I AM: I AM The Way with Pastor Clayton Tyner

Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast.

My name's Clayton.

I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch.

And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you.

I hope that you enjoy today's message.

Welcome to Baptism Weekend.

If you're new with us, my name's Clayton.

I'm the lead pastor here at Meta.

We're so glad that you guys joined us.

We are in our second to last week of a series that we've called I Am.

And what we're doing is we're looking at seven statements in the Gospel of John, where Jesus tells us these deep, profound insights about himself.

And all of the statements start with the two words, I am.

So far we have looked at five of those.

We're going to see the sixth today, and it just happens to tie into baptism perfectly.

It's found in John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

It says this don't let your heart be troubled.

Believe in God, believe also in me.

In my father's house are many rooms.

If it were not so, would I have told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you?

And if I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.

You know the way to where I'm going.

Lord, Thomas said, We don't know where you're going.

How can we know the way?

And Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

Would you pray with me?

Father, we come today with open minds, open hearts.

And God, I know that in this room, there are people who represent every part of the faith journey.

There are people who have been convinced and believed long ago, and there are some who are very skeptical and aren't really sure about all of this.

And no matter where we're at, God, this is such a crucial question of who you are and what you mean to us.

And so I pray we'd have the humility to lay down our own ideas, our own preconceptions, our own thoughts about what is and is not truth, and just allow you room to speak to us.

And God, we thank you.

We thank you that you love us.

We thank you for your word and for this time.

And we pray it all in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

To really understand this statement of Jesus and to really understand this passage, we have to have a little bit of context.

In the Gospel of John, in chapters 12 through 17, which we're right in the middle of in John 14, this is the night right before Jesus died, and he decided to spend it with the 12 people who had been closest to him during his time on earth, his 12 disciples.

And to be a disciple was a big deal.

You were really attaching yourself and dedicating yourself to someone.

And so you're like part student and part apprentice.

And these 12 men had followed Jesus everywhere he went for three years, and they had seen the mighty miracles that he had done, and they had heard the words of truth and power that he had spoken.

They knew that they were in the middle of something significant.

And everywhere they went with Jesus, crowds would gather and hang on every one of his words, and people would bring the sick and the outcast to him, and Jesus would heal them and would speak life and love to them.

And now it's the night before Jesus dies, and they're all together and they're in the upper room.

And you may have a picture of this because, you know, centuries ago, Leonardo da Vinci painted The Last Supper.

And so we see this like giant dining hall with a 40-foot table and a bunch of white dudes hanging around it.

That is not at all what it was like.

This was in the Middle East in an upper room with a bunch of poor guys, probably around a small table.

But nevertheless, it was significant.

And we know the end of the story, right?

It was just Easter.

Spoiler alert, Jesus dies and comes back to life.

Shocker.

They didn't know this.

They didn't know what was coming.

They didn't know how the story ends.

But in that upper room, Jesus moved out of the realm of metaphor and parable, and he began to tell them very directly that he was going to die.

And that's like the worst news.

They have attached their future and their hopes to this guy, and now he's telling them that his life will soon end.

It is shocking, and it would be hard to come to terms with.

And unfortunately for the disciples, that wasn't the end of their troubles.

Jesus then began to demonstrate what this was going to be like.

And we do communion, the Lord's Supper, and we celebrate it and we love it.

It's a beautiful thing.

But but put yourself there and just try it, try to imagine the disciples as they're realizing he's serious about this.

He's going to lose his life.

And Jesus takes the loaf of bread and says, This is like my body.

And this is so graphic.

And he rips it in half and he takes the wine and he pours it out and says, This will be like my blood spilled out for you.

And they're heartbroken, and it's so heavy, and it's a dark moment.

And the gut punches keep coming because when they start eating dinner, Jesus says that one of these 12, these 12 men who have dedicated their life to him, who have followed him around, who have seen his power, experienced his miracles, one of you is going to betray me.

And throughout the course of the meal, Jesus points him out, it's going to be Judas Iscariot.

And we know that story.

