Church Sermon - April 24, 2005

Rev. Bernt P. Tweit

Epistle Lesson; 1 Peter 2:4-10
The First Lesson; Acts 17:1-15
Sermon Text; John 14:1-6

What is the way to the U-haul dealership? That was a question I asked almost seven years ago. My wife Katie and I had just moved to Madison. We had unpacked our belongings into our apartment (some of you were there, to help us unpack). The truck was empty and it was time to return the truck. And so, I asked the question, "What is the way to the U-haul dealership?"

Our apartment was on Portage Avenue. The U-haul dealership was on West Washington Avenue. I asked that question to my brother-in-law. Well, to a first time visitor to Madison’s downtown, with all of the one way streets, it was far easier for him to say, "I will take you there."

It was simple. It was simple for me, because he led me right to the U-haul dealership.

There is a question in life, in which all of us need to ask. That question is, "What is the way to Heaven?" It is important for us, for all of us, to know the answer to that question. In our text for today, we are reminded of the answer to that question.

As we look at our text for today, I want us to see three important things that Jesus tells us. The first thing that Jesus said is,

Remember, Jesus was first speaking these words to His disciples. The night on which He was saying this was on Maundy Thursday. Jesus had just finished telling His disciples some very troubling things. He told His disciples that He was going to suffer and die. He told His disciples that one of them would betray Him. And then, Judas got up and left. Jesus even looked into Peter’s face and said, "You will deny me." As He looked at all of His disciples He said, "You will fall away on account of me." But he also said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled."

Should our hearts be troubled? On one hand, the answer to that question should be, "Yes, our hearts should be troubled." The reason our hearts should be troubled is there is a barrier between Heaven and us. That barrier is sin. The scriptures tell us there is no exception. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Even if we trust our feelings (like I mentioned in the Children’s Sermon this morning), and we think we have not sinned, the scriptures remind us, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."

The scriptures even go on to show how sin just emanates from our hearts, when it says, "Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander."

Yes, on the one hand, our hearts should greatly trouble us, because of our sin. Sin is that barrier between Heaven and us.

But, on the other hand, our hearts should not trouble us. First of all Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled." We take great comfort in those words. We are so thankful, once again today, that God the Father sent His Son. Jesus is the One who, through His suffering and death, has paid the penalty for sin. Jesus is the true God-Man, who has bridged the gap between Heaven and us. That barrier no longer stands between God, in Heaven, and us.

To this very point, in two separate books, Paul starts out by talking about how we no longer need to be troubled by sin, and also how Jesus has bridged that gap between Heaven and us. In the book of II Corinthians, Paul starts out by saying, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who comforts us in our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble, with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." God has comforted us in our troubles, and now we can comfort others in their troubles.

Paul, in the book of I Peter, begins in a very similar fashion, when he says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade, kept in Heaven for you."

We have an inheritance waiting for us in Heaven. Jesus has bridged that gap between Heaven and us. Therefore our hearts need not be troubled.

The second thing that Jesus says in our text is,

I am going there. I am going to my Father’s house, to prepare a place for you. These words of Jesus were an illustration that He was using, that people in Jesus’ day should have understood. You see, in Jesus’ day, when it was time for a man to be married, when he came of age to be married, as he was courting and as he found the woman that he wanted to marry, he would ask her, (just as we do today), "Will you marry me?"

After she said yes, he would say, "I am going to prepare a place for you. 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."

Then he would go to his father’s house. He and his father would build an addition onto that house. When that addition was done, that groom would march through the streets, with all of his friends. He would meet up with his bride to be and he would take her to live with him, in that addition on his father’s house, forever.

That’s exactly what Jesus has done to you. You see, the scriptures oftentimes talk about Jesus as being the groom; and the church, the believers, being the bride. Jesus has come to you and He has asked you to marry Him. Maybe that happened on the day you were baptized. Maybe that happened on the day in which you heard God’s Word and you came to faith, to believe in Jesus, as your Savior. Jesus asked, "Will you marry me?"

And now he has left. He has gone to His Father’s house, where, He is building an addition. He is building a room. (Or, if you learned it from the King James’ Version, He is building a mansion for you.)

The day is coming, when Jesus is going to return. He is going to take you to be with Him, so you also may be where He is. Are you ready? Are you prepared for that great Day of Judgment, or the day on which you die, so that when Jesus comes for you, you are ready in faith in Him to live with Him for all eternity?

Today we take great comfort in these words of Jesus, when He says, "I am going to my Father’s house to prepare a place for you." To that very thought, that comforting thought that Jesus is preparing a place for us, Paul once said, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. The Lord is near."

The final thought that Jesus has in our text for us this morning to consider is the very last phrase in our text when He says, "No one comes to the Father except through me."

There are many people in this world who take offense to what Jesus said there. There are many people who say that Christianity is close and narrow minded. And yet, we believe that here Jesus is maybe speaking in the simplest terms of how it is that a person gets to Heaven.

Let me put that into an illustration. Right now there is a group at Yale University called the Genetic Therapy Research Group. Let’s say, let’s just imagine that they had a breakthrough and they had found a cure for cancer. It’s a one time, painless treatment for cancer. It dries up every kind of cancer 100% of the time. Now, as we all know, sometimes the treatments that people undergo can be almost as bad as the cancer itself. Here is a one-time treatment that is painless and works 100% of the time. Would it be arrogant, close and narrow minded for the people at Yale University to say the Genetic Research Group’s therapy treatment is the only way for your cancer to be cured 100% of the time? Or, would it be the most loving and caring thing that anybody could ever say?

Now certainly, people would still go about finding their own treatments through radiation, chemotherapy, or natural medicines. Would it be wrong for us to keep reminding people that the Genetic Research Group’s therapy treatment is the only way for their cancer to be cured 100% of the time? Certainly, we would say no. Certainly we would say no!

In the early Christian Church, two disciples once stood before the Sanhedrin, accused of a person who had been healed. To their defense, they simply spoke a very well known passage, in which they said, "Salvation is found in no other way. For, there is no other name under Heaven (that’s Jesus name) no other name under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

What is the way to the U-haul dealership? That is a question that I asked almost seven years ago. To a first time visitor to Madison’s downtown area, it could have been very confusing, with all of the one way streets downtown. But, instead of giving me a complicated answer, with many directions, my brother-in-law took me there.

What is the way to Heaven? Today we are reminded probably in the simplest terms in all of scripture, in which Jesus reminds us, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me."

May you take great comfort in those words, this morning. May your hearts not be troubled. May you know that Jesus is in Heaven preparing a place for you. He is the way. He is the one and only way.

Amen.

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