Glimpses of God

Text focus: John 14:5-12

This morning’s Gospel takes us back before the cross and before the resurrection. We find Jesus and the disciples in the upper room. Jesus has washed the disciples’ feet. He has told them that one of them will betray him. He has told Peter that he will deny him three times. The room is heavy with worry and anxiety. Jesus knows this so he brings to them comfort. 

Just before today’s passage in John 14, Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. I go to prepare a place for you.” That matters, because Jesus is not speaking a final goodbye. This is not abandonment. This is not, “I am leaving you forever.” It is more like, “You cannot yet come where I am going, but I am making a way, and I will not lose you.” It is a farewell, but it is a farewell filled with promise. And that is the moment where today’s conversation begins. When he hears that Jesus is going to prepare a place Thomas says, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 

I think Thomas often gets a bad reputation. But so often he is the one that is willing to ask the questions that we are all thinking, here Thomas is honest in his wondering. He is not afraid to admit that he does not understand. And that is faithful, because faith is not pretending certainty when we are confused. Faith often begins with honest questions. Thomas asks a practical question. If you are going somewhere and we do not know where you are going, how can we know how to get there? And Jesus answers in a way Thomas probably did not expect. He does not give directions. He does not hand them a map. He says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” 

In other words, Jesus is not merely pointing toward a road. He is saying that the way is found in their relationship with him. The disciples want clarity about the future and Jesus gives them presence. That feels familiar. There are many moments in life when we want God to explain the whole road ahead. We want a five-year plan. A check list. A map with directions, or even better a GPS with live updates. We want certainty. We want to know where this is going. But often what Christ gives is enough light to find the next step. Not a map, but his presence and the light of him in our lives.  Often faith is not about seeing the whole road to our destination but instead trusting that we are walking with the one who knows the way. 

Jesus continues saying, “If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”  Then Philip speaks. “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” That too is such a human request.  Show us God.  And Jesus answers, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” That is one of the most important things John’s Gospel tells us. If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. The one who washed feet. The one who touched those others avoided. Who ate with those who were undesirable.  Jesus,  The one who fed the hungry. Who welcomed children. Who forgave sinners. Jesus,  The one who wept with the grieving. Who spoke peace into fear.  Who loved us all the way to the end.  

That is what God looks like. It was understood by the Jewish culture at that time that God was set apart from them. God dwelled among them but in the Temple in a special place where the average person could not go.  They knew the stories about how one could not look on the face of God.  They knew that even the stories of God’s people were held in a holy place that only the highest priest could enter. And sometimes, even today, people imagine God as distant, unseen, or hard to know. But Jesus responds to Phillip and says, “Look at me.” In me, you can see God, the things I have done are God working in the world,  The teaching I have shared with you is from God.  

And then Jesus says something that takes the disciples and us deeper into understanding who he is. “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.” 

The works matter. And by works, Jesus does not simply mean miracles in the narrow sense.  Remember this comes right after Jesus humbly washes the feet of the disciples. In John’s Gospel, when we hear the word “works” we should understand it as the signs that reveal the character of God.  Healing, restoring, feeding, welcoming, reconciling,  Each of these are glimpses of who God is. And that raises a question for us. Where do we see God now? Philip’s question is still our question. Show us the Father. Show us God. Where is God in this world? Where is God in our lives? Sometimes we hope for dramatic revelations. And though sometimes those happen, more often we see God in glimpses. 

A friend who stays when life has fallen apart. A meal delivered when grief makes even cooking feel impossible. A hand held beside a hospital bed. A word of forgiveness that breaks years of bitterness. A neighbor who notices. A church that keeps showing up. Sometimes the clearest glimpses of God come in ordinary acts of love, hospitality, kindness, and presence. That does not mean those people are God, but they are demonstrating Christ’s love.  And when Christ’s love becomes visible in human lives, we catch glimpses of the character of God. 

Many of us could probably name moments like that. A time when we were afraid and someone brought peace. A time when we felt alone and someone stayed. A time when we could not see clearly, but through another person’s faithfulness, we caught a glimpse of God. A time when our prayers were answered through the presence or actions of someone that did not know what our prayers were. And then Jesus says something that can sound surprising. “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” What does that mean? At first glance it sounds almost impossible.  How could anyone do greater works than Jesus? I do not think Jesus means that the disciples will become greater than he is in terms of holiness, or power, or significance. 

The key is in the next phrase: “because I am going to the Father.” Jesus is speaking about what comes after the cross, after resurrection, after ascension, after the gift of the Holy Spirit. During his earthly ministry, Jesus was present in one place, among particular people, in a particular time. But after Easter, his work continues through the community of disciples and through the church that grows. That is what makes the works become greater.  Not greater in glory, but greater in reach. The love of Christ moves outward through this community of believers. The ministry continues and spreads to lands where the earthly Jesus never walked. As the church grows and acts in the world more people are touched by the love of Christ than even knew him.  And remember from our song this morning, we are the church,  The church is not a building, the church is the people. So every time you demonstrate the love of Christ,  You are doing the works, and the works of the church become greater. The church does not replace Jesus.  But the church extends the reach of Jesus. 

And the works themselves are not only what we may call miracles, the works are things like feeding the hungry. Welcoming the stranger. Caring for the sick. Proclaiming hope. Reconciling enemies. Bearing one another’s burdens. Creating communities where mercy is practiced and dignity is restored. These are all ways that the works and love of Christ become visible in the world. And notice something important. Jesus says this to the disciples. To Peter, who will deny him. To Thomas, who is uncertain. To Philip, who still does not quite get it. To people who will fail him.  Jesus gives this great promise to a group of people who are confused and imperfect. 

And yet Jesus still entrusts them with his work. 

That matters for us. Because most of us do not feel especially extraordinary. We are ordinary people. We worry. We question. We misunderstand. And sometimes, we fail. And still Christ says: through you, my work continues. That means the calling of the church is not to impress the world. It is to make Christ visible. People today are often looking not for someone to prove that God exists,  They are looking for signs that grace is real. That mercy is possible. That forgiveness can happen. That love still has power. That they belong somewhere. And often the place where they find these answers will be in the lives of ordinary disciples. In people who show up. In people who forgive. In people who serve. In people who remain faithful. In communities that make room. That is how the world catches glimpses of God. 

So perhaps that is the question this text leaves with us. Where have you seen God lately? Maybe in kindness. Maybe in forgiveness. Maybe in healing. Maybe in quiet faithfulness. 

And perhaps an even more important question, where might someone else have seen a glimpse of God through you? Maybe in a word of encouragement. Maybe in patience. Maybe in a visit. Maybe in a meal. Maybe in listening. Maybe in simply staying present when someone is hurting. 

In the upper room, the disciples were troubled. Thomas asked for the way. Philip asked to see the Father. And Jesus answered both by giving himself, saying “I am the way.” and “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” And then he entrusted his work to them. And to us. Knowing that the world may not always see heaven clearly, but that the people of faith,  those with lives shaped by Christ, glimpses of God could be seen in the world. And that is what brings us to this table.  Here, we do not come because we have everything figured out.  We come much like those first disciples,  with questions,  with worries and burdens,  with hope and faith.  

Our scripture today takes place just after that holy last supper event. As Jesus spoke these words of promise, he was with the disciples gathered around the table.  Today as we participate in the sacrament of communion, we are reminded that Christ still meets us in our questions, our burdens, and our hopes.  We catch a glimpse of God’s grace made tangible in the bread broken and cup shared. And we affirm that the One who is the way does not send us out empty, but nourishes us so that his love may become visible in us and through us in the world.