In tonight’s Gospel we have Jesus identifying himself with God as The Great “I AM”. When Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life,” our ears should burn as we remember YAHWEH, the God of Israel, telling Moses who He is. Out of the burning bush God says to Moses, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus tells the disbelieving Sadducees that because the great I Am is the same God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. This is the same spiritual life force that is God, and this life force is One.
As Christians we believe that God the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. This is one of the lines from the Nicene Creed we recite on Sundays. So, when Philip asks Jesus to show him God the Father, Jesus replies He/Jesus is One with the Father. If you know the Father you know me. Since this is a deep theological truth, and Philip doesn’t necessary get it, Jesus offers, “at least believe on the evidence of the works [of God] themselves.” And what are these works? Well, going back to the Moses story, God is the great gathering force who desires to once again gather his people Israel so that He may be their God, and they His people. That’s the work; and this is the same work, the work of God being done by Jesus. Jesus is gathering his people once again, and those who recognize his divinity recognize the way, the truth, and the life. His work is to gather up those who are on their way to him as well as invite those who do not know him into his Being, or into his “I Am-ness.”
When we remember all the above, Jesus’ words, “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” makes more sense. If we have been gathered up by God who is the way, truth, and life then our actions, and our works have the potential to be one with the actions and workings of the living God! This is what is meant by the words in The Lord’s Prayer, “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” In other words, when we align ourselves with the will of God, we are asking for what God has already deemed a triumphant, ‘Yes.’ God is glorified in saying ‘Yes’ to His will – always. So what does all of this “look like” on the ground? That’s where the saints come in – two of which we are celebrating today. The saints of the church show us through their lives what the workings of God look like, and the workings of God are as diverse as the saints themselves. St. Philip is certainly different than St. James, or St. Augustine, St. Aquinas, or Theresa. Throughout space and time, it is the saints who inspire us to focus our lives on the will of God the Father, and in doing so find Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Tonight, as we all seek out health, healing, and wholeness may your prayers align with the Spirit of Christ who is constantly praying within you to the Father in heaven, and in doing so revealing God’s will in your life.
fatherbrandon 