Jesus lets Judas go, and Judas betrays Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, not a whole lot of money, trades Jesus' life for about two months' wages.

And we know that story, and we think about it from Judas's perspective, and we think about it from Jesus' perspective.

But have you ever considered what it was like to be the eleven that were left?

And maybe some of them liked Judas, and maybe some of them didn't like it.

Maybe, maybe some saw him as an enemy or a frenemy or a homeboy.

I don't know how they all felt about Judas, but now he's gone and he's going to betray Christ.

And it's like that's that's more than enough to make this the worst night of your life.

That your rabbi, your, your, your prophet, your leader is going to die.

And now one of the guys that has been there with you, side by side, just left the room to go turn him in.

And then Peter has something to say, because Peter always has something to say.

And he's like, Jesus, not on my watch, bro.

Not on my watch.

They can come for you, but they have to go through me.

And if they kill you, that means they've killed me too.

And Jesus says, Not so fast.

Before the night is over, Peter, you will betray me three times.

You will publicly denounce me.

You will separate yourself from me.

You will even seal it with a curse that you never even knew me.

And Judas was like kind of, you know, last of the litter.

Peter is one of the big three.

He's one of the leaders.

He's one of the closest people to Jesus.

Their lives are falling apart.

The bottom has fallen out.

Jesus is dying.

Judas is gone.

Peter will betray him.

It's like, what else could happen?

And this is probably the darkest moment in these men's lives.

This is probably the heaviest weight they have ever felt.

And Jesus says, right after, he tells Peter he will deny him.

Right after all this has gone down in chapters 12 and 13, he opens chapter 14 by telling them, do not let your heart be troubled.

And what weird timing, because it's like if there was ever a time for your heart to be troubled, it was right then.

Like Jesus, you better have some really, really convincing proof of why we should not be completely freaking out right now.

What do you mean?

Don't let your heart be troubled.

This is nothing but bad news.

And all of us either have gone through or will go through that dark night of the soul.

We've been through those moments where life is so heavy that it's like we can just barely breathe and we can barely think and we can barely get out of bed and barely go to work, barely do our job.

It takes everything we have to just put one foot in front of the other because life is so heavy and things seem so dark.

And if you haven't been there, just live a little while longer.

And I promise you it comes because this world is broken and life is very hard.

And what is the answer?

What's the answer when it all seems hopeless?

He says, Do not let your heart be troubled.

And he gives the answer believe in God.

And it's it's so true, but if you've grown up in religious circles, it can be so difficult to hear.

Because people have misused this so significantly.

And when you're really struggling and life is really kicking you in the teeth, and you don't know how you're gonna keep going, and maybe you grew up in church settings or religious settings where, in order to not actually have to deal with it and walk alongside you and shoulder any burden, they say, you just need to have more faith.

I know he's leaving you, just trust God.

You've got God, and what they really mean is because you've got God, you don't need me.

So I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna pray for you, but I'll probably forget about it.

But you'll be fine, you'll be fine.

It feels like the Sunday school answer, you know?

If you grew up in church, you know, Sunday school was like where the little kids went before big church, and Jesus is always the answer.

Like if you get caught on and you don't know the answer, it's like Jesus.

They can't tell you you're wrong.

Jesus is the answer, and so it's like don't let your heart be troubled.

I realize that I've just told y'all all of the worst things you've ever heard, but believe in God.

It's true, but because of our baggage, it feels small, and maybe that is how you've been brushed off before by religion.

Just have more faith, just trust, and you'll be fine.

What he says is believe in God.

Let's put verse one back up.

Believe in God, believe also in me.

What Jesus is trying to get his disciples to understand is the almost incomprehensible truth that the God that they serve, Yahweh, God, the one true God, the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that God is not just above and beyond them.

He is not just transcendent, bigger than big, and outside of this world, that the God that they need most desperately in this moment, when their world is falling apart, that God is with them in the flesh, and his name is Jesus.

And you have to understand that this is what differentiates Jesus from every other religious figure that has ever existed because every religion has a God.

Some of them have multiple gods.

