Satisfaction Guaranteed

Discipleship is less about finding the right path, and more about following the right person.

“Satisfaction Guaranteed.” You see it stamped on boxes, printed on receipts, and splashed across storefront windows and websites. It is the promise we crave before we buy. The phrase was part of the consumer lingo-sphere long before Mick Jagger began complaining that he “can’t get no satisfaction.” Today, the concept of guaranteed satisfaction has wandered far beyond Jagger’s personal problems and the shopping malls of America. It is a short story by Isaac Asimov, song titles across multiple genres, and a marketing pledge that often means, “Trust us — you won’t be disappointed.”

The expression has its origins in the retail mail order business. Montgomery Ward is thought to be the first retailer to make this unequivocal and remarkable promise when he founded the first successful general merchandise mail-order business in 1872. His guarantee was a revolutionary and essential marketing tool aimed at building trust. People in rural areas patronized local general stores and were skeptical of buying goods sight unseen from a catalog.

By offering the unconditional promise, “Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back,” Ward reassured customers that they could trust the company and its products, effectively diffusing the risk of buying by mail. This promise of customer satisfaction helped the company become a massive success and set a standard for retail that continues today — although the failure of “Monkey Wards” to adapt to a changing retail landscape in the end of the 20^th century made the company as irrelevant as Walkmans, phone booths, cassette tapes and drive-in movie theaters.

But today’s text tells us that long before return policies and customer service lines, people were already looking for a guarantee. In the Upper Room, in the hours before the cross, Jesus’ friends reached out for reassurance. Philip finally said what many of us feel but rarely say out loud: “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied” (v. 8). In other words, “Give me a money back guarantee, and I will feel better about investing in you.”

Let’s discuss this ache, this basic human need, this restless search for the one guarantee that truly satisfies — and then unpack Jesus’ surprising answer.

 

The Longing for Satisfaction

John 14 unfolds in the thick of anxiety. Jesus has washed their feet; Judas has slipped out into the night; Peter has been told he will deny his Lord before dawn. It is into this churning atmosphere that Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me” (v. 1). He widens their field of vision: “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places … if I go to prepare a place for you … I will come again” (vv. 2-3).

Even so, the questions keep rising.

Thomas speaks for the unsure: “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” (v. 5).

Philip speaks for the unsatisfied: “Show us the Father, and we will be satisfied” (v. 8).

The voices of Thomas and Philip still live in us. Are you a Thomas or a Philip? Which is more important to you, clarity or comfort? A map or an ego massage? Reassurance or instant gratification? We long for clarity (“show us the map”), and we long for certainty (“show us the Father”). We want a plan that guarantees outcomes. We want satisfaction that can be measured, reviewed, and — if needed — returned within 30 days.

But underneath both questions is something deeper and more honest: we want presence. We want to know we are not alone, that our lives are not random and have meaning. Think about what you are seeing and hearing on your phone or television every night. Things like:

• The burger chains telling us to “have it your way,” or that we “deserve a break today.”
• The perfume company reminding us to indulge, “because you’re worth it.” Or “unleash your signature,” “embrace your essence,” “your identity in a bottle,” “inhale confidence” or “transform your day.”
• Insurance companies alleging that “you’re in good hands,” or that “like a good neighbor,” they are “there” for you. Or that they are “on your side.”
• Extremely lenient, 365-day or even “lifetime” return policies.
• The weight loss outfits that offer “100% Satisfaction Guarantees” to hedge against “buyer’s remorse,” adding that if you don’t “see a positive difference within 30 days,” you get a full refund.

And the ultimate reassurance for those of us afflicted with a 30-day return policy mentality is that when all else fails, we know that “there’s an app for that.”

 

Jesus’ Surprising Answer

Thomas asks for GPS coordinates. “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” (v. 5). Rather than launch into a long, tendentious philosophical response, Jesus simply gives himself: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (v. 6). This is not a travel app; it is a relationship. Discipleship is not finding the right route but following the right Person.

Then Philip asks for the ultimate sign: “Show us the Father.” Jesus replies, “Have I been with you all this time … and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (v. 9).

Many in Israel’s story had longed to see God. Moses begged, “Show me your glory.” The prophets spoke of visions and voices. Philip’s request is a cousin of this longing. And Jesus answers with a claim that would be scandalous if it were not true: the clearest, truest vision of the Father is found in the face, words and works of Jesus. “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (v. 11).

If you want to know what God looks like, look at Jesus. He is stooping to wash feet, healing the broken, forgiving enemies, welcoming outsiders, telling the truth and laying down his life in love.

