Hope For Troubled Hearts

“Hope for Troubled Hearts”

John 14:1-14

Over the past few years, I have heard this phrase used to describe what’s going on around us: “The world is on fire.”

You and I are living through an extraordinary period of global conflict.

In Europe Russia and the Ukraine are in the midst of one of the continent’s deadliest wars since 1945.

In Africa, the last few years have seen devastating wars in Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan.

In the Middle East, of course, there is Israel’s record-breaking bombing of Gaza and the unfolding crisis in Yemen to name a few.

A political scientist at the University of Chicago wrote in the Atlantic that we are in the midst of “not a war, but a world at war.”

Add to that the climate crisis, inflation, and political polarization and we have a recipe for troubled hearts.

People are anxious.

People are depressed.

People are stressed.

What is going on in our world?

What does the future hold?

These are questions most of us wrestle with on a fairly regular basis.

And these are questions the disciples were wrestling with in our Gospel Lesson for this morning.

(pause)

John Chapter 14 opens with Jesus seeking to reassure His disciples.

He had washed their feet and eaten with them.

He had predicted that Judas would betray Him, and sure enough, Judas has slipped out into the night.

He has told His disciples that He will be with them just a little while longer, and that where He is going, they cannot come.

He has also foretold Peter’s upcoming denial.

No wonder the disciples are troubled.

The ground is shifting beneath their feet.

And Jesus responds to their anxieties by saying: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.

You believe in God; believe also in me.”

The word Jesus uses for “believe in me” in John 14:1 can also be translated as “trust me” or “keep on trusting me.”

Jesus is calling His disciples back to this fundamental relationship of trust that He has been forging with them for as long as they have been following Him.

But as Jesus looked at these guys, He knew His words weren’t quite getting through.

He knew how disturbed they were and how upset they were, and He knew what was causing it.

He also knew the remedy for it.

Perhaps there are many here among us this morning who are suffering from the same misery as the disciples—troubled hearts, fearful hearts, upset, disturbed, agitated hearts because of what is going on in our lives or in the world or both.

Jesus knew the disciples were afraid of what was coming.

They were afraid of death—afraid that they, with Him, were going to be executed.

They knew about the opposition that had risen against them in Jerusalem, the bitter hatred of the Pharisees, and their determination to eliminate Jesus and all His followers.

They knew they were in danger, and so their hearts were deeply troubled.

But more than that physical danger to themselves, they were fixated on His words about leaving them.

This had struck terror in their hearts.

They were afraid that even though they might survive, might escape death, they would have to go on living without Him, and that was unbearable to them.

So, Jesus says to them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

(pause)

When I was a kid I had a reoccurring fear.

My parents were quite a bit older than the parents of my friends.

They had tried to have kids for many years, and then finally decided to adopt my oldest sister Wendy.

As soon as Wendy’s adoption was approved, my Mom finally became pregnant with my other sister, Lisa.

And then, a few more years down the line I came into the picture as a bit of a surprise.

And because my parents were older, I worried that they would die while I was still young.

It’s just what I worried about.

It was what troubled my heart as a kid.

I even had nightmares about it.

It turns out that they lived for a long time and only passed away in the past few years.

(pause)

Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled”—“Do not let…”

The words “Do not let…” indicate that the disciples can do something about their problem.

They held in their own hands the key to their release from heart trouble.

It was possible for them to either let it happen, or not to let it happen.

And I think Jesus is saying this to us as well.

There is a way out of our heart difficulty—this distress and anxiety concerning both life and death and Jesus gives the answer.

“Keep on trusting in me. 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?