"Do
not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me."
John
14:1
The summer between my
fifth and sixth grade years there was a scripture memory
contest for kids at
the Church of the Nazarene in Randle, Washington. The prize for the
winner was a whole
table full of games and candy. So, for the love of candy, I began a
very close
relationship with my black leather King James Bible that my parents had
given me for Christmas
when I was 7. I also had, close by, my paperback New
Testament, titled “Reach
Out”, which was a 1970’s TLB paraphrase of the Bible that
helped me understand
what in the world King James was actually talking about. I did
win the contest but
the bigger win was that afterward, while eating all the Red Vines and Junior Mints, I also
continued reading my Bible.
One of my favorite
books that summer was the Gospel of John. It made sense to me. I
saw Jesus when I read
John and reading made me want to know Jesus more. John still
helps me see the heart
of God.
As I grew into young
adult years though, I somehow slid into reading scripture mostly
with my head and less
with my heart; more to know principles, like I was out to prove
something, fix
something, or win a contest again, and less to know Jesus. Looking
today at this verse
from John 14 I’m more convinced than ever that I had it right that
summer as a sixth
grader. Know Jesus.
A couple of things
seem clear to me in John 14:1. The first is that the very words “do
not let” point to a
choice that is apparently ours to make. We can let our hearts be
troubled or not let
our hearts be troubled.
I think the idea that
we can simply “not let” trouble in is initially kind of hard to get one’s mind around. At least
it is for me. Due to the noise and pace of life, or our own
sometimes unhealthy
patterns of processing pain, or a thousand other reasons, the
thought that I can
choose to not allow my heart to be troubled doesn’t naturally seem to factor into the
equation. More often we seem to mindlessly feel at the whim of whatever troubled winds are
blowing, believing stress is human and inevitable and there’s really no choice in the
matter.
Maybe we just don’t
think that God is that good.
Well, stress and
trouble certainly are human, and inevitable. Yet, Jesus is clear:
"Do not let your hearts
be troubled."
The Message Bible phrases Jesus’ words this way:
“Don’t let this throw
you.”
A second thing that
drew me into this verse this week is the context in which John
places it. A quick
walk through preceding chapters shows us that Jesus wasn’t in some
la-la sunny meadow
fantasyland denying that there will ever be any really difficult
mountains for us all
to climb. He was more like standing in a blizzard on the side of Mt.
Everest saying “This.
Even this...don’t let it throw you. Trust God. Trust me.”
The “this” for Jesus
was unimaginable pain and heartache. In chapters 12 and 13 of
John Jesus knows his
message and his life will be ridiculed and rejected by his
community and that he
will be sent to a horrific, violent death. His closest friends will not only betray him, but
will disown him. Huge changes,
heartbreak of the deepest kind, violent physical and
spiritual pain….it was a tsunami of unthinkable heartache.
And in the midst of
that, Jesus says, “don’t let your heart be troubled.” He’s already
living what it is he’s
inviting us into.
Trouble weighed on
Jesus’ heart just like it weighs on yours and mine. In John 13:21 he
was “troubled in
spirit” as he told his disciples that one of them would betray him. How
could he not be?
Clearly Jesus wasn’t suggesting in John 14:1 that we just don’t get
upset about things. Or
that we ignore depression. Or that we shame ourselves when
we feel afraid.
So if Jesus knows that
heartache is a given, and even to be embraced, what exactly is
he asking of us when
he tells us to not let our hearts be troubled?
Maybe what Jesus knew,
and was pointing Peter and the others to, what shaped him
and directed him, was
simply this:
He knew he was loved
by his Father.
And exactly because of
his unity with the Father, Jesus could be in troubling times
without the troubling
times being in him. He could be in the raging storm of uncertainty without the storm
defining or directing him. And he wants the disciples to know that this is true for them, for
us, as well.
“I
have told you these things so that in
me you might have peace. In the world you
shall have
trouble. But be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. ”
John 16:33
For those of us that
were blessed to be raised in a home with parents that took good
care of us, can you
remember that sense of never worrying about much because there
was an inner knowledge
that whatever it was, mom and/or dad would take care of it?
And you lived with a
free heart. If that wasn’t you, what child have you known that this is true for?
Not that there was
never a fear, but there was an internal assurance as a child that
dwarfed fear. All
concerns were put in their place within the context of the relationship
we had with the ones
taking care of us. As kids we rested, relatively worry free, exactly
because we had faith
in our parents (grandparents, big brother’s, Uncle’s, Aunt’s) Love
for us.
It is “in me”, Jesus
says, that we embrace the confidence and assurance that lets us
find our feet in
troubled times. “Do not let your hearts be troubled” is not a mandate to
will away hardship, or
engage in more positive thinking. It’s not a curriculum for a new
self-help plan. All of
those things may have their place, but this is an invitation to
relationship, and a
reminder that our protection and peace are…. In Him.
In another place,
Jesus tells his disciples that they, we, need to rediscover faith like a
child and let it
possess us in order to be in God’s Kingdom. He wasn’t talking about
how to get to heaven.
He was talking about how to have heaven on earth: how to live,
with full presence and
even joy, through rain and shine, here in this life. Faith like a child in the One Father who
is caring for us casts out the fear that cripples our capacity to live, care and grow.
Faith like a child casts out the fear that steals peace.
Especially during
these days of Covid-19 when, for some, stresses we never would
have imagined threaten
things held dear, the very good news is that it’s exactly into
troubled times that
Jesus speaks John 14:1.
My sixth grade self,
searching to know Jesus, set an example for me this week. I hope
she can encourage you
too.
Pick up the Gospel of
John. Hang out with Jesus and let him form you from the inside
out through the Father’s
great unending Love for you. And if you’re one that is already
spending time there,
help someone else!
Our relationship with
Jesus, in Jesus, will not erase all traces of grief or fear, because
fear is not the enemy.
Attempting to walk alone outside of the communion we were
made for, that
is the enemy. We were made to be with each
other, in him. And in him,
all of our fears bow
to the power of this defining Love. Do not let your hearts be
troubled.
Talk to Jesus, listen
to him, and reach out to His Body, your faith community. We really
really
do need each other!
Here is what happened
when my much loved son-in-law Ben, former atheist forever
changed by Jesus, was
hanging out with Jesus last week. I asked him if I could share
this song with you.
Maybe I can share the recording of it next time:
I
Stand With You
I
feel no anxiety, when I wait for you
I
see no sign for me, but I look to you
I
hear no company, still I pray to you
I
know you stand for me, and I stand with you
I
know you stand for me, and I stand with you
I
know you stand for me, and I stand with you
-
Benjamin Boice
Don’t let this throw
you, loved one.
God is with you. He is
your Peace.
I’m praying we all
continue to find ourselves in him this week.
Much love to all,
Laura