One doesn't do it for them, they've got a whole bunch of them.

And all of those gods are transcendent, they are bigger than big, and they all have lots of power, and they all say that they have created somehow, but they exist outside of the world of suffering that we all live in.

And the difference between the false gods and our one true God is that he did not just stay bigger than big, he came and got smaller than small.

He entered into our world and he entered into our suffering, and so it's the opposite.

Religious people will say, Listen, brother, listen, sister, just have faith.

Just have faith.

I'm late for yoga, but you have faith, you know.

Call me and let me know how it goes.

And I'll, if I remember, you know, I'll pray.

Jesus is saying the opposite.

He's saying, believe in God in the same way you believe in God, you can believe in me.

God in human flesh, you can believe in God because God is not pushing you off or pushing you out or telling you to figure it out on your own.

God came down to you, He's standing with you in the brokenness.

And I know you're hurting and I know you're suffering, but I can tell you, do not let your heart be troubled.

Believe in God, believe in me.

Jesus is not a God who is unable to sympathize with all of our weakness and all of our brokenness and all of our suffering.

He is a God that is bigger than big and yet came, and God got small.

The incarnation of Jesus means putting on flesh.

The incarnation of our God separates us from everything else.

And it is the reason don't let your heart be troubled, doesn't mean don't grieve at all.

Don't have emotions, don't feel your feelings.

What it means is that you do not have to be overwhelmed by your grief, overwhelmed by your sadness.

You don't have to be overwhelmed when you know the one who has overcome.

Our God came to us, he walked out of perfection and into our brokenness so that he could tell us, I see it.

I see how hard life is.

Maybe some of you are living in that darkest night of the soul right now.

And he says, I see it, I see it, and I am with you.

And Jesus has a plan in verse two.

He says, In my father's house are many rooms, and if it were not so, would I have told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you?

And the disciples know Jesus is leaving, and to them, they think that means that he's dying, and they haven't read the end of the book yet.

They don't know.

And and generally, dead guys don't walk out of their graves, you know.

So in their mind, Jesus is leaving, and he is leaving for good because when people die, they're dead.

They have no idea exactly what Jesus is talking about.

They know what he means when he says, My father, because that's how Jesus has been referencing God during his time on earth.

And in his father's house are many rooms, and and and they get it.

It's like, okay, you have some role, you're this great teacher, great rabbi, great prophet, and and you have a role of preparation for the rest of us when we get to the Father's house.

What they don't understand is that the preparation is gonna require a crucifixion.

Jesus is trying to expand their perspective on what it means to suffer, to live, and to follow Him.

And verse 3 says, And if I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again.

And I'll take you to myself so that where I am, you may be also.

Last week was Easter, and we saw the I am statement.

Jesus said, I am the resurrection.

And when we think about the work that Jesus did, we think about Christmas, you know, he came down, and we think about Good Friday, he died, and we think about Easter, he came back to life.

And maybe sometimes we think about the ascension 40 days later when he was done with his time on earth and he went back to heaven.

But what is so crucial and we can't discount is Jesus made a promise that just as he came once, he will come again, and it's called the resurrection, and it is our hope for life after this life.

Jesus had to die to pay the price of our sins, and he had to defeat death and rise again to defeat the power of death over us, and he had to ascend back to heaven because there is still much of the plan to be discovered, and he has to come back again.

Jesus ends this grand metaphor with this unbelievable peek into the heart of God.

He says, I will come back for you so that where I am, there you may be also.

And I believe that Jesus is showing us a glimpse into part of God's deepest desire.

And part of God's deepest desire is for you to be with him.

It's for the creation that has rebelled against the creator to be brought back into relationship and brought back into fellowship.

And if you question whether or not God is serious about it or not, he was willing to trade the life of his own son for it.

And it's hard because nobody knows me like me.

And so no one understands the depths of my brokenness and my depravity quite like I do.

And nobody knows the thoughts that I can think in an instant that come to the top of my mind when something really, really makes me mad.

And you might be looking at me, judging me, but you too, right?

