Today’s scripture reading from the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John includes one of the most requested scripture readings at funerals where Jesus says:
“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.”
Did you notice that in these three verses Jesus speaks to the future promise of eternal life by speaking about life in the present for his followers. Affirming the promise of eternal life as he says, “I go and prepare a place for you,” Jesus affirms the promise of present life as he tells his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Affirming the promise of eternal life as he says, “I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also,” Jesus speaks to the promise of present life as he says, “Believe in God, believe also in me.”
Among the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, John is unique in how it speaks about the promise of eternal life in Jesus and the promise of present life in Jesus. Where Matthew and Luke begin with birth narratives about Jesus and Mark begins with the story of John the Baptist, the Gospel of John begins with a prologue about the eternal presence of God being proclaimed by Jesus, the Word of God.
John 1:1 begins with these eternal words about Jesus:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John 3:16, one of the most well-known verses of the Bible, contains these words about the promise of eternal life in Jesus being realized through the promise of present life in Jesus:
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have everlasting life.
As followers of Jesus, we believe in both the promise of eternal life and the promise of present life. We believe that God’s love for the world was realized through Jesus. We believe that the same love of God spoken from the beginning is spoken in the present life as we hear Jesus tell his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.”
To appreciate the promise of present life in Jesus, it is important to understand that the Greek words used in this recording of Jesus’ invitation to belief are in the plural for “your” and in the singular for “heart.” Rev. Dr. Courtney Allen Crump suggests that we might translate this statement by Jesus in this way, “Don’t let y’all’s heart be troubled.” Then Rev. Crump invites us to “think about that for a moment – the idea that we share a heart – all of us share a common heart – a heart in God’s heart and home in God. And that collective heart still beats and keeps life flowing, and the reign of God coming into our world. That all of us together are a part of God’s heart and heartbeat in the world. And after Jesus is gone in body from this world, our heart, which finds it home in God, will continue to pulsate with God’s abiding love for this world. A world that God is not yet finished with.”
Unconditional Love was a book written by John Powell, a professor at Loyola University in Chicago. He ends the book with a true story about one of his students, a young man named Tommy. “Tommy was a problem. Tommy was the ‘atheist-in-residence’ in Dr. Powell’s course on theology. When he wasn’t acting bored, Tommy winced, smirked, objected, or whined about the possibility of a loving God.
“At the end of the course when Tommy turned in his final exam, he asked in a slightly cynical tone, ‘Do you think I’ll ever find God?’ Responding to Tommy’s question, Dr. Powell said very emphatically, “No!” Tommy seemed shocked as he turned to walk away. Dr. Powell let him get about five steps away before he added, “Tommy, I don’t think you’ll ever find God, but I am absolutely certain God will find you!’ Dr. Powell reports that Tommy shrugged a little, turned, and walked out.
Tommy graduated and some months later came a sad report about Tommy’s health as Tommy came back to see Dr. Powell. Tommy asked, “Dr. Powell, what I really came to see you about is something you said to me on the last day of class. I asked you if you thought I would ever find God and you said, ‘No!’ Then you said, ‘But God will find you.’
Tommy described how he got serious about locating God after his illness was discovered and said, “I really began banging bloody fists against the bronze doors of heaven. But God did not come out. In fact, nothing happened. … I decided to spend what time I had left doing something more profitable. … I remembered something else you had said, ‘The essential sadness is to go through life without loving. But it would be almost equally sad to go through life and leave this world without ever telling those you loved that you have loved them.
“So I began with the hardest one: my Dad. He was reading the newspaper when I approached him. ‘Dad.’ … ‘Yes, what?’ he asked without lowering the newspaper. ‘Dad, I would like to talk with you.’ ‘Well, talk.’ ‘I mean it’s really important.’ The newspaper came down three slow inches. ‘What is it?’ ‘Dad, I love you. I just wanted you to know that.’ The newspaper fluttered to the floor. ‘Then my father did two things I could never remember him ever doing before. He cried and he hugged me. And we talked all night, even though he had to go work the next morning. It felt so good to be close to my father.’”
“It was easier with my mother and my little brother. I was only sorry about one thing; that I had waited so long. Here I was in the shadow of death, and I was just beginning to open up to all the people I had actually been close to.”
“Then, one day I turned around and God was there. He didn’t come to me when I pleaded with him. But the important thing is that he found me.” … Dr. Powell concludes his book with this reflection. More than anything else, Jesus came to teach us how to love, how to reach out to others and love unconditionally … and that the greatest tragedy is not death, but to go through life without loving.”
Jesus said it this way:
“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.”
May God’s eternal love bless you in the promise of present life in Jesus.
The Promise of Present Life
by Pastor Marc Brown
May 7, 2023
Accompanying Scriptures: John 14:1-14
Fort Hill United Methodist Church
Order of Worship for May 7, 2023
Scripture Lesson John 14:1-14
The Good News “The Promise of Present Life”
Music “Whom Shall I Fear?” by Chris Tomlin
Prayer
Blessing
Closing Music “Only Trust Him” arr. Bill Wolaver
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