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Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter – May 3, 2026
John 14:1-14
Dear friends, grace to you and peace from God our Father and our risen Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus told his disciples to not let their hearts be troubled. He called them to trust in God, and to trust also in him. Jesus promised that there were many rooms in his Father’s house. He promised that he was going to prepare a place for them there. He promised that he would come again, and take them to himself, so that where he was, there they would be also. The disciples didn’t need to be afraid, they didn’t need to be worried, they didn’t need to be anxious, because Jesus had promised them a room in the Father’s house.
Jesus then added, “And you know the way to the place where I am going.”
And Thomas was like, Uh, we do? I don’t think we do know the way, actually. Where is this place?
Probably all the disciples were scratching their heads and thinking along these lines, but Thomas was brave enough to blurt it out: “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Thomas wanted an address. He wanted a route. He was looking for directions they could follow.
But Jesus assured him and all the disciples that they knew more than they thought. “I am the way,” Jesus said, “and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
In seeing Jesus, they had seen the Father. In knowing Jesus, they knew the Father. Jesus was the way to the Father’s house. In knowing him, they knew the way. The way wasn’t a route or an address, it was a person! Jesus was the way!
My earthly father lives in Post Falls, Idaho. One of the blessings of having two of my three boys go to Washington State University is that it has given me more opportunities to see him and spend time with him. You see, there are two rooms in my earthly father’s house which are always open to us, and often when we’re dropping off or picking up in Pullman, we will have a layover at his house. In fact, I’m going over next week to move my youngest son home for the summer, and we will spend the night in my earthly father’s house before we make the drive home.
One time a few years ago we were making our way from Pullman to my father’s house in Post Falls, and we plugged his address into Google Maps. We were driving our van, which is older and doesn’t have a navigation system, so we were using my wife’s phone. We were following the Google route to my father’s house, which bypassed traffic in Moscow and took us out into the countryside, into the rolling hills of the Palouse, which we loved. It’s so, so beautiful out there. We were driving along and enjoying the scenery until we came down what seemed like a long driveway. Sure enough, we pulled up to a farm, which was confusing. When we got closer there was a gate, and on the gate there was a plywood sign which said: “Google is wrong. Turn around.”
Modern technology has made it almost impossible to get lost – but not quite! Now we were out in the boondocks, with no service and a bad route. We were lost! I think we had to go almost all the way back to Pullman before we got our bearings again and found our way to my father’s house.
We are all trying to get to our Father’s house. We are all trying to get to that place where we have fellowship with our heavenly Father, where we can enjoy the company of the One who created us and loves us. I’m not just talking about going to heaven after we die, although that is absolutely part of it. I’m also talking about fellowship with our heavenly Father here and now. Whether we realize it or not, we are all searching for that room where we can rest in the presence of our loving Father.
And oftentimes we put our trust in the wrong things in trying to get there. There are lots of things we think will get us there, but don’t. We often look to the world for direction, following its pathways, but the world only leads us astray. We increasingly look to technology, to the electronic gods we carry around in our pockets, consulting them not only for literal directions but also for wisdom and knowledge and community and identity – but going too far down that road only leads to further confusion and deeper isolation. We look inwardly for guidance, to ourselves, our own wits, our own hearts, our own feelings, our own desires, but this too only leads us further down the wrong path.
There is only one way to the Father and it is a person. Jesus Christ is the way. It is Jesus who makes it possible for us to have fellowship with God. It is Jesus who has made it possible for us to enter the Father’s house. In his death and resurrection, he has made the way for us. We don’t need directions, we only need to trust him.
Jesus is not only the way; he is the truth. He is not just a truth. He is not just my truth or your truth. He is the truth. Christ and his Word are what define reality. His Word is the truth which guides our lives and leads us to the Father’s house.
Jesus is not only the way and the truth; he is also the life. I mentioned to you last week that whenever you hear the word “life” in the gospel of John, it is not just talking about biological life or your inner psychological life, it is referring to our life with God, our life lived in right relationship with our heavenly Father.
Think of how when people are sitting on a sunny beach with their toes in the sand and a cold drink in their hand – or whatever your version of a perfect day might be. People will often say, “Now THIS is the LIFE!” When we say that, we aren’t just talking about having a pulse. We aren’t just talking about our conscious selves being aware of our own existence. We are saying that this is how things are supposed to be! We are saying that this is how life is meant to be lived!
This is what the word “life” means in the gospel of John – only it isn’t brought about by sunshine and margaritas. Those can be good gifts from God too, but it isn’t what we are talking about here. This is the life which comes through the abundant blessings poured out by the true and living God. This kind of life, the life that is really the life, the life that is the way things are supposed to be, comes through Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life.
Maybe life has been a bowl of cherries for you lately, or maybe it has been the pits. For most of us, most of the time, it is a little of both. In a fallen world it is easy for our hearts to be troubled. As fallen human beings it is easy for us to be confused. It is easy for us to feel a little lost.
If that’s you, and I suspect it is, our Lord Jesus has a word for you. He says to you, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” He has a room prepared for you in the Father’s house. He himself will escort you to this room, so that where he is, there you will be also. This is the promise of Easter. This is the promise of the resurrection. We live in hope because Jesus has made a way for us to come home to the Father’s house, where we can live with him eternally.
In the meantime, our Lord Jesus has already invited you here. This sanctuary is the Father’s house too! There’s a place for you here, and it is here that you can be filled with the abundant blessings of God’s mercy and grace, his forgiveness and his peace. It is here that you can begin to experience the life that is really the life, a life lived with the living God who is responsible for your existence and loves you like no other.
If you are confused, as Thomas was, if you aren’t sure if you can find the way on your own, Jesus assures you that you know more than you think you do. You do know the way. You know Jesus, and so you know the way. He is the way!
If you are feeling lost, if you have gone astray, if you are at a dead-end road, the invitation to turn around is always there. In fact, as Christians we are called to daily repentance, to daily turning around from the dead-end roads we’re always wandering down.
Our Lord Jesus is the way, so put your trust in him. He will get you where you need to be. He will get us to our Father’s house. He’s already been there ahead of us, making the bed and fluffing up the pillows for us, getting things ready. One day we will be where he is. One day we will be with him forever.
In the meantime, he has brought us here to this sanctuary, to our Father’s house on earth, so that even now we might be with him, so that we might begin to receive his blessings, so that we might be guided by the truth, and come to know the life that is really the life.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
Rev. Jeffrey R. Spencer
Oak Harbor Lutheran Church