Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16, Acts 7:55-60, 1 Peter 2:2-10, John 14:1-14

April 20, 2008
Rev. Patricia L. Liberty

Celebrating Our Faith

Seems this man died and was ushered into heaven, which appeared to be an enormous house. An angel began to escort him down a long hallway past "many rooms".

"What's in that room?" the man asked, pointing to a very somber-looking group of people chanting a Gregorian mass.  "That's the Roman Catholic room," said the angel. "Very high church.  Lots of smells and bells.”

"What's in that room?" the man asked, pointing to a group of half-naked dancers gyrating their hips and occasionally shrieking out loud.  "That's the Balinese group," said the angel. "Very lively."

"What's in that room?" asked the man, pointing to a group of bald-headed people meditating to the sound of an enormous gong.  "That's the Zen group," said the angel. "Very quiet. You would hardly know they were here."

“What’s in that room?” asked the man, pointing to a group of bored looking, though thoughtful well dressed folks.  “Those are the Congregationalists, we’re still waiting for them to defrost.”

Then the angel stopped the man, as they were about to round a corner. "Now, when we get to the next room," said the angel, "I would appreciate it if you would tiptoe past. We mustn't make any sound."  "Why's that?" asked the man.  "Because that’s Baptist room and they think they're the only ones here."

If you've ever wanted a scripture text to make you feel smug about being a

Christian, this just might be it. If you've ever wanted a text with which to hit your unbelieving friends over the head, or that will help you make a few Muslims or Jews or Hindus feel bad, this one will fit the bill. 

As often as this text is used to comfort us in times of loss, it is also used as a way of saying, “My God’s better than your God.”  If you’re not a Christian, it’s all over for you.   Or, if you are not a particular kind of Christian, then you aren’t a Christian at all.  I call it “my way or the high way Christianity.”

I can’t quite figure out how this text came to the either interpretation, because the context of its original writing suggests some thing radically different. 

John, or more likely one of John’s apostles, writing toward the end of the first century of the Common Era was trying to give comfort to believers who were struggling to hang on to their faith in the midst of trying times.  The writer places this scene in the midst of what is commonly known as Jesus’ farewell discourse.  He writes about the disciples and their struggle to hold onto their newfound faith as Jesus was telling him he would no longer be with them.

The opening verses of Chapter 14 are not be over sentimentalized.  Jesus is not speaking to the disciples’ personal sadness at his death, but instead exhorts them to stand firm in the face of his departure, when the events may look to them as if evil and death are having their way.  It’s a rallying cry for strength. (O’Day NIB p. 740)

So, right from the beginning that these words were spoken to those who already believed and needed encouragement.  It was not a speech made to a cast of thousands on the hillside.  It was an inside conversation, a word to the disciples, which across the years, meant those at the end of the first century and now means us.  It was a word of encouragement for keeping the faith in trying times.  Before we break out into a chorus of “Home, Home on the Range” there are a few things to consider. 

This passage is not concerned with the fate of Muslims, Hindus, or Buddhists....  As Gail O’Day notes in the New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, “These verses are the confessional celebration of a particular faith community, convinced of the truth and life it has received in the incarnation". This is not a passage to denigrate other religious traditions, the focus here is on who Jesus is not who others are not. 

Paul Minear notes, “For Christians of every age, this is a rallying cry to stand firm in our faith, to claim who we are and to acknowledge, that for us, Jesus Christ incarnates the Creator.  What is seen as exclusionary in this text is more accurately described as particularism.”

It is important to hear this joyous, world-changing theological affirmation in the first century context of the fourth Gospel.  This is not the sweeping claim of a major world religion, but it is the conviction of a religious minority in the ancient Mediterranean world.  

This brings us closer to the heart of the matter.  This is not about denigrating anyone else; it is about claiming who we are.  Or as Walter Brueggemann writes, “Maybe the real issue is not whether people outside the church are saved, but whether people inside the church have any sense of their distinctiveness".   

Brueggemann continues, “The Christian community of North America has so bought into the world’s economics, its psychology, its standards of morality that visitors from outer space would have a difficult time discerning the difference between the social and political culture of the day and the church.” 

We have confused tolerance with indulgent permissiveness.  In our effort to offend no one we become irrelevant. 

And in so doing the distinctive voice of our tradition, the United Church of Christ, is lost. Our tradition is rich and faithful. 

• Congregationalists in Massachusetts opposed slavery long before it was fashionable, in the year 1700.

• A leader in the fight for freedom and liberty, Old South Church in Boston set he stage for the Boston Tea Party led by deacon and brew master Sam Adams.

