Bible Text: John 14:1-14 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes | Devotional : Certain smells can make me feel right at home. For example, the home in which I grew up was often filled with my Mom’s baking and cooking whether it was bread, banana loaf, or chocolate chip cookies or some of her signature dishes like Hamburger pie, Grandma’s goo or the dish with mushroom soup and chicken. A lot of people have been baking lately, I know this because every time I go to get Flour the shelves are (nearly) empty! Perhaps a lot of children will remember this time of isolation with the smell of freshly baked bread. I was pretty privileged to live in a home where Mom baked and cooked, thanks Mom, Happy Mother’s day- If I even smell a hint of those smells I feel at home. Spending so much time at home has made me think what does that turn of phrase really mean, “to feel at home.” In a lot of ways I think it means feeling safe, comfortable, even rested. But Jesus adds some layers to feeling at home as we hear part of the farewell discourse in John this morning.
Jesus and the disciples have gathered in an upper room- not their own home but a residence in Jerusalem where they can celebrate the familiar ritual of the Passover together. This very special meal includes all kinds of symbols, flavours and smells. The meal is well underway when Jesus gets up and starts washing the disciples’ feet, an incredibly intimate act. After-which, Jesus returns to the table and breaks bread and begins to discuss both his betrayal and how they should love one another. Judas Iscariot has stormed out and the rest of the disciples are really confused. These disciples, some of whom were uneducated fishermen, some of whom were tax collectors, some of whom were likely women, begin to get themselves worked up over the events of the evening. They are troubled and anxious. And it is into this discussion that our Scripture reading for this morning breaks in.
Jesus urges them not to be troubled and tells them of the Father’s house. This heavenly villa has many dwelling places, a lot of room, and Jesus shares that he will be going to prepare a place in this dwelling for them, a place of safety? A place of comfort? A place of rest? Now the imagery of an actual home, mansion, or villa can get in the way of the theology of the passage. Many of us imagine this being an actual physical place in heaven, yet Jesus never uses the term heaven in this passage. It has also been used to argue something like the rapture even though Jesus never mentions anything like that, or it has been used to exclude rather than include others implying that space is limited when in fact the point Jesus is making is that there is room for everyone. What is key is that Jesus says “where I am, you will also be”. Home is not necessarily a building but with Jesus- wherever Jesus takes us.
Just as this passage has caused confusion among scholars the whole phrasing is too much for Thomas and Philip. I really appreciate their honesty. They don’t want to hear anymore parables or metaphors or allegories. Thomas wants specific directions. Thomas wants a clear map. Jesus then uses an I AM statement- opening up a comparison between this conversation and the one Moses had at the burning bush and says “I am the way, the truth and life.” The way “home” is to be completely dependent on Jesus and Jesus’ relationship with God, to trust in Jesus. Philip interjects and also wants something a little more concrete. “Show us the Father”, he demands. And Jesus basically says, “Look! Here I am!”
This is perhaps where we can truly appreciate the anxiety that the disciples are experiencing. This anxiety and worry about being left by Jesus is clouding and confusing their vision, their understanding and their hope. I think as a result Jesus tries to redirect the conversation and moves away from talk of home or returning and simply asks them to trust that Jesus and God are one. To know Jesus is to know God.
Often this passage is used at funerals or in some reference to a future time when Jesus will come back and then take us away. But what Jesus is really saying is that God is at work here and now, not only through Jesus but through the disciples. One commentary points out, “Jesus’ imperative is to remind the disciples that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, they can handle His mission from here. It is in their hands to feed the hungry, heal the sick, welcome the stranger.” This is made all the more clear by the closing verses of this passage when Jesus states, “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and in fact, will do greater works than these because I am going to the Father.”
But sometimes fear, as with Thomas and Philip in this discourse, can close our ears and hearts to words of hope. It is particularly difficult to hear words of assurance when we have had heartfelt prayers that have gone unanswered, when our hearts are broken and our trust has been shattered. I know we all have been praying for an end to the spread of this virus. Jesus even tells the disciples that if they really mean it, if they pray with honesty and truth, that those desires will be fulfilled. So what happens when things don’t turn out the way we had hoped? But what Jesus is saying is that there is room in this relationship for honest acknowledgement of our confusion, our lack of power or control, our frustration when our requests seemingly go unheard. In all those experiences we are called to continue to trust and abide, believe, in the most authentic way, in Jesus.
We all struggle with the feeling that God is absent from our world at some point. Often instead of safety we are surrounded by uncertainty and fear, instead of comfort we have trauma or grief, instead of rest we are agitated and anxious. But this discourse between Jesus and the disciples reminds us that God is not absent nor are we waiting for God to show up but rather God is here. God has come. When Jesus says I AM the way we realize that God is present in the life and ministry of Jesus. God is at work, even in this pandemic. We may not have the luxury of seeing or hearing the physical Jesus, currently we do not have the luxury of seeing each other in person, but in his commandment to love one another we are encouraged to look at the faces before us- even in pictures or online or in our minds and see Jesus in them.
The disciples are anxious and afraid so when they hear Jesus reference a dwelling place they want to go, they want to be where they feel safe, comfortable and rested. But Jesus tells them home is where they need to get to work. We have been spending a lot of time in our literal homes but the work we are doing to stay physically a part is having an affect. It seems to be working. And God is dwelling with us. That’s what feeling at home means. Amen