Psalm 31:1-5

In you, O Lord, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me. Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me. You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake lead me and guide me; take me out of the net that is hidden for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.

Psalm 31:15-16

My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors. Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.

John 14:1-14

 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.  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. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”  Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”  Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?  Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, but if you do not, then believe because of the works themselves.  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. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

Let not Your Hearts be Troubled

Three Questions

There are three questions that we need to answer. And when we answer these three questions, our hearts will not be troubled anymore. And the three questions are: Where do I come from? Who am I? And where am I going?

When we are reconciled to birth and death, and reconciled to who we are, our hearts will not be troubled.

Our faith gives us a center. Our faith is the foundation on which we can live, so that our hearts are not troubled. We do this through practicing our faith in daily activities: reading scripture, devotional time, prayer time, singing, meeting together, sharing communion. These are the practices of our faith.

Spring Returns to Maine

We have had some beautiful weather this past week, a few days when we could get outside and walk and work in the flower beds and all the good things we do in spring. And we have had also a couple days when it poured down rain. One day last week, I left my wheelbarrow turned up (usually I tilt it on its side) and it completely filled up with rainwater! And so that is how spring is in Maine, isn’t it?

With all the rain and the chilly temperatures, the daffodils and forsythia and bright green grass show us spring in Maine once again. And we know it and recognize it. And we celebrate it. We know what spring is here in Maine.

John 14

Our reading from John 14 is a beautiful text. “Let not your hearts be troubled.” Again and again in the Gospels we hear Jesus saying this. Everything is going to be ok. Everything is ok right now. And everything will be ok. Everything’s all right. Let not your hearts be troubled.

You know, I wake up in the morning each morning and I make coffee. And then Shari and I drink coffee together. And then I like to look out the window and see what the day looks like. And it’s wonderful, looking out the window, watching the birds flying around, or perching in the apple tree. And watching the squirrels trying to get into the bird feeders and watching the trees opening up each day with the green leaves appearing. This world. This place where we live, this planet earth, is really so beautiful. We have everything we need, really, here on planet earth. And on these mornings, the words, “Let not your hearts be troubled” are easy. It’s easy to not be troubled.

The Human Realm

And yet, the human created world, you know, the world of human beings is not so idyllic. Is it? We get caught up in the worry, the anxiety, the drama, the trauma. All the bad things that happen. And we know this. We have seen these things before. We recognize them. We know bad things happen. Crimes are committed. The strong dominate the weak. In the human-created world, all sorts of atrocities happen, and they affect us all. And so, given these conditions, Christ’s instruction “Let not your hearts be troubled,” seems impossible. And yet, here it is in John 14. This is the ongoing struggle of the faith life. Let not your hearts be troubled, in all circumstances.

The Stoning of Stephen

One of the lectionary readings for today is from Acts chapter 7. It’s the story of the stoning of Stephen. Stephen was the first Christian martyr. Not long after the resurrection, Stephen was preaching in Jerusalem when the angry crowd dragged him outside the walls and stoned him to death. “Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ““Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died.”

We Need a Center

You know, it’s not all love and light. And we know this. The good news is that our faith gives us a center. We have to have a center. We have to have a place to stand, a ground to stand on, a foundation to stand on. Stephen did not lose his center. He did not lose his faith, even while being crushed by stones.

Internal Locus of Control

In psychology, having a center is called having an “internal locus of control.” A person who has an internal locus of control is controlled not by what is happening in the world, not by what others are doing, not by what others say, but the person is controlled internally, within one’s own spirit, within one’s own being. This is the faith life.

I remember when I was in seminary, exploring all the options for ministry, and I considered going into hospital chaplaincy. So I visited several big hospitals in Dallas and interviewed with the chaplaincy directors. You know, Dallas has some huge hospitals, and one that I visited was the Dallas Children’s Hospital. There, I had an interview with the head of chaplain services.

She was very tough. I mean, she had worked at Dallas Children’s Hospital for many years and had seen everything. In my interview with her, she got right to the point. She said, “This is a place where you see the worst things in life. If you come to work in this hospital, you will see the absolute worst, the most horrible situations, the garbage of life, the worst of the worst. And she told me about children who had been murdered, children who had been abused, children who died of cancer, on and on. And I said to her, “How do you do it? How can you work here year after year?” And she said, “If you don’t have the Bible, if you don’t know the Bible and don’t have those Bible verses inside of you, you will not make it here.”

Our faith gives us a center. Faith gives a person an internal locus of control. See, the opposite of internal is external. Many people have an external locus of control. That means that external events, all the events of the world, the news, social media, the things that happen at home, in your family, all the events of the world, all the drama and conflict, control you. In other words, the things outside of you, the things that are not you, control you. One minute you are up. And the next minute you are down. All based on what is happening around you. That is an external locus of control. And that means that the person is thrown this way and that by every single breeze that blows. There is no center. There is no foundation. But the instruction here is “Let not your hearts be troubled.”

The Challenge of the Faith Life

How do we do that? We have to work at it. This faith life requires some very deep investigation. If my heart is troubled, why? If my heart is troubled, what can I do about it? Do I need to talk to someone? Do I need to understand something about myself? Do I need to better understand my faith? Is there something that I do not understand?

In Search of True Christianity

This instruction, “Let not your hearts be troubled” is not easy. It’s not Pollyanna Christianity. See, there are a lot of things that profess to being Christianity, but they are not Christianity. Escapism is not Christianity. The movement called “Christian Nationalism” is not Christianity. Hatred of Islam is not Christianity. Did Stephen hate anyone, even while they were hurling stones at him? So, this is very important to understand. What is Christianity? This instruction, “Let not your heart be troubled” is a very deep instruction. If your heart is troubled, then you need to find out why.

Invitation

And so, the invitation this morning is to read the entire chapter of John 14. Read John 14 this week and meditate on it. And investigate Christ’s instruction to us here: “Let not your heart be troubled.” May it be so for you. Amen? Amen.