Oh gracious and loving God, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. For you are our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Well, a few years ago, and actually even more often than that, I can remember lying awake at night. Life was difficult. Not impossible, but we all have difficulties. There wasn’t any real drama going on. There’s no emergency happening, but my mind wouldn’t stop. It just kept churning. You know that time when one thought goes to another thought that goes to another thought? You’re wide awake and you just can’t seem to stop it. I started solving problems that didn’t even exist. I was making stuff up. What if this happened? What if that goes wrong? What if I’m not ready? What if there’s things I don’t know about? What if? What if I’m in the dark and I am deciding that I wasn’t resting? What I was really doing was I was rehearsing fear. I was bringing it in.
Does anybody else here worry? Yeah. But I’m a first class worrier. I am an Olympic size worrier. I’ve been worrying since the time I was tiny. I remember when I was really little, really little, my mom brought home this book, How Not to Worry, which is ironic because I couldn’t even read. But the truth was, she was worried about my worrying. It’s something we do. And you know, there’s people in our lives that’ll come to us and they’ll say things like, “Don’t worry. It doesn’t help. Just stop that.” Let’s be honest, that’s not helping anything. And then I’ve got a family member, well, one that looks exactly like me, who finds silver linings in these things I’m worried about. Everything has a positive outcome, no matter how bad things are. She could find a silver lining in a train wreck. And let’s face it, none of it fixes anything and none of it stops the worry.
But it was clear from that scripture reading that Jesus understood that. He understood it with the disciples. He understands it now. He knows that worry and fears and concerns, they consume us. They’re scary. Hence his statement, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” It’s a statement and it’s a command to us. But unlike those well-intentioned folks in our lives, the scripture passage gives us some understanding and maybe even some hints on how to combat worry.
You know, this was a complex reading. There’s a lot in there. There’s nuance and not nuance. And some of those passages have assertations that some Christian denominations will tell you mean a certain thing, a certain way. And it all follows back to follow their way and you will be following the right way and the only way to God. But before we get into a little bit more of that, let’s see what takes place during this time when Jesus was speaking to his disciples. See, this is often called the farewell discourse in the end of John’s gospel. Jesus had just shared his final meal, the communion, the that we’re going to be sharing soon with the disciples.
And in this very human space, Jesus speaks those words, let not your hearts be troubled. And really, it’s an invitation. And the invitation is not a declaration, stop worrying, but really more you do not have to carry this alone. You see, Jesus wasn’t speaking to calm and peaceful people. Those disciples, well, they were people like us. They were a wreck. They know that their world is just about ready to fall apart because he explained, “Betrayal is coming. Denial is coming. death and loss is coming. And yet he says, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” Because he knew and was telling them as he’s telling us, “You are not in this alone.”
And then what did he do after all that horrible stuff that they know is going to happen? What did Jesus do? He washed their feet. Talk about not letting your heart be troubled. Jesus embodied that statement right in front of them. Right in front. This is a true do as I do moment. And this is the first of several takeaways.
When you are controlled by worry and fear, maybe do something for someone else. Because at that time the atmosphere was heavy. Deep, deep things were happening. And those disciples were not just fearful. They were terrified. They were afraid of what was going to happen. Their world was falling apart and not in the way that they’d planned. Let not your hearts be troubled. Right now in our personal lives, things may be falling apart. I can tell you they are in our world, in our political climate right now. The whole doggone world seems like it’s falling apart. And yet we have those words and we can absorb those same words.
Let not your hearts be troubled because just like those disciples, we have big uncertainties of the future. And we should understand that what Jesus was offering his disciples and his followers, he’s still offering it to us today. He’s not saying, “Oh, nothing’s wrong.” He’s saying, “You don’t have to carry it alone.” It’s an invitation to get out of our own heads and to know that someone sees us. They see us in our grief, in our fear, in our pain. And when times are tough, we know it’s not permanent because Jesus says it’s not final. This is not the final word. It is not over.
You know, the passage goes on to say, “In my father’s house, there are many dwelling places.” Now, many folks and preachers often turn that into mansions with visions of driving that golden Mercedes down those golden streets to this huge golden palace that you have earned because you believe the way they say you’re supposed to believe, right? The truth is that message is a little different. It’s a little tweaked because the Greek version of places or palaces is room but not room like a small room. Room like expansive. Room like all the place you need. Capacity. It’s not scarcity. It’s not inclusive. It’s for everybody.
Think of the word abundance. God’s presence is not limited. God’s kingdom is not small and for a very few that believe only a certain way. Do not let your hearts be troubled for there is room. There is space. There is a place for everyone because God’s love is for us all.
