This past Sunday, we hosted Mr. Otinel Mlimba, general secretary of Konde Diocese the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania, our companion in mission and ministry. It was a joy to hear from him, especially during the Sunday school hour, and learn and share our faith together. The sermon below is based on the gospel text for the day, John 14:1-14, and probing the concepts of feeling lost contrasted with this image of the Father's house/home.
I'm not lost.
It's just that I don't know exactly where I'm going. . .
No matter how much you pride yourself on being good at directions or aware of your surroundings, everyone has been lost at some point in their lives. It's a troubling feeling. The disciples were troubled too. Even as they travel with Jesus, they are worried, focused on where exactly they are headed and what it will look like. Thomas echoes the concerns of all of the disciples, and us - “Lord, we do not know where you are going, how can we know the way?”
This is a nagging fear, even if we know, as Thomas did – that Jesus is leading. Where are we going? There has been a lot of discussion and anxiety in the news this week about the so-called rapture and where we are going when Jesus returns, or after you die, but I don't even mean that. I mean where are you going – after church? Where are you going in your career? With your family? Where is your heart going? All of these at times can make us anxious, when we feel we don't know the way, or find ourselves in unfamiliar or surprising surroundings. I wonder if on any time on Otinel's journey to us, on his many flights, he thought – where am I going?!
Poet and theologian Gerard Frost tells this story of a flight he took:
“One day as I walked down the airport ramp to board a plane, a family of four was in front of me. The older child appeared to be about four and her every step was a bounce. She radiated expectancy and joy. Her father looked down at her and asked, "Where are we going?" "To Grandma's!" she shouted, punctuating her words with a higher bounce.
She didn't say "to Bismarck" or "Billings," but "to Grandma's." As far as she was concerned, she was going to a person—the place didn't matter. She was an eloquent witness to the fact that we home in those who love us, in people more than places.”
Where we are going is not a place, but a person. We are at home in the one who made us, in people who love us. We are at home in people, not places.
We do not need map-reading skills, perfect punctuality, or good directions to get to the Father's house Jesus speaks of. Home is not a place but a person, a presence. When you think of “home,” you do not think so much of an address, but of the warmth, a feeling, the people, the meals shared, the love that is there.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. This is not just about the afterlife or some discussion on heaven. This is about life now. In Christ our relationships take on new meaning. Life isn't just about knowing the exact details of what address life will bring us to. But it's about the people and the rich relationships God gifts us with. Because of our togetherness in Christ, Otinel and all guests from the Konde Diocese isn't just visiting central PA, they are visiting friends in the mission of Christ.
In a month our youth are not just going Calais, Maine – they are going to serve, to show Christ's love, to learn and play and strengthen their faith.
When people see me on the street, often I get, hey, you're from the church that does the meal. This is a reflection of your ministry here. And on Sunday mornings, where do you go? The corner of King and Manor streets? No, you go to church, to a relationship, first with God the father and Jesus, and then also church is a relationship with everyone around you. Just like our brothers and sisters in the Itete congregation and everywhere else in the world, we go to church.
The little girl going to Grandma's isn't lost – she knows exactly where she is going, and all the hope and promise in the whole journey to this place of love and togetherness. Does she know exactly where she is going, the street address or the exact time the plane will touch down? No. We don't know exactly what heaven will look like or the time and the hour (not yesterday) Jesus will return. We don't even know all the details of the exact paths life will take us down. But we know we are never lost, because Jesus goes ahead of us, and is our way. Amen.
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