SERMON: I AM THE WAY

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

      -- turn in Bibles to John 14:1-7

 

John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 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. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

 

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

 

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

 

      -- as we start the message this morning, I want to take a scientific poll -- let's say that you are starting on a journey -- you're going on a trip somewhere -- you've never been there before, but you've got your journey all mapped out -- you’ve put the address in your GPS -- you’ve got the directions there before you -- you know exactly what roads you need to take and about how long it will take you to get there -- so, you’re ready

      -- but suppose that when you stop to fill up on gas one last time before you hit the road, the person next to you at the gas station starts talking to you and asks where you’re headed -- after you tell them, they tell you that they’re from that town, and there’s a better way to go that the GPS won’t tell you about -- they said if you take this shortcut, you can save almost an hour off your trip  

      -- so, you’ve got the GPS telling you one thing and you’ve got this stranger telling you about this shortcut that’s a better way to go -- raise your hands -- how many of you would take the shortcut?

 

      -- interesting -- I’ve said before that we are living in a time when our country is the most divided that I’ve ever seen -- and I’ve come to realize that in addition to politics and religion and everything else we differ on, there’s one more thing that divides us -- and that’s traveling from one place to another

      -- the world is divided into two kinds of people -- people who take shortcuts and people who don't -- I'm one who doesn't take shortcuts -- even though it drives Kim and Brooke crazy, I like to drive right through the middle of Valdosta when we go to town -- I know it takes a little longer, but I like to see what's going on around town -- and I don’t have to worry about trains blocking the road or other unexpected delays

      -- Kim, on the other hand, is a shortcut nut -- she searches out shortcuts and back roads and is always trying to find a quicker way to get where ever it is she's going -- I am so thankful you can now drive down Woodrow Wilson to Gornto Road all the way to the mall -- it just made life easier to get from one side of the town to the other

      -- but before they made that connection, remember how hard it was to get across town? -- there just wasn’t an easy way to get there  

      -- I would take the most direct route -- I’d follow Northside Drive to where it turned into Eager Road and then Jerry Jones, and then turn from there to go to the mall -- straight shot with just one turn to get to the mall -- but not Kim

      -- No, she was driving us over to that side of town one day, and she started cutting down side-streets I didn’t even know existed -- we'd go one block in one direction -- hit a stop sign -- turn right -- take off again -- eventually she'd hit Alden Street and take that over to Baytree -- then turn right on Baytree to get to the Mall

      -- I couldn't have found my way back if I had tried -- but Kim had found what she thought was a shortcut and that was the way we were going to go -- and to this day, I’m not sure she still doesn’t do that when I’m not around

      -- there’s a lot of people like Kim in our world today -- the fact is people like shortcuts -- shortcuts in driving -- and shortcuts in life

      -- people are constantly trying to find ways to save time and ways to get from place to place in life as quick as possible -- everybody seems to be rushing through life, and so we try to find ways to get where we’re going as fast as possible

      -- just watch drivers today -- they’re in and out of traffic -- cutting off people and driving wide open from place to place -- all so they can get where they are going faster than anyone else

      -- and, for the most part, that’s okay -- sometimes shortcuts work -- sometimes you can cut time off your trip or find a way to do something in your life faster and more efficiently by changing your routine -- but sometimes shortcuts can lead to big problems

 

      -- I expect most of you are familiar with the story of the Donner Party -- but did you know that this whole situation happened because they were looking for a shortcut to California?