Now the next passage after that is also used as a way to exclude. Thomas asked the question, “We don’t know where you are going, so how are we going to know the way?” And Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” Now, that can be a difficult passage to manage if you take it 100% literal. But dig a little deeper. You know the early followers of Jesus were not called Christians. They were called followers or people of the way. So what is the way? What does the way look like? Well, moments earlier you heard how the way looks when things are falling apart. Jesus washed their feet. That’s the way. It’s a way of compassion. It’s a way of humility. It’s a way of offering unexpected love. See, it’s not a boundary to keep people out. It’s a path. It’s a path that we can walk to find God. Then think about that. If any faith tradition follows the way of Jesus and shows humility and justice and compassion just as Jesus did, we don’t have to worry about our Hindu friends, Muslim friends, other people who think different, even some of our own thinking. We just find the path, follow the path, it leads to God. That is the way.
Then Philip asks God, asks to see God and Jesus responds and this is radical. Whoever sees me sees the father. This is probably part of the reason he got into such trouble, right? But what it really does for us is it makes it easy to understand what God is all about. You just need to look at Jesus. What did he do? He healed sick. He touched the untouchable. He gave women a place at the table. And he forgave. He even forgave the ones that killed him.
Let’s face facts. He didn’t start an empire. He didn’t drive in on a chariot or a big old plane with his name on it. He didn’t cause a war. He didn’t create division. It was exactly the opposite. He was inclusive just like God. We see God when we see Jesus. We know what God is like just by examining the life of Christ. Our hearts do not need to be troubled because we know who God is.
Now I would go on to say that we also see God when we meet and see and encounter people that act like Jesus. And I think it happens more often than we think. And now this is the tough part. That can even be us when we have those moments of clarity. When we make decisions that aren’t just about us, but about others. When we speak truth to power, when we acknowledge the marginalized among us, when we do the work to make a difference, we are acting like Jesus.
And here is the fantastic news. You don’t need to be a nun, a monk, a priest, a pastor, or even a lowly ministerial intern. You can just be you just exactly the way you are because you are made in the likeness of God. And guess what? We have Jesus as an example. This happens to us and through us when we show up for others in our pain or they show up for us when we see and feel unexpected kindness. Where love is found right where you are at. We know that these are sacred moments. God is in those moments. There is no need for our hearts to be troubled. Now the scripture goes on to say, “Whoever the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do. In fact, and I think this is the tough part, will do greater works than these.”
And candidly, folks, that kind of intimidates me. How in the world can I can we do greater works than Jesus? He was a healer, a teacher, a prophet. Heavens, he was God. It’s almost too much to comprehend. But you have to understand by the word belief, Jesus meant trust. It’s an alignment. It’s not an agreement. It’s not mouthing the words. It’s not saying I’m a Christian. It’s not wearing a cross. It’s not even coming to church. It’s not saying special prayers or bowing or acting holier than thou. It’s trusting his life to go out and try just try to be a little bit like him. Try to live a life that just emulates some of the things and the ways he did things. It is stepping into his spirit and making it your own. Okay.
If believing is trusting, then what are works? Well, works are acts of love. And through these acts of love, we reveal God’s nature to others. And we can all do it. And that was the work of Jesus. He fed, he healed, he restored people. And we may not be able to do that, but he did it all with love. And that part we can take away. Through that love, God became visible. Now, we can’t do miracles most likely. with the exception of the miracle that Pastor Susie is going to perform next month when she does vacation Bible school. That will be a miracle and it will happen. But we can show acts of love and they could be done daily. We can welcome an outsider. We can be positive to somebody that needs our energy. We can offer grace to someone who probably doesn’t deserve it. We can stand up for justice even if it costs us something. And remember Jesus said, “You will do greater works.” Well, that doesn’t mean bigger miracles. It means multiplication, more love through more people rippling out like like a stone in water. Right? His one life touched millions of people and we are the responsible ones for carrying that love forward. We are now the carriers of his presence.
See works are not grand spectacles. It’s about love in action. Welcoming, loving, offering grace, standing up. And that’s the thing. Greater works doesn’t mean outlandish things. It just means more widespread, not so inclusive and not just one person doing the work. All of us together. Now, here’s the truth. There may be people in your life right now and maybe even you who are troubled and you might be the place they encounter peace. So when Jesus said, “Let not your hearts be troubled,” he’s not calming us down. He’s calling us forward. He’s calling us into a life of trust, a life of love, a life that makes God visible. And every time we do that, every time we show compassion, every time we choose love over fear, every time we help someone to be seen, we are not just following Jesus. We’re continuing his work. Yes, life will still be uncertain, but we do not have to face it alone. We can stop and we can breathe. And maybe, just maybe, our hearts will be a little less troubled. Amen.