5th Sunday after Easter 2021, Let Us Be On Our Way

 5^th Sunday after 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 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 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 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 Father's deeds 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 forever, 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.

Stephen B. Whatley

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 themselves, and brings them to revelation in their working, is one who truly loves me. And whoever truly loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and will reveal myself to them."

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 them, and we will come to them and prepare with them a dwelling in the everlasting [or, 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.

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.

 

5^th Sunday after Easter

May 9, 2021

John 14:1-31

The surface of a lake can be choppy or calm. When the surface is covered with high waves, their movement arouses excitement or even fear. When the surface is calm, one can see the reflection of the heavens.

Ivan Aivasovsky

Our souls are deep lakes. We float on their surface with our awareness. In times of storm, our souls are agitated; we feel anxiety and fear. Yet always with us in the ship of our life is Christ. He may seem 'asleep' in our boat, as in the story in Mark 4:35. But what that really means is that we may have to awaken our awareness of His Presence. Or we may see Him walking toward us on the waves, as in the story in Matthew 14:22. In either case, once we are aware of His Presence, near or far, the storm subsides. The waves of agitation flatten, and we can see the calm majesty of heaven's purpose reflected in the surface of our lives, in the calm surface of our own soul.

For He said, "Let not your hearts be troubled. Trust in the power that leads you to the Father and to Me" (John 14:1). One of those powers is finding the calm center within ourselves as quickly as possible after experiencing fear. In our efforts to pray, to calm ourselves, we awaken Christ within us. By awakening Him in our souls, we can become aware of the higher purpose of the events in our lives. We can come to an awareness of the deeper currents propelling our lives. And we can come to the conviction that Christ is the Pilot, the calm and purposeful center within us. We experience what He says of Himself: "I myself am the Way the Truth and the Life….Arise, let us be on our way."