“Let not your hearts be
troubled.” Pastor Adrain Baccarese, whom I knew up in deep East Texas twenty
years ago, would have said, “That’ll preach, boy.” Jesus words, spoken to His
disciples 2000 years ago, a group of men He sent out into the world, those
words speak to you as well, today, in the year of our Lord 2023. Because if we
are honest, we would have to say that hearts *are* troubled, and they are
troubled mightily. You go to the grocery
store and the dollar just isn’t stretching like it used to. It’s finals time at
school and late nights are taking the place of good rest, short tempers are
flaring, and kids – and parents – are stressed. Grief continues to persist in
ways that you never anticipated as you continue to miss loved ones whom the
Lord has taken. Husbands and wives hardly talk to each other, except for “pass
the salt” and “it’s your turn; I did it last time.” I had a person tell me, “My
boss wants more and more from me but I am already going full-blast; what more
can I give? I go home each night and cry, trying to work up the strength to go
back tomorrow.” Have to…no choice. Bills to pay, food to buy, septic tank to
fix. And, the job is on the line as rumors of pink slips trickle down and
around the plant. Hearts beat with frustration, fear, hurt, anger, shame,
guilt, and other things I cannot begin to understand as a man.
To you, hear this word of the
Lord: Let not your heart be troubled. Thanks a lot, Pastor. I know what Jesus
says. I don’t know that he quite understands what we’re going through here, or
what life is like today.
If that’s you, pause for a
moment. Take a breath and listen again to the word of the Lord: Let not your
heart be troubled. Especially, I draw your attention to that word “heart.”
Jesus knows your heart. He knows
you better than you know yourself. He says let not your heart be troubled.
The troubles you have are
external. They come outside of you. Sometimes, satan seeds them carefully so
that they do take root in your heart. All the thinking in the world does not
take away that grief, that anxiety, that frustration, that guilt, all that
trouble that we have in our hearts. This is where we carry the cross – in our
hearts. We talk about it here, with our mouth, we think about it here, with our
brain, but we carry it here, in the heart. And this is, I suspect, particularly
true this time of the year for mothers and fathers who carry not only their own
troubles but that of their their kids – of all ages – as well as they try to
finish the school year strong and get ready for the next steps of life, be it
high school, trade/technical school, college, the service, or the workforce.
Are the kids ready? Have I prepared them? The world is just such a tough place
right now. Will they make it?
Jesus speaks to you: I have come
for you – heart and mind, body and soul – all of you as a person, I came and
care for you as a whole. So also, He wants us to know God in all His Divine
majesty.
It’s been a while, so let me
remind you of the Nativity: Jesus’ incarnate birth through the Virgin Mary. Our
God is incarnational – in (enters in); carne (flesh). Jesus enters into our
human flesh to make His dwelling among us. And as God incarnate, with an
incarnational heart, Jesus knows your heart and your troubles. Even if you
cannot explain it, even if you do not have the words to incarnate, en-flesh,
your troubles, He knows.
This is one of the oddities of
our lectionary system. John 14 takes place on Maundy Thursday. Jesus is in the
upper room with the disciples preparing to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Here we
are, the fifth Sunday after Easter. So, drop back about six weeks and put
yourself in that upper room for a minute. Jesus has been speaking clearly and
plainly that He must go to Jerusalem, be arrested, suffer and die at the hands
of the Jewish leaders. And, now, Jesus and the disciples are in that very city.
There was Palm Sunday; then Jesus chased the money changers out of the temple;
before that, He had raised Lazarus from the dead. Hearts were beating in anger
and frustration and jealousy, wanting Him dead. But the disciples hearts were
greatly troubled. After all, this was their Rabbi, their teacher, their Master,
their friend, and He was in grave danger. The disciples have faith, don’t
misunderstand, but it is misguided faith, weak faith, a troubled faith because
they can’t see Jesus and the cross as the means of rescue. They don’t
understand. They only see it as an instrument of death. So their hearts beat a
steady tattoo of ache, worry, fear, and angst: what’s going to happen next.
Jesus, in these words of John 14, points them, and by extension, us, to the
cross.
