I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life
John 14.1-7
Dr. Matthew M. Fry

We would Dance, O God, we would live our lives as a joyous dance, twisting and turning in your life and love, smiling in assuredness of your care, and crying in the pain of this world with you. We would dance, O God, but our feet are clumsy, our hearts are anxious, and our minds unsure. Help us to dance, O God, to dance freely and confidently in your mercy. Amen.

Hear now The Word of the Lord as it comes to us in the Gospel of John. Listen. John 14.1-7.

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe* in God, believe also in me. 2 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?* 3 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. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going.’* 5 Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ 6 Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know* my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’

The Word of the Lord…Thanks be to God.

One day, you will die. I hate to be the bearer of the bad news, but I figured someone should tell you. And shortly after you die, your family will meet with someone like me, and the question will be asked about what specific Biblical passages that they will want read at the celebration of your life and witness to the resurrection service of worship. And most likely, if your family is like most others, they will say something like, “I don’t know. Whatever you think is appropriate.” Most families will mention that they want Psalm 23 read. An obvious choice. Another choice that many pastors, including myself, offer is this one from John 14. “‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2 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?* 3 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.” It is comfort that families need when they face death; the word that life does go on, that nothing is more powerful than life.

We’ve been going through the 7 “I am” statements in John now since May 18. It has been well over a month now, and we’re not even finished until next week! But I was struck in looking back at them how many of them include the word “Life.” “The Bread of Life,” from John 6. “The Resurrection and the Life,” from John 11 was last week’s sermon. And today, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” That’s 3 of 7, almost half, that have ‘Life’ right in the title. But I’d add that in John 10, both statements, “I am the Gate,” and “I am the Shepherd” sandwich verse 10b, which reads, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” I think both of those “I am” statements are heard with the background music of that verse. So, in my mind, that adds 2 more of the “I am” statements that play over the soundtrack of ‘life’. Which makes 5 of the 7 statements that are very directly about Jesus claiming that he is life. And next week is about the vine, and bearing fruit or being pruned, which is also about life type stuff.

Which makes for an interesting count. There are two statements, this one “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life,” and last week’s “I am the Resurrection and the Life,” which either directly or indirectly address the afterlife. But there are 5, including those two, which address directly life, especially life here and now. In John’s gospel, one of the major themes is these I am statements. During them, Jesus talks about life here and now 150% more than he talks about the life after death. And Jesus never talks about life after death in these statements when he doesn’t also talk about life here and now. Which leaves me to wonder why so many people take so much time, self included here, thinking or worrying about the afterlife and so little time thinking and worrying about life here and now.

What if God is more than just the God of heaven? What if God is also the God of all creation, including the earth? What if God is the author and sustainer of all life? What if all of God’s actions and all of God’s being is toward the goal of sustaining and furthering life, that beautiful back and forth rhythm of life, which fills our hearts and souls and takes our breath away? What if Jesus is not focusing during this statement on shutting out people who don’t follow him in the traditional ways with which we have grown comfortable? What if instead, his focus is on the fact that as part of the triune God of life, all who would experience life to the fullest will meet during that process the giver of all life, the Creator, the Redeemer, the Sustainer? What if God is making through Jesus the statement that Jesus couldn’t help but make because God is so excited about life that God does not want to wait even one more second to let us know that life is beautiful, here and now, and that you don’t have to cross any death boundary to get to life?

The beauty of the “I am” statements is how John weaves them throughout the gospel. They aren’t presented back to back, but are placed throughout Jesus’ life and ministry, dancing throughout John’s gospel. The ‘I Am’ statements take on a life of their own, as they move back and forth through the story. They come back, time and again, to life, to the dance of life.

The first dance I ever went to with a date I was so nervous. I had attended many a dance without a date, you know, where the boys are on their side and the girls on theirs. Personally for me, it was a little bit of a lie to say I had gone to a dance when I had been to one of those. Not a step did I dance, not a move or rhythmic motion did I make. So the first dance I took Alice Hicks to was accompanied by a big sense of anxiety. I had been to dances, but had never danced. What if people looked at me and laughed at my moves? What if they made fun of me to my face, or worse, talked about me behind my back? So I went to my father to ask for advice. Talk about your mistakes…Who dances like that? I’ve since come to think that Dad was playing a prank on me by telling me to dance like that.

Anyway, after one song of trying to figure out whether to do the incredibly boring slide step or the galactic-ly stupid toe tappy thing, I realized that everyone was doing something different. One other poor soul had gotten the toe tappy advice, or worse, had seen me do it and liked it, because there was one other lost soul out there doing some toe tappy. The second song was another fast paced 80’s type song. Amazingly enough, that’s what they played in the 1980’s, 80’s type music. I can’t remember what the song was, but I do remember making the conscious choice to just dance, to just have fun, to throw it out there, and realizing that dancing with a partner at dances is not about doing it right or by the book, but enjoying it together. There’s more than one way to dance.

Similarly, when Jesus says that he is The Way, it doesn’t mean that there is only one way to follow him. All who seek and treasure life will find themselves in The Way, and in The Truth. Let us live our lives dancing self consciouslessly in the Life, not waiting even one more second for the Life. Amen.