Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Good morning. Would you pray with me, please?
Almighty God, in you are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Open our eyes that we may see the wonders of your word and give us grace, that we may clearly understand and freely choose the way of your wisdom through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Our passage today is the first seven verses of the 14th chapter of the Book of John.
And this is Jesus speaking.
Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God. Believe also in me.
In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.
And you know the way to the place where I'm going.
Thomas said to him, lord, we don't know where you're going. How can we know the way?
Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also.
From now on. You do know him and have seen him.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
[00:01:55] Speaker B: Thank you so much, Angela, for reading the Word of God.
Good morning and praise the Lord for this new day.
So good to be with all of us here today. My name is William Mawe, and it just struck me this morning when Matt mentioned that I'm an old member of this church. And I realized, yeah, it's been six years. Oh, my goodness.
So nice to be part of this congregation.
So I would like us to consider the text that we've just read, John 14:1 7.
In this text, Jesus offers comfort and hope in unprecedented time, but also cast a vision of home in my view, which is His Father's mansion, where everyone has a place and where Jesus lives with his people.
I imagine that all of us here could tell a story of a farewell or a kind of separation from someone who is dear to you or dear to us, whether a loved one, someone who moves away, maybe to a far country, or a dear one who transitions through death.
Maybe a place which is so dear for us and we are getting separated from the place we have an attachment with. A place. It could be a country, a city, a rural town, or a beautiful environment.
Or it could be a deer pet that just died or got lost and we are separated from it.
And of course, it could be property, like the homes that we just lost in a couple months or a couple of weeks. Ago.
And in those homes, we have the gifts that, I mean, things that we keep there, gift that we have there could be a gift from your grandmother or some love letters from time of courtship that, you know got burned there or other valuable goods that you have labored for years to acquire.
So sorry for some of us who just lost all that. And I do remember Pastor Matt's tools. He just mentioned that last Sunday.
Now, some of our farewell stories are beautiful, while others are really terrible. They're bad.
At least for my wife. Maggie and I, we will hardly forget a time we missed a chance to say goodbye to our loved ones at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi during our trip, that was six years ago, to come here in Pasadena of a school.
Maggie's mom and family members were traveling to meet us at the airport. And we were there early to meet them, spend some time with them, take some pictures, and of course, get that last embrace, last hug before we say bye to them and just leave. Unfortunately, they couldn't beat the traffic jam in Nairobi city to come all the way to the airport. The airport is outside of the city. And because of that, we missed seeing them. In fact, by the time they arrived at the airport, we were already boarding.
It was very frustrating. It was difficult time for us. And we still remember, unfortunately, the last time we saw Maggie's mom was during COVID and we were all in masks.
It was a little bit awkward. But we still had wonderful times. I mean, we had longed to be together. And, you know, that's how it feels when there is separation.
And, you know, most times we are never prepared to handle separation or to handle some unprecedented time, whether it is loss, whether it is pain, or even the trauma that comes with such moments. Now, this text that we just read has been called the Farewell Discourse.
And it happened after the last supper in Jerusalem the night before Crucifixion. From chapter 14 all the way to chapter 17, I think Jesus prepares his disciples not only for his departure, but also for the difficult time ahead due to his impending suffering and death.
Jesus is so smart. He knew the feeling at that particular time, and especially after revealing to them that he's going to depart. And again, he knew that Somalia that was awaiting with his death, and not even death, but the suffering and the death.
You know, the Christian story is really built on a traumatic kind of an event. And this is the suffering and the death of Jesus Christ. Very painful. And I think Jesus knew this was going to be a very hard time for my disciples. And I think he had Time to prepare them.
And I should say this is unprecedented time. It works for the disciples. And sometimes we go or we find ourselves in such very difficult time. In the text, I think Jesus offers comfort and casts a vision of a home.
He acknowledges his disciples distress rather than dismissing, validates human emotion and offers hope. Do not be troubled, he tells them, trust in God and trust in me as well. Jesus was visibly present there with them as he said these words.
