There are things you can say within a family, or within a circle of close friends that you would never say in public, or to someone who was not initiated into your intimate circle.  In the privacy of our home, Sandy can address me as, “My handsome man,” and I try to look demure and appreciative and humble.  If she said it in public, people would take her hand and foot to the eye doctor, laughing all the way.  We can say ridiculous, hyperbolic things to our lovers, but we would never say them out loud where others might hear. We know that our “insider talk” is not meant to be a factual description or a rational argument.  It is an affirmation made in love, with all the prejudices and blindness that implies.

One of the most troubling passages in the New Testament is one of those bits of “insider talk” that transpires between Jesus and his disciples at the last supper as he is preparing them for his death.  Jesus promises that if he goes away, he will come again to be reunited with his disciples; that there is room for them in his Father’s house.  Jesus tells them that his disciples know the way to this dwelling place in God, but good old Thomas (my favorite disciple) pipes up to say that they know neither the destination nor the directions to get there.  Jesus replies: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

That little verse has been used as a cudgel to beat down those of other faiths and as a statement of not just the superiority of Christianity, but also the exclusivity of the Christian way as the one that alone leads to God.  All this forgets that this was a dialogue of love between a rabbi and his disciples.  Jesus tells them that they will not lose their way or their home with God.  They need nothing more than what they already have – the truth and love embodied in Christ.  He is saying, in effect, trust in the love and truth you have received.  It is enough for you.

But what about, “no one comes to the Father except through me”?  Here’s how I read that.  Jesus embodies perfectly the out-reaching love of God.  That out-reaching love is what saves.  Therefore, however we might encounter God’s mercy and out-reaching love, and whatever name we might give it, the love is exactly what was revealed in Christ. 

Jesus is not a magic name we say to get God’s mercy.  Jesus reveals what is already true about God – that God loves us; that God is merciful and compassionate; that God forgives sinners and seeks to be in relationship with all people.   Everyone who comes to the realization that they are held in a loving embrace by the God who made them has experienced what Jesus revealed.  

Jesus reveals God as one who will not limit forgiveness, or compassion, or love.  Jesus reveals that God spends love on those who want no part of it, who want to destroy it, who kill it.  Jesus reveals that God’s love doesn’t die.

So, I believe that God’s love (which was perfectly revealed in Christ) is active in every life, drawing all the children of God to their rightful place – a dwelling place in the Father’s house.

Prayer:  Thank you, Father, for making room for me; make me a better doorman as I invite others to find a home in you.  Amen.