Ask and Abide - A Sermon for Sunday May 7 2023

GOSPEL: John 14:1-14

The gospel is announced.

The holy gospel according to John.

Glory to you, O Lord.

On the night that he is to be arrested, Jesus shares final words with his disciples. As the one through whom God is known, he promises to go before them and act on their behalf.

[Jesus said to the disciples:] 1“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2In 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? 3And 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. 4And you know the way to the place where I am going.” 5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

 8Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” 9Jesus 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’? 10Do 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. 11Believe 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. 12Very 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. 13I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”

The gospel concludes:

The gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

It was the spring of 2004,

and I wasn’t getting a lot of sleep.

One night,

after a few nights of self-inflicted insomnia

I remember praying;

“God, please just let the Calgary Flames win the Stanley Cup,

and I’ll be satisfied”

Okay, maybe not word for word,

but I prayed for the cup,

I prayed for the Flames to win

I prayed in Jesus’ name,

and the cup didn’t come.

To be clear,

the puck crossed the line,

it was in,

as many Flames fans will attest,

but the win never came.

If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it,

Jesus says.

I don’t think the Tampa Bay Lightning won the cup

because their fans prayed first,

it’s not first come, first served.

It’s a crass example,

but we can all relate.

Many of our prayers seem to go unanswered.

How many Christians have prayed to win the lottery,

or prayed to get the job

and the answer didn’t come,

or the answer was no?

A more genuine example,

one I’ve shared with you before,

What about the time that a faithful congregation

prayed for two gentlemen,

both with similar and serious health concerns,

and one lives and one dies.

I can’t tell you why.

I can’t presume to know the mind of God,

the mysteries of God.

There is great diversity in creation,

some live to 100,

others die far too soon,

natural order,

sin and evil,

there are so many reasons that some live and some die.

There is more at work with God and within creation

than we can know.

Yet Jesus’ words remain:

If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it,

I believe we are invited to consider

what it means to pray for something

in Jesus’ name.

It is not as simple as adding that line at the end of the prayer,

in Jesus’ name...

Prayer is not about having the magic words.

Jesus is not a genie in a bottle

that grants you three wishes.

To ask something in Jesus’ name

is to ask in accordance with God’s will.

Consider Jesus praying in the garden,

Let this cup pass from me,

yet not my will,

but your will be done.

We are invited to pray,

earnestly,

honestly,

consistently,

again and again.

We pray because God is eager to listen,

and God always responds,

perhaps not always how we would like.

Prayer is our first privilege as the baptized,

in relationship with our God,

we pray,

and prayer changes us,

orients us to God’s will.

Prayer works,

perhaps not always how we would like.

These words from Jesus,

this discourse Jesus has with the disciples

are spoken on the night that Jesus was betrayed.

I’m not sure the disciples liked what was happening.

Jesus has just washed the feet of the disciples,

an act of utter devotion

from the Rabbi to disciples.

This was confusing.

So was Jesus foretelling his death and resurrection.

And Judas happened.

After washing the disciples’ feet,

Jesus indicated that Judas would betray him,

then Judas stood up,

Jesus said “Do quickly what you are going to do.”

and it was dark.

Remember that darkness,

in John’s Gospel,

is an image of unbelief.

Remember Nicodemus came to Jesus by night,

in a place and time of unbelief.

Not long after Judas left,

Peter said he would lay down his life for Jesus,

to which Jesus replied:

“Very truly I tell you, before the cock crows,

you will have denied me three times.”

This was scary for the disciples.

This was confusing.

They needed some reassurance.

So Jesus comforted them:

There is a place for you that I am preparing.

You know God,

for you have seen me.

I abide in the Father,

the Father abides in me.

You will do even greater works than I.

If you ask anything in my name,

I will do it.

They asked to see the Father.

Jesus answered.

I AM.

Confusion remained.

Fear remained.

They don’t know where Jesus is going,

but Jesus did just tell them the day before:

he is headed to a Roman cross.

Even with the cross looming,

Jesus brings them comfort in their need:

Jesus tells them that the cross is not the end,

that death is not the end.

That resurrection awaits.

And even resurrection is not the end,

The ascension to the right hand of the Father awaits.

Even greater things await

for those who believe.

The disciples are expecting a literal answer:

Where are you going?

Back to Galilee?

To the temple?

Off to war?

