One Way

Text: John 4:1-14

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

          One of the mission projects we used to do in college was to deliver sandwiches to homeless people on the streets of New York City. We’d gather on campus around 9:00 at night and pack about 200 sandwiches and then load up into a 15-passenger van and drive to some places in the city that as I look back at it I’m glad my mother didn’t know I was going to. In fact, as I think about it now, I don’t think I’d want my soon to be college freshman going to those places either. We were trying to do something good. And perhaps some good was done. But in the process, we put ourselves in some pretty rough situations.

And not just with the areas we went to, but if you know a little bit about Manhattan, you know it’s laid out in a grid. North and south roads are avenues and east west roads are streets, and for the majority of the city they’re numbered. Makes it pretty easy to get around. The thing that makes it a little more complicated is that many of the streets are one way. And they generally alternate. One way west, then one way east. But not always. What I found out is that sometimes there’s two one ways going west in a row. And sometimes it might be possible, hypothetically, that you might be driving a big 15 passenger van uptown, and you might pass a street going one way west, and then think that the next street will be one you can turn right onto. And it’s possible that in that moment your van might end up face to face with a garbage truck going the correct way down the second one way west street in a row. Trying to do something good and beneficial and ending up going the wrong way anyway.

In God’s Word we’re told that there are two paths in life. One is the way of life and the other is the way of death. The way of life is travelled only by those who have faith in one individual. That’s Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Trusting in any other God than the Triune God or attempting to rely on any other Savior than the son of God is to travel the wrong way down that one way street. And travelling the wrong way down that street takes us away from the guidance and protection of the Savior and will often put us face to face with grave obstacles and difficulties, and eventually death. Which is why today’s Gospel lesson is so important. It’s where we hear Jesus say, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” It really can’t be any more clear that

JESUS IS THE ONE, AND ONLY, WAY TO THE FATHER.

Let’s be clear. There is no other way. You can’t get in through the back door. There is no end around. And the way of Jesus is so amazing because it’s the way of grace. It’s not the way of our human will which is the way of works. Our sinful nature wants to get us to the Father our way, not God’s way. But our way is the wrong way. Not only does it not work, but it’s totally futile. Because we think that we can earn our way to God because we’ve been “pretty good.” It’s incredible how many people will say things like “I know God is blessing me because I’ve been a faithful member of the church for many years. I’ve served on boards, committees, ushered, sang in the choir, even shared my faith with my neighbors. My future is secure.”

The problem is that this sort of thinking actually leads us away from the Father and his one true way of salvation. Thinking that being “pretty good” or being able to do enough to earn your salvation is only going to end in one result. You will always be disappointed. Because the belief that you’ve kept the law well enough, or that you’ve done enough to merit something is always going to fall apart when you eventually don’t do it well enough, or stumble and fall harder than you thought you ever would.

To understand the one way of salvation, we need to understand the will of God the Father. His will is that all would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. And to ensure that this would happen,    Jesus came to do the Father’s will. Not His own, but the Father’s. And that will ensures that all who believe in the work of the Son, receive the grace promised by God. This is the only Way to redemption.

Luther comments on the way of God’s will when he says, “If we want to feel assured of reaching heaven, we must have a sure way and road to travel; for there can be no more than one right way and road. And such a way is indicated only in God’s Word. Christ the Lord Himself is the only Way and the right Road on which our heart can and must rely and depend. Therefore Christ concludes: ‘He who would be safe and not meet eternal loss and ruin, let him give ear to Me alone’ and let Me impress these words deeply: ‘I am the Way’”

Jesus’ way to the Father is the way of humility, the way of suffering on the cross, not the way of pride that thinks it doesn’t need Jesus’ cross. Even though that is too often our way. The way of pride. It’s the same thinking that says we’re good enough to earn our way into heaven that would also want to keep some of the credit for our salvation for ourselves. What this does is deny God the credit that He deserves. He did all the work and deserves all the credit.

And even as Christians, thinking that we’re on the right path, our pride causes us to concentrate on ourselves—our mission, what we think God wants us to do, rather than the mission of our God and Savior.  Luther illustrates this well when he says, “Yet the world . . . will try, and rely on, any method or any work suggested to it. But there is one thing it cannot do, namely, remain on this one safe way with firm and steadfast faith. And though it hears and is told that Christ is the Way, it adulterates this message and seeks bypaths and other ways. It does not let Him have the exclusive honor; and it usurps part of this for itself, as though it could contribute something and find the way to heaven by itself.”

The truth about the way of humility is the way of the cross. It’s the humble way that we see Christ walking in Gethsemane, where He says, “Father, not my will, but yours be done.” It’s the way of submitting to the Father’s will as opposed to insisting on our own, as if we have clearer thoughts for better outcomes than God Himself does.

As we said, there are two paths, or ways, that are outlined in Scripture. Jesus’ way to the Father is the way of death that gives life, not the way of “life” that brings death. Sinful human beings reject God’s way of death and follow a way of life that leads to death. Even the disciples were troubled at Jesus going the way of death. They wanted a powerful Jesus, not a dying one. But that’s just because they wanted to see the power and the glory of the Father rather than suffering and death for their teacher, and possibly for themselves.

In the same way, we often want our faith to bring us admiration and successes, rather than rejection and hurts. Even the most humble of servants in the church deep down craves the words of thanks, and the recognition of their servant’s heart. Even if they won’t ever admit that. And it’s good and right to give those things. But those are all still things of this world. And none of them is satisfactory to save us. The answer and the path is far easier than that. And Jesus tells us that whoever seeks to save his life will lose it.

Jesus went the way of the cross to bring life out of death. This is where He shows the power and glory. If Jesus had shown this power and glory by overthrowing the Romans, which He could easily have done, it would have meant nothing for our salvation. It had to be done at the cross. And because Jesus walked that road we do have life and all its benefits. We have it here and now as we’re provided the comfort of Christ’s presence in this harsh and sinful world. And we have it in the future where we’ll enjoy the mansion that Christ is preparing for us when He returns to take us home. “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go and 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, that where I am you may be also.”

And so, we lean on the way and the plan that our loving God has laid out for us, and not our own. Just like my trips to New York City to feed the homeless, sometimes our best laid plans and intentions here in this life can end up getting us going down the wrong way on a one way street. But thanks be to God that the One Way that He offers to us to eternal life and salvation has nothing to do with our plans, but rather His. Because His plan is always better than ours is. His ways are always greater than our ways. His truth is always better than ours. And His life is what guarantees our eternal life and creates the path that we are blessed to be able to walk. The One Way path where we will be guided and protected. The One Way that will take us to exactly the place our loving God desires for us to be. With Him. Forever. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.