Thomas – here’s a great example
for us this morning. Thomas wanted to know the “where” – where are you going?
Jesus directs him to Himself: I am the way, the truth the life. And then
there’s Philip – he wants to know the “who” – I want to see the Father. Jesus
directs him to Himself: Know me, you know the Father. To you, the
troubled-in-heart one, Jesus calls you to Himself, He who is the Way, the
Truth, and the Life, who has promised to prepare a place into eternity for you,
dear friends, where one day you will enjoy eternal rest and reward for your
faithful labor and labors on earth.
Have you ever had the experience,
while shopping, or walking down the sidewalk, even in the narthex when you
would and another person would meet and that awkward dance would begin trying
to go past each other, each one of you moving this way at the same time, then
that way at the same time. Sometimes, and it’s happened once or twice to me,
where the other person kinda maneuvers the other out of the way – rude – but
usually, the dance goes on until one or the other laughs and says, “You go
ahead.” Now, take that same picture, but this time, it’s Jesus. He wants to
encounter you, he wants to come at you – heart, mind, body and soul – and He
smiles at you. He doesn’t laugh at you, but instead speaks softly and gently,
firmly and lovingly. He doesn’t push you aside but instead He holds you with
His nail-pierced hands and says, “Let not your heart be troubled. I have come
to right the world and restore the relationship to the Father. I have come to
restore peace and harmony. I have come to rescue you from the lostness and
darkness and hurt and heartache and frustration and fear and whatever else
troubles you. I have come for you. I know, I understand the burdens of your
heart. But, friend, these are not yours to carry any longer. I carry the burden
for you. Look at the cross, friend. Don’t let Satan tell you different. I am
yours. You are mine. So, let not your heart be troubled, my brother, my
sister.” Remember: Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves.
Grab your bulletin and open it up
to the Gospel reading. I want you to
look at something. Look closely at verse 1. “Let not your hearts be troubled.”
Hearts, plural. Now, that’s interesting. There are lots of plurals all through
these verses – plural nouns and pronouns and verbs. But in the original Greek
text, your is plural but heart is singular: Let not your (or, as we say in
Texas, “all y’all’s”); let not your heart (singular, not hearts) be troubled.
English teachers would critique that sentence for failure of subject and verb
agreement – plural subject, singular verb. Jesus does it on purpose. Here is
why that is such an important note. Remember: He’s not a grammarian; He’s a
Savior.
Jesus wants you to know that, in
Him, we share a common heart. Each of us have our own heart, yes, and those
hearts get twitterpated (great word, right?) and flummoxed over the things that
happen to us – that is natural; it’s part of being a human being, under the
cross, this side of heaven. But God’s
people have a common heart among us. It is a common heart that we share
together, a common heart, filled with the Holy Spirit, that reflects the
incarnate One that comes to us and unites us as the body of Christ under His
headship. That common heart that encourages, cares for, uplifts, and supports
one another even as our hearts race from problems and troubles.
My dear brothers and sisters in
Christ, my dear sons and daughters in Jesus, know this: we share the common
heart of Jesus. We are all part of the body of Christ. Therefore, the common
heart of Jesus beats in you. United by Christ, we walk alongside each other,
together, caring for each other, loving each other, supporting each other so
that you know that in Christ you are never alone. Our common heart sets the
Lord Jesus Christ before us, 24/7, day in and day out. With that common heart
we give thanks together, grieve together, struggle together, rejoice together,
love together, laugh together, weep together.
If you find yourself praying, Oh,
Lord – let not my heart be troubled,” know that He both understands and
answers. He has heard your cry, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a
right spirit within me,” and He does exactly that. His heart beats alongside
yours. Psalm 73 says “Whom have I in heaven but you, and there is none that I
desire in earth but you. My heart and my flesh might fail, but God is my heart
and my portion forever.” So today or tomorrow morning or Tuesday evening and
any other time when your heart is threatened to be overwhelmed, His heart beats
all the stronger. When your heart is troubled, His heart beats in peace. When
your heart beats with guilt and shame, His heart beats a baptismal blessing
reminding you that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus.
Let not all ya’ll’s heart be
troubled. It is the heart of Christ.
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