But Jesus is going to the Father,

in whom Jesus abides.

Where Jesus is,

there we shall be also.

For us today,

many can’t help but hear Jesus’ words

about dwelling places

and preparing a place for us

only to be reminded of our own loved ones who have died.

This Gospel is often read at funeral services.

It reminds me of people we have lost.

Yet these words are most fitting as death looms.

We need this hope

that not even death will not stop us

from abiding in God’s presence,

We need the reassurance that instead of death being the end,

God loves the world:

creation,

creatures,

humans,

you,

so much,

that God cannot stand to be apart from you.

Even in our death we are promised

that in God, in the Father, in Jesus

we may abide.

Jesus declares:

I AM - the Way, I AM the Truth, I AM the Life.

Jesus speaks I AM

using the language of the faithful,

invoking the name of the Great I AM -

Jesus says, once again,

as a comfort to the disciples:

I AM God.

You ask to know the way.

You do know the Way.

As comforting as this is for the believer,

it can be problematic for many today.

Many Christians focus on the wrong thing:

the word “the”

I AM THE Way -

as in the only way.

We might ask, then;

what about the faithful Jew who does not believe in Jesus?

What about the faithful Buddhist

or Hindu

or Muslim

or Sikh?

What about the Indigenous grandmother,

strapped for not praying the Lord’s Prayer?

What about my friend that I love dearly,

so caring for others,

but was hurt by the church

and wont come back?

What about the atheist,

the agnostic,

the none’s out there?

what about my neighbour,

or that unrepentant sinner?

Are they all excluded?

Jesus used various I AM statements:

I AM the Bread of Life,

I AM the Bread from heaven,

I AM the Light of the world,

I AM the Gate for the sheep,

I AM the Good Shepherd,

I AM the Resurrection and the Life,

I AM the True Vine.

Each an image of welcome and inclusion,

of goodness,

of hope.

Yet for some reason,

some Christians see fit

to turn the Way, the Truth, the Life

into some kind of discriminatory,

judgmental

and exclusive claim

that directly opposes all the other I AM statements.

Don’t let those voices win.

I take comfort knowing that Jesus did not say

“No one comes to the Father except through the church”

No one comes to the Father except through me, Jesus says.

This is the same Jesus who tells us;

I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.

I must bring them in also.

There will be one flock,

one Shepherd.

I also take comfort knowing that this is the same Jesus

who taught about the Father using parables;

like the lost coin and lost sheep.

We are talking about the same Father

who is out looking for us,

who finds us when we are lost,

who loves us radically and unconditionally.

We don’t find God,

God finds us.

We don’t come to the Father,

so much as the Father comes to us.

I take comfort in the wide embrace of Jesus,

who stretches arms wide on the cross,

as far as the east is from the west,

in loving embrace of all creation,

all saints and sinners

that God so loves.

On that great day,

in the life to come,

in that life that awaits us after death,

If God sees fit to not welcome some into the fold,

so be it.

God is God and we are not.

God is good,

God is just,

God is faithful,

and if God sees fit to save some and not others,

then God is good,

and just

and faithful

in doing so.

But that’s not the God I know.

The God I know has grace and embrace for all.

This whole discourse,

what we hear today and in the coming weeks

from John’s gospel,

is Jesus’ interpretation of the events about to take place;

Jesus words to explain the cross and empty grave.

This is what the passion and resurrection mean:

that in Christ we shall abide;

that in Christ we have a place prepared for us,

in this life,

and in the life to come;

that Christ is coming back;

that because we know Jesus,

we do know the Father;

that the one who believes in Jesus

shall do even greater works;

that we can pray,

we can ask in Jesus’ name

and be heard,

and the response will always be

Jesus’ abiding presence.

This is no trick,

no magic formula,

no code to break.

Jesus’ resurrected life is real and for all.

These greater works that Jesus promise,

they’re no trick or game of faith.

These greater works are about believing;

that through believing

we might have abundant life in Jesus’ name,

a life that is abundant for all,

a faith/belief that is lived:

witnessing to Jesus’ presence

that others might have their own

experience or encounter with Jesus

when their nighttime or darkness come.

So may you abide in Jesus,

and thus abide in the Father.

May you ask anything in Jesus’ name

and know that you are heard.

May we live belief;

live these even greater works

that others and all

might know the Way.

Thanks be to God. Amen.