      -- in April 1846, George and Jacob Donner and their families left Springfield, Illinois, headed for California -- at that time, there were lots of people going to California, looking for a better life -- and the Donners were no exception

      -- they joined up with a larger group -- a wagon train -- and stayed with them for two months -- this wagon train -- led by a man named Russell -- followed the well-known and established California Trail -- it led through St. Louis -- the gateway to the west -- and into California -- the Promised Land

      -- but after being with the Russell wagon train for a while on the California Trail, several of the travelers heard about this new shortcut -- the Hastings Cutoff -- that would get them across the Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Desert quicker than the California Trail -- supposedly, it would only take them a week to get to Reno while it would take almost three weeks to get there following the California Trail

      -- so, a lot of the folks decided to take this new shortcut -- they elected George Donner as their leader -- and formed the Donner Party wagon train -- 87 people in all took off together to follow this new shortcut through the Hastings Cutoff for California while the rest continued on the California Trail

      -- but the shortcut didn't pan out -- it actually took them three weeks longer than normal to get to Reno -- and when they finally rejoined the California Trail, they were three weeks behind schedule -- because of this, they weren’t able to start through the pass in the Sierra Nevada mountains until October, which resulted in their getting trapped by a raging snowstorm

      -- rather than admit defeat and go back to Reno, they tried to press on and go over the top of the mountains, but the storm was too fierce and the snow too deep -- eventually, they made camp and settled in for the duration

      -- after their food supplies ran out, they slaughtered their oxen to survive -- but the snow didn’t let up and the pass didn’t open, and they ran out of food in mid-December -- fifteen people decided to hike out for help, leaving the rest of the people at the camp

      -- and you know the story -- hunger took over and both groups of people -- those who were hiking out for help and those left at camp -- resorted to cannibalism to survive -- earning the Donner Party a gruesome reputation that has survived to this day

      -- of the 87 people who made up the Donner Party and who took the Hastings Shortcut -- 39 people died and only 48 survived

 

II.  Jesus is the Way

      -- in the journey of life, we are confronted with lots of promising shortcuts -- sometimes the road we are on looks perilous -- filled with dangers -- with lots of ups and downs -- we find ourselves walking through just as many valleys as mountaintops -- we are buffeted by storms -- we struggle through narrow passageways and rough terrain

      -- and as we go along, invariably, we see roads leading off our path -- going in other directions -- wide roads -- good-looking roads -- roads that promise easy travel and a shorter path

      -- these roads cry out to us, "Take us -- take us -- all roads lead to heaven anyway -- why follow that narrow rocky path? -- why struggle through life? -- follow us and get there quicker"

      -- but, despite all their claims, these shortcuts end up costing us a lot more than they are worth -- they can mire us down and turn us into carnal, worldly Christians or even derail us on our path to heaven and lead us totally astray

 

      -- this morning, we are continuing in our series to help us answer Jesus’ question, “But who do you say I am?” -- we’re hopefully starting to find the answer through Jesus’ “I Am” statements, where He revealed to the people who He was and why He was sent so that they might turn to Him in faith and receive forgiveness and salvation through His death and resurrection

      -- so far, we have looked at four of Jesus’ “I Am” statements

 

      -- I Am the Good Shepherd

      -- I Am the Way

      -- I Am the Bread of Life

      -- I Am the Light of the World

 

      -- if you missed any of those messages, you can find the video on our Facebook page and the transcript of the sermon on my blogsite -- onlyimagine.blogspot.com -- I think I’m about the only person in the world that still has one of those -- everybody that used to have blogs now have podcasts or videos

 

      -- this morning, we are looking at the fifth of Jesus’ seven “I Am” proclamations -- I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life

      -- we find this fifth "I Am" proclamation given on the last night that Jesus was with His disciples -- He is with them in the Upper Room and has just shared with them the Last Supper -- and as they're sitting around the table, Jesus starts dropping bombs

      -- He tells them that one of their group is going to betray Him into the hands of the Jews -- and that before this night is over, He will be turned over to the High Priest and the Sanhedrin

      -- He tells Simon Peter that he will deny Jesus three times before the rooster crows

      -- and then He drops the biggest bomb of all -- He tells them that He is leaving -- and He tells this in a way that makes it clear that He will be leaving them for good

 

      -- as you can imagine, the disciples are sitting there in shock -- not only is there a betrayer in their midst, sitting at the very table with Jesus -- not only will the one whose faith has been the strongest end up denying Christ three times that very night -- but now Jesus is telling them He is going to be leaving them all alone

      -- they are lost -- they are confused -- they are worried about the future -- here they thought that Jesus was coming as the Messiah to take over the throne of David and set up His kingdom in Jerusalem, but instead He’s telling them He’s going to be arrested and is going to be leaving them alone

      -- Jesus sees this shock and confusion on their faces -- He knows their hearts -- He knows their fears and their anxieties -- so Jesus assures them they will be okay even after He has gone by sharing with them this latest “I Am” proclamation

       

      -- look down now at John 14:1

 

John 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.

