Do Not Let Your Hearts Be Troubled

Acts 15. 1-2, 22-29
Psalm 67
Revelation 21. 10 – 14, 22-23
John 14. 23 – 29
An eight year old boy Danny explained his “theology” of God as follows: “One of God’s main
task is making people. He makes people to put in place the ones that die so there will be enough
people to take care of things here on earth. If you don’t believe in God, you will be lonely,
because your parents cannot go with you everywhere, like to camp; Go can. It is good to know
He is around when you are scared of the dark or when you are thrown in the deep water by the
big kids.”

Those were dark hours that night before the Lord was betrayed, abused, tortured and ultimately
crucified. In a very short time the world of the eleven disciples was going to collapse into
unbelievable chaos. Jesus, for whom they had forsaken all, was leaving. Their beloved Master,
whom they loved more than life, the One whom they had been willing to die for, was going
away. Their sun was about to set at midday, and their whole world was going to fall in all around
them.

If you have ever lost a close loved one, you know what this kind of permanent separation is like.
You can only imagine the feeling of losing one who was perfect, whose fellowship was so pure,
and whose love was so flawless. It must have been an excruciating, horrifying pain.

Jesus anticipates the sorrow of their already breaking hearts, and he gives them comfort upon
comfort: “Do not let your heart be troubled.” Martin Luther called this passage “the best and
most comforting sermon that the Jesus delivered on earth, a treasure and a jewel not to be
purchased with the world’s goods.”

“Do not let your hearts be troubled” has become the foundation for comfort, not only for these
disciples but also for us. If you ever get to the point in your life where you think you’ve run out
of escapes and there aren’t any more places where you can rest, you’ll find a tremendously soft,
downy pillow in: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” in
the original Greek literally means, “stop letting your hearts be troubled.”

There are three ways to stop your heart from getting troubled:
Trust in Jesus Presence. We live with conflict, disappointment and pain. We all experience
hours of deep tragedy and times of severe trial, but He is with us. Whatever be your trouble,
whatever mess you are in, whatever anxiety or perplexity you have, just remember, the Lord
Himself is there. In a way, it is better than if He were visible, because He is not hindered by the
limitations of a physical body. He can be wherever we need Him. While He was here on earth,
He could be in only one place at a time. Now he is available to all believers everywhere.

Trust in Jesus Promises. The greatest reason to let not your heart be troubled is because ‘as
your focus goes so does your life.’ Proverbs 23: 7 says, “ As a man thinks in his heart so is he.”

Trust in Person of Jesus. Christ is everything a person needs. “Trust Me,” Jesus says. “You
don’t need a map.” We can trust his presence, his promises and his person, for he is the way, the
truth, and the life. He is our modern GPS. There is no greater comfort in the entire world than
that.
The issue isn’t whether or not God is speaking; it’s whether we will have ears to hear what he
says and hearts to enable us to listen to what we hear. He is saying, “Do not be afraid.”

‘You can trust me, Go ahead and Jump! Parents say these words to their children by the pool
side, or at the playground, while they are patiently or impatiently standing there ready to catch
them, with arms open wide! It is the same way with God, He says, “Do not let your hearts be
afraid.”

Two thousand years later, we who are his followers are worried and anxious about our future as
the first disciples were. If we are young, we worry about whether we will find jobs whether we
will find love, whether our lives will have meaning and purpose. These worries can come back
throughout our lives, but when we are older we also tend to worry about whether our children
will thrive, whether we will be healthy, whether we will be able to look back on our lives and
feel we have lived well.
The source of true peace is the indwelling of God in us. Jesus in the Gospel points out this truth.
“My Father and myself will come to him (disciple) and make our dwelling with him.” The root
of all our inward and outward peace depends on this “Feel at home with God”. We are different
from each other in our opinions, values, approaches, interpretations, appearances, styles, cultures,
religious terminologies, and so on. There is some inevitable ‘Generation gap’, and ‘status gap’
among us. Due to such differences and gaps there is a chance for dispute, dissension, disunity, in
fight, and war. But all these can be solved if each one of us “Feel at home with God” as Jesus
suggested.
When we connect ourselves with Jesus who is God’s dwelling place and abide in him by keeping
his new commandment of love, we receive the true peace. We are provided with ammunitions to
resist all evil forces, that try to bend us down in depression making us losing our inner peace.
The Spirit of God, who is given to us through Jesus, empowers us, enlightens us and inculcates
within us an attitude of tolerance, patience, and forgiveness, which are the means of peace. The
children of God, who are fondly called by Jesus ‘the blessed peacemakers,’ are always peace –
seekers too. Their inner peace always maintains or at least tries to manage peace outside their
homes and communities. When they notice, problems arising to destroy the God given peace in
the community, they immediately make recourse to sincere dialogue, democratic principles and
humble prayerful discussion. They would propose boldly their views and suggestions towards
solving problems but always, with a humble listening to the views of others.

And so, Jesus’ words are meant not just for disciples standing right before him, but also for us.
Our future is unknown, and that may be unsetting, but we have not been abandoned. Jesus tells
us not to let our hearts be troubled or afraid. If we open ourselves and allow ourselves truly to

experience God’s presence, then our hearts can be nourished by the gift of peace that Jesus
offers.
God bless.