Homily for the 5th Sunday of Easter, May 7, 2023. Gospel of St. John 14:1-12. Theme: Trust Instead of Trouble
There’s a heck of a lot in today’s Gospel that could provide us with countless hours of reflection and discussion, but what I want to focus on is just the first part. Jesus begins by saying, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” What can He mean since the reality is that we each face all kinds of troubles in our lives - personal setbacks, job or relationship struggles, threatening illnesses, on-going financial debts - how can our hearts not be troubled?
I think what Jesus might be telling us is to not let the stress that so often and easily fills our minds descend into our inner selves where it can rob us of peace. There’s no way that we can - or should - ignore the difficulties and challenges that we have to face. They are real issues that enter into our minds and cause stress.
But this stress can only travel from our minds to our hearts if we hold stubbornly to the idea that we are in control of everything. In other words, the stress in our heads becomes stress in our hearts when we persist in the idea that we can fix any situation on our own merits. Pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps, as the old saying goes. And the reason this stresses us out is because we innately know, deep down in the very recesses of our being, that we cannot. A simple reality check should remind us that there are things we struggle with that are not of our own doing or undoing.
And that brings us to Jesus' next few words in today’s Gospel, “Have faith in God; have faith also in me.” Here is where we find the way to prevent head-stress from becoming heart-stress. In the Bible, the word “faith” can also be translated as “trust” because the original Greek word means both things. So Jesus is inviting us to trust in God (He means the Father) and to likewise trust in Him (because, as we say, “like Father, like Son”). This trust isn’t a kind of placebo to help us get through a tough time; nor is it a kind of mind-game to help us forget the issue at hand. Quite the opposite, faith means dealing with our reality head-on, confident that God will enable us to face it and get through it in a constructive positive way. The first step in embarking upon this challenge of faith, this pathway of trust, is to surrender our self-reliance and sincerely place confidence in the Lord.
Think about what Jesus said in today’s Gospel concerning our own specially prepared room in the Father’s house. I think this should encourage us to take this first step in trust! He clearly tells us that He is getting everything all nicely done up and ready for us! He eagerly looks forward to being with us in a more full and complete way that we can experience here on planet Earth. It reminds me of when a couple is arranging a nursery for a new baby. There’s so much forethought involved in purchasing the right furniture, selecting the perfect color, designing it to be the best-ever place for the child you eagerly await and love. Well, that should give us an idea of how much Jesus is thinking of us and it should boost our trust in Him for our present needs! Because if He is that solicitous about our future, He must also be very interested in our present. If He wants to be with us that badly in Heaven, He surely reaches out to us here and now. And so really we have no need to worry or allow our hearts to become troubled. As Jesus said, it all boils down to faith, to living our lives in a personal relationship of trust.
But we need to be patient and realize that learning to trust isn’t something that happens overnight or without effort. It begins with an intentional invitation on our part. God never ever pushes Himself into our lives against our will because relationships are rooted in love and love is based on freedom. So God waits to be freely asked and once we do invite Him into the situation, His Fatherly care and concern become manifest in our lives in clearly discernible ways. This doesn’t mean that food or money or clothes will miraculously drop down out of Heaven, but it does mean that God will see to it that our needs are met. For our part, to help us walk in and remain on this way of trust, we just need to remember that Jesus is the Way that we must follow if we want to experience the Providence of God. Jesus is the Truth Whose Word sets us free from the burden of trying to solve problems all on our own. And Jesus is the Life that is meant to be lived with inner peace and joy, knowing that this serenity and confidence is the fruit of a relationship with Him that begins here on planet Earth but is destined to last forever.
"Have faith in God; have faith also in Me."
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