The Way
Scripture References
Acts 6:1-9, 7:2a, 51-60
Seven Chosen to Serve
1 Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution. 2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch. 6 These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them. 7 And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith. 8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen.
Stephen’s Speech
2 And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. 51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
The Stoning Of Stephen
54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
1 Peter 2:2-10
A Living Stone and a Holy People
2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
John 14:1-14
I Am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 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. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. 12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
Sermon Script
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength, and redeemer. Amen.
The Way
Today we are taken back to Maundy Thursday of Holy Week in the Gospel of John as we continue to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. Chapters 13 and 14 are where Jesus’ farewell conversation with His disciples takes place before His crucifixion… What we know as the “upper room” in Jerusalem is where the disciples went that historic Thursday and Jesus washes their feet, announces His betrayal, and blesses the disciples with the Last Supper… These events and conversations were preparing “the way”… The way to His death… the way to His resurrection… the way to life… and the way to salvation… Resonating Jesus’ proclamation of today’s message. “I am the way…”
Have you ever been lost and needed help finding the way? I know I have … Remember life before GPS? Back then, it was common to have a paper map in the glove box. Wrestling that map sometimes was as hard as getting to your destination on the first attempt. If you were like me, I would ultimately have to ask for directions. But not until I would take several wrong turns and was forced to admit I was lost. So, I would pull into a gas station and ask for help. More times than not I would get a very descriptive and colorful set of directions. It might go something like this…
“Go down the blacktop and turn east on the gravel road by the old sawmill. Take a right by the third Burma Shave sign and your destination is cattywampus over a hill next to a bean field.” … somewhat confusing as I still wasn’t sure I would find the way.
Which Way To Turn
The disciples were a bit confused in that upper room as well, and they were having trouble processing the direction they were to go. Through Scripture we understand what Jesus was saying… because we already know the details of the Easter story. However, these disciples… even though they have been with Jesus and witnessed many things… still did not comprehend what was going to happen. In their minds, their destination seemed very uncertain… They had many questions… Why does our master have to leave us? Why could He not stay with us longer? What will become of us after He is gone?
The disciples wanted to know their route… the next turn… the ultimate destination of where this journey would lead them… Now that paper maps are long gone, we enjoy the luxury of GPS. Now when you need directions, you know how long it will take and the road you must travel to get there. The longest, shortest, or quickest route.
The disciples wanted to know where they were headed. In John 14:5, Thomas was speaking on behalf of the disciples as he says “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus knows it’s not only the disciples that need guidance. The same message applies to us as we navigate our way through life.
Just like Thomas was having trouble knowing the way… we do to. The road that leads us to trust in Jesus daily… Navigating in faith… Keeping our hearts and minds on Jesus’ way… As soon as we take our eyes off that road, we tend to make a wrong turn. Life is full of wrong turns, bad decisions and missed opportunities… before you know it, you might be headed down a dead-end road. That’s when a voice says “recalculating.” Whether we choose to hear it or not.
Even if we admit we are lost, and want to seek “the way”, our defined course wont necessarily be a paved road. There might be potholes, deep ruts, and detours… God can and will navigate us down those challenging roads to bring us back to the right place… resting in the comfort of faith… the faith in Jesus that He will lead us exactly where we need to go… Walking in His light.
The Way, The Truth, The Life
Through Jesus… He is the way, our faith GPS.
Jesus’ declaration is so remarkable in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Through these words, He identifies Himself as the one who can intercede for us. He identifies Himself as being equal with the Father in the Trinity. He identifies how we can live in harmony with God and one another… Then Jesus tells His disciples in verse 1, “I go to prepare a place for you” … Jesus clearly points the way… the eternal destination.
Jesus also says He is “the truth.” What is truth? That question seems to be a barrier for many unbelievers.
Truth is rooted in our eternal God who is all powerful and unchanging. Jesus prayed in John 17:17 “Sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is truth.”
As the Holy Spirit wrote the truth of the living Word on our hearts through baptism, so God’s written Word is truth… Even though the earth and all its dwellings will pass away, God’s truth never will.
Lastly Jesus says, “I am the life.”
Last week we talked about the Good Shepherd and how He “lays down His life for the sheep.” Jesus, our Good Shepherd laid down his life for us, His sheep. Jesus informed us that we should not be as much concerned with this life, as we should be with eternal life. The Scriptures speak often of the life to come after our life here on this earth, and as we follow the voice of our shepherd, we can embrace what that promise means to us. We can live our life in such a way that we are not chasing things that don’t last… but chasing the things that do last and have eternal significance… not only for us but for everyone that needs to find the way.
