John
14:1-14
Today’s gospel reading is about dwelling with Jesus.
How many places have you lived in during your lifetime? … 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, more?
I counted up the places I’ve lived, and discovered I’ve lived in a total of 25 places
so far. Some of these places were short term, just a few weeks or months; some
were several years. In some, I just lived there; in others, I dwelt with Jesus there.
… We often hear this Gospel text at funerals, and
think about the dwelling place Jesus has prepared for us after we die. We look
forward to that time when we can be with God. We look forward to a time when we
are not in pain, not struggling to pay the bills, not grieving a lifetime of
losses. Looking forward to being with God after we die gives us hope, and keeps
us going in in this world. Some days, we can hardly wait to be in God’s
dwelling place beyond death. Most of the time, we are in no hurry to get there.
It’s important to remember that John’s gospel
usually has several meanings for just about everything Jesus says. So, this is
not just a promise of life with God after we die, it is also a promise of life
now, as we walk this earth. With his
birth as a human, Jesus is God incarnated, God with skin on, who has come to
earth to dwell with us.
In this text, Jesus promises that in the Father's
house there is "room to spare," as the Common English Bible interprets
the Greek; there is room for all of us. The Greek word "mone" has the
sense of dwelling. In the ancient world, "mone" meant travelers’
resting places, a hostel or an inn or a room to rent, a place for travelers to
dwell for a short time.
Over time in the Church, the concept of dwelling
places developed into stations on a spiritual journey. Instead of physical
locations, “mone” refers to a time of life. In this understanding of dwelling
places, each era of our lives can be a dwelling place.
Childhood Sunday school classes; confirmation class;
high school and college; young adulthood; being single or married, having
children or not, having pets or not; these are all dwelling places.
Being widowed early, or being married for 50 years,
or divorced, these are all dwelling places.
Renting an apartment or buying a house, living in
the same town for a lifetime, or moving every other year, these are also
dwelling places.
Health challenges can be their own dwelling places.
Where we live, how old or young we are, who we are
with, how we feel, and so forth, these conditions shape our lives and influence
our spiritual nature. In each and every era of our lives, Jesus is present,
dwelling with us and experiencing life with us.
Some dwelling places are very short term. On our
vacation last week, Mike and I dwelt briefly in 3 different hotels and one retreat
center. More important than the location were the experiences we had.
Some of my cousins and their children gathered on
Saturday for a family reunion. It was a time of remembering, of getting
acquainted and re-acquainted. Since we grew up far apart, we have only recently
been able to be together as family. On Sunday, Mike and I worshiped with some
of the family at their congregation, a rare treat for us.
Monday through Wednesday we were at a retreat center
for a conference where Mike was the keynote speaker and I led workshops. During
this brief time of dwelling in the Columbia Gorge we were constantly reminded
of God’s power and presence in the beauty that surrounded us. As we prayed and
worshiped and learned together, Jesus was dwelling among us, drawing each of us
closer together, creating memories.
At one of our hotels, a one-night dwelling place, a
woman was walking from the pool to the elevator just as we were checking in. She
seemed proud to be showing us the way to the elevator. It turns out, she was a
homeless person, housed temporarily at the hotel. Our guide had been enjoying
the luxury of the swimming pool, a rare treat. And she was enjoying being the
host at a party, lovingly and proudly showing her guests around her home. Chances
are good that the woman was able to live at the hotel because of the local
congregations’ ministry efforts, serving God through serving the needy among
them.
A member from another congregation, Esther, worked
in a memory loss facility. She loved her job, because each room was decorated
as the world the resident lived in, whether it was a Florida sunroom, an auto
assembly plant, an army barracks, or a Wild West town. Each person lived in
what felt like familiar place, home. Jesus lived there too.
At the suggestion of Bob, a regular visitor to Hope,
I have been reading a book named “Pastrix” by Lutheran Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber.
She is a 45-year-old recovering addict, much-tattooed, and a passionate
follower of Jesus. While she loves Lutheran liturgy, much of her way of doing
church is in strong contrast to the way most of us Lutherans “do” church.
Most of the folks in her congregation are young,
single, and often rejected by us “regular Lutherans”. They are gay, bisexual, transgendered,
addicted, and searching for God’s grace in a world that rarely offers it to
them. One year, she decided to hold a rally day, to increase membership and
hopefully add children to the congregation.
The rally day was, in her mind, a bust. Despite all
her preparations, her prayers, and her good intentions, attendance was less
than on a usual Sunday. No new folks came, no one pitched in even one dollar to
pay for the food she bought. Worse, her back was a tight mess. They enjoyed the
activities she had planned, ate the food they could, and gave away the rest.
Stuart noticed how tense and unhappy Nadia was, and
offered to gather a few members to pray for her. They stood around her, laid
hands on her, with Stuart’s hands massaging her lower back. Suddenly, the tense
knot let go, the spasms ceased, releasing from a tight fist to an open hand.
But it was hours before Nadia paid any attention.
It was in the middle of the night when Nadia
startled awake, and made the connections between what had happened that day and
her angry response to it. Twenty-six people had showed up for her rally day
event and had a great time. The folks who usually barely had enough to eat had
an opportunity to feed others. And while her back was not healed, she was at
that moment experiencing no pain from it. Jesus had dwelt with and among them,
even though she had failed to notice it.
Jesus lives with us whenever we acknowledge that Jesus
is God incarnate, God-with-skin-on, who lives among and within us, guiding our
lives. Jesus dwells with us when we follow Jesus by living Jesus' way, knowing
his truth, seeking life with him as our Lord and Savior.
Where have you dwelt, over your long or medium or
short lifetime? How has Jesus dwelt with you at those times? Were you always
aware of his presence, or was he just there in the background? What excites you
the most about dwelling with God after you die? What excites you the most about
Jesus dwelling with you now, today, in this world?
Please pray with me: Lord Jesus, you chose to come
and dwell with us, in the flesh 2,000 years ago, and in Spirit every day of our
lives. Help us to dwell with you, living your way, your truth, knowing your
love in our life. Lead us to share you with those who need you. Amen
