The Way of Jesus

People tend to zero in on verse 6 of today’s gospel: “Jesus told him, ‘I myself am the Way—I am Truth, and I am Life. No one comes to Abba God but through me.’”

They focus on that one verse and misinterpret it to make salvation all about their perception about belief.

Removed from its context, they think it is a repudiation of all belief systems other than their version of Christianity.

Further, they think that being a follower of Jesus is simply about belief.

I suppose, on a certain level, it is.

But, if we believe that Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Life and are not simultaneously transformed by it—then I’ve got some bad news for you.

Belief is not enough.

If we believe in Jesus but do not follow him—do his work—then our faith is only a shadow.

It has no substance.

Now, before any of you misunderstand what I’m saying, I am not talking about works righteousness.

If that term is unfamiliar, works righteousness is the belief that our actions can help us to earn salvation.

But it is fundamental to our Lutheran faith practice that there is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor.

Grace is free and is the product of God’s unconditional love for us.

Grace is about the nature of God and has nothing to do with anything we do or say or believe.

What I mean when I say, “belief is not enough” and that we need to do Jesus’ work is that belief—true belief—is transformative.

If you truly believe, then actions follow—because you have been transformed.

If you don’t do the work of Jesus, it is a symptom that your faith is not real or not complete or hasn’t taken root within you.

That is why the Apostle James says, “So it is with faith. If good deeds don’t go with it, faith is dead.”

Jesus earliest followers called their faith practice the Way.

In Matthew 22, Jesus summarizes it this way: “’You must love the Most High God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.’ That is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like it: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments the whole Law is based—and the Prophets as well.”

Jesus had a lot to say about loving our neighbor.

In Luke 10, he tells the parable of the Good Samaritan.

And in Matthew 25, he says, “Come, you blessed of my Abba God! Inherit the Kin-dom prepared for you from the creation of the world! For I was hungry and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me; naked and you clothed me. I was ill and you comforted me; in prison and you came to visit me.”

That is what “I am the Way, Truth, and Life” means in context.

I worry that I sound like a broken record.

Love God.

Love your neighbor.

You are a beloved child of God, called by name, and claimed as God’s own.

I repeat those messages because they’re important.

It’s important for us to hear them.

It’s important for us to internalize them—to believe them.

To live them out.

I sometimes worry that I say them too much.

But I also worry that some people take them for granted.

They think, “I’m a good person.

I go to church every week.

I’m a follower of Jesus.

I walk the Way as best I can.”

I feel all of that.

I also love God.

I also love my neighbor.

I try to be the good Samaritan when presented with the opportunity.

I feed people who are hungry.

I give drink to people who are thirsty.

I welcome strangers.

I donate clothing to give to people who need it.

I pray for people who are sick in body, mind, or spirit—and visit them when I can.

I say this, not to toot my own horn.

I’m not holding myself up as an example.

In reality, I feel like I’m hardly scratching the surface of all that needs to be done.

In Washington state this week, an evangelical couple won the right to proceed with a lawsuit against the state.

The lawsuit alleges that Washington’s policy that requires foster parents to respect a child’s sexual orientation and gender identity is an infringement on the foster parents’ freedoms of religion and speech.

LGBTQ+ children are already overrepresented in the foster care system because of biological families’ disowning them.

Now, a court has ruled that foster parents, “Christian” foster parents, can inflict mental pain and anguish upon children who are already traumatized—now get this: as part of their faith practice.

The case is still wending its way through the courts, but this is an example of how “I am the Way, and Truth, and Life” can be twisted.

Christ, have mercy.

This week, I had to make copies of powers of attorney for children so, if their parents get detained or deported, they are placed in the care of relatives.

It used to be that we only had to worry about whether a child had enough to eat.

That they had the opportunity to go to school.

Now, we have to worry about children being detained and deported.

Children—not the “worst of the worst”—children.

No criminal record.

Children, who not so long ago, only had to worry about reading, writing, and arithmetic.

And even the ones not being detained or deported have to worry about being placed in foster care because their parents were abducted.

Christ, have mercy.

And this week, the Supreme Court has ruled that racism is over.

We no longer have to protect people’s right to vote because the structural racism that necessitated the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 is a thing of the past.

The state of Louisiana has been given a green light to gerrymander to their heart’s content.

Praise God!

Silly me! I thought we still had work to do.

Of course, I’m being sarcastic.

If you feel a tremor in the earth, it is the heroes of the civil rights movement collectively spinning in their graves.

Christ, have mercy.

I bring all these things up, not to depress you—although, to be perfectly honest, it’s been a battle for me this week.

I bring it up because it’s important that we know what is happening.

Sometimes we avoid the news to protect our mental health.

But it’s important that we know we have work to do.

In today’s gospel, Jesus says, “The truth of the matter is, anyone who has faith in me will do the works I do—and greater works besides.”

As followers of Jesus, we have work to do.

We cannot afford to be handcuffed by grief.

We cannot afford to be a deer in the headlights because we are overwhelmed by the atrocities and the cruelty.

Because, as I’ve said before, that is precisely the point.

They are using shock and awe to overwhelm us.

Well, excuse my French but, screw that!

We know the Way—Jesus has shown it to us.

The Way is not about a destination.

The Way is about how we are supposed to BE.

And the Way is where Jesus IS.

And, in addition to being aware of the pain and injustice around us, it is also important to be attentive to the joy.

Finding joy in the midst of all this injustice is critical to our wellbeing.

So, we find joy in doing the work of Jesus—and feeling his presence beside us as we do it.

We find joy in family and friends.

We find joy in baptism.

We find joy in the bread and the wine—and in sharing that meal with our siblings in Christ.

We find joy in the knowledge that God always has the last word.

The Kin-dom is near, my friends.

It may be not yet but there is plenty we can do—as individuals and as a community—to bring it nearer still

Damn the torpedoes and to God be the glory!

May this meditation on God’s word keep our hearts and minds on Christ Jesus. Amen.