I’m going to try to get back in the habit of posting my weekly sermons here.

This is an adapted form of the sermon I preached this morning, the Fifth Sunday of Easter. The texts I preached from were Proverbs 4:10-18 and John 14:1-14.

Our first reading today is from the book of Proverbs. Proverbs is a book of wisdom written from the perspective of a father teaching his children.

So…Alex. (At this point, I looked at my son Alex, who was the acolyte this morning.) I should be talking to you today. I’m your father. I should be teaching you. Let’s see what Proverbs has to say.

Our reading today begins like this: “Hear, my child, and accept my words, so that the years of your life may be many. I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of righteousness.”

Oh boy, I hope I’ve done that, Alex. I hope I’ve taught you the way of wisdom, and led you in the paths of righteousness. And the truth is, I don’t have much time left. You’re seventeen years old. You’ll be leaving for college in less than a year and a half. I’d better get moving on this before it’s too late. I’m going to give you some fatherly advice. Let’s see.

• To thine own self be true.
• A penny saved is a penny earned.
• Buy low, sell high.
• A stitch in time saves nine. Although to be honest, I’ve never understood that one myself.
• It takes more muscles to frown than to smile.
• Floss your teeth.
• Do or do not. There is no try.

Hmm, I don’t know if this is working. Giving fatherly advice is hard.

Oh, hi, Dad. (At this point, I looked at my father, a retired pastor who is now a member of my church.) You know, Dad, I don’t remember most of the advice you gave me. You know what I do remember? Four words. Four words that aren’t advice, but they are probably the best wisdom you’ve ever given me. You know what those four words are?

God’s Love Freely Given.

(I looked at Alex.) The best wisdom your grandfather ever shared with me was a four word definition of grace. Grace is God’s Love Freely Given. Everything else is footnotes.

So, Alex, forget the fatherly advice. Let’s look at the reading from Proverbs more closely, because maybe the wisdom in here isn’t advice either. Let’s see what it is. It says here, “I have led you in the paths of righteousness.” It says, “Do not enter the path of the wicked.” It says, “The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.” Ah, this isn’t about advice after all. This is about a path.

And I think I know what path it is. When the Jewish authors of the Old Testament wrote about following a righteous path, they were often talking about the Law, what they called in Hebrew the Torah.

On the surface, the Torah, the Law, just looks like a bunch of rules. A list of rules like the Ten Commandments and so many others that you have to follow and obey.

Following and obeying laws is usually really annoying, isn’t it? Maybe it’s the right thing, but it’s difficult and aggravating. But that’s not what it looks like when to read the Old Testament. These book are filled with people praising God’s Law! They rejoiced in it! Listen to some of the things they said about the Law:

• “Happy are those who…delight in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2)
• “Open my eyes, so that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” (Psalm 119:18)
• “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul” (Psalm 19:7)

The Jewish people saw the Law as a gift from God, a gift that gave them life. But maybe not the way you’d think. It wasn’t a list of rules that if they followed, they’d be rewarded with life. It wasn’t an exam that they had to pass in order to get life.

No, they saw the Law as life itself. Following the Law doesn’t lead to life, following the Law is life. Following the Law is its own reward. Think of it this way. Let’s say a person decides to start walking several miles a day in order to have a healthier body. Do you think that at some point, maybe six months or a year after starting, they would suddenly be rewarded with a healthier body, as a reward for hard work? Do you think they’d stay unhealthy until that one moment, when everything would change? No, of course not. It doesn’t work like that. There’s no final exam for exercising.

The act of exercising itself is what makes them healthier, slowly and gradually. For as long as they’re still walking, they’ll be healthier. And if they stop, then their body will probably go back to the way it was before. Because improved health isn’t a reward for exercise, it’s a consequence of exercise. There’s a difference.

It’s the same with the Law. The Jewish people saw the Law as a gift from God, a gift from God that gave them life, not some future life, but full and abundant life here and now. God gave them this Law as a gift, gave them a path to follow that was not the path to life, but rather the path of life. Following the Law may not always be easy, but it is always life-giving.

And the Jewish people shared that gift with us. In some ways, Judaism is our mother religion. Christianity was born out of Judaism, and just as a child receives wisdom passed on from their parents, so we have received the wisdom from Judaism that God has a path, a way of life. A way that is life itself.

As Christians, we know that Way by a different name, the name Jesus Christ. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus said, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.”

Jesus doesn’t point out the way to us. Jesus is the Way. Jesus doesn’t have the Truth. Jesus is the Truth. Jesus doesn’t show us where to get life. Jesus is the Life. Just like the Law, Jesus isn’t a means to an end. Jesus isn’t a gatekeeper, deciding who can receive Life and who can’t. In fact, you might remember last Sunday, Jesus said, “I am the Gate,” – not the gatekeeper, but the Gate – because it’s through him that we receive life. Through him that we receive life as a gift here and now, not as a reward later.

So what does this mean for us? How do we find abundant life today? What do we have to do? Well, remember what Jesus said at the beginning of today’s gospel reading, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me.” Put your faith in God, not in other things, because God will give you life. Put your faith in the path that God lays out for you, and as Christians we know that path as Jesus. Jesus shows us the path that God follows. Jesus is the path that God follows.

The path that led him to the manger. The path that led him to the cross. The path that led him out of the empty tomb. The path that always leads to life, life not just at the end of the path, but in every step on the way.

Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. That’s what Jesus says to us. Because the path, the Law, is God’s gift to us, free of charge. And Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, is God’s gift to us, free of charge.

Or to put it all in just four words, as my father taught me, and Alex, if you remember just one thing from this sermon, make it this: trust that’s it’s all:

God’s love freely given.

Image by Ria Sopala from Pixabay