“I go to prepare a place for you…”

Meditation for April 15, 2012

Second Sunday of Easter: John 14:1-7

     Sometimes people count sheep when they can’t sleep.

    The other night, when I woke up and had trouble going back to sleep, I tried to count how many places I have lived.

    Let’s see now, before moving to Renville, we lived in a house in York Township, Pennsylvania, for 7 years.  For 2 years of that time, I also lived in an apartment in Princeton, New Jersey, when I attended seminary.

     Before the house in York Township, we lived in two apartments. 

     Before that, a home in Jacobus, Pennsylvania, for 7 years.

     Before that, a townhome in Bel Air, Maryland, for 6 years.

     And before that, 2 apartments in Baltimore. 

    That takes us to 1988. 

     I went back to sleep before I figured out how many times I moved in the 1980s, when I graduated high school, went to college, and got married.  Rough estimate?  Probably 8 different places.

      Thoughts of these moves bring back emotions associated with the life events that triggered the moves.  I remember the sense of relief to move into a tiny apartment with my three young boys when I was a newly divorced mom. My children and I were happy to find a place where we could recover and heal from the emotional brokenness we felt.  

      We worried there wouldn’t be a nice place for us again as we left a comfortable single family home, a far cry from the crowded, 5-room apartment in which the two youngest boys shared a room the size of a walk-in closet and my eldest slept in the dining room. But in 2004, the Lord provided us with another place—a home that was at least as nice as the home we gave up. This was where we lived when I met Jim. We married in 2005. 

      I felt I was finally in the place where God wanted me—we were altogether as a family in a dwelling that really felt like home.

      I hoped we would be there forever, but it wasn’t to be.  The Lord had another place and another life He had been preparing for us. And we are happy to be here with you now.

      And though I would rather stay in one place and never move again, there may be more changes in the future. God will position us where He can best use us for His work. I have accepted this with His call to ministry.

       But the truth is, there is no forever home on earth for Christians.

***

      In today’s gospel, Jesus reassures his disciples that when He leaves them to go and be with God, they will be OK.  Their separation when He dies will only be temporary. 

     Every time he brings up the subject of His death, the disciples are too emotional to listen and understand.

    Jesus says, “Don’t be upset! Do not let your hearts be troubled.” 

    All He has taught them about Himself and God will be enough to continue their life of faith and ministry on earth, until they join Him in the world to come.

    Then Jesus shares a vision of heaven with them.

    He says, “In my Father’s house, there are many dwelling places” or “many rooms,” as some translations say. 

    They can trust His word, Jesus says, because if it weren’t true, would He have said it?  Of course not!

    He tells them, “I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I do this—and I will—I will come back and get you and bring you to where I will be.”

***

     Going to live with God in heaven after we die is something we first accept as a reality when we are young Christians.  And then, as the years pass and we grow nearer to Him in our journey of faith, we take comfort that our struggles here will eventually end and we will go to be with Him.

      But what do Jesus’ words, “I go to prepare a place for you” mean for us today?

     One important idea is that His “going to prepare a place for us” is the means for our salvation. Jesus needed to die and be the first one to be raised from the dead and go to be with God to show us the way—and to make a way for us to be with Him. Christ was God’s sacrifice for the sins of all humanity, making ready salvation for those who believe on Him.  This is what Jesus means when He says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.”

      Another important point we can learn from Jesus’ talk of going to prepare a place for us is that, though His saving work is finished with His death and resurrection, the salvation story isn’t over. Jesus is still waiting for us and getting things ready!

       Like the bridegroom who longs to be reunited with His beloved bride, Christ has gone ahead to make sure that everything is perfect for our life together in the next world.  He wants His bride to have everything she needs and all that her heart desires. He wants her to be pleased with their home and with Him.  He wants her to be happy!

    And He is so in love with His bride, He stretches out His arms wide, preparing to hold her in His embrace, as soon as they are together, face to face.

    But He isn’t going to wait in heaven for His bride to come to Him.

    Jesus says, “And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.”

   And there is one final point I want you to take with you today.

   We have heard this verse so many times as Christians that many of us have it memorized. But do you know what it means? Have you learned to trust Him, yet?  Have you learned to walk by faith—in Him?

     Jesus, after telling His disciples that He will return for them, adds, “And you know the way to the place I am going.”

     And Thomas, always one for honesty and skepticism, bursts out, “No, we don’t! Lord we don’t know where you are going.  So how can we know the way?”

      Jesus’ answer?

      I am.

      I am the way.

     “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

Let us pray. 

      Merciful and Gracious God, thank you for making a way for us to come to you in Jesus Christ.  Thank you for your message of love to us in your Word.  You love the world—that’s why Jesus came and died for us!  You long for us to come and be with you in the kingdom of heaven.  Thank you that you are also with us now, in our earthly dwelling place, guiding and strengthening us with your Word and Spirit and never leaving us on our own.  Give us the faith that Christ spoke of to His disciples—a faith that will carry us through our years in this temporary living space, when life is ever changing, unsettling, and frightening, at times.  Grant us a vision for your kingdom of peace, where we will joyfully dwell with you in your house of many rooms forever, worshiping you all of our days.  In Christ we pray.  Amen.