Which Way Are You Going?

Which Way Are You Going?

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14: 6

Stephen King's novel, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, tells the story of a nine-year-old girl named Trisha who gets lost while hiking part of the Appalachian Trail. King creates a memorable picture of something many of us can relate to—the feeling of being totally lost.

He writes, "There was going to be a fuss, maybe a big one involving game wardens and the Forest Service, and it was all her fault. She had left the path. This added a new layer of anxiety to her already disturbed mind and Trisha began to walk fast, hoping to get back on the main trail before all those calls could be made, before she could turn into what her mother called a Public Spectacle. She walked faster and faster, waving at the swirling clouds of mosquitoes, no longer bothering to skirt clumps of bushes but simply plowing straight through them. She listened and called, called and listened, except she wasn't listening, not really, not anymore. Her giving way to panic wasn't sudden, but weirdly gradual, a drawing in from the world, a shutting down of her outward awareness. She walked faster without minding her way; called for help without hearing her own voice; listened with ears that might not have heard a returning shout from behind the nearest tree. And when she began to run, she did it without realizing."

That passage captures the sheer panic that being lost can create. And in a deeper sense, it can also describe us, when we stray from the path that God has set for us. There is a right way to go; a right way to live; and when we wander off that path, certain things begin to happen. When you and I disregard God and his Word and live by our own rules, we've stopped listening to the only One who knows the right direction. When we ignore God's guidance and live as if he didn't exist, there comes a weirdly gradual drawing in from the world, a shutting down of our outer awareness. When we live like we don't need God, we end up walking faster and faster, calling for help without hearing our own voice, listening with ears that may not hear any longer. Are you on God's path? Or are you still blazing your own trail, getting more isolated all the time? Are you walking in step with your Lord and Savior? Or do you have the haunting feeling that you've gone in the wrong direction, and are running without realizing it?

We are not the first people to wonder if we have missed an important clue that could help us find the way. Look at the conversation of Jesus and his disciples in today's gospel reading. They were huddled together on Passover Eve for supper. There had been mounting opposition to his ministry. It was becoming more and more difficult to be one of Jesus' followers. They were more dependent than ever on Jesus just being with them—and then He starts talking about leaving them!

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place I am going."

The disciple Thomas found no comfort in these words. They seemed to raise more questions than they answered. So he spoke up, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

How can you know the way? How can someone like you or me; someone who gets detoured and trapped and lost, find direction in life? The words that Jesus spoke to Thomas are also directed to you: Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life."

Now, these words may not have been, in fact, they probably weren't immediately helpful to the disciples gathered there at the Passover table; and they might not seem immediately helpful to you in your searching and seeking. You might be looking for a map with more explicit directions; a spiritual GPS unit that tells you when to turn left or right. But instead of a map that plots out each move for you, you have something much better. You have a guide who personally goes with you; someone who not only knows the way, but is the way. Jesus is the way. Your destiny is tied to a person. Your route is wrapped up in your living Lord, not some to-do list. Jesus does not show you how to find the right way; He takes you there. He paid for your sins by suffering and dying and passed from that agony into resurrected glory. Your life is bound to His. You are bound to everything Jesus is. As He takes you His way, your life is going to look more and more like His.

In a palace in Rome, there is a famous painting called "The Aurora," which is visible on a high ceiling. People complained that they were getting stiff necks and becoming dizzy from staring up at this work of art. Eventually the owner placed a big mirror near the floor. The painting is reflected in it, and now people can sit down and really study its beauty.

Jesus is a reflection of his Father. He is the mirror of the Almighty God. He interprets God to our hearts. In Jesus, God becomes visible to us. Everything we need to know about God can be found in Jesus, who is God stooping down to our level. As we get to know Jesus through Holy Scripture and at His Holy Supper, we get to know who God is. Jesus is the way.

Do you see what that means? If Jesus is a reflection of the Father, and if you are bound to Jesus through baptism and faith, then that means you are a reflection of Jesus and His Father. Do you realize that? If your life is, in fact, tied to Christ, then His compassion will be mirrored in you; His faithfulness will be mirrored in you; His passion for the truth will be mirrored in you; His servant mentality will be mirrored in you; and other people will see it. Do they? Not perfectly, of course, but does your life reflect the goodness of Jesus to others, and if not, why not?

He is the way to live today, and He is also the way to heaven. Despite what people like Stephen Hawking may say, Jesus proclaimed that heaven is a real; that there is more life beyond this one that can be lived in the presence of God. Listen again to His words: "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

By faith, you are walking hand in hand with Jesus through this life. That is wonderful news. There will still be sadness and suffering. Think of Jesus' own life! It was full of heartache and full of joy. There was celebration and disappointment. There was a cross as well as a crown. But here's the thing. Jesus always had a destination in mind. Remember, He said, 'I am going to prepare a place for you." As you walk in the way of Jesus, that place is your destination, too. The whole point of God stooping down to our level, preaching, healing, suffering, dying, rising, ascending and ruling is so that, one day, you can take your place in the room prepared for you in God's heavenly home. This is the journey you're on. Jesus is the way, and He will see you home. Amen.