And he invited them into a relationship of trust based on his lived experiences with them. Because he's lived with them, they know him. And when he tells them, do not be troubled, trust the Lord, trust God and trust me, at least they can see him there. He is visibly present with them, though through his comforting words he presents tangible, visible and relational hope. That hope is none other than himself.
He actually presents himself.
Friends, in unprecedented times, Jesus knew the lingering questions in the minds of his disciples. And all these people asking, Jesus is going to be going. I mean, it's not going to be with us anymore. And maybe they have questions in their minds.
What do I do?
Where do I start?
What next for me?
How do I live again?
And you know, friends, these are questions that I would imagine a time like now, especially in this country and even in our city here in Pasadena, a lot of people have asked these questions in their minds because of all the things that have been going on. These are questions that have lingered in our minds.
And I would imagine somebody asking, where is Om? For me, these are questions of truth, questions of way out and questions of life.
In difficult times. We want to know, we want to understand, and we are looking for what is life giving Jesus words. Do not be troubled, they show. He acknowledges the distress with his disciples. And he also offers himself and he says, I am the way. In his answer to the questions that some of his disciples, like Thomas, I am the way. I am the truth, I am the life, the answer to the distress.
Now, psychologists tell us, some psychologists tell us that when people are experiencing hard moments or traumatic experiences, they're going through such. They may not be in good mental state to make decisions and therefore they can be easily manipulated.
But when such people again, when they feel hard and seen, psychologists will also tell us an aha moment. Aha moment comes into their lives.
And that aha moment when it comes to their lives, because they feel heard, they feel listened, it triggers an aspect of anciency in them.
And there and there and then the body kind of activates healing. The body activates some form of healing.
Now Jesus, you know, he Called, I mean, he told the disciples, do not be troubled.
In my mind, I tried to picture that Jesus knows their minds, knows what is taking place in their bodies. He understands what they are thinking, and he knows that they are troubled. That's why he is telling them, do not be troubled. He knows that there is troubling, and actually he knows what is coming.
Maybe they have heard him talk about, maybe about his suffering and his death, but they have not yet seen it. But Jesus knows what is coming. He knows the pain, the trauma that is going to befell these people. And he tells them, do not be troubled. And, you know, friends, we ask these questions, these questions which I just said disciples probably were, you know, were lingering in their minds. We ask these questions of, where is om to me? What am I going to do? What next for me? We ask these questions in this life.
And we also try to make sense and find answers and actually answer ourselves.
And actually the world around us has taught us something, some things to do about it. And we try to do something about, you know, unprecedented times and, you know, difficult times. We try to do something about it.
Some of it actually are pithy sayings that we learn in our cultures and, you know, in the world around us, which try to explain the distress and try to give us some, you know, some hope.
Sometimes we say things like, I know if I asked you, you probably would tell me some of these. Peter's saying that we say in our cultures, when we are in different difficult times, sometimes we say, no pain, no gain.
And we say, time heals.
Others will say, it is, well, this too shall pass.
It is God's plan. Well, it is God's plan. When we are in difficult times, it is God's will.
God is punishing us.
This world is not our home after all. You can also say, that is life. Well, some of this sounds like a reductionist approach to, you know, hardship or a difficult time.
Does it? Maybe, maybe not. But what does Jesus really offer to his troubled disciples? Because they are troubled and he knows they are. He validates their distress and offers himself again. Jesus cast, I mean, cast a vision of a home.
Most of you may know ODC Charter School in Altadena, one of their schools, because they have two schools in Altadena. One of their school burned down and the kids there, they were there to stay home for six weeks, just like in other schools.
Thankfully, after the six weeks, they finally got three different locations where they are taking, where parents are taking their kids. And one of those is the Boys and Girls Club in Pasadena. That's where our five year old son Jeff Zion attends. Now the day after he returned to school, I asked him, did you meet your friends at school? He said no.
