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Homilies by Rev. Andrew Collis unless indicated otherwise.

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Easter 5, Year A
South Sydney Uniting Church
May 14, 2017

Psalm 31:1-5,15-16; 1 Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-14


‘The flesh is the way’

Today’s Gospel is addressed to troubled hearts, to trembling flesh. It is a word of assurance, reassurance. Jesus, though soon to be betrayed and crucified, will remain the way (hodos) to Love, to God. The vulnerable flesh, and body, and community, and Earth constitute the way. To see Jesus in this light means to enjoy – now and for all time – an intimate relationship with his words and his works. As one scholar writes: “His pattern of life, his teaching, his actions, the causes he embraced and for which he suffered ... in all of these the nature of the unseen God is truly disclosed” [Brendan Byrne]. God be with you ...

That Jesus is the way, that flesh or embodiment is the way to God, is a positive and distinctive statement. Too often distorted as some kind of anti-Jewish, anti-Hindu, anti-Islamic or anti-secular slogan, it is an affirmation of life, a promise of life on Earth. “Jesus is the way because he is the access point to God’s promise of life,” says Gail O’Day. John D. Caputo renders the reassurance of Jesus: “I am now part of you, my way is yours, you will not get lost.”

And these words of Jesus echo the voice of Wisdom. Jesus is appropriating a characteristic self-description of divine Wisdom in the Jewish biblical tradition.

“Listen, my children, take my words to heart ... we have taught you the way of wisdom, led you on the path of right” (Proverbs 4:10-11).

“And so, my daughters and sons, hear me well: happy are you when you keep my way” (Proverbs 4:32).

“Listen closely, my children, and practice wisdom, and keep your heart on the right path” (Proverbs 23:19).

“[Woman Wisdom] rewarded the labours of a holy people and guided them on a wondrous quest, becoming their shade by day and their starlight at night. She led them across the Sea of Reeds, brought them safely through the deep waters …” (Wisdom 10:17-18).

The parallels between John’s Jesus (Logos) and Woman Wisdom (Sophia) are numerous. She, like him, offers inclusive teaching, hospitality, bread and wine; she calls, she inhabits creation (God’s house of many mansions), her words cross lines of gender, class and culture; she invites participation in the divine life, she evokes tenderness and reverence; she desires justice and delights in humanity.

The artwork on our printed orders today is by Indian artist Jyoti Sahi. It is entitled, “Jesus, the Lord of the Dance” (1980). Jesus is portrayed in the style of a Hindu god, Shiva, whose fire is said to be creative. Shiva dances the creation into being. The composition very artfully shows a cruciform Christ who is also a dancer, a creator. Christ crucified and risen. Can we not see Wisdom here, crossing lines of gender, class and culture? Can we not see Jesus, access point to God’s promise of life?

If Jesus is appropriating a characteristic self-description of divine Wisdom in the Jewish biblical tradition, then there is something very interesting we might go on to consider. Perhaps he is also setting himself over the claim of the Torah (the five books of the Law/Commandments and the Covenant of Moses) to offer the essential way or path to life.

It is in this context that the exclusivity of the claim in the second half of the text (“No one comes to Abba God but through me”) is perhaps best understood [Brendan Byrne after Andrew T. Lincoln].

It’s not simply about obeying commands or following rules, says Jesus. It’s not about belonging to the right group or having the right story. It’s not about fear and scarcity. It’s not about defeating your enemies. It’s everyday kindness and loving wisdom. “I give you a new commandment”, Jesus says, according to John 13, “Love one another ... the way I have loved you”.

The way is a pattern of life, wise teaching, loving actions, just causes embraced and consequent suffering ... vulnerable flesh, and body, and community, and Earth ... in all of these the nature of the unseen God is truly disclosed.

The Wisdom tradition of Israel and the Torah in which it is expressed are themselves paths to life only as they point to and find their fulfilment in flesh incarnate. Life comes through relationship with God, and the cardinal tenet of the Fourth Gospel from the beginning has been that God is revealed in the flesh of Jesus.

The gospel does not exclude thereby all knowledge of God apart from Jesus but insists that flesh incarnate remains the touchstone or canon of any such revelation. No one comes to Abba God but through embodied love, the practice of wisdom, respect for culture and tradition, time and space, care for the stranger, reverence for sky, fire, water and earth.

There are no spiritual shortcuts, and that’s good news, says Jesus. “The truth of the matter is, anyone who has faith in me (anyone who believes in love, anyone who seeks loving wisdom) will do the works I do – and greater works besides.”

An intimate relationship with the words and works of Jesus leads to our becoming more deeply embodied. Perhaps what cannot be named can nevertheless be inhabited. In our own flesh, and in community as the body of Christ, we may discover something of existence shared, of animal existence, of Creation itself and the Fiery Dance ... of a Gaze that senses, of a Care that paints, colours and reconfigures ...

There are no spiritual shortcuts. What does that mean for you? How do you imagine we might do “greater works” than Jesus? ... Amen.

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