A Thought a Day...
Friday, October 01, 2004
Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." John 14:8
Jesus has no sooner finished answering Peter's and Thomas' interruptions than he is interrupted by Phillip. I can understand how he must feel today. I've been teaching at Intel this week. I've had fourteen of the top computer bios developers in the world in my class. The one thing about engineers is that they are more interested in how and why things are the way they are than they are anything else. I've been here in the Seattle, WA area trying to teach them a new computer program, but I've hardly been able to get a word in edgewise. If I here another "Why does it do it that way", I think I will scream. I wonder if Christ ever got to feeling that way? Phillip is asking a question that we have asked for millennia, "How can we know God".
How would you describe God? It's not that easy. Most of us would come up with radically different answers.
I love to see peoples fridges. Most fridges are a microcosm of their lives captured in family photos and souvenir magnets. I've developed this fun tradition of bringing my mother and wife a fridge magnet whenever I work in a new state or country. Whenever I call to tell my parents where I'll be next week, the first thing mom does is check the fridge to see if she has a magnet. Look at that fridge door and you'll have a visual history of my travels for that past 5 years. Other people put pictures of family, family events and mementos of important moments on the door of their fridge. Read the door and you get an impression of who they are.
For most of us our impression is God is like our refrigerator. We start taking pictures of what God is like and putting them on our fridge. A devastating storm goes through and we call it an act of God. Click. A picture goes on our fridge. Someone close to us dies. Click. Another picture. A beloved pet dies. We tell kids that God loved that pet sooo much that he wanted it for himself. Click. Another picture goes on the door. We unexpectedly get a great blessing. Click. Here's a cool picture. Soon we have all these pictures of who God is.
The question is, "Is this really who God is?"
Father, I want to know you. I want to know you better. I want to know you accurately. Reveal yourself to me today.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. " John 14:6.
Thomas has just asked the Lord a question. He asked the Lord how could we know the way. This is the Lord's answer. At first, this response doesn't make any sense to me. Thomas is asking a simple enough question. And the Lord responds with this rather cryptic response... Until I look at it more closely.
The word the Lord uses for "way" is the same word as "road" or "path". Now it makes more sense to me. It didn't matter where he was going, but if I want to get where he is, I just have to follow the road. After the fact, we know that he was going to be with his father. If I want to find him, all I have to do is to follow the "yellow brick road".
All well and good, but how do I know I'm following the path? That's where the cool part of this verse is. Christ says he is the path!
This is another one of those stained glass verses I've been talking about. When my dad preached in Fisher, IL we used to have some beautiful stained glass windows in that church. I still remember them a half-century later. Each one had a verse at the bottom of the image. But this verse is not intended to be put on a window... It's practical advice.
Christ is telling me HE is the road. To get to where he is going, I simply use him as the road to get there. He is the trail that leads me through the forest. He's the trailblazed path that will guide me through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. He's the superhighway that will drop me off at the gates of my new residence. All I have to do is to stay on the road... To follow the steps he has already taken.
That isn't always easy for me. I tend to wander off the road. I want to try to blaze my own trails. A couple weeks ago I was on an assignment in New Jersey. I had a map of sorts with me. It told me how to get from the Newark airport to the financial district in Jersey City. I was to get on Route 1 and 9 and follow that downtown. I got in the wrong lane coming out of the airport and ended up on Truck Route 1 and 9. It took me over three hours during rush hour to find where I was supposed to be. I ended up having to backtrack to find the correct path and follow it and that led me to where I needed to go. That's what Christ is telling me here, too. He's the path, and following his direction is the only way we are going to get to the place where we want to be. There aren't many ways to our destination. The way to the Father isn't like spokes on a wheel, it's like the path through a maze. And the only way to the center is to walk on the road.
Father, too often I try to find my own way: every time I do, I get lost. I find my way back, but it's pretty scary when I'm out there on my own. I want to stay on the road. I want to live as your son lived. I want to be as He is. He is here with me now. I don't need to look up to some remote, distant place. I just need to look down... And make sure I'm on the path.
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" John 14:5.
Christ has just said to Peter, "Where I'm going, you can't go". He then follows it up with, "You know where I'm going". Now Thomas jumps in on the conversation and says, "We don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
Jesus must have been really patient while he was here on earth. Here is the consummate moment of his ministry. His last moments with his disciples before he will be put to death. He has been trying to tell them what is important to him, he had started this whole conversation with "I'm giving you a new command, love one another." Peter has totally sidetracked the conversation, and now Thomas interrupts him. (And Thomas won't be the last.) In fact, there will be three interruptions, and each one will be handled with graciousness and patience. With each interruption, the response teaches me some wonderful truths about the Christian life.
The thing that strikes me about Thomas is that he wasn't afraid to state the obvious. This is the guy I like to call Thomas the scientist. I think his full name was Thomas Spock... The brother of Leonard Nimoy of Startrek. He wanted empirical evidence of everything. He is the kind of guy that likes to have the dots connected: and yes, this is the same guy who said unless he could see and touch the nailprints in the hands and feet of Christ, he wouldn't believe the resurrection. His question is simple enough, we are missing a key piece of information, so we can't get to the logical answer. How many times have I asked a similar question?
What I really love about this verse is that Thomas doesn't have to be afraid to challenge the Lord and question him when things aren't clear. How many times have I pussyfooted around my lack of understanding for fear it was a lack of belief? How many times have I missed out on a wonderful blessing simply because I've been too timid to ask a question? How many times have I feared the reaction of others because I'm too proud to admit that I don't know it all?
Father, thank you for showing me today that I don't have to know it all. Most of all, thank you for showing me that I don't have to be afraid to ask the questions. Now, do you have a moment? I have this question...
Monday, September 27, 2004
In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. 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." John 14:2-4
Jesus has told the disciples that he will be leaving them soon, and Peter has interrupted his by asking him where he is going. Peter has volunteered to be the Lord's bodyguard, and he has been disappointed to find out his resume has been rejected. Not only did he not get the job, his loyalty was strongly questioned. Christ quickly follows that rebuff up by telling Peter not to worry about it, that he was going to leave to get ready for him to come be with him.
Some translations use the word Mansion instead of rooms. I like the idea of rooms. I spend most of my life in a room... Hotel rooms. As I write this morning, I'm in Dupont, Washington and for the next three weeks after that I'll be in Simi Valley, CA. A couple years ago, I had 360 Marriott days that year. Whether it is a room or a mansion, I don't care. I just want to be where the Lord is. As I get older, I want to be there sooner than later. I'm getting tired... And I'm not close to being ready for retirement. The thoughts of being with the Lord are a welcome relief. Less you get concerned that I'm going through a depressed state, you are wrong. It's just the thoughts of being with the Lord are pretty awesome.
I like that the Lord has made this a promise. In fact he stakes his character on it by saying, "If it were not true I would have told you". That makes it a done deal. And he follows it up by saying he's going to be giving us a private tour. How cool is that?
The last sentence is interesting, "You know the way to the place where I am going". We'll find out more about this tomorrow. Christ is making the assumption that Peter already knows what's up. I'm not sure Peter is that bright... But he's about to get real smart, real quick.
Father, your promise of a room in your presence is so awesome... And you've given me your word on it. Give me the guidance to do my part to be ready for the trip.
