6th Easter 2007, Voices

6^th Easter

John 14: 1-31  

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Trust in the power that leads you to the Fatherly Ground of the World and to me. In my Father’s house there are many rooms. If it were not so, how could I have said to you, ‘I go there to prepare a place for you’?  And when I have gone and prepared a place for you, I will come again and take you up into the realm of my being and working, so that where I work, you also may work. And you know the way where I am going.”

Then Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I myself am the Way—the Truth— and the Life. No one finds his way to the Father but through me. If you had really known my Being, you would have recognized my Father as well. From now on you do know him and have seen Him.”

Then Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father; that would satisfy our deepest yearning.”

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long and yet you do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Does your heart’s voice not tell you that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. But the Father, who lives eternally in me, continues to do his works in them. Build your faith on the power of my Being that lets you know: I in the Father, the Father in me. Or at least learn to trust through looking at the works themselves that have arisen.

Truly, truly I say to you, whoever trusts in my Being will also do the works that I do --and greater deeds will he do, because I go to the  Father. Whatever you ask for in unity with me, I will do it, so that the deeds of the Father may be revealed in the working of the Son. When you turn to me in prayer in the power of my name, I will be the Creating One in all your works. If you truly love me, you will share in my spiritual goals. And I will ask the Father and He will send to you another Counselor, who will stand by you for ever, even the Spirit of Truth. The earthly world cannot receive this Counselor, for it cannot perceive his working and does not recognize him. But you know him, for he will live with you and will work in you.

I will not leave you desolate—I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also. On that day you will truly know what it means that I am in the Father, and you in me, and I in you.

Whoever bears my spiritual goals within himself, and brings them to revelation in his working, is one who truly loves me. And whoever truly loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.”

Then Judas, (not the Iscariot) said, “But Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the people who are in the world?

Jesus replied, “Whoever truly loves me reveals my Spirit, and my Father will love him and we will come to him and prepare with him a dwelling in the everlasting [an eternal dwelling]. Whoever does not love me cannot reveal my Spirit. And the spirit power of the word that you hear is not from me; it is the speaking of the Father who sent me.

Mengs

These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the health-bringing Spirit, the Counselor whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled nor let them be afraid.

You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and yet I am coming to you’. If you loved me you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I am.

I have told you now, before it happens, so that when it happens you may find trust. I no longer have much to say to you, for soon the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me.

But I act in accordance with the Father’s purpose, as it was entrusted to me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Do the same. Arise, let us be on our way.

6^th Sunday after Easter

May 13, 2007

John 14: 1-31

This week the air here was filled with wildfire smoke; but at the same time with the voices of many birds. Each bird has its distinctive song. It has been said that birdsong, each note shaping the living atmosphere, keeps the air alive.

When we stop to listen, we realize that the world is full of voices. One of the quieter, more subtle voices is the inner voice of the heart. Our heart’s voice is distinctive. It can sing; it can lament; it can comfort and inform. And our heart’s voice is in conversation with other voices.

In conversation with his disciples, Christ, the voice of the Father’s heart, prompts: “Does your heart’s voice not tell you that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?” John 14:10 He reminds them of what their heart’s voice has told them.

His voice is the voice of the great Fire-Bird of the sun, eternally consumed, eternally rising again. Christ, who is eternally emerging from the Father’s heart, sings out the Father’s love for us; he sings of the dove of Truth that He will send from the Father’s heart to guide us; He sings of His continuing presence.

Despite the smoke and consuming fire in our lives, in our heart we can hear the voice of Christ, reminding us of our spiritual home.  He is singing to us of the goals of our lives, assuring us that we are not alone. His voice in our hearts shapes the atmosphere in which we live.

Catherine of Sienna could hear the Voice:

My perfect Lord sang,

“Less likely is God to condemn my hand’s action

than to condemn any

soul.”

How could that be possible,

My heart thought?

And the Christ, knowing all minds, replied,

“Forgiveness is the foundation of God’s

being”.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] “The Foundation of God”, Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), in Love Poems from God, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 196.