Becoming True - Part 2

Focus Scripture

John 14 : 1-9 (NRSV)

‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. 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. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’

Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”?

Daily Byte

The startling declaration of Jesus - I am the way and the truth and the life - has been the cause of much pain both inside the Church and in those the Church has sought to reach. It has become a club with which to beat people of other beliefs and religions over the head. I wonder if this is really what Jesus wants us to do with these words. Perhaps, all he was trying to do was move our view of truth away from ideas, dogmas, doctrines, and towards relationship. Perhaps, Jesus wanted us to see truth not as a ‘thing’ but as a person - a person who shows us what God is really like.

How would it change the way you think of truth to see it like this? What would it mean for you to search for truth by searching for Jesus? And what does Jesus reveal to you about God? What if finding truth is less about getting the ideas right, and more about being connected with God, other people, yourself and the earth? How can you begin to make this quest for truth a bigger part of your life? How can worship help you to search for the truth that is a person?

Pray As You Go

I need to look at you more, Jesus;
I mean really look at you:
what you spoke and the way you listened,
how you treated people, how you prayed,
the stories you told, and the love in your eyes;

I need to get to know you more, Jesus;
I mean not just information, but connection;
your presence, closer than breathing,
your whisper guiding my ways,
your example calling me to follow,
your world, and everything in it, filled with you.

I need you, Jesus, because you are the truth,
and the way to truth and life,
and the life that shows the way,
and the truth about the way of true life,
I need you;
and so I thank you
that you are here right now.

Amen.

Today’s devotion is taken from Rev John van de Laar’s outstanding book ‘The Hour That Changes Everything: How worship forms us into the people God wants us to be.’ Used with permission

To order copies of this book and for other superb worship resources visit http://www.sacredise.com