There are few verses of scripture better known than those heard in today’s Gospel. In response to Thomas’ question, Jesus says, ‘I am the way; I am the truth; I am life.’ They’re words we hear quoted often, too often perhaps; but I have to say I find most interpretations of these words less than satisfactory.

For example, I remember, as a teenager, buying a guitar off a young Christian woman. On the guitar case was a sticker. The sticker showed a picture of an outstretched finger, pointing heavenwards, with the words ‘One Way Jesus’.

You may have seen similar stickers on car bumpers. Their inspiration is John chapter 14 verse 6. The message they give is Jesus is the only way to God; all other ways, Buddhism and Islam and the various other religious and secular movements are all false. They lead to a place where God is not.

I recall thinking at the time this can’t be right. What about those people who have never heard the Gospel of Christ? And those who live good lives, godly lives, and are passionate about what they believe in, but whose creeds are different to mine? Can it be true that Jesus is the only way to God?

Well, eventually, I removed the sticker from my guitar case; but the questions have remained. How do we as Christians view other religions, and what does it mean for us in the 21st century to say Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life?

I suggest one place we can look for an answer is the catechism of our church. If you turn to page 936 of our prayer book, you’ll find a question, question 62. It reads: ‘how does the Anglican Church regard members of other faiths?’

The reply: ‘Anglicans believe all people are created in God’s image and need to find meaning and purpose beyond themselves. All living faiths witness in some way to the reality of God, but in Jesus Christ God’s revelation is unique.’

In other words, the church’s claim is threefold.

First, it affirms the dignity of all people. We all have worth in the eyes of God. We are all created in God’s image; and therefore our lives and how we relate to others, even those of other faiths, should be guided by this belief.

Second, it acknowledges there is a yearning within each of us for meaning and purpose, which can be fulfilled only in God. As St Augustine wrote, ‘You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.’

And third, it recognizes all religions in some way point to these truths. But it also claims Jesus is unique. Jesus makes known to us the fullness of God. As he says in John’s Gospel, ‘Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.’

Therefore, while the Anglican Church respects the beliefs of other faiths, and acknowledges our common search for meaning and purpose, in the end it still claims a special place for Jesus. Jesus is God incarnate, the Word become flesh, and it’s through the mystery of his death and resurrection that we have access to the inner life of God. This is the truth we proclaim. There is no other way.

The problem is, of course, in this enlightened and pluralistic world, we are aware of many claims to truth, and so how do we know we’ve got it right?

I suggest one way through this conundrum is to take a closer look at John’s Gospel. You see, throughout Jesus’ ministry, we find him in conversation with those who opposed him, of which the Pharisees are but one example; and in the early days of the Church, Jesus’ followers faced antagonism from others. But in chapter 14, and in the 3 chapters which follow, Jesus’ attention is not on those who disagree with him, but on those who loved him most, his followers.

Today’s gospel is preceded by the account of the Last Supper. There, Jesus washes his disciples’ feet and he gives them a new commandment: to love one another. And in the chapters which follow this section of John’s Gospel, a section known as the Farewell Discourse, Jesus is betrayed and arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, and then tried and executed under Pontius Pilate.

But in the verses we heard today, he addresses his disciples, and it’s in this context we’re to interpret his words. Jesus says to them, as he continues to say to his followers today, ‘I am the way; I am the truth; I am life’. However, his words aren’t a polemic against others, a point-scoring exercise against those who disagree with him; instead they’re words of comfort and challenge. He sees the angst in the disciples’ eyes and he encourages them by telling them not to give up but to continue in the way he has begun.

So, what then does it mean for us to say ‘Jesus is the way, the truth and the life?’ Let me suggest to you that it’s a choice we make as individuals and as a community to stake our whole lives on the teaching and witness of Christ.

Therefore:

To say Jesus is the way is to follow in the steps of Christ. It’s to walk the way of the cross. It’s to know that in dying to ourselves daily, we’re raised to new life in Christ; and it’s to be guided not by fear but by love.

To say Jesus is the truth is to live with passion and conviction. It isn’t simply to talk about faith. It’s to do to others as we would have them do to us, and to love our neighbours as ourselves. And it’s to see truth less as something we must find; but as Jesus demonstrated, it’s a way of being in our world.

And to say Jesus is life is to know what makes us truly human is a life centred in God; a life lived in relationship with God. This life cannot be destroyed by hatred or death, because as the resurrection reminds us God’s life has no end.

So, twenty years on from my guitar playing days, I’m still prepared to say Jesus is the way. But these days I say it with a great deal more humility. We have much to learn from other religions. But I am committed to the way, the truth, and the life revealed in Christ. For me this is the way to the Father. And as I have sought to follow this path I’ve discovered the questions I asked as a teenager are not so important now; God is not some problem to be solved, but a relationship to be known, and a life to be lived in our world.

Amen.

A sermon preached at St Alban’s on Sunday April 20 2008

(Acts 7:55-60; 1 Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-14)

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