{"id":1855,"date":"2023-05-07T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-07T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/?p=1855"},"modified":"2023-05-14T22:05:06","modified_gmt":"2023-05-15T05:05:06","slug":"fifth-sunday-of-easter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/07\/fifth-sunday-of-easter\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifth Sunday of Easter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Easter-5-05-07-23.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>John 14:1-11<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He Lives\u2014 to Be the Only Way to Heaven!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em><sup>1<\/sup>\u201cDo not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.&nbsp;<sup>2<\/sup>In my Father\u2019s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.&nbsp; I am going there to prepare a place for you.&nbsp;<sup>3<\/sup>And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.&nbsp;<sup>4<\/sup>You know the way to the place where I am going.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>5<\/sup>Thomas said to him, \u201cLord, we don\u2019t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>6<\/sup>Jesus answered<em>, \u201cI am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.&nbsp;<sup>7<\/sup>If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>8<\/sup>Philip said, \u201cLord, show us the Father and that will be enough for&nbsp;us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><sup>9<\/sup>Jesus answered:&nbsp;<em>\u201cDon\u2019t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, \u2018Show us the Father\u2019?&nbsp;<sup>10<\/sup>Don\u2019t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.&nbsp;<sup>11<\/sup>Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves<\/em>.\u201d (NIV1984)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dear fellow worshipers of our living Lord and Savior,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He is risen!&nbsp; He is risen indeed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you ever been lost?&nbsp; Think before you answer that question.&nbsp; Personally, I can answer that question with both a \u201cYes!\u201d and a \u201cNo!\u201d&nbsp; I can answer that question with a \u201cNo!\u201d if we are talking about being \u201clost\u201d in the sense that I have no idea where I am.&nbsp; While I have taken wrong turns or missed an exit on numerous occasions I have always been able to figure out how to get back \u201con track.\u201d&nbsp; Thankfully, I have never been in a position where I looked around and had no idea where I was or how to get back to someplace familiar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, there have been a number of times when I have had to answer \u201cYes!\u201d to that question.&nbsp; There have been a number of times when I have found myself in a situation that was so confusing or so overwhelming that I have thought to myself, \u201cI\u2019m lost.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our sermon text for today reminds us that on a spiritual level we were all born lost\u2014 completely lost, groping about in the darkness of sin, totally unable to find our own way to where we want to spend eternity\u2014 heaven.&nbsp; Easter changes all that!&nbsp; Today let\u2019s see how these inspired words of John assure us of this truth:&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong><em>He Lives\u2014 to Be the Only Way to Heaven!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our sermon text for today takes us back to a time when Jesus\u2019 disciples could have easily felt \u201clost.\u201d&nbsp; They weren\u2019t \u201clost\u201d in the sense that they didn\u2019t know where they were.&nbsp; They were in that Upper Room with Jesus on the night that we call Maundy Thursday.&nbsp; They were \u201clost\u201d however in the sense that they were confused and overwhelmed by what Jesus was telling them.&nbsp; As we join the disciples there in that Upper Room let\u2019s marvel as we watch how Jesus helps His \u201clost\u201d disciples by reassuring them\u2014 and us!\u2014 of the fact that because of His physical resurrection from the dead, we know the way to where we want to spend eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Look at the opening words of our text.&nbsp; Jesus says to His disciples,&nbsp;<em>\u201cDo not let your hearts be troubled.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; A more literal translation here would be,&nbsp;<em>\u201cStop letting your hearts be stirred up.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; What was&nbsp;<em>\u201ctroubling\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;the hearts of Jesus\u2019 disciples?&nbsp; Why were their hearts&nbsp;<em>\u201cstirred up\u201d<\/em>?&nbsp; Stop and think about what Jesus had just told them there in that Upper Room.&nbsp; Jesus had just revealed that one of them would betray Him.&nbsp; Jesus had just warned Peter that he was going to deny even knowing who Jesus was\u2014 three times!