Take it a step further. If you want to know what Jesus looks like, find someone who professes to know him. Find someone who calls herself a Christian. Find someone who identifies as a Jesus follower. Find such a person, and you might find satisfaction.

There is a well-known sermon illustration that has been circulating for years. It’s an urban legend about the busy New York or Boston executive rushing to catch a train. He’s late for an appointment. He gets to the track and bumps into a kid, knocking him to the ground and scattering his bag of Lincoln Logs (a precursor to Legos) all over the platform. The hapless businessman, flustered, wavers momentarily, and then crouches beside the boy, pulls him to his feet, and helps him collect the Lincoln Logs. The boy is in awe, and asks him, “Mister, are you Jesus?”

And in that moment, this nameless CEO realizes that he is, in fact, Jesus. He acted precisely the same way as the Jesus who said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

This story probably never happened, at least not in this particular manner. But it does raise some interesting questions. Would you be mistaken for Jesus, or for someone who claims to know God, if:

• You act like an entitled customer who abuses the wait staff at a restaurant?
• You are a mean-spirited digital warrior who thinks it’s okay to post vicious, non-constructive, or character-assassinating comments about a public figure, a business, or even a friend’s personal decisions on social media?
• You are known as a prideful, arrogant, abusive and judgmental SOB?
• You walk past a homeless person in obvious need of assistance or interaction without rendering aid. (In other words, no one would ever mistake you for a good Samaritan.)

Philip wants to be shown the Father. Jesus says that if you know him, you know God. So the question is, “In what way does our life demonstrate a knowledge of Jesus?”

The slogans and taglines to which we referred earlier (like “Have it your way”) can act as false gospels or mini creeds that show what our culture worships: clarity, comfort and convenience.

But the discipleship counter-story is that satisfaction isn’t guaranteed by policy or purchase. This is the first surprise of the passage: satisfaction is found in a Person.

 

What Kind of Satisfaction Does Jesus Guarantee?

Does Jesus guarantee satisfaction? Yes, but not the kind we typically seek. He doesn’t promise that every question will be answered as we expect, that every road will be smooth, or that every pain will be quickly remediated. What he does guarantee in this text comes in three guarantees he offers as gifts.

1. He guarantees an eternal home. “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places … I go and prepare a place for you” (vv. 2-3). Jesus anchors their future, not in wishful thinking, but in satisfying some of Abraham Maslow’s top needs: shelter and security. Jesus says, “Don’t trouble yourself: you have a home with the Father. Guaranteed! The world will still shake, but your future won’t.

2. He guarantees the gift of divine presence. He doesn’t hand them a doctrinal packet and disappear. He offers himself. “I am the way … If you know me, you will know my Father also” (vv. 6-7). Even in his bodily absence, his presence remains through his Word and, as the chapter continues, by the Spirit (vv. 16-18). Satisfaction in Jesus’ vocabulary is presence — God with us, here and now.

3. He guarantees the gift of participation. “The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do, and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father” (v. 12). We get to take part in our own redemption. Greater works, he says. Not necessarily flashier miracles, but a greater scope and deeper reach. The risen Christ, by his Spirit, extending his mercy and truth through a global church. Jesus moves satisfaction beyond “my needs met” to “my life caught up in God’s mission.” The guarantee is meaning. Your life, your prayers and your deeds are taken up into what God is doing in the world.

In other words, Jesus offers us the gifts of a place, a person and a purpose — satisfaction guaranteed. Hard to be dissatisfied with that kind of offer.

 

So What’s the Problem?

The problem is that we too often want control, and unfortunately, that’s not how it works. Like Thomas, we want to know the way and the destination. We want this so we can plan our own route, calculate the time required, and so on.

Lacking that, we would at least ask for a map with mile-markers.

But Jesus doesn’t bite. He says, “I am the way.” We want certainty. Jesus offers confidence — a much better offer because certainty is a feeling that fluctuates. Confidence is trust in someone’s character. “Believe in God; believe also in me” (v. 1). Your peace rests on who God is, not how you feel at 2 a.m.

Often, we want relief and we want it now! Like most parents, God doesn’t respond well to tantrums. Instead, God offers through Jesus Christ a sustained and ongoing presence. “Let not your hearts be troubled” doesn’t mean “You’ll never be troubled.” It means trouble won’t have the last word because God has your back. The promise is not that God will rubber-stamp our blueprint, but that God will act in ways that reveal a divine goodness.