Like, if we could display to the world the thoughts you have driving on 1604, you would just go into hiding.

Like you would never want to face somebody again.

Because we are all more broken than we want to admit.

And when you begin to realize just how far you are from God, when you begin to realize the depths of how you have hurt and rebelled, and then on the other side, you begin to realize that it is still God's deepest desire that where he is, there you might be also.

That Jesus would die on a cross just for the chance that you might put your faith in him.

Just for the chance that he might get to spend eternity with you.

You realize what that means?

It means that you're far more broken and you're far more sinful than you can probably imagine.

And at the same time, you are far more worthy and far more valuable than you could ever know.

And so Jesus is saying, Take heart.

I've got a plan.

I'm going to the Father's house.

There'll be preparation through crucifixion, and I will come back for you, and I will be with you.

And then he he kind of breaks the fourth wall.

He walks out of this metaphor and he begins to directly address the disciples.

And he says, You know the way to where I'm going.

You guys know.

And I don't know why this part of the story always really cracks me up.

And there's so much tension that you kind of need like a little bit of comic relief in this moment because Jesus tells them they know something that they definitely don't know.

And that's a bad position to be in.

The other day, Lane called me up to his room, and uh he's a sophomore, and he's very smart, so he's taking all these like college dual credit classes.

So he's basically in college chemistry, and I have no idea how I passed basic remedial chemistry when I was in high school.

I'm pretty sure it's because I had a good jump shot.

That's the only way I got out of chemistry.

And he calls me up because I'm the parent, and he just knows that I know, and so I'm gonna help him, and he can't figure this problem out.

And so he describes it to me.

And he says, I've gotta figure out how to get the nodes in the module to get the flux capacitor to the X Factor and this Survivor American Idol, and then there's the the XYZ, and I've got to.

And he got to the end of his paragraph, and I was like, bro, you could speak Mandarin Chinese to me right now, and I would understand more than what you just said.

Like I was all the way lost.

No idea.

Jesus says, I'm going to my father's house.

This grand metaphor, like we're supposed to understand, and what all that means, and that we understand the heavenly spaces and the plan and where all this is going.

And the disciples are just trying to get their minds around the fact that he's dying and Judas is gone, and Peter apparently is a bad guy.

And now he's like, You guys know.

You know where I'm going, you know the way.

And I just imagine, like, all the disciples side-eyeing each other, like, do you know the way?

I thought you knew the way.

Does John know the way?

John's like, I I Googled Jesus' dad's house.

It said, try again.

I don't know.

I don't know the way.

And it's so hard when you know you don't know, you know?

Like something has to happen, something's gotta shift.

And in this moment, a moment like this, there's something that you need.

You really desperately need this.

And what you need is called that guy.

That's what you need.

You need that guy.

You know who I'm talking about?

You might be that guy, but if not, you definitely know that guy.

And it's it's a girl sometimes, but a lot of times it's it's that guy.

That guy is the guy who will say what no one else will say, whether or not it should be said, right?

And so a lot of times that guy is the worst because no, don't look at him, don't pat him right now.

Like, I know there's some that guys in here.

It's like they will say the most awkward things because everyone else gets it.

You shouldn't say this, but they'll say it anyway.

But sometimes, sometimes they're the hero.

Because sometimes there's something that needs to be said, but no one's willing to say it.

And so everyone has that guy.

And the disciples had Thomas.

You know, Thomas.

Thomas is the one where after Jesus rose again, he showed up back in the upper room and showed himself to all the disciples.

But like Thomas was at brunch or whatever, so he missed it, and he got back and thought everyone was pranking him about Jesus coming back to life.

Bro, he was here and we all saw him.

And Thomas was like, psych.

Like, that didn't happen.

People don't come back to life.

And Jesus had to show up, and now we call him doubting Thomas.

You know, he's got this terrible nickname.

Thomas is a hero, man, because he will say what no one else is willing to say.

And in verse five, Thomas says, Lord, we have no idea where you are going.

How could we possibly know the way?

