C, Easter 6 - John 14:27 "Worried or Worrying?"
Text: John 14:27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
1. What do you worry about?
Are you troubled? Are you a worrier? I expect everyone here has had troubles of some sort in the last week. Are you worried about your family—your relationship with them—or about their faith, future, or maybe their wellbeing? What about your farm, your home, or your finances? Does the state of your health concern you? Does your standing before God make you frightened; does judgement day trouble you? There are many things in this life that trouble us! What is it that frightens you; that makes you cower in yourself; that raise your blood pressure to a dangerous high?
Trouble manifests itself in our lives in so many different ways! It climbs into our deepest being and stirs us up, oppresses us, or gives us a faint feeling, limp legs, and a nervous sweat. Like a towering tornado trouble brews and spins our perspectives out of control making us fret, become frightened, and worry.
2. What is worrying?
But what is worrying? We all know the feelings it can produce? But what does it do to us? What does it tell us; about ourselves and about what we should do?
When trouble surrounds it totally consumes our every thought and emotion. Notice how worrying gives us the impression everything is lost; even the things in our lives not connected with the dilemma. Our worries are the greatest; no one has ever had a problem like this. We carry the weight of the world on our shoulders.
But isn’t worrying a demonstration in the lack of trust? Are we not saying there is no one who can fix this trouble? It’s a call for help from those who call themselves helpless! It’s like a boast but only in the negative. We wallow away saying to ourselves, ‘Look at me no one has ever had it as bad as me. All is lost! I don’t believe it‘ll ever be the same again!’ When our hearts become troubled and we become anxious, it’s difficult for us to be positive and outward looking. In fact we totally turn in on ourselves; we like to hide in our shells from everything else.
Where does God fit into the scheme of things when you worry? Is he at the centre of your life when you worry? Actually, the very nature of worrying, puts fears, calamities, and troubles at the centre. We curl up and bow down to the great god ‘worry’. Our God, the Triune God, is pushed out in favour of our worry and fear gods. Hear what the Heavenly Father says to you about these gods, ‘I am the Lord your God you shall have no other gods’ (Ex 20:1-3, Deut 5:6-7).
3. Did Jesus worry?
But while we worry about worry being our god, Jesus says to us, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid… Trust in God, trust also in me’ (Jn 14:27&1). What does Jesus know about trouble; what does he know about my worries? With what authority can he tell me not to worry and not to be afraid; afraid meaning not to cower and be timid?
Just like us, Jesus was troubled in his public ministry on earth. But he stood apart from the disciples who were worriers of the highest order. They were troubled when he appeared walking on the stormy waters of
Jesus was troubled. When the devil troubled him he was tempted to put his faith in things other than God as he struggled for forty days in the wilderness. Jesus was troubled by Lazarus’ death; disturbed so deeply he even wept. He was distressed in heart when the hour of his death approached, and he was troubled when Judas was about to betray him. However, unlike the disciples, and us, he always trusted his Father, doing his will right to his death.
While being tempted he resisted Satan and even pointed him to the One True God in the word. Even though Lazarus was dead he focused the crowd on his Father, raising Lazarus to life so the crowd would believe. And at the hour of his own death, he followed his Father’s will in order to bring glory to his name, calling Judas to do whatever he was going to do, to do it quickly. Troubles repeatedly smashed into Jesus’ path, but every time he never let them, or his troubled heart, push his Father from centre stage. Worry never once took the place of God the Father, even under the shadow of a deathly cross.
4. Our helper in times of trouble
In John 5 Jesus encounters a despised crippled man at the Pool of Bethesda. This man like us faced the troubles of life in a very real way. His trouble was he couldn’t reach the waters of the pool to be healed. He needed help but was helpless. Jesus came along and took his attention from both his illness, and the worry of getting to the pool, by putting his word centre most into his life and healing him. Likewise in his word, Jesus calls us not to be troubled nor be afraid. In fact he has sent a counsellor to help us keep our eyes focused on him, just as he kept his eyes on God throughout the duration of his walk to the cross. The Holy Spirit gives us, God’s helpless, the assistance we so desperately need to take our eyes from our troubled lives to the healing presence of him who loves us and was crucified on the cross for us.
This Holy Counsellor gives us faith when we hear the word Jesus speaks to us and when we receive the sacraments he instituted for us. Through these holy things we have confidence in the presence of Jesus in our lives. By upholding these things as holy— receiving them, and protecting them in the church—worry looses its foothold as the destructive god that leads us away from God the Son and God the Father.
5. The gift of peace
When we worry we take what the world always tries to give us. It shoves on us a superficial peace, which is not peace at all. The world operates in the realm of fear. Every day the world tells us what we’ve got to do to appease the fear gods and the worry gods – eat right, exercise right, wear this, don’t use that, get it before it’s too late, protect yourself, stop them before they get you.
But the Holy Spirit is a very special gift that Christ gives to us. In this gift he gives us faith and peace. The result of his gift of peace allows us to be bold in the face of trouble because the Holy Spirit always brings us to Jesus; he gives us faith so we can see Jesus walking with us through the very trouble that tempts us to worry. And when we do slip and fall into worry, the Holy Spirit is there to pick us up and point us back to the our Lord Jesus Christ.
As we struggle in this life hear the words of St Peter in his first epistle: ‘even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they [in the world] fear; do not be frightened’ (1 Peter 3:14).
And finally hear what
And the peace that only Christ gives through the Holy Spirit, keep your hearts and minds free of all anxiety, fears, and worries, for the sake of Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour, Amen.
