From the Pulpit: Lord, to Whom Shall We Go?

There's the image that Jesus demands strict adherence from his followers. But, as Dean Randy Hollerith points out, Jesus gave his disciples an out -- and asked them to choose for themselves.

Preaching from the Gospel of John, after Jesus had commanded his followers to “eat my flesh and drink my blood,” Dean Randy noted that Jesus serves up more difficult pills for his followers to swallow: He’s going to die. He’s going to leave them. Life isn’t going to be easy.

And then Jesus offers them an off-ramp: “Do you also wish to go away?” It’s your call, Jesus said. If you can’t believe it, and follow me, you’re free to pursue something else.

The disciples said they were in it for the long haul. ““Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Dean Randy points out that the choice given to the disciples is one that is given to us each day, when we are called to decide whether to follow Jesus, or choose something else:

In the Old Testament, Jonah knew this truth as he tried to escape God by boarding that ship, he knew this truth as he was swallowed by that huge fish and then spit back onto the shores of Nineveh. Where else can we go? Lord, you are everywhere in this life.

Job knew this truth even as he suffered the worst that hell could offer. Despite all the advice his friends tried to give him, he never turned away from God. He never gave up his faith because he knew where else can we go, Lord?

This is the great insight of mature faith. This is the great insight of the prodigal son as he ate from the slop of the pigs and made his decision to return home because there is nothing better than the love of the father and the inheritance that waits for us.

This is the great insight of every spiritual seeker that who must come to realize on their own that after every avenue is pursued, after all the gods with a small G are tried, there is in the end only one source of life of love. One God who deserves our allegiance, whose demands deserve our attention.

This is the question all of us must ask and answer for ourselves: Where are we to place our hopes? Where are we to place our dreams? What are we going to clinging to with certainty that it will give the end of our lives purpose and meaning?