In my father’s house there are many rooms

Room to Spare

Posted on by Betsy

In just a few weeks, my household will expand to include four more adults, six children, two dogs, and a tortoise named Bob. I have been getting rooms ready for this onslaught of family fun, and have enjoyed turning my upstairs office into a puppy palace for grandchild #4 to sleep in. I was just a little embarrassed recently when I looked at myself in a ZOOM call with my District Superintendent and other committee members and realized that you could see puppy decor hanging from the ceiling fan. Nobody mentioned it but I’m sure they were wondering why there were corgis and lab puppies dangling over my head. I’m just trying to make room for one more!

In our passage today, Jesus told his disciples about the things yet to come.  We join them in the Upper Room on the night before the crucifixion. He had just washed his disciple’s feet and was getting them ready for his trial and crucifixion. Even with such horrors on the horizon, Jesus’ words were meant to comfort them. He had just told them that he will soon die but reminded them of his promise to return for them. He is going ahead to get things ready and assures them that there will be a reunion where they will be with him again. “Where I am, you will be, too,” he promised (verse 3b).    

John 14:1-6

 “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. 2 My Father’s house has room to spare. If that weren’t the case, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you? 3 When I go to prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me so that where I am you will be too. 4 You know the way to the place I’m going.”

     5 Thomas asked, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

     6 Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus’ first words about not being troubled are followed by his invitation to trust, which he said twice. Jesus knew how frightened they were. He wanted to leave them with hope as they faced the fearful situation of his departure. Regardless of what they may think heaven is like, Jesus gave them this concrete hope; heaven is wherever I am. Heaven is where God and I dwell. So do not let your hearts be troubled. Jesus’ death and resurrection are the “preparing” of this dwelling. Jesus’ promise to “come and get you” is the Second Coming. 

What a blessing it is to read this today in the Common English Bible, the assigned text for all of my Cokesbury writing assignments. The phrase “room to spare” opens up an entirely new promise for us. You may be more familiar with the phrase “My father’s mansion has many rooms,” but that imposes an image in our minds of a static house built with a set number of rooms. But “room to spare” implies an open-ended invitation to anyone who wants to come in. Like Hermione’s tent in The Goblet of Fire, God’s eternal presence will just keep expanding and adding space for everyone to fit in.      

This phrase also provides a beautiful counterpoint to Jesus’ first night on earth when there was no room to spare for him and his parents at the Inn. The majesty of an endless eternal dwelling place replaces the harsh lowliness of Jesus’ first night in a feed trough. This place with plenty of room to spare will be a function of our relationship with God, where God dwells in us and we dwell in God.

So let us be untroubled. Let us trust in God and his Son. Let us make ourselves ready for that place with room to spare. And let us be sure to invite others in, too.

Who Let the Dogs In??

The Way In

Posted on by Betsy

This summer was a wonderful time of family visits for me. Both daughters came to the Outer Banks for a week and we re-enacted their childhood vacations. We took their children to all of their favorite places: the Currituck lighthouse, the sound beach in Colington, the Jolly Roger restaurant, the aquarium on Roanoke Island, the Christmas Shop … I lived those days through the present lens of introducing my grandchildren to their mother’s favorite spots while looking through the lens of the past, remembering their mothers as little girls all those many summers ago. It was heaven. I pray that no matter where my grandchildren live when they grow up, they will always return to the Outer Banks and bring their own children.

As I prepared the house and their bedrooms for their visit, I was washed in the nostalgia of my time as a young mother. I still have the bedsheets and some of the furniture from my children’s rooms growing up, and making the beds and decorating the rooms for their visit brought me such joy.

John 14: 1-14

14 “Don’t be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me. 2 My Father’s house has room to spare. If that weren’t the case, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you? 3 When I go to prepare a place for you, I will return and take you to be with me so that where I am you will be too.4 You know the way to the place I’m going.”

Thinking of Jesus preparing our rooms for our trip to heaven is a glorious thought. I wonder if it brings him the same joy it brought me as I anticipated my family’s summer visit. Does he smooth out the comforters and carefully arrange the throw pillows? Is he humming while he vacuums?

One thing is for sure … I bet the Son of God knows how to fold a fitted sheet.

5 Thomas asked, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you have really known me, you will also know the Father. From now on you know him and have seen him.”

Jesus is the way to the Father just as surely as the front door is the way into the house. Because of that one, single, profound action of taking the sins of the world upon himself, Jesus is the only way. Without that moment on the cross, our sins would never be forgiven. In its essence, sin is separation from God. Without Jesus, there is no entryway of repentance/forgiveness/grace/faith. All who believe in him will be saved.

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father; that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus replied, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been with you all this time? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I have spoken to you I don’t speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Trust me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or at least believe on account of the works themselves. 12 I assure you that whoever believes in me will do the works that I do. They will do even greater works than these because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask for in my name, so that the Father can be glorified in the Son. 14 When you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.

We can see in this passage that even toward the end of his ministry, Jesus still struggled with his disciples for understanding and acceptance. He was not the Messiah they had been looking for, and so they still were unsure about exactly who Jesus was. The mystery of the incarnation was still confusing to them. How could Jesus really be the Son of God?

The disciples didn’t yet know the end of the story, but we do. We see all the promises of God, the foretelling of the prophets, and the works of Jesus himself come together in this passage and we know without a doubt that Jesus made good on his word. He returned to the Father to get the house ready for our arrival.

And because he lives, we shall live also.

I hope that brings you a moment of joy today. Even when things seem very dark in this world, knowing that Jesus is holding the front door of heaven wide open gives us strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. What is God asking you to do before you go? Is there someone you need to forgive, a friend you need to witness to, a task yet undone, or a loose end to tie up? Best get to it. You know the way.

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow by Rena Farrelly