Written on April 11, 2008

[For the April 20, 2008 lectionary: John 14:1-14]

"I AM THE WAY" by Larry Patten

In the early morning, when dawn colors a new day with smudges of gray, I hear whispered questions. Do those queries come by way of the One who creates, or are they merely my restless mind? Is it Holy curiosity or human silliness? Whatever the source, questions are asked.

WHAT'S THE BEST ACTION YOU'VE EVER TAKEN? Easy answer. Asking my wife to marry me.

ANY OTHER BESTS COME TO MIND? Several. Finishing a novel. Writing my name in the registry on the hut at Muir Pass. Helping to marry my younger sister. Waving to my older sister from the Boston Harbor. I could go on, but . . .

NICE LIST, BUT WHAT IS THE WORST? Personally or professionally?

BOTH. The personally “worst” is easy. There was that first wife, that divorce.

AH YES, BUT WHAT ABOUT PROFESSIONALLY? How long can I make my worst list?

ONE IS FINE. THIS ISN'T A TEST. YOUR ANSWERS WON’T DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT YOU WILL PASS THROUGH THE PEARLY GATES. Wow! Are there really Pearly Gates? I always thought that was--

DON'T AVOID THE QUESTION. Could you repeat the question?

THE WORST-- Ah, yes. One of the worst things occurred at the second church I served. A young married couple, barely out of their teens, approached me about baptizing their newborn. They were not part of my church. They just “showed up.”

One of the first questions I asked was, “Why do you want this child baptized?”

Their answer was something like, “So she will go to heaven if she dies.”

Since I don’t believe that baptism, for children or adults, is a wet, automatic “key” to heaven, and since I’m not sure our human understandings of “heaven” have much value, and since I was a very young pastor . . . I lectured them. I told them my theological view of baptism. I recall I even questioned their motives. And they left. And I never saw them again.

Oh, I suppose I’ve had “worse” actions. But I think about that couple still, a quarter-century later, walking away with a child cradled in their arms, after having heard a lecture from me.

Please, can we move on to the next question? And you’re sure this isn’t a Pearly Gates pop quiz?

* * * * * *

How many Pearly Gate jokes have I heard over the years? After about twenty seconds of Googling, I found this one:

A man died and went to heaven. He was met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter who led him down the golden streets. They passed mansion after beautiful mansion until they came to the end of the street where they stopped in front of a shack. The man asked St. Peter why he got a hut when there were so many mansions he could live in. St. Peter replied, "I did the best with the money you sent us."

Ha-ha-ha. It’s easy for me to make fun of the Pearly Gates and giving “entry tests” for heaven. Sometimes, as my mind and spirit wander, I do imagine being interviewed . . . questions about my faith, my best and worst actions . . .

Jesus said, according to John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

As a pastor, how many times have I used John 14 for a funeral or memorial service? Hundreds. Doesn’t it seem like a test? Believe in Jesus, and get the “many mansions.” Don’t believe and . . . well, you know how tests go. Some pass? Some fail?

Recently I read in Marcus Borg’s Reading The Bible Again For The First Time this . . .

The same point is made in a story I once heard about a sermon preached by a Hindu professor in a Christian seminary several decades ago. The text for the day was the “one way” passage, and about it, he said, “This verse is absolutely true—Jesus is the only way.” But he went on to say, “And that way—of dying to an old way of being and being born into a new way of being—is known in all of the religions of the world.”

Those comments humble me. Other faith traditions tell of the way of renewal and new life. As a Christian, I have my path; others have theirs. However, I just don’t believe the Holy is a test-giver or a scorekeeper for any person or any way of beloved faith.

And yet, how much I wish I wasn’t a test-giver! How I wish I could transport myself back to that couple. Instead of lecturing, I would help them celebrate the life of their child.

Do I think there are Pearly Gates? Naw. I’m not much one for mansions, streets paved with gold, or Peter standing guard with a furrowed brow and a checklist.

On the other hand, maybe there are “pearly gates” everywhere. I wave to my sister from Boston Harbor, knowing that at one of her most difficult times, I really made a difference for her. A young couple approaches, a child in hand. Never again would I lecture them. A Hindu professor clears his throat and begins to preach, and honors his faith’s path, and mine.

Every day, the Holy offers heaven.

in Peace,

Larry