 

      -- Jesus was telling them, "Don't worry -- just believe -- just have faith -- just trust in God the Father and trust in Me -- I have put you on the road you are to follow -- I have put your foot on the path -- now trust in me -- believe in what I have told you and don't worry about tomorrow"

      -- Jesus comforts them by trying to get them to focus on Him -- He is saying, "As long as you trust in me and my words, you will be fine, no matter what life throws your way -- no matter how difficult or how easy the road you journey along is"

            -- these should be words of comfort and hope for us as well -- but it all comes down to what you believe -- to who you believe

            -- I had a conversation with a man at work a few years ago, and he poured out his heart to me and asked me questions that have no answer -- "Why? Why did God do this to my child?"

-- we can’t answer that -- there's no human answer to that question -- there's no Christian platitude we can give that can comfort a grieving father looking for answers -- all you can say is I don't know, but I know God and I trust God and I know He had a reason to allow this to happen

            -- it comes to that in all of our lives -- at some point you will be past the place where knowledge and understanding can take you -- you’ll be past the point where life makes sense -- and at that point, all you have is faith -- you just have to believe -- you just have to trust

            -- even if we don't understand -- even if our hearts are broken -- even if our whole world is turning upside down just like it was doing for the disciples in the upper room that night as Jesus announced His arrest and His leaving -- this is when you must follow the road that is marked by faith

            -- what does your road look like right now? -- is it smooth and easy going? -- or are you passing through a valley, caught up in a storm, crying out for answers? -- Jesus says, "Don't worry -- Don't let your hearts be troubled -- trust in God -- trust in me -- and I will see you through"

 

-- verse 2

 

John 14:2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

 

-- Jesus knew that the root of their worry that night was the fact that He was going to be leaving them -- so here in verse 2 He tells them where He is going -- He tells them He is going to the Father -- but He is not just going to Father for Himself -- He is going to the Father to prepare a place for them

            -- notice that Jesus doesn't say that He is preparing a place for Himself -- isn't that curious? -- why is that?

            -- what do you do when you have guests come to stay in your house? -- you prepare a place for them before they get there -- you get that spare bedroom ready -- you make sure they have clean sheets and clean towels -- you get everything ready for them to come and stay with you

-- but you don't prepare a place for yourself, do you? -- no, because it is your home -- your place is already prepared -- that is what Jesus is telling us in His passage

-- don't worry, because I'm going home, and what's more, I'm getting ready for you to come and live with me there -- I’m going to prepare a place for you, so it will be ready when you get there

 

-- verse 3

 

John 14:3 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. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

 

-- once again Jesus says, "Don't worry" -- if I am going to all the trouble to make you a place, then trust that I'm going to come back and get you again -- and regardless, it's not like I'm going somewhere that you don't know -- you know where I'm going and how to get to the place where I'm at

-- in the three years that He had been with them, Jesus had showed them the path to heaven -- He had showed them the way to the Kingdom of God -- He had taught them and trained them to recognize it and set their feet on the path -- and even though their faith might have been small at the moment, they’re walking that path with the light of the faith they have

-- so, Jesus tells them, “It’s time -- It’s time for me to leave, but I’m not leaving you forever -- I'm just going ahead -- and as you follow Me, you will see the signs I have left for you -- the trail markers to guide you on your journey

-- “you will see the signs of my passing -- you will see evidence of my travels -- and eventually, I will meet you on that road and walk with you the rest of the way -- I will come back and take you to be with Me so that you also may be where I am”

 

-- look at verse 5

 

John 14:5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

 

