9-8-19 Grace-Tucson Sermon

John 14:1-7 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke

Summer Series: Joy for Our Journeys 10 Sunday, September 8, 2019 “Our Journey from Earth to Heaven”

It has been quite a journey, hasn’t it? We could say that about the journey that we have taken through the Bible over the past several weeks. That journey began very literally on the first pages of the Bible as we spoke about the perfect Garden of Eden into which God had placed Adam and Eve, the first people. It has taken us from the promise God made to them when they sinned to the repetition of that promise and to its fulfillment. Our journey has found us celebrating Christmas in August and Easter as well. It has covered Old Testament history, the life of Jesus, and his death and resurrection. We have watched the Apostle Paul journey to share the good news, and now we have one last biblical journey to consider.

It has been quite a journey, but that phrase doesn’t apply only to our journey through the pages of God’s holy Word. It also applies to the journey that is our lives. For some, that journey is still in its early stages.

For others, that journey may, as far as we are able to tell, be much nearer its conclusion. The journey that is a life on earth can take many twists and turns. It can be full of joy and sorrow, happiness and heartache, enjoyment and disappointment. But no matter what, that earthly journey will one day come to an end.

And so both the journey of our lives to this point and our journey through the pages of Scripture lead us to this same final journey: our journey from earth to heaven. The final destination of this journey is so great, so amazing, so incomprehensibly wonderful, and we could find an endless string of superlatives to describe it, so great that it makes the journey worth it. It makes any journey, no matter how challenging or difficult or sad or hard or painful absolutely worth it. And that is precisely the reason that Jesus points to this destination in order to comfort and encourage his disciples. That is exactly the reason that we are turning to his promises for our comfort and for our encouragement today.

You heard already the words of our sermon text from John chapter 14. John 14 is part of the account of what took place on Maundy Thursday, the day that Jesus was betrayed to his enemies and arrested. Before that happened, Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples. He gave them Holy Communion, and he taught them many things. Part of his purpose was very clearly preparing his disciples for what was about to happen, that is, for some significant twists and turns on their earthly journeys. They were about to witness Jesus being arrested, put on trial, condemned, executed on a cross, laid in a tomb. They were about to face extremely difficult situations and circumstances.

And Jesus says, “Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” The faith of these men would be tested by what was about to come. But Jesus encouraged them to trust, to believe. And what did he point them to? Not that everything would get better or that they would find peace and happiness and fulfillment. He didn’t promise that they would be rich or powerful. He didn’t promise that they would be successful or famous. He promised that there were many mansions in his Father’s house. He promised that he would prepare a place for them and then bring them there. He wanted them to look past this earthly existence, past all the fears and sadness and suffering. He wanted them to think about heaven.

That phrase, “many mansions,” may seem a little strange to us. We don’t usually think of mansions inside a house. Mansions to us are the houses themselves. But that may well be the point. The Greek that is used in this verse is talking about a permanent place, a permanent dwelling, a place for disciples of Jesus not to stay for an evening like a hotel room, but to have as their very home. There is a permanent home in heaven for all who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The Bible describes it in incredible terms. It will be a place without suffering or sadness or pain. It will be a place of perfect joy in the presence of Jesus.

He has prepared a place. He has prepared our place. All those twists and turns of our lives, the illnesses, losses, anxieties, uncertainties, all of these things remind us that we are in a sinful world. All of these remind us that we are sinners. Not all of them enter into our lives because of the specific mistakes and wrong turns that we have taken, but some of them do. All of them enter into our lives because we are sinners who live among other sinners. We might feel that we deserve better, but the reality is we deserve worse. We deserve

far worse than the light and momentary troubles of our earthly life, even if they don’t always seem light and momentary to us.

They are light and momentary (see 1 Corinthians 4:17 for this phrase) compared to the joys of heaven. They are light and momentary compared to the eternity that we get to spend there. This is what I meant when I said that the end of the journey, the destination, is worth the journey no matter how hard it might have been. You have a mansion. And it is waiting for you, prepared for you by Jesus Christ himself. He died to pay the price for your sins. He rose from the dead because that price was paid in full. And he was taken up into heaven with the promise that he would return to take you to be with him there. We make the journey from earth to heaven at the end of this life because Jesus has prepared a place in heaven for us.

The disciples on Maundy Thursday didn’t quite comprehend what Jesus was saying to them. Following this amazing promise, he said to them, “You know where I am going, and you know the way.” But they said that they did not know. Thomas was the one to speak for the group, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

He didn’t understand, they didn’t understand, that Jesus had already told them the way. Jesus is the way.

Jesus said to him, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. If you know me, you would also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Jesus is the only way to heaven. Only he has paid for sins. Only he has prepared a place for those who believe in him.

We haven’t said much up until this point about the end of the earthly journey for those who do not believe in Jesus, those who reject him as the only way to heaven. But Scripture is clear that the end of their journey is condemnation. It is suffering. It is hell. Hell is an eternity apart from the gracious presence of God. And that is what sinners truly deserve. The reality of hell puts earthly temptations into perspective. Just as the joy of heaven is so wonderful that it overshadows any temporary earthly suffering, so also the despair and pain of hell is so significant that it overshadows any earthly joy. What seems so enticing here on earth can give only temporary pleasure. Allowing anything other than Jesus Christ to dominate our lives and our thinking is the wrong path, the wrong way. Our First Lesson mentioned the result: “shame and everlasting contempt.”

That is what we have been rescued from. That is what Jesus saved us from. Jesus’ gracious assurance moves us from total despair to eternal joy: “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.” The one who has prepared a place for us in heaven reassures us that we know him, so we know the Way. He claimed us as his own in the waters of Holy Baptism. He feeds us his own precious body and blood in the sacrament of Holy Communion. He strengthens us in our relationship with him through the comfort and encouragement of his holy Word.

The fact that this last step on our journey is still incomplete means that we will want to make faithful use of these precious gifts that he has given to us. We will want to know him better and better. We will want to gather again and again around his Word, to faithfully receive his sacrament. We will want to come to him regularly in confession for our sins and to receive from him the assurance that those sins are indeed forgiven.

We will want to keep our focus not on earthly things, but on Jesus the Way, and our heavenly home that he has prepared.

That heavenly home is ours the moment that this earthly journey is concluded. At the time of the death of a Christian, his or her soul is taken to heaven. As Paul pointed out in our Second Lesson, at the last day, those souls in heaven will be reunited with their resurrected bodies. They will rise to live with Jesus. And when that last day comes, those who are still living in faith will likewise be taken into heavenly glory.

It is quite a journey indeed, whether we are speaking of a journey through God’s Word or a journey through our lives. Let’s continue to journey regularly through God’s Word until we conclude our earthly journey and finally make our journey from earth to heaven.

The Text: John 14:1-7 (EHV) “Do not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to be with me, so that you may also be where I am. 4 You know where I am going, and you know the way.”

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“Lord, we don’t know where you are going,” Thomas replied, “so how can we know the way?”

Jesus said to him, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. 7 If you know me, you would also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”