Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled

OT Lesson: Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 (CEB)

I take refuge in You, Lord.
Please never let me be put to shame.
Rescue me by Your righteousness!
Listen closely to me!
Deliver me quickly;
be a rock that protects me;
be a strong fortress that saves me!
You are definitely my rock and my fortress.
Guide me and lead me for the sake of Your good name!
Get me out of this net that’s been set for me
because You are my protective fortress.
I entrust my spirit into Your hands;
You, Lord, God of faithfulness—
You have saved me.

My future is in Your hands.
Don’t hand me over to my enemies,
to all who are out to get me!
Shine Your face on Your servant;
save me by Your faithful love!

NT Lesson: John 14:1-14 (NRSV)

‘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 Me 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.’

Sermon

Introduction

Good morning. Long time no see. As you may know, I attended a conference in Arkansas for a week. It was my first time being in Arkansas, and now I have visited forty-three states so far. I have seven more states to visit and they are: Mississippi, Alabama, North and South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Alaska. While I was in Arkansas, it rained for five days, day and night but not like this crazy we had last night. I had a sunny weather for the last two days. But for the last day, I had breakfast and left immediately. So technically I only had one day without rain. I found that it is a little warmer in Arkansas than in Indiana. It was 80 when I left Arkansas, but when I landed in Indiana, it was 32. One of the interesting facts of Arkansas is that there is no international airport in the state. I always thought that Indiana has somewhat rural image, but now I realised that if Indiana is rural, Arkansas is a rainforest jungle. Well, my point is that it is good to be back home. 

Live for Life

Last Wednesday, I went to a Hyundai car dealership for a recall repair on a towing hitch of Hannah’s Santa Fe. I took Samuel with me, and after the recall repair, I went to a nearby McDonald’s. The entrance has double doors, and two homeless guys were between the doors. I found that the homeless people are also different in Canada and in America. In Canada, they open the doors for people in front of restaurants and ask for change. But in America, I guess they don’t do that. So those two homeless people I met at McDonald’s did not open the doors for me and asked me for money. Since I do not carry cash with me, I told them that I can buy them any meal there of their choice. They told me, and I quote “I am not hungry. I need money.” Well, I could not help them because I did not have any money with me, and also my personal policy is not to give away cash. And I wondered, ‘Do they really need help that they are no hungry but want money for something else?’

Some people, I assume, may fake it, but I do know there are indeed some people who need actual help. And that happened on Wednesday afternoon, April 6th. There was a young lady between the double doors of the church lobby, weeping. Her name was Christina and she is in her late 20s. Long story short, she was living in an abandoned garage for a while and had been abused very badly by her ex-boyfriend. She desperately wanted to escape but had nowhere to go. She found nowhere safe, and to use her words, her life was miserable. She lost hope and her heart was very much troubled because of all the things that had happened in her life. But I praise good and gracious God that Sigmon Myers was with me there. With his gentle spirit, Sigmon listened to Christina, comforted her, and prayed for and with her. But most importantly, he gave her an actual help. The book of James 2 says: “If your brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and you say to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”1 Sigmon provided an actual help and supplied her needs. He called Michelle Standeford from Live for Life, and also paid two nights’ motel for Christina. For your information, Sigmon did not give money to Christina but Michelle. And a few days later I got an update. Michelle called the Lebanon police and all three of them—Michelle, Christina, and a police officer—went to the garage where Christina used to live and got all her stuff safely from her ex—thanks to the police offer, and then Christina was safely sent back to her father in Kentucky.

I was deeply moved by Sigmon Myers. As I read before, the Bible says that faith without works is dead but Sigmon’s faith comes with works, so he has a living faith. As much as I was moved by Sigmon Myers, I was also quite impressed by Michelle from the Live for Life. She does lots of good things, and in person, I felt that she is genuine, and also she was very prompt and quick. Live for Life is some kind of women shelter, assisting and helping homelessness, rehabilitation and recovering from alcohol and drugs, and many other things. The session of this church in the April meeting decided to designate the second Sunday of each month as LIFE Sunday, which is next Sunday, and whatever amount you mark on your offering envelope or cheque will be sent to the Live for Life. For more information, you can go to their website: https://liveforlifeindiana.org/. They have an updated needs list: New Pillows, Personal Hygiene (toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, women’s razors, deodorant, lotion, shampoo, conditioner, tampons, feminine napkins), Gently used or new shoes, Ziplock Bags (zip closure sandwich bags, quarter and gallon regular, and freezer bags), Large trash bags, Cleaning supplies, and Laundry supplies. These will be in the Midweek.

