“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?
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am going.
You know the way to the place where I am going.”
And it’s kind of funny because Thomas takes Jesus quit literally.
He wants directions, a road map to this place.
“Lord we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus responds by saying that He Himself is the way: “I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.”
And this statement by Jesus is a promise.
It’s a word of comfort for His disciples.
Jesus Himself is all they need; there is no need to panic, no need to search desperately for a secret map.
Then Jesus adds, “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.”
In Greek this statement is a condition of fact—meaning that the condition is understood to be true: “If you really know me (and you do), you will know my Father as well.”
And so that there can be no misunderstanding, Jesus adds, “From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
But this time, it’s Phillip who isn’t quite convinced.
Phillip says in verse 8: “Lord show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
And this has been the mission of Jesus, to make known the Father, to reveal Who God is and what God is like.
“Don’t you know me, Phillip, even after I have been among you for such a long time,” Jesus asks.
“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’”
If we want to know Who God is, we need look no further than Jesus.
All the words that Jesus has spoken, the beautiful and compassionate things He has done, show us Who God is.
How does that make you feel?
Does that calm your heart any?
Not having a troubled heart shouldn’t be seen as a promise of a trouble-free life.
Of course we will have troubles.
But these troubles are not to drive us into fear.
And that is because we trust in Jesus.
Jesus wants us to know that the only thing that should trouble our hearts is separation from Him, and His words about preparing a place should take care of that.
You might be thinking, “What do you mean by that?”
Well, Jesus tells the disciples and us something important about “where” He is going.
He is going to the Father.
And “To the Father” is more about a relationship than it is a place.
The many dwelling places aren’t about changes in geography, but changes of heart.
It’s an ongoing thing, because it has already happened as soon as we accept Christ as Savior and begin to trust in Him.
But it is a future hope as well.
Again, understandably the disciples are unsure as about how to get to where Jesus is going, but Jesus assures them that He is the way.
He is the path or road.
“The way” means “the way of life.”
Trusting in Jesus is the way of life that leads to the Father.
Trusting in Jesus is the way of life in which transformation happens.
Trusting in Jesus changes our hearts from troubled hearts to peace-filled hearts.
Life with Jesus is not so much a destination as it is a way of being and becoming.
The dwelling place Jesus talks about is Jesus Himself.
We are to dwell in Him…
…and we will dwell in Him forever…
…both in this life and in the life to come.
This is what gives us hope in this mixed-up and crazy world where everything seems to be on fire.
This is what enables us to not only make it through, but to run the race victoriously—making a positive difference with our lives as we take hold of Jesus’ hand and go where He leads.
And Jesus always leads us to where the hurting people are.
Jesus leads us into ministry.
Whether that means visiting the imprisoned, taking care of the sick, feeding the hungry or giving a cold drink of water or a hot cup of coffee to the thirsty.
That is how Jesus can say, “Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing.”
Now, it is true that Jesus is literally going to be with the Father in heaven and will return one day to this earth.
To re-create all things making a new heaven and a new earth.
But in the mean time, He is also with us, leading us and we are dwelling in Him.
How is this?
If we were to read on in John Chapter 14 we would see Jesus say, “I will ask the Father and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth…
…you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.
Because I live, you also will live.
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”
That is our forever place—Living in Jesus!!!
It begins now as we learn to trust in Him.
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus,
Our hearts are troubled, but we don’t want them to be and You don’t want us to have troubled hearts.
That is why You have come into this world—to show us the Father and to prepare a place for us in Your Father’s house through Your death and Resurrection.
Lord we want to trust in You.
We want to make our lives in You.
Change us.
Enable us to believe.
Take our hand and may we never let go of Your hand.
In Jesus’ name and for His sake we pray.
Amen.
