Back to Basics: The Way
Wouldn't spiritual GPS be great if we could just plug in "Jesus" and follow the directions?
The title and the scripture make this first sentence leap onto the page for me. Jesus is the Way, and it is very basic. But, He is also the Truth. We need to keep that aspect of His nature in the basics, too, when we talk about Christ. But Jesus is also the Light that the evil did not comprehend, and I find that part fascinating, though I don’t think that aspect is as “basic” as the other two. In order of complexity, I think “the Way” is the simplest, “the Truth” is a little more complex, and “the Light” is the most complicated, though on the surface, they all seem very rudimentary. I suppose they could all be as complex or as simple as you want them to be, but so can any part of our Christian walk. Maybe that is part of the milk and meat of the maturing of our faith. I would caution everyone to avoid leaving things simple. That path leaves too much to the discernment of others, and human beings have failings too numerous to mention here.
12For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
13For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.
14But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
Hebrews 5:12–14 (NASB95)
That is not the scripture from Sunday. That is just a reminder that we, as followers of “The Way,” should strive to improve our understanding, moving from the milk to the meat. If we don’t, we are subject to the failings of those we let lead us.
I will get to the scripture for today shortly, but I want to pull one verse out of context for a minute because I think it is important to view it alone. We’ve already been discussing it because it is the driving force behind the sermon's title from Sunday. However, it is often only partially quoted, and I’d like to put that one verse in total into this writing. I will say before I do that it was mentioned in total in the sermon, so this is not an admonishment. It is a focus.
6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
John 14:6 (NASB95)
Pastor Lee focused on this, specifically declaring it a “club” that others use to “attack other religions” with. I do not see it that way and do not use it that way. What I do with it is to highlight the second half of this passage, which you cannot divorce from the first half, though people try. The reason you cannot divorce them is that Jesus said, “I am the truth.” His words are the truth. He speaks God’s truth. Thus, the second half is true. It is not a club, a weapon, or an attack. It is the truth. Jesus is the only way to get to God.
Why is this seen as an attack? It is seen as an attack by people who believe Jesus is “just one road to God.” That cannot be true because Jesus Himself did not give us that option in this very passage. If you take Red-Letter words, words attributed to Jesus, then you cannot believe there are multiple ways to reach God. If you both believe Jesus spoke the truth and want to argue with me that there is more than one way to God, I’m sorry, but that is intellectually dishonest. Both cannot be true.
That last sentence is not meant to be harsh. It is meant to present an imbalance that cannot exist. Other people will see that imbalance and discount your theological opinion whether they comment on it or not. It is something to grow from and not something to pull away from. This is a good segway into the sermon and the scripture because this is a “Big T Truth,” as mentioned last week. This week, the message looks at the second part of the Trinity in the Son. Let’s read the full scripture for the message from the sermon.
1“Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
2“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
3“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
4“And you know the way where I am going.”
5Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”
6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
7“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
8Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”
9Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
10“Do 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 initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
11“Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.
12“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.
13“Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14“If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
John 14:1–14 (NASB95)
Pastor Lee opened with a very germane question about looking at Jesus as “The Way.” She asked, “Can we point to Jesus as “the answer” if we don’t understand the question?” She spent quite a bit of time listing things Jesus as “The Way” is not, but essentially what that list boils down to is this; “The Way” is not about works. “The Way” is about Jesus.
Now why is that true? Because no works we do can earn our way into Heaven. We cannot pile up more good deeds on the “good side of the scale” to outweigh our sins. That bothers some people but why? Christians, at a certain point in their walk with God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus, take it for granted, but why is it true, and why don’t some people simply accept it?
Why they don’t accept it is easy. The decision to stop “being bad” and “start being good” is what some view the decision to accept Jesus Christ as; a decision to follow the rules. In their minds, that means they stop piling up back check marks on the opposite side of the scale and start piling up good ones. By definition, if that was the way it worked at some point, my good deeds would outweigh my previous bad deeds. The problem is the sinful nature of human beings means we still make mistakes and continue to pile up things on the wrong side of the scale if that view were true. Fortunately, that is not how it works at all.
“I am the way, the truth, and the light; no one comes to the Father but through the Son” isn’t a weapon but a salve. It soothes our worry that we aren’t good enough and can never be good enough. It soothes because Jesus’ actions on the cross are substitutional. He took on our sins to wash us clean. The righteousness of Jesus is a garment laid over us to cover our sins so that when we are presented before God, the Father sees a reflection of the Son off of us and treats us as if we were Jesus Himself. We are not, but God treats us that way because we profess to follow “The Way” of the Son. What is “The Way?” It is Jesus.
That sounds good on the surface, and most readers are likely nodding their heads. However, it is more complicated to enact than it is to agree with. What does “Jesus is the way” mean, and how do we do that?
At this point, Pastor Lee said, “if only we had a GPS for the way,” and she launched into an explanation of how modern people depend on GPS in their cars, on their phones, etc., to find destinations. If only we had a theological GPS to help us find the steps, we should take to be on “The Way.”
At this point, it would be fantastic to me because people blindly follow their GPS. Some folks never question the twists and turns. They just go right or left when the voice from the little box says to go right or left. Following Jesus would be amazing if people blindly followed something that told them what was right and wrong, what to choose and to avoid. It would be fantastic. If only we had such a thing, right?
Pastor Lee made another point. Jesus is not the “destination.” He did not say He was the end of the journey. Jesus said He was how we walk on that journey, pursue that destination, and attain that goal. Jesus is the path. He is the steps we take. He is “The Way.”
At this point, she dropped into a solemn note. This passage of scripture is often used at funerals. The image of a mansion with many rooms prepared and waiting for us where Jesus is is comforting. But seeing it as a destination again misses the point. “The Way” isn’t about where we go. “The Way” is about how we go. It is about how we live life.
Pastor Lee began expounding upon community, fellowship, church life, and all the things that revolve around being in connection with fellow believers. That is an important part of “The Way” because, in those connections, God becomes real through us to those we touch. Her statement was, “God becomes real as Jesus lives within us” which she attributed to Rob Fuquay. I do not have the title, but I will pass it on if I can get it. She closed with a challenge for the week, “Out in your way in life, take the time to consider what is around you along the way.”
Her challenge sparked a question that I will leave you with today.
How do you remind others about Jesus’ presence as they find you along their way? God bless and Godspeed.
I had jotted also down the author and quote, during the service, and searched for it. Rev. Rob Fuquay authored “The God We Can Know: Exploring the "I Am" Sayings of Jesus,” so perhaps that’s the likely source.