 

Satisfaction Reframed by the Gospel

So, is satisfaction guaranteed? Yes, just not in the same way the world guarantees it.

• It’s not a guarantee of ease, but of presence: “I am with you.”
• It’s not a guarantee of control, but of communion: “The Father is in me, and I am in the Father.”
• It’s not a guarantee of your plan, but of his purpose: “Greater works … that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
• It’s not a guarantee of temporary thrills, but of eternal belonging: “I go to prepare a place for you.”

When Philip says, “Show us the Father, and we will be satisfied,” Jesus doesn’t hand him a lightning bolt or a ladder to heaven. He hands him himself — a basin and towel. “Hey Philip, let’s see that foot. …” The guarantee comes in the form of counter-intuitive expectations, like the erroneous idea that in life we’ll never walk through sorrow. Not true. What is true is that we’ll never walk it alone. Or the false notion that now that I have a relationship with Christ, I’ll have access to all the answers. Again, not true. What is true is that we’ll have 24/7 access to the One who does have all the answers — although they are answers we may not like.

If you have a troubled heart, hear Jesus’ first word again: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me” (v. 1). If you echo Thomas’ question, “How can we know the way?” then also hear Jesus’ second word: “I am the way” (v. 6). If you are with Philip when he demanded, “Show us the Father,” hear Jesus’ third word: “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (v. 9). And if you are wondering whether your small life can make any difference, carry home his promise: “The one who believes in me will also do the works that I do … If in my name you ask me … I will do it” (vv. 12-14).

This is Jesus’ version of “Satisfaction Guaranteed”: a place prepared for you, a person present for you, and a purpose worth investing your whole life to fulfill.

Sounds like a deal.

Amen.

—Timothy Merrill and Carl Wilton contributed to this material.

The Other Texts

What Is One Possible Approach to the Text?

The Difficulty of Letting Go. Although the possibility of martyrdom for the sake of one’s faith is a very real one in a number of hotspots around the world, it is hardly a significant issue for American Christians. (See the remarkable story of Christian martyrs in “Their God Is My God.”) Apart from Stephen’s martyrdom itself, the extraordinary aspects of his death are found in his final words, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (v. 60). If there is one weakness common to the human condition, and certainly not extinct in Christians themselves, it is the tendency to hold “sin” committed against us to the account of those who have perpetrated it. We have a hard time letting go of grudges. Yet, here is a man being stoned to death, and in his dying moments, he absolves his murderers for the deed they are committing. Can we do no less with those who have afflicted us with far fewer crimes, some of which are trivial by comparison?

What Does the Text Say?

The enmity recounted in this passage offers a theologically rich tapestry to consider because of its relationship to other well-known narratives. First, the violent reaction of the religious leaders to Stephen’s sermon stands in sharp contrast to the response Peter received when the people “welcomed his message” and the church had “the goodwill of all the people” (Acts 2:41, 47). However, on this occasion, the authorities carried out previous threats, i.e., “they were enraged and wanted to kill them” (5:33). Second, Stephen saw Jesus adorned with heaven’s glory, as did Peter, John and James on the Mount of Transfiguration (7:55; cf. Luke 9:28-32). Third, Stephen’s behavior as he was being stoned to death echoes Jesus’ demeanor on the cross. Stephen’s request, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” parallels Jesus’ entreaty as he was dying (7:59; cf. Luke 23:46). Then, as he was taking his final breath, Stephen, like Jesus, offers an extraordinary supplication on behalf of his accusers: “He knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’” (7:60; cf. Luke 23:34).

What Is One Possible Approach to the Text?

Whose Time Is It, Anyway? We often ask, “What time is it?” Time is something of which we all are aware. We need to get to work on time. We need to catch a flight and be on time. We need to get to our daughter’s ballet performance and be on time. The office won’t wait for us; the plane won’t wait for us; the performance will not be delayed until we arrive. We therefore use a variety of devices to ensure we are on time. These include pop-up reminders on our laptops, tablets, smartphones, watches, etc. We maintain online calendars including appointments, travel plans and school events. We may even buy a book or two to help us manage our time more efficiently. All of this happens because we assume, and to some extent correctly, that our time is ours alone to manage. If we mismanage it, we have no one to blame but ourselves. However, what if we rephrased the question to ask, “Whose time is it?” The psalmist says, “My times are in your hands” (v. 15). Now we must take a different perspective on the time we are trying to manage. It is not, after all, our time, but God’s time. This is both comforting and terrifying — terrifying because it is God and comforting because we know that God is the Master Planner, and God knows best.

