Devotional
John 14:1-7
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.2In 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? 3And 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. 4And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ 5Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’6Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’
After she died, the notes and plans that we made that day really saved our family from many arguments. Actually, everyone wanted a copy of the paper. I even keep mine by my bedside. And, since that day, when I hear the hymns she picked out, or see the color of the silk pajamas she wished to be buried in, I can’t help but smile. But, when I think of John Chapter 14, my heart sinks and I am filled with sadness – as I think of her insistence that the ENTIRE chapter be read at her funeral.
One of the great things about the lectionary is that we are forced to face scripture that we would rather not have to read. As I read through this lectionary Gospel text for today, my sadness is displaced a bit, by the glorious news of Easter: The Lord is Risen, He is Risen indeed, Alleluia! Easter provides such hope for all of us who have lost someone that has left a great void in our lives. This passage reminds me that instead of being sad, for these Fifty days of Easter, we must celebrate this Easter hope, which allows us to proclaim with great confidence the mystery of our faith: Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again. Allelulia!
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.2In 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? 3And 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. 4And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ 5Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’6Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’
The 14th Chapter of John is one of those very familiar passages to most of us, because it is read so often at funerals. Almost three years before my grandmother died, she called me to come over to her home in order to discuss an “important matter.” When I arrived, she told me that she needed me to write down all the details for her funeral, so that no one would argue over her wishes. After I thoroughly explained that the idea weirded me out, I agreed to take down all her notes – which were as detailed as “put lotion and socks on my feet.”
After she died, the notes and plans that we made that day really saved our family from many arguments. Actually, everyone wanted a copy of the paper. I even keep mine by my bedside. And, since that day, when I hear the hymns she picked out, or see the color of the silk pajamas she wished to be buried in, I can’t help but smile. But, when I think of John Chapter 14, my heart sinks and I am filled with sadness – as I think of her insistence that the ENTIRE chapter be read at her funeral.
One of the great things about the lectionary is that we are forced to face scripture that we would rather not have to read. As I read through this lectionary Gospel text for today, my sadness is displaced a bit, by the glorious news of Easter: The Lord is Risen, He is Risen indeed, Alleluia! Easter provides such hope for all of us who have lost someone that has left a great void in our lives. This passage reminds me that instead of being sad, for these Fifty days of Easter, we must celebrate this Easter hope, which allows us to proclaim with great confidence the mystery of our faith: Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again. Allelulia!
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