My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? – John 14:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 21, 2017): John 14

Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu teaches that we should

                                      Manifest plainness,
                                      Embrace simplicity,
                                      Reduce selfishness,
                                      Have few desires.”

It is often the moments that we forget this advice that causes us trouble. It is then that we begin to believe that there is something special about us when there isn’t. Even the most talented among us need to embrace the fact that our talents are either just the luck of the draw, or a gift from a higher power, but that they have very little to do with us.

It is easy to read this passage and become a little self-absorbed. One pastor commented to me that he liked the King James Version of this verse better – The King James reads “In my Father’s House are many mansions.” He argued that he didn’t want just a room; he wanted a mansion. My grandfather used to sing of a “mansion just over the hilltop” based on the King James translation of this verse. Even I have preached this passage with an eye toward my comfort. If you are looking for my room, it will be the one with a Diet Coke Machine just outside the door. Of course what both of these ideas hold in common is that they lose sight of Lao Tzu’s teaching which, while not Christian, shares a significant similarity to fundamental Christian teachings on living the simple life. After a living a life marked by plainness, embracing simplicity, trying hard not to be selfish and having few desires, we seem to want an afterlife characterized by extravagance and excess – we want our mansion and not just a room.

But the other problem with our mansion theology is that it seems to miss out on one aspect that Jesus made clear to his disciples in this verse. Whether it is a mansion or a room, it is not mine. This is my Father’s house – and everything in the house belongs to him. Jesus says that he will go and prepare a place for us; that he will go out of his way to make us feel welcome, but it is still Dad’s house.

Don’t get me wrong, my Father’s House is going to be amazing, but I don’t ever want to forget that it is and always will be his house. And maybe one way of reminding ourselves of that is by practicing that kind of life in my Father’s World because this planet on which we live is not ours either. It is his and always has been his. Sometimes, like selfish children, we have trashed what is his. We need to be reminded, like children, that the time comes when we have to clean our room because it doesn’t really belong to us. And once we get used to living in our Father’s world, maybe it will be a little easier when we are welcomed into his house.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 15