The Rev. Frank Logue
King of Peace Episcopal Church
Kingsland, Georgia
April 28, 2002

Untroubled Hearts in a Sea of Uncertainty
John 14:1-14

What are you sure of? What is it that you know that you know that you know?  

There is a saying that the only sure things are death and taxes. In fact, taxes are even surer than death as someone will have to file your last income tax statement for you even after you die.  

I want to show you a short video clip about certainty. This scene from the movie Legally Blonde, gives us a sneak peek in on a law class. 

[Insert one-minute clip from Legally Blonde]  

The law student was sure the quote was from Aristotle. Then he was less sure when is life depended on it and not sure at all when another student’s life depended on where the quote came from. It was a quick trip from certainty to doubt. All the professor had to do was raise the stakes. Life raises the stakes on each of us from time to time taking away our certainties.

You are certain that you have the whole job thing under control until coworkers start whispering news that the company might not make it through the year.

You are certain you’ve raised your kids well until the phone rings and it’s the police.

You are certain that your husband still has eyes only for you until he starts coming home later and seems distant in a way you can’t quite put your finger on.

You are certain that life is under control until a routine examination finds a lump and your doctor schedules a biopsy.  

Uncertainty has a way of creeping in on each one of us. Just when everything seems to be under control and life is working out right, something can come along and wreck it all, leaving you to wonder where you went wrong. What happened to that sense of control? What happened to that feeling that something was certain? 

I used to worry when life would go zooming out of control. Then I realized that I had the picture all backwards. There are times in life for most of us when we feel like we have everything pretty well under control. If you have that feeling, sooner or later, life will get away from you and that sense of control will fade. What I’ve come to realize is that the times when we feel like we have everything under control are not the norm. None of us can really control anything for very long. Sooner or later, something will come along to mess things up. But that’s OK, because it is those times when life seems out of control that are truly normal. Pretty cheerful sermon, heh? 

Nevertheless, let’s work together with this notion for a moment. Because if this Good News of Jesus we proclaim on Sunday doesn’t help when life is careening out of control, then why bother?  

In today’s Gospel reading, we hear Jesus telling his disciples some pretty tough-to-follow advice. Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” What kind of world does this Son of God live in anyway? Some days an untroubled heart is easy enough, but other days it seems downright impossible. For some of us, there is homework to do and tests to take. For others of us, there is a job to do not to mention the bills to pay and errands to run, and on and on. I’ll have an untroubled heart tomorrow. But today I’ve got too much on my mind to even begin to think about an untroubled heart. 

Well Jesus was troubled at times as well. John’s Gospel uses this same expression about being troubled three other times. Each time Jesus is troubled about something. Jesus was troubled when his friend Lazarus died. Jesus’ soul was troubled as he prayed to his father to take away the crucifixion, and finally he was troubled in spirit as he told his disciples that one of them would betray him.  

Then, just before Jesus’ betrayal and arrest, he tells his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” However, Jesus offers the way in which the disciples can head into the uncertainty of Good Friday with untroubled hearts. Jesus tells them, “Believe in God. Believe also in me.” 

Frankly, Jesus called on his disciples to show more faith than they could muster. When the arrest party entered the Garden of Gethsemane later that evening, the notion that the disciples should believe in God, believe also in Jesus went scurrying off into the dark. The disciples spent three days in hiding with lots of troubles on their hearts. The promise of the Father’s house with many rooms was lost like a dream that seems so powerful at midnight, but that you cannot even recollect in the harsh light of day. 

The same thing can happen to any of us. Belief in God can offer us comfort in times of uncertainty, but at other times, belief may seem like an empty promise. Like the disciples, we can find ourselves running so hard in fear that we forget to hold fast to God’s promises.  

Our passage from today is a frequent reading for funeral services. Pastors often use Jesus’ words in this reading to give a certain hope to which to cling when people are lost in a sea of grief. After all Jesus connects untroubled hearts not only to belief, but to the knowledge that Jesus is going ahead of believers to prepare a place for them.  

Don’t worry, there are lots of rooms in his Father’s house. The word translated in our reading today as “dwelling places” is sometimes translated “rooms.” The word, monai, means “a place to remain or abide.” Basically, Jesus says, “Don’t sweat it, my Father’s house has lots of places you can hang. My Dad won’t leave you out in the cold.” 

That’s a great message for someone wondering if their loved one made it in to heaven. There are lots of rooms. Your loved one didn’t end up on the backside of the stairway living next to the ice machine for all eternity. 

However, I don’t think Jesus is only holding out hope in the afterlife as some sort of carrot on a stick to keep us on the straight and narrow now as we wait for the big payoff later. Sure, the day is coming when you will find your place in my Father’s house. Yes, life will be better in the sweet by and by. But that’s not all. You can remain with me, rest with me, abide with me now. I am in the Father, he is in me, and I am in you, etc. etc. Heaven is not the only place where you can be with Jesus. Jesus is present to you in the here and now as well. 

That’s the knowledge we bring back from the Gospel as we launch out into the uncertainties of life. If you hold on to your own ability to keep it together, you will eventually be disappointed. None of us can keep everything under control forever. That’s why Jesus encourages us throughout the Gospels to give up control. Let go and let God. “If you want to save your life,” Jesus says, “lose it.” Give up your certainties, your own desire for control and tap into a deeper vein of certainty. 

Like the law student who thought he had the answer until the teacher raised the stakes, each of us can feel like we have all the right answers. Then life can sweep that certainty away, making us wonder if there are any certainties anymore. Instead of riding out the waves, connect your life to the deeper level of certainty that is underneath all the uncertainties we deal with.  

There is a God. God loves you. God wants a relationship with you. Believe in God. Believe also in Jesus, and trust in this Trinitarian God to hold you in the palm of his hand when life is zooming out of control. There are days when an untroubled heart may seem like too much to ask for. Don’t worry about that. Ask anyway. God will be there for you. That’s about the only thing I know for sure. 

Amen.