He's like, Jesus, I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt your thing that you're doing here, but like, we don't know where you're going, how you're getting there, how far away it is.

You've been talking about dying.

I didn't personally receive an invitation, so I don't even know if I'm supposed to go.

Like, he's just trying to break it down and he sets Jesus up.

He sets him up because Jesus is trying to make a point here.

He knows they don't know, but he needs them to understand a deeper truth.

Jesus told him, I am the way.

I am the way.

You see what Jesus did there?

He said, I'm going and I've got to do this work and I've got to prepare.

And then I'll come back for you so that we can be together.

And you guys know the way.

You know the way.

And the disciples are like, We don't know the way.

She said, You know the way because you know me.

I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can come to the Father except through me.

And the Father is where you want to be, because where the Father is is protection.

And where the Father is is peace.

And the Father holds your purpose.

And we have good dads, we have bad dads.

I have a great dad, and I'm not just saying that because he's right there.

I had a great dad, but I did not have a perfect dad.

And I am a dad, but I am not a perfect dad.

And there is a perfect dad who never ever gets it wrong.

And in his house, your depression is gone and your anxiety is banished, and your purpose is fulfilled, and you'll be lonely no more and sad no more, and the rage will subside.

Everything that is right and good and purposeful and peaceful is where the Father is, and the only way is through the way, which is Jesus Christ.

And so this is the sixth of our I am seven statements, and and this is a triple header: the way, the truth, and the life.

And and how most people see this phrase working out is the way is the main point.

And the truth and the life are elements of Jesus that prove that he is, in fact, the one and only way.

And Jesus is truth.

And Jesus was not just sent by God, and he didn't just speak for God.

He is God, and God is truth and is the standard by which all truth is measured.

Truth isn't just something that Jesus does, he's not just truthful, he doesn't just tell truths.

Jesus is truth.

He's the full manifestation of God on the earth.

Everything he did was true because he is the truth and Jesus is the life.

We're in John chapter 14, but in John chapter 1, he wrote, In him, that's Jesus, in him was life.

John 14 · chapter mention John 1 · chapter mention

And that life was the light of men.

And it goes on to say that everything that was created was created through him.

Because he is the life.

He was the agent of creation, which means our very being, our very breathing, the very beating of our heart.

It is all contingent on Jesus.

It's all held by the one who is life.

We learned that he is the gate to eternal life.

And without him, there is no way to it, no other way to the Father.

He isn't just life eternally after this life, but he is the fullness of the life we were created to live right now by following after him.

It's where we find our promise, our purpose, and our potential.

And because he's the truth, and because he is the life, he is the way.

And as the way, he was making a way for those of us who have no way to the Father on our own.

His mission was clear.

At the end of John chapter 13, just one chapter before where we're at today, he said this, little children, and that that wasn't condescending or patronizing.

John 13 · chapter mention

It was a term of deep endearment.

He said, I'm with you a little while longer, and where I am going, the trip I'm taking to Calvary, the cross I will be hung on, where I'm going, you cannot come.

And this is a huge inversion of what religion says, and it doesn't matter what religion, pick anything other than following Christ.

Religion says there is a way.

And whoever their deity, whoever their god or gods are, they they lay out the way, they give you a map, and they equip you with some of the things that you need, and then it's up to you.

So here is a way, and if you can navigate that way perfectly, then maybe, just maybe, you can get what comes after this life.

With religion, you're either on the way or you are off the way.

You're either on the way to your eternal destiny, and it's all about you.

If you look the right way and sound the right way and dress the right way and talk the right way and have the right friends and go the right places, and if you avoid all of the bad things and all the negative things, and if you only have clean thoughts, and if you can be perfect, you're on the way.

And if you're you're sinning or transgressing or backsliding, then you're not on the way, you're off the way.

And when you show up to your religious environment, if you're off the way, you better put the right clothes on and put the right mask on and say the right words and sing the right songs.

So everyone around you will think you're on the way, because man, if not, they might just kick you out of the little special circle, and so you're either on the way or off the way.