Troublesome World

Through the Live for Life and the Caring Centre, we will help lots of people who are troubled in their hearts because we have a living faith combined with works in Jesus’ name. Enormous number of people are troubled in their hearts because of money. Some people are troubled in their hearts because they have to give up their study not being able to pay the college tuition. Some people are troubled in their hearts because they cannot afford the hospital bills. Some people are troubled in their hearts because of facebook. On facebook everybody looks happy, having wonderful life except me—exotic vacations and expensive restaurants, and so on. Some people are troubled in their hearts just by driving around. On the streets there are so many Mercedes, Tesla, and other shiny cars when my car is rusty.

But money is not the only reason we are troubled in our hearts. Rich people are also troubled in their hearts. A new king was crowned in England. He is the king of England, king of Scotland, king of Canada, king of New Zealand, and king of twelve more countries. As the king of England, all the dolphins in the sea of England are his private property. All the fossils found in the Commonwealth countries are also his private property. Even with all the cute dolphins, I guess he might be troubled in his heart even during the coronation. People like his mother and his ex-wife but not him. Abolition of monarchy is gaining super rapid popularity among the citizens of Common Wealth countries. So he must be troubled in his heart because it is not about money. 

A Korean pastor that I met in the conference in Arkansas has now the citizenship, but he came to this country as a student. When he became qualified, he applied for the Green Card. While his Green Card application was under review, his father in Korea passed away. But he could not go to his father’s funeral because you are not supposed to leave this country when your green card application is under review. There is no law against it, but if you do, your Green Card application will most likely be denied. He knew that and everybody knows that. Even his mother, knowing that, told him, “Don’t you dare come!” He was extremely troubled, and after more than a decade he is still troubled in his heart. It is not about money, but he has been troubled with the sense of guilt for more than a decade. When you are very sick, you are troubled in your hearts. When we learn that someone we truly love is deadly sick or dead, then we are troubled in our hearts. We are troubled from time to time in our hearts because we live in a troublesome world. This world is full of troubles and bitterness.

Don’t Let Your Hearts Be Troubled

But Jesus tells us today, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” But it is actually not possible. We have been troubled in our hearts, and we will be troubled in our hearts from time to time as long as we live in this troublesome world. And this preaching of Jesus has somewhat interesting context or ironic. Jesus said this during the last Supper on Maundy Thursday. Jesus already declared who was going to betray Him. Within a few hours, a super big trouble was imminent. And yet Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Jesus knew that a big trouble was coming. Jesus knew that this world is full of troubles. Jesus knew that we cannot avoid troubles. And thus Jesus tells us “In this world you will have trouble.”2 Yes, we will have troubles for sure.

Last Tuesday while I was meditating today’s NT lesson, my sister in Korea called me. My mother has an early stage of dementia. My sister and I believe that the dementia caused my mother some sort of hallucination. Not in a dream but when she was awake, she saw her husband, which is my father, who has been dead for about thirty years, and he told her, “Everything is ready. You just come.” By this hallucination my sisters and I became troubled in our hearts. But at the same time I was, honestly, comforted. What she saw and heard in her hallucination was actually today’s NT lesson. Jesus says, “In My Father’s house there are many dwelling-places… I will come again to take you.” So my mother has a dwelling place up in my heavenly Father’s house and it is ready. My mother has somewhere to go. Somewhere safe. Somewhere better. Do you remember Christina that I mentioned earlier, that Sigmon and Michelle helped? She was crying and weeping at the church door because—and I quote—“I found nowhere safe. I have nowhere to go.” With some help, Christina eventually found a safe dwelling place at her father’s house in Kentucky. Having living faith, we have an assurance that we have a safe and better dwelling-places up in our Heavenly Father’s house.

With this blessed assurance, we can actually let our hearts not be troubled because what we see, what we hope for, what we believe and what we are waiting for is not this troublesome and bitter world, but the heaven. That is why Jesus did not say to us, “You will have no trouble in the world,” but Jesus says, “There are many dwelling-places in my Father’s house.” But this does not mean that Jesus abandoned us in this world. It is the opposite. After Jesus says, “In this world you will have trouble,” Jesus continues, “But take heart. I have overcome the world.” Yes, Jesus already has overcome the world. So no matter what kind of trouble we will have, Jesus will give us strength so that we can also overcome the troubles and overcome the world as well. And this is why Apostle Paul was able to boldly proclaim in his second letter to the church in Corinth, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”3 We will and shall overcome the world.

Conclusion

Friends, in this world we will have troubles and that is for sure. But let us take hearts because no matter what may come, Jesus already overcame and we can also overcome. And thus let our hearts not be troubled. There are many dwelling-places in our Father’s house where there is no tears, no troubles, no sickness, and no bad things. And some day Jesus will come again to take us home. And up there, we will all have our family reunions. Amen.