&nbsp; Jesus had just said to them,&nbsp;<em>\u201cMy children, I will be with you only a little longer. &nbsp;You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now:&nbsp; Where I am going, you cannot come\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;(John 13:33).&nbsp; We can certainly understand why the hearts of Jesus\u2019 disciples were&nbsp;<em>\u201ctroubled,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;why their hearts were&nbsp;<em>\u201cstirred up.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How did Jesus calm their&nbsp;<em>\u201ctroubled\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;hearts?&nbsp; He lovingly focused their hearts with these comforting words,&nbsp;<em>\u201cDo not let your hearts be troubled.&nbsp; Trust in God; trust also in me.&nbsp; In my Father\u2019s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.&nbsp; I am going there to prepare a place for you.&nbsp; And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.&nbsp; You know the way to the place where I am going.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No matter what might be&nbsp;<em>\u201ctroubling\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;our hearts, no matter what might be causing our hearts to be&nbsp;<em>\u201cstirred up\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;like sneaker waves on the ocean, there is only one thing that can bring us the \u201ccalm\u201d we need.&nbsp; It is\u2014 trust!&nbsp; To be more specific, it is trust in Him!&nbsp; (Pointing to the cross)&nbsp; Note very carefully, my friends, how Jesus places&nbsp;<em>\u201ctrust in God\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;on an absolutely equal level with&nbsp;<em>\u201ctrust in Jesus.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; When we&nbsp;<em>\u201ctrust\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;in Jesus we are&nbsp;<em>\u201ctrusting\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;in God and when we&nbsp;<em>\u201ctrust\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;in God we are&nbsp;<em>\u201ctrusting\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;in Jesus\u2014 because?&nbsp; Because Jesus&nbsp;<strong>is God!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How does our&nbsp;<em>\u201ctrust\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;in Jesus calm our&nbsp;<em>\u201ctroubled\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;hearts?&nbsp; Our Lord gives us three answers to that question.&nbsp; First, Jesus&nbsp;<strong>guarantees&nbsp;<\/strong>to us that in His heavenly Father\u2019s&nbsp;<em>\u201chouse\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;there are many&nbsp;<em>\u201crooms,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and He is&nbsp;<em>\u201cpreparing\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;one of those&nbsp;<em>\u201crooms,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;one of those&nbsp;<em>\u201cdwelling places\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;for each and every one of us!&nbsp; Picture it this way:&nbsp; Have you ever walked down the hallway of a retirement home or a senior living facility?&nbsp; Next to or on each and every apartment door there is a plaque with someone\u2019s name on it.&nbsp; If you look closely you\u2019ll see that each plaque is easily removable.&nbsp; Why?&nbsp; Because eventually whoever is in that room will move out and someone else will move in.&nbsp; When that happens the plaque will be taken out and it will be replaced by another plaque with someone else\u2019s name on it.&nbsp; But the&nbsp;<em>\u201croom\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;that the risen Christ is&nbsp;<em>\u201cpreparing\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;for you and for me has our name&nbsp;<strong>engraved&nbsp;<\/strong>on the door!&nbsp; It will be our&nbsp;<em>\u201cdwelling place\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;forever!&nbsp; Even though we haven\u2019t moved into that room yet\u2014 it is ours!&nbsp; Christ Himself has&nbsp;<em>\u201cprepared\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;that room specifically for us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second answer to the question, How does trust in Jesus calm our&nbsp;<em>\u201ctroubled\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;hearts, is found in the&nbsp;<strong>promise&nbsp;<\/strong>He gives to us:&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>\u201cIf I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Think about how that promise calms our troubled hearts.&nbsp; When the difficulties and the hardships, when the confusion and the uncertainty of our life here has our hearts&nbsp;<em>\u201cstirred up\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;we can take a deep breath, lift up our eyes to the cross (Pointing to the cross) and picture our risen Lord and Savior escorting us through the heavenly Father\u2019s Home until He gets to the door that has our name engraved on it and says to us, \u201cHere is the room that I prepared specifically for you!