MANY ROOMS?

Dr. Richard J. Henderson April 24, 2005

click for printable version

Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16
John 14:1-14

Introduction

Have you ever wished Jesus was still in the world so you could ask him to clarify some of the confusing parts of the Bible? In that sense, the disciples were lucky - if they didn't understand, they could ask for an explanation.

You know, Jesus would teach - telling a parable or something like that - and the disciples wouldn't get it. So later, they would take Jesus aside and ask, "We don't exactly get what you were talking about there. What did you mean?" Then Jesus would explain. We don't get that chance.

I

One of my questions for Jesus would be about, "There are many dwelling places in my father's house." Have you ever given that phrase much thought? Why would God's house, have many dwelling places in it?

Don't feel bad if you don't get what Jesus is saying; scholars have studied that sentence for years and nobody's come up with a good understanding yet. We don't know what Jesus meant.

We would hope that it doesn't mean that in eternal life we need to be divided up because we aren't able to get along!

Surely, when we are with God, in the end we will all understand and appreciate each other in ways that we aren't able to now. There is that old joke about the person who goes to heaven and he is being shown around. He goes to the Episcopal room where everything is very expensive, the décor is beautiful, there is fancy food and wine on the table and a gorgeous view out over the heavens.

Then he is taken to the Catholic room, which is filled with icons and statues, and has a gorgeous view out over the heavens. Then to the Presbyterian room, which is just the way you thought it would be - because it was predestined to be that way. It has a gorgeous view out over the heavens.

Finally, the man notices a room that has no windows at all. "What's that room, you can't see in or out of it!" "Oh, please keep your voice down," the guide says, "That's the Baptist room - they don't think there's anybody else up here!"

Hopefully Jesus isn't saying there are many rooms in his father's house because we all have to be divided up like squabbling children! Surely, he means something else.

II

Some have suggested that there are many rooms in God's house because we are not the only beings who exist. If there is life in other parts of the universe, then perhaps, God has made arrangements for them.

Remember Michelangelo's famous painting, "The Creation of Adam," on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel? God floats on a cloud and stretches out his hand to Adam, touching finger to finger, and giving him life. Behind God on the same cloud are several other people. The indication is that there are other worlds which God has created and God is taking the others to their places.

Some would say that the many rooms in God's house are for the lives we know nothing about. God is the God of the entire universe.

III

Others interpret the many rooms to be for people of other traditions or religions whom God chooses to accept. The theologian, Harvey Cox, has written a book called Many Mansions in which he suggests that God is free to accept whomever he pleases, and God may accept people of other faiths or people who have never heard of God or Jesus.

Here many rooms may represent many traditions or places or the many names for the God of love. Diana Eck is a Christian who has spent her life understanding not only her own faith, but the beliefs of the major world religions. In 1998, the president awarded her the National Humanities Medal. She calls herself a Christian pluralist. She writes, "Through the years I have found my own faith not threatened, but broadened and deepened by the study of Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, and Sikh traditions of faith. And I have found that, only as a Christian pluralist, could I be faithful to the mystery and the presence of the one I call God. Being a Christian pluralist means daring to encounter people of different faith traditions and defining my faith not by its borders but by its roots."

Might it be that God accepts some whom we wouldn't expect? Look at the life of Jesus - he accepted the prostitute, the swindling tax collector and the outcast; while he rejected the pious, self-righteous religious leaders of his day.

Dare we say who God can accept or reject? No one really knows what Jesus meant by these words, "In my Father's house are many rooms." Why would God need many rooms?

IV

It will be helpful, though, to remember that John is not writing here about a literal house. He is not suggesting that somewhere up in the clouds there is an enormous mansion with dozens of rooms in which reside all the people God chooses to have with him. To talk of God's house and its many rooms refers not only to being with God physically, but more importantly, being in relationship with God and Christ.

Those in God's house are in close relationship with God and live their lives as God has taught us to live. God's house has many rooms. God has many ways of relating to those he has created.

Conclusion

God came to us in Jesus Christ to show us the way to God. One of the things Christ taught us was, "Judge not that you be not judged." We can trust Christ to decide about those who will be with God in his house. That there are many rooms in that house indicates that many perspectives will be represented. When we get there, there may be some surprises.

Amen.

©Richard J. Henderson 2005