Follow Him
When Jesus refers to himself as the way, the truth, and the life, he is giving us a better way to live our lives through him. He is showing us that by following him daily in faith, He will lead us to a better, richer, more meaningful life than we could ever find on our own. Best of all, He shows us the road to follow to dwell with Him forever.
That is a lot packed in this one “I Am” statement. But through this we get a clear picture of who Jesus is. We get a clear picture of where our destination is. We get real time directions for our life that we can follow.
If the windshield stays clean that is… Sometimes our internal navigation is like the wipers going full blast in a driving rain, the path isn’t so clear.
Satan loves blurring our path with worldly detours. He is hard at work all around us…. politics, greedy world leaders, equal rights, gender confusion, those demanding the legal means to abort babies… I could go on and on as it seems like that is all you hear about… A rare moment when you hear about anything good.
But if you think about it… who’s voice are we listening too? Fox news, CNN, Facebook, twitter? Sure, there are a lot of bad things going on in the world, but there are a lot of good things too. LCMS World Mission, located in Iowa, has presence around the globe. Habitat for Humanity is building low-cost housing for families across the country. Gideons, Wellness groups, Christian disaster relief, and many more, all of which do not get any publicity, and they serve worldwide…
Yes, there is breaking news all over the world about the community of believers growing… but it will not be on the nightly news… But then again, if we follow Jesus’ way, we don’t need to be seen by others or know the results. We just need to plant the seeds and know the Holy Spirit will reap the seeds that are sown.
The Right Way
It reminds me of an evangelism Video Bible study I did here in bible class a few years ago. An atheist online gamer got involved in competition with a Christian gamer. Conversation ensued back and forth each day until the atheist began to ask questions about his friends’ faith. He finally concluded that if he could see a sign from God, he would believe.
His Christian friend told him… “No you won’t. Jesus performed miracle after miracle and healed, and raised people from the dead, and still, they didn’t believe. Why would one more make you believe?”
Yes, the Holy Spirit worked through that conversation to bring the atheist into the community of believers. This sort of thing happens all the time, but we usually don’t hear what road was taken to get there. Jesus can and will work through us to point the way… guiding our actions or providing words to say… guiding someone to get on the right road…
Jesus did this with the disciples in the 40 days after His resurrection. Preparing them for “the way.” They needed better directions than a folded-up map. Jesus commissioned them to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Jesus was preparing them to grow His bride, the church to come. They would need to adjust… from following Jesus… to being leaders with the faith of Jesus’ way in their hearts. Building cornerstones in communities of believers that would grow worldwide.
Jesus knows this and says in John 14:12, “Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do and will do greater ones than these.”
Clear Directions
The great commission extends to us as well. Jesus’ way is to love others, to serve others, and to bring God’s light into the darkness of the world… We are called to do greater works than He did.
But it is hard to imagine how we can do greater things. Jesus fed and healed multitudes… But He was working alone. Today, because of the worldwide community of believers, there are truly disciples in all nations. That is because people like you and me throughout the generations, have been spreading God’s love… Look within the walls here at Peace with many of you working or supporting different mission areas …Orphan Grain Train, LWML, Adopt a Chaplin, the Preschool, FIRE, Shop Ministry, Food Pantry, VBS, and many other outreach projects… Jesus working through us… using “the way” to grow the Christian community.
We saw this in the First lesson for today… Acts 6:1-7. The Hebrews recognized the importance of caring for widows, and when it became clear that they were falling short in this responsibility, they appointed deacons to ensure that everyone was taken care of. This shows how the early Christians put Jesus’ teachings into practice by caring for those in need and working together to grow the community. Jesus taught the disciples, the disciples taught church leaders, and on down the line. Sharing the way of Christ to others and it spread like wildfire.
Doing greater works than Jesus did is made possible because Jesus has been working through our talents by dwelling in our hearts.
When Jesus refers to himself as the way, the truth, and the life, He is giving us a better way to share our faith through Him.
He then concludes, “No one can come to the Father except through Me.” Through His death on the cross and His resurrection, you and I are offered meaning, forgiveness, and the strength to live for both this life and the life to come. No believer is saved by anyone other than Jesus Christ, our crucified and risen Lord and Savior.
Those my friends are clear directions… you will not have to write them down. Jesus tells us there is just one road, and it is that one right there. The cross…. The way, the truth, and the life.
And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen.