“Don’t be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. My Father’s house has room to spare. If that weren’t the case, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you?When I go to prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me so that where I am you will be too.You know the way to the place I’m going.”Thomas asked, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?”Jesus answered,“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:1-6 (CEB)
If you have been able to attend church services here during Lent, you have heard me repeatedly use the word “journey.” During the season of Lent, we remember Jesus’ journey to the cross, as he walked down the mountain after his transfiguration and walked towards Jerusalem, where the cross awaited Him. Along the way, He ministered to and healed those in need, all the while knowing that He was about to die a gruesome, humiliating death. I think that is what blows my mind the most about His journey. Most people would try to avoid a place that would endanger their life, but Jesus walked towards it! He knew the journey was going to be hard, but He also knew that death was not the final stop.
In the passage above, Jesus is talking to His disciples during the Last Supper. He has just told His disciples that His time on earth was nearing the end, and of course, the disciples are distraught over the news. When the disciples decided to start following Jesus, they had no idea where the journey was going to take them, they just knew in their hearts there was something special about Jesus and they had to follow. But I’m pretty sure they did not envision their teacher would be leaving them right in the middle of it! I can only imagine their thoughts: “What is going on here?” “Isn’t He the Messiah? Doesn’t He need to be rounding up the troops to eliminate the Romans?” “What are we supposed to do now?”
Like the disciples, I thought I had things figured out in regards to my journey. But that all came to a screeching halt on 10/1/17 when I woke up in a hospital and found out I had stage 4 cancer. “God, why do I have cancer, especially at such a young age?” “If I’m going to die soon, what was the point of me going to seminary and becoming a pastor?” “Lord, this just doesn’t make sense.” Like the disciples, I was distraught and confused. But then I look at this passage and realize that Jesus is basically telling the disciples, “I’m not promising the journey will be easy, in fact, I can assure you it will be hard. But what I can promise you is that the destination is worth it, when you are living with Me in Heaven.”
Brothers and sisters, we are all on a journey, both individually and collectively as a church. And like the disciples, many of us are confused, not knowing what lies ahead in the future. I don’t know my future, but I know my present, and that is to shine the light of Christ through my words and actions to everyone I come in contact with. I implore you to trust the journey you (and we) are on, but more importantly, make sure Christ is guiding it.
Grace and Peace,
Clint Evans