THE WAY

THE WAY

11/6/19

In today’s world situation it is essential that here and there among people there continue to exist rays of light and hope, spiritual realities by which the unity of God’s peace and the brotherliness of true justice are recognized. This is our only task.

These are the thoughts of Eberhard Arnold who wrote them in the 1930’s as Nazism began its control of Germany.  The world situation as he described it is no different than it was in Jesus’ time or in ours.  The players are all different, but the conditions are the same; people trying to make the world better against people trying to tear it apart. 

And so it was with the earliest followers of Christ.  All of these people, wherever they lived, Jew or Gentile, were different from the rest of the community.  This was a precarious situation.  Jesus predicted that households would be divided because of him.  These people were now living that reality.  They were no longer part of their religious communities.  They were different and for the most part, suspect.  

They did not call themselves Christians.  They called themselves The Way. At the Last Supper, Jesus was preparing them for his death and told them he would prepare a place for them and that they would know the way.  Thomas said they didn’t know the way and Jesus replied, “ I am the way.”

This passage refers to eternal life, but more importantly, The Way means living our lives with Jesus as the main focus.  This is why the early disciples called themselves The Way.  This was a new way to look at the world, their relationship with God and with their fellow humans.

Somewhere along the line we have forgotten what that means.  All Christians should be practicing The Way.  If we had, there would never have been so much division.  St. Paul spent his entire ministry trying to keep people focused on the way of Jesus.  Our final destination is up to God.  We waste a lot of time worrying about how our actions might retard our entry into Glory. Instead we should be spending our energy being The Way for others.

You may ask, “What exactly is The Way?”  Kathleen Hasenberg tells us this: 

Modern life is so complicated and torn, so distracting and disintegrating, whereas The Way is simple, light, and straight. It unifies the whole of life.

To walk the path Jesus trod in compassion for others is The Way. It isn’t just the path to God; it is the path through this world.

Blessings, 

Carol Lemelin OPA