John 14:1-3, 27 – ”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. … Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” (NRSV)
Our Common Daily Bible Reading for this Friday begins the 14th chapter of John. When I noticed the date, I realized how appropriate that is. The memories we all have from 8 years ago are steeped in horror, fear, and disbelief. The terror of that day and the perpetual state of war we’ve been in since create a low rumbling of tension in our souls that has not faded. These words of Jesus offer such a contrast, it seems almost too jarring to bring comfort.
But if we read the words again, and again, the depth of their promise starts to sink in. Whatever the world gives us, whatever troubles our hearts and makes us afraid, the peace of Christ can swallow up and dissolve. However lost we may feel, there will always be a place for us in God’s house.
As the news commands our attention to all the tragedies and scandals and disasters in our world, it is easy to wonder how a loving God can really exist. “Believe in God, believe also in me,” Jesus says. “Believe in God.” Believe in good. It is no accident the word “God” and the word “good” are so similar. Despite all the problems we have, we can also see – we have also experienced – that there is good in the world. And that good comes from God.
When we live like we believe in Jesus – acting out the peace and love of God that he showed through his life, death and resurrection – we become part of the dwelling place of God. When we offer a helping hand to one in need, when we share words of compassion in a world bent on destruction, when we refuse to see an opponent as anything other than a child of God, we become a witness to Christ’s peace, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.
Collect for the Week: Everlasting God, who showed us your love through the gift of your Son, grant that our hearts might be filled with the peace that surpasses understanding, that we might offer a witness of hope and wholeness to our broken and hurting world. Through Jesus Christ and the Spirit, Amen.
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