Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 31.1-5, 15-16; 1 Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-4
To me, and to many others who are Christians, this is an extremely important Gospel. Here, Jesus is telling us that by believing in him, we are believing in God. He says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” a very famous line. But in this Gospel, with so much explanation from Jesus, and Jesus telling us about some of the core beliefs of Christianity, we also see doubt. We see questioning from Phillip who wants some kind of proof, visual proof of the father. I believe that every Christian has to face this kind of doubt at some point in their lives, and in the end it makes their faith stronger.
I faced a sort of doubt a couple of years ago. Doubt doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t believe in God anymore, it can just mean that your relationship with God isn’t as strong as you would like it to be. Maybe you haven’t prayed as much as you feel you should, or you haven’t gone to church in the past couple weeks. Well, about a year and half ago, this doubt began to creep up on me. I still loved God, and I still believed in God, but I felt like I could be doing more to be making my relationship with God stronger. That is when our Youth Minister, Charles Murphy, told me about a Episcopal Diocese of Chicago Youth Event called Happening. Happening is an event with around 60 youth from Episcopal churches all around Chicago and the suburbs, who come together for a weekend twice a year to talk about God, in a relaxed, comfortable, and safe setting. Everyone is welcome, whether you are the strongest Christian, or you are having your doubts, or want some proof like Phillip did. Well, at Happening, my relationship with God was strengthened. I saw God in all of these youth, most of whom I had never met before. But, they opened their arms to me, a stranger, and welcomed me. It was an amazing experience. I felt like I began to get to know God, and it was through others. I was doing things that I never thought I would do, and meeting people that I never thought I would.
And although the event that I went to, Happening, was something specifically made for youth, I think that we can all have these moments at any time in our lives, moments when our relationship with God is strengthened, maybe after a time of questioning like Phillip had. It can happen anywhere, especially in the church and our church. It could be at a foyer dinner, or even just talking with a friend at coffee after a church service. But keeping your mind and heart open is important. Because if you close yourself off, it’ll be tough to have an experience like this. And we do this, keeping ourselves open, by doing simple things. Simple things like listening to what another person is saying, or by caring for someone and helping them when they need help. Being there for people. And don’t forget to talk to God. He is always there, listening. And he will help you, if you need that sign. He certainly helped me when I needed that, and he will help you get a chance too. A chance to strengthen your relationship with God.
I am still participating in Happening today, I’ve been to three others after the first one I told you about, and now I’m on steering committee for Happening. I have now realized what Jesus was talking about at the end of this gospel. That he is the father and the father is in him. It just took some very special people in the church to help me to realize it.
(Sermon preached by Michael Begel on May 22, 2011 at St. Chrysostom's Church in Chicago, IL at 11:00 AM.)
