I can’t honestly tell you how many times I have preached on our Gospel lesson for today. Really, I can’t. It would be too numerous. Of all the texts in the Bible, I can honestly tell you I have preached on John chapter 14 the most by far. Why? Take a gander at those first seven verses and then take a wild guess:
Jesus tells his followers, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4And you know the way to the place where I am going." 5Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" 6Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."
I hope you were listening to those verses carefully, because I have a question for you. What service do you think this passage is used at most often? Here’s a hint, there is usually a big box, sometimes ornate, sometimes not, placed at the front of the church at that service.
If you guessed funerals, you would be absolutely correct. In fact, as I reflect on the number of funerals I have performed, I hazard to guess that 3/4 of those funerals had this particular text read at them. And I have probably preached on this text at ½ of those.
Why is this text so popular at funerals?
Well, take a look at verse 2. Jesus says, "In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also." These are tremendously comforting words for families who are gathering to celebrate their loved one’s life and grieve his or her death.
These words offer comfort to families as they hear Jesus say that He has prepared a special place for those who know Him in His Father’s house. For those who are grieving, these words offer soothing balm as they hear their loved one is now with Jesus and that one day they will see their loved one once again.
Oh, I have used this text over and over again to proclaim this news to families who grieve. But I am going to let you in on a dirty little secret of mine this morning. I really don’t like using this text at funerals. I really don’t. Because in all honesty, I believe the main focus of this text is not about death and what happens to us when we die. Let me say that again. I do not believe this text is about death and what happens to us when we die. Instead, I believe this text is about how we are called to live our lives.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to dismiss anyone who thinks otherwise, but please hear me out on this one. Jesus does address death, but I believe He does so that we might know what it means to truly live.
If we take a look at John Chapter 13, we see Jesus giving His disciples some very disturbing news. In verse 21, Jesus tells his disciples that one of them will betray Him. Everyone knew that meant the worst for Jesus. You could feel the disciples’ anxiety start to raise. Jesus did nothing to counter it. In fact, Jesus made it worse. In verse 33, Jesus says he will be with the disciples only a little longer. He will be going some place that they cannot go. Again, you can feel the anxiety level increasing. Jesus then puts the anxiety at a fever pitch when Peter comes up to him and says, "Lord, I will go with you wherever you go."
Jesus tells Peter, "Before the cock crows you will have denied me three times."
I’m sure this really got the disciples attention. Peter was their default leader. He was their spokesperson, and Jesus just told him he would deny Jesus three times before the night was over. All this news was deeply troublesome and anxiety producing. I am sure the questions were numerous. How would the disciples go on if Jesus’ were betrayed? What would happen to them? Would they be betrayed too? What would they do without Jesus? If they could no longer follow Him, what would happen to their lives? How could they go on without Him?
Into this swirl of questioning, Jesus brings his teaching in John chapter 14, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God and believe also in me." Why shouldn’t the disciples let their hearts be troubled?
Because, Jesus says, I’m going to prepare a place for you. I’m going to make sure you are taken care of. Trust me. I’ll make sure everything is taken care of. Even if you were to die, you have a place with me in my Father’s house. All will be well. There is nothing you have to fear.
But Jesus doesn’t stop there. Let’s take a look at the last few sentences of Jesus’ teaching today. Let’s begin in verse 12, "Very truly, I tell you, 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. 13I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it."
Whoa! Did you catch that? Did you catch what Jesus says here? You will do the works that I do. You will do greater works because I am going to the Father. Ask in my name so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it
Now, I don’t really want to get into long explanations about what Jesus meant by those statements. We’d be here all morning. But let me ask this: do such statements sound like Jesus is trying to talk to them about death? Do they sound like Jesus is trying to help them grieve? Or is Jesus trying to help them truly live? Is Jesus trying to give them the tools they need to overcome fear? Is Jesus pointing the way to get rid of anxiety and the fear of unexpected things in life that are out of our control? Put it all together, and I think you can see there is a reason Jesus says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled!" For if we trust Him, we can shove our fears aside and focus on truly living our lives as those who seek to follow and serve our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Today, we will be pausing to remember this as someone we have come to love and appreciate is leaving us to fulfill an act of service she dreamed of doing nearly 20 years ago. We know Joan is heading out to join the Peace Corps and head to Mongolia. It is a venture that I know is causing her quite a bit of excitement. However, Joan, you can’t tell me that when you are getting ready to board that plane in a couple of weeks you won’t have butterflies or a set of wobbly knees–at least a little bit. But do not let your heart be troubled. You are answering a call that was placed in you. Jesus has your back, and you now have the opportunity to live a part of your life to the fullest. If you sit and think about all the what ifs that might happen, you’d get yourself worked up to the point where you won’t be able to enjoy what you are seeking to do. Trust that God has His hand on you. Trust that Jesus is walking with you. Do not let your heart be troubled.
And this message isn’t just for Joan. It’s for all of us in the midst of our daily lives as well. We can focus on all the things that could go wrong, that could slow us down, that could undermine what we want to accomplish. We could focus on the things that could and do cause us grief and anxiety and worry. We could focus on roadblocks and detours and the limits of time. Or...
We could focus on the fact that Jesus has things taken care of. We could focus on the fact that Jesus has our back. We could focus on the fact that even if the worst happens, Jesus will take us to His Father’s house where everything wrong will be made right. Which do you thing helps us live life to the fullest? Worrying about all the stuff or living as Jesus calls us? Do we become worked up about everything or do we heed Jesus words? Do not let your hearts be troubled. Amen.
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