Salvation is more than a destination.

Easter 5 , Year A

Thomas is like a kid in the classroom who asks the question other  students are afraid to ask the teacher or that colleague in staff meeting  who says what’s on everyone’s mind. In today’s Gospel lesson (John  14:1-14), Thomas asks Jesus 

How can we know the way? If we don’t know where you are going.  John 14:5 

Thomas asked this question about Jesus’ destination so he would know  how and where follow Jesus. Later in the Gospel of John, Thomas made a  skeptical comment. He expressed his doubts after hearing Jesus had  risen from the dead, 

Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in  the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe. John  20:25 

Jesus responded to Thomas by offering his wounded hands and side for  him to touch afterward Jesus said, "blessed are those who believe without  seeing.”  

With or without tangible proof, believing is not easy. Seeing is not always  believing. Faith requires effort. I find the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel  of John harder to interpret than the teachings in Matthew, Mark or Luke.  Maybe this is because Matthew, Mark, and Luke use narratives and  parables rooted in a story telling tradition while John’s Gospel was  influenced by Greek philosophy. The teachings of John’s Jesus can  become clearer with effort. When, like Thomas, we take time to identify  our confusion, express doubts, we ask questions, and search for answers  our faith develops and deepens.  

In today’s Gospel Jesus offers this teaching, 

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in  me. 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?  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. And  you know the way to the place where I am going. John 14:1-4 

Upon hearing this instruction, Thomas asked Jesus what place he referred  to. The Book of Common Prayer schedules this reading for use in the  weeks after Easter and at funerals. The Episcopal Church assumes Jesus  was referring to heaven. Heaven is where God dwells and, according to  this teaching, where each of us has mansion waiting for us. Heaven,  however, is not the only place God resides. Genesis describes the Spirit  of God moving over the face of the earth at creation. In Exodus the Spirit  moved behind the people of Israel in a pillar of cloud by day to keep them  from being captured by the Egyptian army. The Spirit also moved before  them in a pillar of fire by night to guide them through the wilderness. The  Spirit continues to move over and under water, in the sky, on land, and  under ground. This is why people say they feel close to God in nature.  Jesus, God incarnate, hungered, thirst, ate, slept, argued, was sought out,  rejected, suffered, and died. In Jesus, God participates in daily life. God  is in our daily life. This means we might hear God in the voice of a  therapist, be touched by God in hands during a surgical procedure, dine  with God over a meal in a soup kitchen, or feel God’s presence in a song  we download off the internet. Thomas’ question to Jesus (where you are  going Jesus, so I can how follow you) is vitally important. To practice our  faith, we need to know where Jesus is so we can take up our cross we  don’t end up in the wrong place. To revitalize Christ Church, we need to  identify and following the promptings of the Spirit. Effort is required. 

Faith in God offers more than a final destination. We don’t just believe,  live, and serve to earn an eternal vacation in a heavenly mansion with our  name on the mail box. Being faithful gives us access to God both later  and now. There are foretastes of God’s reign here and now. In the words  of Psalm 31 we need God to rescue us from the hands of enemies now  and deliver us to righteousness later. Psalm 31:15 & 1 This is why we  pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” 

In response to Thomas’ question, Jesus said, 

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

Upon hearing this, Philip speaks up. Philip wanted clarity and was brave  enough to demand it. He said, “show us the Father, and we will be  satisfied.” John 14:8 Jesus responded, 

Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know?  When you look at me you see the Father. 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, is speaking and acting  through me. I am in the Father and the Father is in me… John  14:9-10 

This must have sounded like a foreign language to Philip. It took the  Christian community centuries to a agree to the identities of and  relationship between God, Jesus, and the Spirit. Even though this  agreement was enshrined in the Nicene Creed, if you asked  Fundamentalist, Catholic, or Orthodox Christians today about the identify  of and the relationship of God, Jesus and Spirit, you’ll get different  answers. James, the brother of Jesus, offers an interpret of faith in Jesus  as the way, truth and life, that clarifies things for me. In the letter bearing  his name, James wrote 

What good is it if someone claims to have faith but does not have  works? …If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food and one  of you says to them, “God loves you and so do I,” (sic) and yet you  do not supply their bodily needs, what good is that? So faith by  itself, if it has no works, is dead. But some will say, “You have faith,  and I have works.” I say, (sic) show me your faith apart from works,  and I by my works will show you faith. You believe that God is one… Even demons believe —and shudder. James 2:14-19  

Salvation is more than a destination it is a life long process. A process  that allows for doubts and thrives on questions. A process that calls for  courage and ongoing effort. Your faith and this parish, can only develop  and grow, with effort. Efforts to locate and follow the promptings of the  Spirit are the secret sauce for deepening and developing faith. Friends do  not limit yourselves to being hearings of the word. Let us both expect  Jesus to prepare a mansion in heaven with our name on the mail box and  engage in works for faith. Invite people to worship, encourage groups to  hold events in the sanctuary and parish hall so that through your love and  generosity others will see God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.