Pope Benedict XVI made something clear in the mass he celebrated, while still Cardinal Ratzinger, as the cardinals prepared to go into conclave to elect the new Pope. Religious relativism is a challenge to the faith, he said, but it would not seduce the next papacy. Today's reading from John is sometimes used to defend the boundaries of the One True Faith. You may remember learning this verse in Sunday School, the one where Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Perhaps you heard visiting missionaries use this verse to explain why they left their homes to spread the gospel. Perhaps you have been baited by unchurched friends, who contend that a loving God would not send people to hell for never having heard of Jesus. How are we supposed to dodge these bullets? The staunch adherence to the faith that reads like spiritual arrogance ("I'm in, you aren't"). The relativism that marginalizes the saving work of Jesus ("Whatever you believe is OK as long as you are sincere"). The closed hearts that see in this verse an arbitrary God. Maybe it would help if we knew what Jesus meant by claiming to be "the way."

     Jesus has just told his disciples that he is going to die, that one of them will betray him and that they're all going to deny him. He must have perceived their separation anxiety , because he comforts them by saying he's going to get a permanent place ready for them. When they worry about how to get to where he is going, Jesus tells them he is "the way." He-his very self-is the means, the "how to," of getting to the permanent place. Not a discipline or practice or something they accomplish. He is himself how to arrive at that permanent God place. When Jesus says he is "the way, the truth, and the life," he's telling us how we are related to God. "How" is through him, the absolutely essential component in relating us to God.

     This is not an excuse for Christian moral superiority, nor should we imagine it's about an exclusive club. Jesus is talking commitment. My previous pastor used to begin every baptism with the words, "In every relationship of importance, commitment is essential." He was speaking of the commitment of our baptismal vows to "try to be like Jesus." As Christians, our relationship with Jesus is supposed to be what makes us not like the rest of the world. The commitment of our relationship with Jesus is supposed to be single-mindedly and distinctly about him. The good news of "I am the way, the truth, and the life" is that we have no need to be distracted by what we accomplish, reliance on how busy we are or what we own, nor smugness about which country we belong to.

     Jesus' statement about being "the way" was never intended to be a how-to prescriptive that says, "Do this and you will be saved." I think the gospel-writer put this statement where he did so we would know it was a promise. Jesus is the way to God. Maybe John's first readers understood Jesus to say, "Not John the Baptist nor the synagogue cult. Me! I am the way to God." This promise is a gift, a Christian birthright. It's not a threat, "If you don't believe in Jesus you'll go to hell." This is a guarantee that God will act.

     Sometimes people ask, "How do I know I'm following Jesus on the right path?" Sometimes we need assurance that we're doing the right thing, making the right decision. It not a sign of faithless Christianity to long for sky-writing or signs on the sides of buses or the Voice of God on the car radio. But we aren't left without a clue as to how to proceed, either. God often speaks through synchronicities. Synchronicity could also be called attentive living. It's a spiritual tool for figuring out through ordinary living if we're on the Way of Jesus. Mind you, synchronicity is only one tool, and like most spiritual tools, it's best not to use it in isolation-by yourself. It is best used and discerned in the community of other believers. But prayerfully applied and faithfully questioned, synchronicity helps us discern the way, truth, and life of Jesus in our lives.

     Think about times when you've had a so-called chance encounter with someone, or come across the right book just when you need it. This is why Presbyterians say we don't believe in coincidence. Yeah, yeah, I know-pre-ordained before the beginning of time. But more than that, often these so-called chance things are God's way of trying to get our attention. Like in Bruce the Almighty, where Bruce consistently doesn't notice the billboards with the answer to his question spelled out. Maybe the answers to our questions aren't quite so obvious, but they are there for those with eyes to see and ears to hear. For instance, when an opportunity comes up or a door closes. Or that "aha!" moment apparently out of the blue. When someone's remark or a song sticks to your brain like peanut butter. When you do something and discover time has just flown. Or you and your prayer partners arrive independently at the same conviction for you.

     Those are messages. Maybe you don't get The Voice of God on your car radio, but a definite way becomes clear for you. A moment of truth. A life-giving, life-enhancing moment. That is when it becomes clear what Jesus means when he says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

     When we say that Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life," what we are saying isn't about us. The community to which 1 Peter wrote needed the comfort of knowing that, even when they were persecuted in the here-and-now, Jesus was The Way to their permanent home. The assurance Jesus gave his disciples of being reunited in the Father also comforted them. We've been living with the absence of Jesus for almost 2,000 years, so it's nothing new to us. But knowing that Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life" means that our lives have to be different from what they'd be if we didn't know it. 1 Peter says the is the implication of Jesus' words of assurance has spiritual maturity as its goal. This Christian maturity is so immense, so far beyond where we could go on our own, that we have got to rely on Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life.

      Growing up takes commitment. Jesus is already committed to us. That our commitment is required is something which ought to scare the liver out of us. Spiritual maturity. Wholeness. Growing up. 1 Peter says becoming spiritual grown ups is the motivating thing in our lives. Every time a baby gets hungry, it's as if it is the first time in the world. It is the one thing on that child's mind, and it has got to happen right now. When the nipple goes into the baby's mouth, a desperate, hair-raising, life-and-death imperative has been met. That is how 1 Peter says Christians are supposed to be about receiving God's initiative for our growing. Not as if growing is something nice to dabble in. Not as if it's something we can let passively happen for an hour on Sunday if something more interesting doesn't come up. Not as if it's an amusing little something we might take out of box on the back shelf of the closet or the candle stubs we keep in case the power goes off. Infants grow into toddlers and toddlers into pre-schoolers and pre-schoolers into school children and school children into teens and teens into young adults-not because they periodically attend to it. But because it is their major work. Babies grow and children mature because they get voraciously hungry and eat and drink wholesome food, because they exercise and play and learn, because they burn with curiosity, because growing is what they are about.

     According to today's scripture, Christians are supposed to be about their faith in the same way. Imperative, intentional, receptive, focused. Jesus is the way, the means, of growing. But present yourselves, 1 Peter says. Let God do the rest. Nothing can happen until you tune into God's call and say yes to it. And be assured, God is dying to receive your consent.