Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled
John 14:1-2.
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.”
NIV
Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled
(John 14:1-7)
Intro:
A. I cannot imagine what Jesus was going through inside. Being fully human we see his emotions pour out several times in scripture. But as the Gospel of John takes us on the longest 12 hour journey we begin with Jesus in an upper room with all 12 Apostles.
B. We know from the other Gospels how Jesus used the meal to teach them what we now call “The Lord’s Supper.” But John gives us the emotions and passion of Jesus during that evening he spends with these men.
C. We walked through the prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17, but today we will look at what happened before that prayer we look at what he taught after the dinner. John tells us that Judas left right after the dinner and Satan was at work in him. With only the eleven left, Jesus begins a topic they don’t want to hear – he is leaving them. Life was changing for those eleven and it would never be the same. They had been on this great journey of the ministry of Jesus for two or three years. They had heard him speak about God as father and how God seeks relationship not just religious duty. They had listened to him teach about the kingdom and how to enter that kingdom. They had seen his power as Jesus cast out demons, healed all types of sickness and even raised people from the dead. But all of that was coming to an end as Jesus said these words (READ John 13:33).
D. Jesus then goes right in the need for a common love that unites them in such a way that world knows only God can bring about that type of unity and love between people. But they don’t want to hear Jesus speak about unity and love, they simply heard, “I am going away and you cannot come.” Peter won’t let the topic drop (READ John 13:36). Again, we know that Peter about the flesh and promises to be with Jesus no matter what happens. But Jesus gently tries to help them through what was soon to become the grief of his leaving earth and ascending back to heaven.
I. A Troubled Heart
A. READ John 14:1. In the bulletin we had a wonderful thank you note from the Kennedy family. Bob Arthur was a part of this church for 25 years or more. While many of you did not know personally because of his long-term health issues, he was someone who worked hard when I first came to this congregation. He loved this church family and read the bulletin and prayed over the prayer list. He asked me lots of questions about many of you. His death left a hole in my life. Many of you have experienced deep loss of people you love. Vince buried his mother, Carol a son.
B. When leaving is by death or simply moving away, there is a sadness that is difficult to death with in the moment. Jesus begins to give them strength. The phrase, “Let no your hearts be troubled” is not negative, but affirms where they are. They do have troubled hearts. They don’t know the future, nor can they. Jesus is not an old man. If death was going to be what separated them, Jesus should have about 30 more years of natural life.
C. Jesus wants to assure them that the future is good, but the only way they will accept what is happening is if they believe in both the God the Father and in him as their Lord. What you and I need to understand is Jesus is calling for us to take our past faith in God and apply to our current situation.
D. Some English translation say, “You believe in God” as if that was a statement of fact, and then follow it up with “believe also in me,” as if to say the depth of faith you have in God you need to have in me and what I am telling you. Jesus is battling their anxiety and fear.
II. Our Troubled Hearts
A. Many of us are right there with those 11. We understand anxiety and fear of an unknown future. We can read Jesus telling us not to worry that God takes care of the birds of the air and he loves us so much more that we should rest assured that he will meet our needs. We can read Paul tell Christians in Philippi to not be anxious about anything but take our cares to the Lord in prayer.
B. The Bible is filled with passage calling us to take courage and not to fear the unknown or the future, but in the moment, when the doctor says, “you have cancer,” or you get a phone call about someone you love has just died, I can only live in the overflow of my faith.
C. God’s got everything in hand. I may not understand the pain of the moment, but I trust in the one who knows tomorrow. When the early church found themselves in the hands of evil emperors who found killing them because they said, “Jesus is Lord” it was difficult to understand why God was letting evil win. Jesus tells the 11, trust me. Then he talks a little about the future.
III. Home Away From Home
A. Jesus continues (READ John 14:2-4). You should not read this passage without understand a good Jewish wedding. You remember to parables and stories about a wedding. The groom goes away to get a house ready for his bride. He doesn’t know how long it will take, but he tells her to be ready for when he comes to get her. He leaves her and often times goes is his father’s house to build on more rooms. Then when the rooms are ready he goes to back, gets married and brings his bride to her new home.
B. When Thomas says that he doesn’t know the way. Jesus has just told him that he is going to get everything ready and then will come back to get them. Based upon what Jesus just said he tells Thomas, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Just stop there for a moment. Jesus understands your confusion, but he keeps saying the same thing in different words. We have a home but it’s not this home. Our home with the Father, an eternal home. That’s the goal, that where we need to be longing to go, not this life and who leaves and how life changes as you grow older.
C. I don’t want to die. I don’t hate this life. I don’t long to be away from Kerri or the kids. But I know that this life is not my home, it’s simply the journey to my home.
D. Listen to Heb. 11:13-16. The writer spoke of the great heroes of old who didn’t have the same understanding of heaven that we do. They lived by faith even when life wasn’t great. They knew something better was coming.
E. Many of you have heard this story but I want to close by telling it to you again, “Keep Your Fork, The Best Is Yet To Come.”
Conclusion:
A. The best is yet to come. Jesus has shown us the way home. Jesus has shown us the Father. Jesus has calmed our troubled hearts and let us know that God’s got us in the palm of his hand and we are safe.
B. I know that life has its heartaches. The good-byes between friends or the sorrow of the death of a loved one may cause us to hurt, but God is our God and we are His children. No matter what the future holds, we know that God’s church will continue on until the day Jesus returns and we meet the Lord in the air to go home.
C. It’s been a long 12 months, but let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe in all that Jesus has said and done to show you how to live until he comes again. If we can help you in your walk with the Lord, then come as we stand and sing.
Because of Jesus,
Jeffrey Dillinger, minister