Revelation and the clear words of the Son of God.

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

There just aren’t a lot of ways to parse that. It is simple. It means what it says. It is clear. Jesus isn’t speaking in parables. He means what he says. And what he says isn’t easy.

Without Jesus there is no way to God.

Jesus is the only way to salvation.

Not many ways – one way!

Not many truths – one truth!

Not many lives – one life!

Not many paths – one path!

It means what it means.

And it is so inconvenient.

This means the burden is on the Christian.

The Christian needs to share the truth of Jesus. Our mission is to be evangelists in any way we can. We don’t need to sit around and worry about God’s plan of salvation being different than one we might choose. Face it most of us wouldn’t have made the Jews the Chosen People, either. This is God’s plan. But we are a part of it and we need to do what we can.

When was the last time you humbly tried to share your faith?

When was the last time you invited someone to this parish.

When was the last time you tried to be the Christian example of love in the world?

We must share the gift we have been given. If we do God will do the rest. We are called to do it – that is our mission – the Holy Spirit will take over from there.

The fact is that Christianity is both the most inclusive and the most exclusive faith one can imagine. Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world – for every single person who ever has lived or will live – that is as inclusive as you can get. That is the truth. But so is this: It is exclusively by faith that we can access this stunning gift of grace.

This is God’s plan.

We can like it or we can dislike it.

That is the choice of every human being; just as it is our choice to accept the gift or not.

But we need not pretend that Jesus didn’t say it or that somehow he didn’t mean what he said. That is arrogant and prideful. It is making an idol of our opinions.

The way – the only way – is to take Jesus at his word when he says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”