-- here we see Thomas at it again -- poor old doubting Thomas -- you know, Thomas isn't mentioned much in the scriptures at all -- but the times he is, he always seems to come across as doubting and skeptical and somewhat fatalistic -- let me give you a couple of examples

-- earlier in His ministry, the Jews had tried to stone Jesus, causing Him to leave Judea -- but when word came to Him that his friend Lazarus had died, Jesus decided to go back to Judea to raise Lazarus from the dead -- the other disciples didn't want to go -- they were afraid that all of them would be killed -- but Jesus said, "let us go to him." -- and then Thomas stands up and addresses the disciples and says, "Let us also go, that we may die with him"

-- and then there's that scene in the upper room after the resurrection, when all the disciples are telling Thomas that they have seen the risen Christ and Thomas says, "Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it."

-- Thomas seems to have been the pessimist in the bunch -- he was always the one who had to be shown the truth before he would believe it -- he wouldn't believe anything unless he saw it with his own eyes, and he always expected the worst -- truth be told, I can relate to Thomas, but I call myself a "realist" instead of a "pessimist"

-- and, so, here we see Thomas complaining to Jesus -- "how are we going to find you when you leave -- we don't know where you are going -- so how can we know the way?"

-- now, before you judge Thomas too harshly, think back to what he and the other disciples were thinking at this moment -- think back to what they believed about Jesus and His being the Messiah that night in the upper room

-- they were still thinking about the Messiah based on what they had been taught in the synagogue -- they were still thinking that Jesus had come back to Jerusalem as the Messiah to set up a worldly kingdom -- to restore the kingship of Israel

-- all this time that Jesus was talking about kingdoms and the kingdom of God, that’s what they were picturing -- they didn't fully understand that Jesus was talking about a spiritual kingdom -- they didn't know that He was talking about the kingdom of Heaven in a spiritual sense -- and none of them ever imagined that the reason why Jesus said He was going to be leaving them was because He was going to be killed on the cross -- we know all that because we know the rest of the story -- but that night in the Upper Room, the disciples didn’t know any of this -- and Jesus’ words were not fitting the story they thought they were living

-- so, Thomas' complaint was understandable -- and I'm sure he was speaking for the whole group -- "Lord, we don't understand -- here you are talking about leaving us and going to your Father's house and coming back for us -- and you tell us that we already know the way there -- we don't understand -- where is this place? -- we haven't seen it before -- we haven’t been there"

-- how many times have you been in Thomas' and the other disciples' shoes? -- how many times have you looked at your situation and complained to God, "Lord, I don't know what is going on -- I don't know where you are -- I don't know how to get to where you are -- I don't know the way out of this -- I don't see an answer to my problem"

-- but then Jesus explains it all in the next verse -- look at how He responded to Thomas

 

-- verse 6

 

John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

-- Jesus says, "Don't you understand -- you do know the way -- I am the Way”

 -- I am the Way and the Truth and the Life

-- and when we know that -- when we realize that -- when we believe that and put our hope and trust and faith in this proclamation, we learn the secret to realizing the promise of Hope that Jesus was sharing with His disciples that night -- this is the path to eternal life through Christ -- this is our roadmap to salvation in Him

 

-- Jesus has already told us that He is our sole provider -- "I am the bread of life" -- He has already told us that He will illuminate our path -- "I am the light of the world" -- He's already told us we have to come through Him to start on our journey -- "I am the gate" -- and He's told us that He's the one who's going to make sure we don't stray off the path and fall for the shortcuts -- "I am the good shepherd"

-- now Jesus says, "Ego eimi -- I Am THE way" -- there is only one way, and I am it -- do you want to know where the road is, Thomas? -- I am the road -- I am the way

 

-- with everything that has happened in our lives since the hurricane and Kim’s cancer, I have had to rely on help many times -- I’ve had to have people come out to our house and help us move things and repair things

-- on one of these occasions, I asked a friend to carry me home -- we started driving and he said, “I don’t where to do -- I don’t know the way” -- I told him, “You don’t have to worry about it -- I am the way -- I know how to get there, and I’ll tell where to turn when you need to”

