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SERMONS

The Fifth Sunday of Easter
April 28, 2002

By David Christian

What do you hold on to when times get tough? Where do you put your trust when things are difficult?

I have a friend who recently experienced a serious and complicated illness. He was hospitalized for several weeks and, for a time, there was real fear that he would not survive. Happily, he did, and he is now well on the way toward a complete recovery.

My friend was recently reflecting on this experience. He said that in the darkest time of his illness there were two strong temptations: One was to give himself over to his fears, to his anxiety. To question everything, to trust no one, to worry constantly about what was going on and what was being done for him.

The other temptation was to just give up. It was so hard and so painful to be ill that he wanted to just stop. To just go ahead and die. It was just too difficult to go on. He said that in those dark periods there was one thing that kept him going: faith in his doctor. The doctor is a woman he knows and respects.

She is wise and kind. She is a good doctor and a good person. She didn't paint him rosy pictures. She let him know just how sick he was. She let him know that he might not survive. But she also let him know that she was up to the challenge. She would do everything she could to see him through the illness. Knowing her and trusting her as he did, my friend could control his fears and concentrate his energy on the task of getting well.

Today's gospel takes us back to the time immediately before Jesus' arrest and crucifixion. It takes us back to the upper room, where Jesus is gathered with his closest friends. Jesus has just told them several disturbing- indeed, terrifying- things. First, one of them will betray him. Second that he is going away, and where he is going they cannot go. Third, that Peter, the "Rock," will shortly deny three times that he even knows him.

The disciples, not surprisingly, are anxious. Tension has been rising for some time but now Jesus tells them all of this. Everything is falling apart. Years worth of working and hoping appear to be crumbling right in front of them. Who could blame them for being a little agitated?

In response to their fear Jesus says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.... I will come again and will take you to myself. You know the way to the place where I am going."

But the disciples, in their anxiety, keep pushing. They have to know more. Thomas asks, "How can we know the way?"

Jesus replies, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me."

Our hope as Christians does not lie in doctrine. It does not lie in ideas. It does not lie in things that we believe about God or about Jesus.

Our hope as Christians lies in a relationship. It lies in a particular relationship, in relationship with Christ. It lies in a living relationship with a living person. In giving our lives over to that relationship, over to that person, we can live without fear.

There is a story told of a house fire one night. The father had escaped the fire and was standing outside. In a second story window stood a child afraid and confused by the smoke and the dark.

"Jump," said the father. "But I am afraid," said the child.

"It's ok," said the father.

"Jump. I am here. I will catch you."

"But I can't see you."

"You don't have to see me, I can see you."

In the dark times of our lives there is no need to fear. In the darkness stands the one who has gone before us. The one who knows pain and suffering and even death. The one who knows us and loves us. The one who is faithful.

"Do not let you heart be troubled," Jesus tells us. "Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? I will ... take you to myself, so that where I am, there you will be also."

It's ok.

I can see you.

Jump.

David Christian
The Chapel of the Cross
Madison, Mississippi

Acts 17.1-15
1 Peter 2.1-10
John 14.1-14