What Does the Text Say?

Psalm 31, the source of today’s reading, is a song expressing the quiet and total trust the psalmist has in God’s unfailing care. The “net,” the “enemies” and the “persecutors” of this psalm (vv. 4, 15) are unspecified, allowing later readers or hearers the freedom to apply the words to their own situations. Regardless of the historical specifics that may have given rise to the original psalm, its sentiments survived the test of time. God is frequently described as a rock, not only in the psalms, where the description is most common, but also in early and classical poetry elsewhere in the OT. The first half of verse 5 is quoted by Jesus during his crucifixion (according to Luke 23:46), and it would be a misreading of the psalm’s original context to understand “spirit” as distinct from body or any other part of the individual. In Psalm 31, the word “spirit” is used metonymically, referring to the entire person (as the word “crown” refers to the monarch wearing it). Only much later in the biblical tradition did the word “spirit” take on the meaning of the more important, essential or inseparable component of a person. Here it simply expresses the psalmist’s utter trust in the Lord’s protection.

What Is One Possible Approach to the Text?

Babies, Stones and Priests. This is a choose-your-metaphor sermon. Do you want to compare your congregation to babies, stones or priests? If babies, then one can develop a sermon that identifies the familiar characteristics of infants. What do babies need to grow? 24/7 care, protection, shelter, sleep, clothing, language instruction, etc. But it all comes down to two essentials: feeding and diaper changes. Make the spiritual application. Do you want to compare the congregation to stones? Talk about the types of stones necessary to create a structure that has integrity and durability. Foundation stones, stones that create the defining living space or ornamental stones. Or is this a congregation of priests? What sacrifices do they make? How do they relate to each other and do ministry? In what way do they act as representatives and intermediaries?

What Does the Text Say?

This brief reading shifts rapidly from one image to another. It opens with an image focused on the need for the readers to be nourished for their new life in Christ. They are mere “newborn infants” who must be nursed on “spiritual milk” in order that they “may grow into salvation” (v. 2). The imagery presents God as the nursing mother, as is clear from both the explicit statement that they have “tasted that the Lord is good” (v. 3) and the absence of association of “milk” with the “word” (as in Hebrews 5:12-13). The imagery shifts dramatically in verse 4, both in its reference to Christ rather than to the readers and in likening him to a “living stone” that is “precious in God’s sight” even if “rejected by mortals.” The readers are then encouraged to become “living stones” that are being “built into a spiritual house” (v. 5a). The association with a “spiritual house” or temple leads to yet another image for the readers as “a holy priesthood” that can “offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God” (v. 5b). Following a return focus on Christ through proof texts that establish the image of him as a “stone,” the passage concludes by resuming the image of the readers as “a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (v. 9). The emphasis is placed upon the role they are to fulfill for others by proclaiming the mighty acts of God so that others may also receive the mercy they have come to know.

Worship Resources

Go in peace to wait for Christ, living in uncertain times, but with eagerness and hope. Know that you are equipped, not only to survive, but to prosper, giving witness to God’s work in a world where God is often difficult to behold. Look for signs of God’s work, searching for evidence of God’s grace where others find only despair.

And may the love of God protect you, the grace of Christ walk with you, and the power of the Spirit grant you all good gifts for the living of these days.

Call: Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.

Response: We believe in you, Father, and in your Son, Jesus Christ.

Call: I am going to prepare a place for you in my Father’s house.

Response: We believe in you, Father, and in your Son, Jesus Christ.

Call: I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am.

Response: We believe in you, Father, and in your Son, Jesus Christ.

Call: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Response: We believe in you, Father, and in your Son, Jesus Christ.

—Based on John 14:1-6

Leader: Jesus said, “Come to me, all who are weary and I will give you rest.”

Voice 1: We come weary.

Leader: Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”

Voice 2: We come searching for our place.

Leader: Come, worship the Christ who gives new life to the world-weary. Come and find the space reserved for you.

All: Come, let us worship with hope!

Hymns
I Know That My Redeemer Liveth
I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art
O Jesus, I Have Promised

Worship and Praise*
Better Is One Day (Redman)
Jesus Strong and Kind (Farren, Robinson, Thompson, Buchanan)
Running Home (West, Pardo, Cochren)

*For licensing and permission to reprint or display these songs on screen, go to ccli.com. The worship and praise songs suggested by Homiletics can be found in most cases on Google by using the title as the search term.

COMMENTARY

on John 14:1-14