Sermon Tone Analysis

*                         The Jesus Way \\ **Pastor Eric Schall \\ **October 28, 2008*

*John 14:1-6*

 

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\\ Baptism today!

~*~*~*Prayer~*~*~*

Mission statement “for Jesus, and others”  Going to focus on what it means to be a Christ-follower.

It is my hope that we can all go really deep in embracing Jesus in our lives.

Don’t have to be special.

Disciples a rough and rowdy bunch.

Praying that this series will be truly transformational in all of our lives.

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\\ *The Jesus Way vs.

No Way*

In the 80’s and 90’s we saw a cultural shift away from religion.

Ideas like those put forth by men like John Lennon who asked us to imagine a world without religion or it’s exclusive claims of faith that would lead us to a golden age of humanity without intolerance or violence or bigotry.

We have had a century long experiment in the real world in which countries have tried to ban religion in the name of humanity and mutual respect.

Just get rid of religion and we will live in peace.

Well, they've tried that.

They tried that in the former Soviet Union.

They tried that in China.

They tried that during the French Revolution.

They tried that in Cambodia.

The most intolerant and bigoted countries in the history of the world have been those countries that banned religion.

The reason why religious people are sometimes intolerant is the same reason that non-religious people are sometimes intolerant.

Because of what the Bible calls sin that resides in each of us.

People kill each other and hurt each other and scream at each other for a million reasons, only one of which is differing religions.

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\\ *The Jesus way vs. other ways*

In more recent times we have moved away from trying to do away with faith, to rather embracing all faiths in what is called tolerance and respect.

In this atmosphere you see a rise of organizations that call themselves churches, but in reality are more like a local “build-a-god workshop.”

It is Western arrogance and pride that has reached a whole new level.

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Faith has become viewed as a personal thing.

A force that rests within the individual and is used like a tool for various purposes.

You can draw from various teachings and sources to add to your tool as you wish.

If you like one part, take that.

If you don’t like a part, leave that.

Basically we have a whole bunch of people that are serving a god that they have created in their own image.

It is modern day idol worship.

*The Uniqueness of the Jesus Way*

From the beginning God has said that He alone is God.

There is no one beside Him.

The first two commandments given to the people that bared His name dealt with the uniqueness of God and the exclusivity of their worship.

Deuteronomy 6:4 is the most important verse in Judaism.

*/Deuteronomy 6:4 (TNIV) /**/Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one./*

Or /The Lord our God is one Lord/; or /The Lord is our God, the Lord is one/; or /The Lord is our God, the Lord alone./

All of those are wrapped up into this phrase.

This verse is prayed in every Jewish service of every day of the year.

It is the central prayer of Judaism called "The Shema Yisroel."

Then Jesus comes in the NT as the embodiment of God and as a fulfillment of all the OT law and promises, and says,

*/John 14:6 (TNIV) /**/Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me./*

All throughout the unfolding drama of God’s story of redemption you see Him pointing to Himself as unique.

He has bridged the gap, paid the price, but He will not (and cannot) compromise Who He is.

He still says today, “I am who I am and I have made a way for you.”

So, let me clear away this huge obstacle of the claim of intolerance.

True followers of Christ never want to force their religion down anyone's throat.

True followers of Christ want to share their faith in an atmosphere that is always characterized by love, graciousness and tolerance.

The fact that we want to share issues of faith in an atmosphere of love does not mean that we Christians believe that the issues we are discussing are not important.

We support, as much as anyone, the right of every religious person in this country to follow the dictates of their consciences without fear of persecution.

We don't want to be persecuted.

And we certainly don't want anyone else to be persecuted either.

But those of us who are followers of Christ would say that there is a difference between equal toleration and protection under the law vs.

equal validity according to the truth.

What if God has provided only one way for people to be saved?

Let's set aside, for the moment, the issue of tolerance and bigotry and come to a common agreement that all of us, followers of Christ, and those of you, who are not followers of Christ, should condemn bigotry and intolerance.

Let's also set aside the issue of whether we like the idea that there might be just one way to God.

Second, let's remember that it was not Christians who made up this claim to be the one way to God.

Jesus said it.

If you don't like it, blame Jesus, not His followers.

They're just echoing His claim.

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So let’s look at this passage briefly as we being to examine the Jesus Way…

 

*/John 14:1-6 (TNIV) /**/“Do not let your hearts be troubled.

Trust in God; trust also in me.

/**/My Father’s house has plenty of room; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

/**/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.

/**/You know the way to the place where I am going.”

/**/Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” /**/Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me./*

Jesus has just revealed some troubling things to the Disciples.

He has told them in the previous verses in Jn 13 that He is about to leave them.

He told them that they cannot go where He is headed…not yet.

And to top it off He has told them that they are about to disown Him for a time.

This is why the verse begins, “do not let your hearts be troubled” (lit.

agitated, storm-tossed)

 

Now, He is not in error when He tells His disciples "you know the way to the place I am going".

They do know the way.

The problem is that they don't know that they know the way.

And so in v. 5, Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

In other words: Lord, I don't even know the destination.

How can I know the way there?

Thomas “I need a road map with markers and rest stops along the way!

I need to see point A to point B, and what type of terrain that I will see in between.”

I think Thomas was just a pretty literal dude.

Some people have a very rigid way of looking at things and often desire concrete direction in their lives to move.

They draw back in fear when great leaps of faith are required.

While everyone kicks Thomas around, Jesus rarely did.

Instead, Jesus generally answered Thomas' questions.

Because while he was slow and found it hard to believe, nevertheless, he had a hungry heart and he was really sincere in his questioning.