&nbsp; Welcome home!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The third way in which trust in the risen Christ calms our&nbsp;<em>\u201ctroubled\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;hearts is found in His words,&nbsp;<em>\u201cYou know the way to the place where I am going.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; While you and I know exactly what Jesus is talking about here, there are going to be times when in weakness we say along with Thomas,&nbsp;<em>\u201cLord, we don\u2019t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Thomas was thinking about a literal map or a literal road that led him to a literal locality.&nbsp; That\u2019s when Jesus speaks the words that are the heart and core of our text.&nbsp; He says,&nbsp;<em>\u201cI am&nbsp;<strong>the&nbsp;<\/strong>way and&nbsp;<strong>the&nbsp;<\/strong>truth and&nbsp;<strong>the&nbsp;<\/strong>life.&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>No one&nbsp;<\/strong>comes to the Father except through me.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; We cannot overstate the importance of these words!&nbsp; Jesus is this world\u2019s&nbsp;<strong>only&nbsp;<\/strong>Savior from sin.&nbsp; Jesus is this world\u2019s&nbsp;<strong>only&nbsp;<\/strong>Lord!&nbsp; That makes Jesus the most&nbsp;<strong>inclusive<\/strong>&nbsp;Lord and Savior that there could ever possibly be!&nbsp; Jesus is the Savior of&nbsp;<strong>all&nbsp;<\/strong>people\u2014 both Jews and Gentiles alike!&nbsp; Jesus suffered and died on the cross to atone for the sins of&nbsp;<strong>all&nbsp;<\/strong>people\u2014 no exceptions allowed!&nbsp; Jesus physically rose from the dead to declare&nbsp;<strong>all&nbsp;<\/strong>people, \u201c<em>Not Guilty!\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Everyone is included in what Jesus accomplished through His perfect life, His innocent suffering and death and His victorious physical resurrection on Easter Sunday\u2014&nbsp;<strong>Everyone!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the very same time, Jesus is the most&nbsp;<strong>exclusive<\/strong>&nbsp;Lord and Savior there could every possibly be\u2014 in the sense that He is the&nbsp;<strong>only&nbsp;<\/strong>One who can escort us into the heavenly Father\u2019s home.&nbsp; Jesus does not say,&nbsp;<em>\u201cI am&nbsp;<strong>a&nbsp;<\/strong>way\u201d<\/em>\u2014 as though He is one way out of many.&nbsp; He says,&nbsp;<em>\u201cI am&nbsp;<strong>the&nbsp;<\/strong>way.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Every other \u201cway\u201d that people try to follow will lead them straight to hell,&nbsp;<strong>not&nbsp;<\/strong>to heaven.&nbsp; Jesus does&nbsp;<strong>not&nbsp;<\/strong>say,&nbsp;<em>\u201cI am&nbsp;<strong>a&nbsp;<\/strong>truth\u201d<\/em>\u2014 as if there were other versions of truth\u2014 such as those being peddled by the followers of Allah or Buddha or any other made-up god.&nbsp; Jesus is&nbsp;<strong>the&nbsp;<\/strong>Truth!&nbsp; He is the embodiment of Truth!&nbsp; He is the&nbsp;<strong>only&nbsp;<\/strong>One who can reveal the Truth to us\u2014 which He does right here in His holy Word.&nbsp; Jesus does&nbsp;<strong>not&nbsp;<\/strong>say,&nbsp;<em>\u201cI am&nbsp;<strong>a&nbsp;<\/strong>life\u201d&nbsp;<\/em>as though there are others who can lead us into eternal life, others who have given us an example of how we can live our life in a way which proves to God that we are worthy of eternal life.&nbsp; Jesus is&nbsp;<strong>the&nbsp;<\/strong>life,&nbsp;<strong>the only&nbsp;<\/strong>Source of life, the&nbsp;<strong>only&nbsp;<\/strong>One who can take us by the hand and lead us through the valley of the shadow of death into a glorious eternal life in heaven.&nbsp; That\u2019s why our Lord and Savior says,&nbsp;<em>\u201c<strong>No one&nbsp;<\/strong>comes to the Father except through me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a powerful motivation for sharing Jesus with others, isn\u2019t it!&nbsp; There are millions upon millions of people on the face of this earth who either don\u2019t know or don\u2019t care what happens to them when they die.&nbsp; There are millions upon millions of people on the face of this earth who are so afraid of death that they will do whatever they can and spend as much as it takes to push death away for as long as they can.&nbsp; There are millions upon millions of people on the face of this earth who are&nbsp;<strong>doing&nbsp;<\/strong>everything they can, everything they are told that they need to do in order to earn their own ticket to Paradise.&nbsp; We need to do everything we can to point them to our risen Lord and Savior and share with them that He (Pointing to the cross) is the&nbsp;<strong>only&nbsp;<\/strong>way to heaven!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of this would be so much easier if God would just reveal Himself to us so that we could \u201csee\u201d Him.&nbsp; That might be what was going through Philip\u2019s mind when he said to Jesus,&nbsp;<em>\u201cLord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; Since Jesus had already made it clear to His disciples that He would soon be leaving them, Philip thought that since they would no longer be able to see Jesus, if they were given an opportunity to see the Father that would be&nbsp;<em>\u201cenough\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;to sustain the disciples until Jesus returned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We understand Philip\u2019s request, don\u2019t we.&nbsp; There are times in our lives when we would love it if God would reveal Himself to us in a way that we could \u201csee\u201d Him\u2014 with our physical eyes!&nbsp; When we are feeling all alone, when we are feeling \u201clost,\u201d when we aren\u2019t sure where to turn or what to do next we too might lift up our eyes to heaven and say,&nbsp;<em>\u201cLord, show me the Father and that will be enough for me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s at times such as these that we need to remember how Jesus responded to Philip\u2019s request.&nbsp; Look at verses nine to eleven of our text.&nbsp; Jesus says,&nbsp;<em>\u201cAnyone who has seen me has seen the Father.&nbsp; How can you say, \u2018Show us the Father\u2019?&nbsp; Don\u2019t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?&nbsp; The words I say to you are not just my own.&nbsp; Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.&nbsp; Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a way that soars far beyond our ability to understand with our limited logical minds, Jesus is&nbsp;<em>\u201cin the Father\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;and the Father is&nbsp;<em>\u201cin Jesus.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; When you see Jesus you see the Father\u2014 because they are&nbsp;<strong>one&nbsp;<\/strong>God!&nbsp; The \u201coneness\u201d of the three Persons in the holy Trinity is the foundation upon which the Christian faith is built!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What does this mean for you and for your life today?&nbsp; Think about it.&nbsp; When you want to see how much God loves you\u2014 look at Jesus!&nbsp; When you want to see God\u2019s compassion and God\u2019s power\u2014 look at all the miracles Jesus performed while He was here on this earth!&nbsp; When you want to see the scope of God\u2019s perfect justice as well as the depth of God\u2019s amazing grace\u2014 look at Jesus and see what He has done&nbsp;<strong>for&nbsp;<\/strong>you!&nbsp; (Pointing to the cross)&nbsp; When you want to see how much God loves your children and your grandchildren, listen to Jesus\u2019 words as He fulfills His promise to adopt your child through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.&nbsp;&nbsp; When you want to experience how completely all of your sins are forgiven, listen to Jesus as He comes to you through His holy Supper.&nbsp; Every time we listen to God\u2019s holy Word, every time we see God \u201cworking\u201d through His holy Sacraments we \u201csee\u201d and \u201chear\u201d&nbsp;<strong>both<\/strong>&nbsp;God the Father&nbsp;<strong>and&nbsp;<\/strong>God the Son!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Are you lost?&nbsp; If Jesus had asked His disciples that question there in the Upper Room, how might they have answered Him?&nbsp; At that moment in time they may have said\u2014 Yes!&nbsp; They were so confused and so overwhelmed by what Jesus was telling them that they may have indeed felt very \u201clost\u201d!&nbsp; If someone asked them that very same question three days later\u2014 after the risen Christ had appeared to them in that locked room\u2014 I am absolutely sure that they would have confidently and joyfully said\u2014 \u201cNo!&nbsp; Not anymore!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s the joy and that\u2019s the confidence that Easter gives to us, my friends.&nbsp; If ever we are feeling overwhelmed or confused by what is going on in our life, we need to lift up our eyes to His cross (Pointing to the cross) and remember: &nbsp;He Lives!&nbsp; He lives to be our&nbsp;<strong>only<\/strong>&nbsp;way to heaven!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He is risen!&nbsp; He is risen indeed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To God be the glory!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>John 14:1-11 He Lives\u2014 to Be the Only Way to Heaven! 1\u201cDo not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.&nbsp;2In my Father\u2019s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.&nbsp; I am going there to prepare a place for you.&nbsp;3And if I go and prepare a place for you, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-worship-service-podcast"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1855"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1870,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1855\/revisions\/1870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}