5 Easter/Year A
May 10, 2020
1 Peter 2:2-10; Psalm 31: 1-5; 15-16; John 14:1-14
In this time of social distancing, and quarantines, and sheltering-in-place…I’ve been thinking a lot about rooms this week…
There’s been a lot of church memes circulating lately…that make light about people attending worship online, discussing where they will attend church on Sunday morning…the kitchen, the bedroom, or the living room?
Zoom has been a popular way for people to gather online now…and when we talk about zoom, “rooms” are a familiar buzzword we hear in the conversations often… there are even breakout “rooms”, that can be set up for people to meet with a just a few others for private conversations or for additional personal prayer time.
I’m thinking about the rooms we have set up in our homes that were probably not used for the things many people find themselves using them for now…using rooms for work, for church, or for school…or perhaps for a family member to be quarantined after travelling. I’m thinking about rooms, and how much time people are spending in their rooms, in their homes, during this time of the covid-19 pandemic.
I’m thinking about the rooms in the hospitals, in the pioneers home, and other care facilities…I’m thinking about how busy they are, in all of those rooms…but also how quiet everything is in some of those rooms…
I’m thinking about rooms in buildings, in churches, in restaurants…that are empty right now…empty of people...who would normally fill those places…
I’m thinking about those empty rooms, the full rooms, the changed rooms, and the new rooms, as I read this week’s gospel.
Our gospel reading today opens with Jesus offering words of comfort…some words of assurance…and some words of love for his disciples, who were experiencing a lot of worry and distress, as Jesus was speaking about the time coming when he would no longer be physically present with them, yet would still be with them…in a way that they could not fully understand, as of yet…
In the NIV version, we hear these words spoken like this: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 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? 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. You know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
“I am the way and the truth and the life.” Jesus said.
I imagine Jesus continuing with these words…
Let me show you what I mean by that.
Let me show you the way, the way of love that has been prepared for you, all along.
Let me tell you a few things about all the rooms that have already been lovingly prepared for you…and for others…
First…you really need to know….that God has spent a lifetime preparing a room for you. Even before you were born, your room was being prepared for you, with great love.
God has prepared every room, with great care and attention to the details of your life….God cares about part of your life.
All rooms, in God’s home…are a place of refuge, a castle to keep you safe, a place to trust God with all your prayers.
Every room, in God’s home…is a place of unconditional love, a place where you are welcomed with the wide, and open arms of Jesus’ love and compassion…
In God’s home, the rooms are a place of forgiveness, for grace and mercy, for healing and reconciliation.
There are many, many rooms…Jesus assures us…in God’s home.
There are signs of God’s love in all the rooms we are living in and working in now…signs that reveal to us that we do know that God is present…because Jesus has shown us the way of love…the way to love one another.
In the hospital rooms…God’s love is present in the way the nurses, the doctors, the CNA’s and all staff are caring for those entrusted to their care, for healing and comfort.
In the rooms, in nursing homes and other group homes, God’s love is present in the way the staff members treat all of those entrusted to their care, with love, and respect for the dignity of every person there.
In the rooms of our family homes, God’s love is present in the way the mothers, the fathers, the grandparents, and the caregivers are all doing their absolute best to teach their children, to care for one another, and love one another, in these times of feeling overwhelmed and worried.
In the rooms of our teachers, God’s love is present in the way that they have continued to give of their time and efforts to support the children and their families.
In the rooms of our city and state governments, God’s love is present in the way that our leaders are striving to guide us all through some very difficult times.
In the rooms of all the businesses that have chosen to stay open, and are beginning to open again, God’s love is present in the way the workers are safely serving the community, by providing access to food, and other necessities…
In the rooms of our homes, God’s love is, indeed present in the ways people are learning to do new things every day, with great love: learning patience, learning empathy, learning to deal with worry, day after day; learning to cope with death and loss, learning to be the church of God, the people of God…in our neighborhoods…by reaching out to others through phone calls, letters, words of hope, and love and encouragement…and reaching out to others by serving one another, in all the ways you are able..
Yes…you do know the way after-all…Jesus says to us today…
You do know that I am the way, the life and the truth…every time you have chosen to walk in the way of love…
I have been witness to your understanding and living out this love, in so many ways…in so many people…in so many lives…. And in so many rooms…
And from my heart to yours…
Thank you, for all the ways…you are taking care of each other, in the many, many rooms in God’s home…
As you begin a new week, I invite you to take some moments throughout your day, to just sit in your room…any room…and believe…believe that God is present with you, loving you, caring for you, guiding you, and giving you all that you need, for this day…and all your days to come.
Rev Julie Platson, Rector
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, Alaska
Hymn (457) after the sermon: Thou art the Way, to thee alone
1 Thou art the Way, to thee alone
from sin and death we flee;
and all who would the Father seek,
must seek him, Lord, by thee.
2 Thou art the Truth, thy word alone
true wisdom can impart;
thou only canst inform the mind
and purify the heart.
3 Thou art the Life, the rending tomb
proclaims thy conquering arm;
and those who put their trust in thee
nor death nor hell shall harm.
4 Thou art the Way, the Truth, the Life:
grant us that way to know,
that truth to keep, that life to win,
whose joys eternal flow.
Words: George Washington Doane (1799-1859), alt.
Music: St. James, Raphael Courteville (d. 1735)
Meter: CM
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