-- that’s the same thing Jesus is telling us here -- He’s saying you don’t need a GPS -- you don’t need a map -- you don’t need to have the route all planned out -- because I am the way -- I am your road -- and if you trust Me and follow Me and listen to Me and go where I tell you to go, you’ll make it to My Father’s house without fail

-- I am the way -- the only way -- there is no one else -- there is no other path -- there are no shortcuts to follow -- if you want to get to the place I have prepared for you, you have to trust in Me as the Way -- for I am the Way and the Truth and the Life -- no one comes to the Father, except through Me

 

-- it says the same thing in Acts 4:12, " Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

      -- you might hear people telling you that there are many paths to God -- that there are many different spiritual routes you can take to Heaven -- shortcuts that are easier and faster than following the Word of God

      -- don't believe them -- those other paths and those tempting shortcuts are going to leave you lost like the Donner party

      -- look at what Jesus says here -- believe what Jesus says here -- "I am THE way" -- there is only one way and if you want to get to Heaven, you have to follow Him

      -- when it comes to getting to finding salvation and eternal life, there are no shortcuts

 

III.  Closing

      -- a few years ago, the sports world was abuzz with the news about what the New England Patriots and their coach, Bill Belichick, had done

      -- in just seven seasons under Belichick, the New England Patriots had won three super bowls -- that says a lot about the coach and the team -- it takes hard work and perseverance and determination to make it to the super bowl just once -- you have to be able to out-play and out-think and out-coach your opponents just to stay in the game -- but to get there and then to win it three times -- that is remarkable

      -- but for some reason -- maybe he just got tired of the work -- maybe he just got enamored with the prestige of being the coach with the most super bowl records -- maybe he just got lazy -- for whatever reason, Bill Belichick decided to take a shortcut to success

      -- rather than reviewing game films like in the past -- rather than preparing for games by studying his opponent and fine-tuning his own team -- Bill Belichick decided to cheat -- he got caught taping the calls from his opponent during a game

      -- it's a whole lot easier to win if you know exactly what your opponent is going to do on every play -- it seemed like the perfect shortcut

      -- but it turned into a disaster and tarnished the reputation of a brilliant coach and a tremendous team -- now, despite all the work that they put in to win three super bowls -- people are always going to ask, "did he cheat in them, too? -- did he win fairly or did he win by taking a shortcut and cheating?"

      -- and even though Belichick went on to lead the New England Patriots to win three more super bowls, everyone will continue to wonder if he won fairly or if he cheated his way to the top

 

      -- shortcuts just don't work -- they promise the world -- they promise an easy path to heaven -- but they lead to disappointment and disaster

      -- Jesus says there is only one Way to heaven -- and that is Him -- He is the Way -- He is the truth -- He is the life -- and no one can come to the Father any other way

      -- a shortcut won't get you there -- you can only get there through Him

 

      -- as I close this morning, I want to invite you to consider where you are on your journey of life -- are you following the path that Jesus laid out for you? -- are you walking in His light -- following His signs -- obeying His directions?

      -- are you growing in grace and becoming more like Him as you get nearer and nearer to heaven -- or are you slipping in your faith? -- are you not working as hard as you used to? -- not reading the Bible as much? -- not praying as much? -- not serving as much?

      -- are you falling for shortcuts, thinking it doesn't matter?

 

      -- Jesus says otherwise -- it very much matters -- because there is only one way -- and He is the way

      -- if we are to go to the place He has prepared for us -- if we are to be justified and sanctified and made holy in His presence -- we have to follow Him -- we have to go through Him

 

      -- so, this morning, I want to invite you to look at yourself -- to look at the path you are on -- and to make sure you're following the right path in the right way and not trying to take a shortcut in your spiritual life

      -- as we continue in this season of Lent in preparation for the celebration of Easter, this is a great time to recommit yourself to Jesus as the Way and the Truth and the Life -- to recommit yourself to the spiritual disciplines and the means of grace that keep you solidly on the path that leads to your heavenly home with Him

     

      -- Let us pray