He said they didn't come. And I asked him why. He said their homes burned down. He knew that their homes burned down. And I told him, oh, that's so sad.
Do you want to pray for them because their homes burned down?
He told me, no, I want to build a home for them.
That's how I responded.
Oh yeah, they definitely need a home.
In the New Testament Jewish culture, home was a setting for sustenance, a center for rest, family, food, shelter.
Jesus does not only offer comfort, he cast a vision of a home. He says, in my Father's house are many rooms. If that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? It's a question, I go to prepare a place for you. Jesus says it even more clearly addressing concerned by Thomas, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No one comes to the Father apart from me. In other words, Father and high are one. And he said that even in another scripture, if you know me, you know my Father and you know the place I am going. I am going to my Father's presence. That is the place.
Friends, I hear Jesus telling them, home is Jesus, presence is God's presence, home is God, home is the Trinity.
While Jesus picture is of a mansion, I think the architecture or the exact location of the mansion of that place might not be the main deal here. I imagine the Father's presence is all that the home is about.
It's not so much of the architecture, the mansion with many rooms and it has many rooms. But when Jesus says I'll come, I'll get you to be wherever I will be where I am, you are there. That really triggers in me that the presence, the presence of God, the presence of the Trinity.
Learning from the 5th century African bishop by the name Saint Augustine of Carthage on where we seek home in our lives.
In his early life, Augustine sought to find his peace in his position and he sought position through achievement. He did that, I mean in his early lives he really sought to be an achiever and he wanted to achieve and that's how he thought. I mean this way I can find my peace, I can find my home. At first Augustine thought he would find fulfillment by achieving success his own country, Carthage.
And he did succeed there. But soon he was unsatisfied and he moved on to Rome for a new home.
He worked There and was successful.
But soon he got disappointed again and he was not satisfied. He later set his eyes on Milan. Milan was the Emperor's seat, the Emperor of Rome. In other words, he wanted to gain some prestigious position in Rome. And actually he did. He gained that position, but he was disappointed again.
Augustine later in his life in Christ, he wrote one of his famous lines, or rather confessions, and I quote, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you, O Lord. Friends, God is the home we want to be.
He is the place of rest we long for. He is the country we are looking for. He is the homeland we always desire.
Jesus wants us to be where he is, that is home.
Where in this, whether in this life or the next, where the Spirit of God is, where Jesus is, where the Father is, that is home.
Though troubled, I think the disciples were already at home with Jesus. You can't think of that. Yeah, though they were troubled, maybe this is something that maybe they never knew. But they were troubled because they knew Jesus was departing. But at that particular time they were with him. And I want to believe they were at home with Jesus. And even in his physical absence, he said to them, I will ask my Father and He will send and advocate. He will send the Holy Spirit, anyone who loves him. Jesus again saying, anyone who loves my Father and obeys His Word, the Trinity. And I love this text. The Trinity, the Father, the Holy Spirit and myself. Jesus himself will come to make a home with them. Anyone who loves the Father, anyone who trusts I can say the Father, he, the Father himself, the Holy Spirit, Jesus himself, the Trinity will come down, will come to that person and make a home that is not necessarily a geographical home. I mean a place that's not necessarily like that, but it is where God, it is the presence of the Lord.
I must say I have lived away from home for over six years now.
And I have felt lonely sometimes.
I have felt separated from my kins people.
I have felt humiliated as an immigrant, but friends, because of Christ, I have experienced so much love away from home, the place that I call home. I have experienced so much rest, sometimes in places where I don't even know the names of the people.
I have experienced so much beauty, community, friendship, Vervas, including this morning, many God moments, divine moments.
I have had mother figures, brothers and sisters who are not by my biological brothers. I have been at home with Jesus and I sense his prompt every time to invite others to my Father's home.
His presence to where he is with as many rooms for everybody, for all. I believe, friends, with our trust in Jesus, we have a home, whether in this life or in the life to come.
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.
