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“No Trouble in My Heart” Psalm 31: 1-5, 15-16 Fifth Sunday of Easter 1 Peter 2: 2-10 Mother’s Day/Festival of the Christian Home John 14: 1-14 Our gospel reading from John records part of Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse” to his disciples. It might seem a little out of place in this Easter season. Why are we now hearing Jesus bid a formal goodbye when we have already celebrated his resurrection? And yet, what better time, for they are plain words of hope and comfort in a time of extreme difficulty and anxiety. These words, and more verses from the Fourth Evangelist are often read at memorial and funeral services because they shed light on the theology of the Gospel writer, especially his (or perhaps her) view on the resurrection. There is certainly comfort in the words. Jesus promised his disciples—and us—that there is something beyond this life. I think at one time or another we have all had images of what lies beyond this life. I watched an old movie a couple of nights ago that showed one writer’s image. Ghost is the story of a man who is shot and killed in a bungled robbery, and he spends some time as a ghost trying to figure out what led to his murder. There are a lot of hokey special effects, but the movie’s description of death is that as the spirit leaves the body, one of two things happen. Either the person’s soul is invited into a stream of brilliant, sparkling light that eventually leads to a vision of human-shaped shadows, or one is dragged off by wispy, black screaming smoke. The destination is left up to the viewer’s imagination, but it certainly cannot be good. Hollywood aside, you and I probably have very different views on heaven. Do you have an image of heaven in your head? Instead of an actual image of heaven, I can only think about what heaven is not like. I do not pretend to know what God has planned for each one of us or what those many “dwelling places” look like. I am pretty well convinced that eternity does not look like Bakersfield except with golden streets and pearly gates. If I was creating heaven, the place would look more like a beachfront with incredibly clear water and crashing surf. But my imagination does not even come close to rivaling God’s. My imagination does not see clouds or haloes or cute, chubby cherubs. I even doubt that heaven is peopled with human shapes because that which is born human must die. I believe there is a different form and shape to eternity. There is a Christian song by MercyMe that imagines what it is like to meet Jesus face to face. The lyrics are, “Surrounded by Your glory What will my heart feel? Will I dance for you Jesus Or in awe of You be still? Will I stand in your presence Or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah Will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine…”1 1 Words and music by Bart Millard, from the MercyMe album, Almost There. I do like the song, and if I hear it on the radio, I am more likely than not to sing along. But in my imagination, once we make it to eternity we won’t have hearts or knees or voices. In my imagination, we will be part of something much bigger and awesome than our human bodies. As I said, God’s vision is much grander that I can imagine, so I am content without a picture, which is a bit out of character for me, a visual person. Instead I am content with these words of comfort and hope, “I am indeed going to prepare a place for you, and then I will come back to take you with me, that where I am there you may be as well.” If Jesus is our guide, we are being led to a place of love, healing and wholeness. Jesus needs us to know that there is more to come. Scholar Karoline Lewis reminds us that even the resurrection is not the end. She wrote, “[T]he resurrection and then the ascension are the next realities in store, for Jesus and for his believers. Note that even the resurrection is not the end all. The resurrection presumes that there is something even beyond itself, the ascension.”2 The ascension, which is celebrated forty days after Easter, is a promise of eternally dwelling with God. Perhaps this dwelling is not a place at all, but rather an eternal intimacy with our Triune God. Many people interpret the next lines as exclusionary rather than welcoming. When the Gospel writer quotes Jesus saying, “I myself am the Way–I am Truth, and I am Life. No one comes to God but through me,” some interpret that as damning to every non- Christian, whether or not they have lived a good, honorable lives. But that is taken out of context and contrary to the rest of the Gospel’s welcome. To quote Dr. Lewis once again, “The identifiable problem of being extracted from its narrative setting is one issue, but an additional glaring misappropriation of this ‘I AM’ statement is it then stands as contradictory to every other ‘I AM’ statement in the Fourth Gospel. ‘I AM the way, the truth, and the life’ becomes an indication of God’s judgment, exclusion, and absence. ‘No one comes to the Father except through me’ rather than a word of promise becomes a declaration of prohibition.”3 But Jesus reminds Philip that God dwells within him. If Philip knows Jesus (and indeed he does) then Philip knows God. Jesus welcomes us all and teaches all his disciples with love—the heart of the matter—so we move from confusion to understanding. Jesus’ teachings are promises made in love, not speeches of exclusion and discrimination. For God so loved the world—the whole of creation, and that includes the whole of humanity. Thanks be to God! 2 Karoline Lewis. “Commentary on John 14:1-14.” Source: http://www.workingpreacher.org/ preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1994 3 Ibid..

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