• In 1773, Congregationalist Phyllis Wheatley was the first Black woman whose writings (poetry) were published.

• The all-white Congregational church in Granville, Massachusetts called the Rev. Lemuel Haynes as minister. He was the first African-American ordained to Christian ministry in a mainline tradition (1785).

• And in 1839, Congregationalist John Quincy Adams argued before the Supreme Court for the freedom of the Amistad captives they were kidnapped and illegally sold into slavery. This was the first human rights case that was successfully argued before the US Supreme Court. Congregationalists also led the effort to form the Amistad Committee to educate and care for the captives – a committee that later evolved into the American Missionary Association.

• After the Civil War, the AMA worked with freed African-Americans to found hundreds of schools and churches all over the south to educate freed slaves and their children. These became the first inter-racial schools in the country, as white New Englanders traveled to the south to teach in the schools attended by both the children of freed slaves and the teacher's own children.

• In 1853 Antoinette Brown was ordained as minister of a Congregational Church in New York, making her the first American woman ordained into Christian ministry.

• In the early 1960s the UCC Office of Communications brought suit against the Federal Communications Commission for systemic racial discrimination. The landmark decision first opened our federal airwaves to people of color.

• Continuing the legacy begun in the 1700's, the United Church of Christ was in 1989 the first Christian denomination to name racism as a sin.

• A United Church of Christ ordained minister, Benjamin Chavis, working in the UCC Office of Racial and Justice Ministries, first coined the phrase, "environmental racism" to describe the practice of placing toxic and waste facilities near poor, ethnic communities, targeting Native Americans, African Americans and Hispanics.

• The United Church of Christ was the first denomination to ordain an openly gay person. The San Francisco Association ordained Bill Johnson in 1972.

We are a just peace church, a radically welcoming community, a place where judgment is balanced with mercy and from a place of faith and passion we step out to lead the way in radical love.

It is possible to hear an element of defiance in the proclamation of John 14:1-11, a determination to hold on to a unique experience and knowledge of God against all opposition and all pressure to believe otherwise.  (IBID)

Jesus is the way to God and Jesus was radical life giving love.  He turned no one away, challenged religious authorities that were more likely to judge than to love. He ate with those others despised and feared.  He touched people with leprosy.  He treated women like people and not property.  He kept company with prostitutes and politicians, healed those no one had time to bother with and welcomed anyone who wanted to know more about what he was all about. 

Finding our way to God is not about excluding others who don’t measure up, it’s about including everyone. 

And that’s what the God is Still Speaking Initiative of the United Church of Christ is all about.  As much as you may have hated the banner, thought that the National Church was strong arming the local church, the truth is this:  God is Still Speaking is about reclaiming our distinctive voice as people of faith in an increasingly intolerant religious climate.

It is an invitation to stand for what we believe and to do so unapologetically and yet with humility and clarity.  It is not about denigrating who others are but claiming who we are.  The United Church of Christ is a viable alternative to growing religious intolerance.

We proclaim ourselves to be on a journey to a more Christ like love where all are welcome, no one is turned away and the Spirit is alive in ways challenge us to be more Christ like in all we say and do.  If we believe that Jesus is the way to the Creator, then being like Jesus is the task. 

It is not about being better or worse than anyone else, but being different. 

As Jesus lays all this out, it is Philip, that seldom noticed but interesting disciple who steps up and says, “show us the Way and we will be satisfied.”

And Jesus responds, have I been with you all this time and you still do not know me?  Well, yes to Philip and yes to the rest of us too.  2000 years later we are still trying to figure out who this radical loving life giving Jesus really is.  Jesus is the way; he himself shows us the way to God.  It is not our opinions about Jesus; it is not our opinions about Jesus, but Jesus himself.

And if we want to know about Jesus himself, we   can look at his teachings.

A man had a son who stayed home and followed all the rules and one son who was a loser and got busted.  Guess what?!  He loved them both!  I'm the good shepherd, the one who lays down his life for his sheep and who has sheep that aren't even part of this fold yet who belong to me too!  That's the way I am.  That's the truth I am.  That's the life I am.  Now do you get it?"

Yes, there is something comforting about this week's gospel and it is that the way into wherever all of us need to be, the only way in, is a lot broader and wider, a lot more welcoming and expansive than any of us have ever imagined.  Room enough for everyone!

Resources: Carol Gallagher:  Radical Hospitality, Richard Selzer:  Our Vocation of Reconciliation, Gail O’Day: New Interpreter’s Bible, Walter Brueggemann et.al.:  Year A Preaching Resources