And Jesus says, if it's up to you to be on the way, you are in trouble.

He knows us too well.

We can't do it ourselves.

So he came and did it for us, and now Jesus is the way.

We have no way.

We cannot climb the ladder ourselves.

We're too broken, we're too sinful.

So Jesus came and lived a life, the life we couldn't live, and died the death that we deserved, and defeated death itself, ascended back to heaven.

He's preparing, he's preparing your spot.

He's desperate to be with you.

Thomas Akinthis, a 14th-century theologian, said, Follow thou me.

I am the way, the truth, and the life.

Without the way, there is no going, without the truth, there is no knowing, without the life, there is no living.

I am the way which thou must follow, the truth, which thou must believe in the life, for which thou must hope.

All Jesus asks is that we put our faith in Him.

And for those who have put their faith in Jesus, we we do this public act of baptism, and it's this beautiful picture of the way, the truth, and the life.

And we put you in the water and we ask you a very simple question.

We say, Have you put your faith in Jesus?

And pretty much what we're asking is, have you chosen Jesus as the way?

And you say yes, and so we put you in the water, and we call it a water grave because it's symbolic of the grave that Jesus went into.

And when we're putting you down, we we say, buried with Christ.

And what we're doing is we are burying your old way of life.

You are dying to the truths that you have put your hope in, and you are submitting yourself to the one preeminent truth, the truth that is Jesus.

And then we pull you up, and we say, and you're raised to walk a new life, the way, the truth, and the life.

And Jesus did not just come to get you to heaven.

If that was the only goal, then we could do you a favor, we could put you under, and we could just keep you there, and we can meet Jesus real quick.

We pull you up because there is still work to be done.

You still have a life to live.

And so I see a lot of you in your purple shirts, and I'm so proud of you guys, I'm so excited to celebrate with you.

And in just a moment, I'm going to ask you guys to stand.

And maybe you came today and you weren't prepared to get baptized.

I need you to know that we came prepared for you.

And so, at any point in the rest of today's service, if you feel God pulling on your heart that this is something you need to do, if you've put your faith in Jesus and you are ready to demonstrate publicly that He is the way, the truth, and the life for you, then we have everything that you need.

We've got shorts and shirts, and we've got towels, and you can do this today.

And so I'm gonna count to three, and I want to ask everyone who's ready to get baptized, whether you came prepared or not, to just simply stand to your feet right where you are on the count of three, one, two, three.

If you guys would stand up and yeah, let's show some love.

Y'all stay standing.

I'm gonna pray for you, and then I'll give you some instructions.

Would you join me in praying?

God, I want to pray a blessing over these lives who are going through the baptismal waters.

And God, I thank you that they have put their faith in you, that they have trusted you as their way, as their truth, and as their source of life.

And God, we look forward to celebrating together as a church family and as a faith community.

I pray that this would be a milestone that they could look back on and remember forever the day that they let the world know that they are yours.

And life will be hard, and God, we will stray, but you're always there, and I pray that this is an anchor for their life to come back to and to continue following you.

And so we love you.

And God, if there's anyone else that you're working on their heart, I pray that they would allow you, that they would follow you, they'd be courageous.

We pray it all in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You guys stay standing, and what we're gonna do is uh I'm gonna say ready, set, go, and y'all are gonna head right back there.

Pastor Tony is waving at you.

If anyone else decides to get baptized during the service, you can also go right back there, back by the bathrooms where you have everything that you need.

So I'm gonna say ready, set, go.

We're gonna let them go, we're gonna make some noise and then worship together.

Ready, set, go.

Yeah, y'all make some noise for everybody getting baptized today, and let's worship together.

Thanks so much for listening to the message today.

If this was helpful to you and you want to help us get the word out, you can subscribe to this podcast.

You can rate and review or share it with your friends.

If you want to get connected further with what MetaCurch is doing, you can go online to metachurch.tv.

There you can learn how to take next steps.

You can learn where our different venues are at if you ever wanted to visit, and you can also give financially to help push this movement forward.

Man, I love you guys, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.