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Gospel: John 14: 1-12
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.
If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come back again and take you to myself,
so that where I am you also may be.
Where I am going you know the way.”
Thomas said to him,
“Master, we do not know where you are going;
how can we know the way?”
Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
If you know me, then you will also know my Father.
From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said to him,
“Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time
and you still do not know me, Philip?
Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.
The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.
Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
or else, believe because of the works themselves.
Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these,
because I am going to the Father.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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There’s a Buddhist saying, “Invite your fears in for tea.”
Don’t shun them, summon them. In confronting our fears with compassion, we can begin to understand why they have power over us, how we can manage them, and what we can do to send them out the door.
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It’s no secret that we all carry some fear in our hearts. Even children do. I think of my nephew, Michael, who will be starting pre-school in the fall. His world is about to expand.
Pre-school can feel so much bigger than home. For part of the day, his parents will be replaced by teachers, his siblings replaced with other students, his time spent in playing in the backyard replaced with learning how to read and count.
Fear may settle into his heart as he wonders, “Will anyone want to play with me? Will my teacher be mean? Will pre-school be hard?”
The tentacles of fear can become more deeply rooted and more far reaching as we grow into adulthood. Some of us may fear losing our job. Imagine receiving an impersonal email from your boss informing you that you’ve been let go… or re-assigned.
Someone may fear walking into an AA meeting for the first time, confessing, “My name is… and I’m an alcoholic.” The path of sobriety often demands facing, not only the triggers, but also the root causes of addiction.
Other people may fear being alone or that their life no longer has purpose.
Sometimes I’m afraid to preach. I fear my words may come across as inadequate, uninspiring, or repetitive.
Such fear is often irrational; it always presumes the worst about ourselves, the worst in others, and the worst possible outcome. It squeezes peace and grace out of our minds and hearts, replacing it with anxiety, instead, which is why we need to confront it.
You might say, we should, “invite our fears in for tea.”
Perhaps the worst fear we face is death, the great unknown. Think about how many guests at the White House correspondents dinner last week felt suddenly confronted with their own mortality.
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In today’s Gospel, we hear part of Jesus’ last will and testament, as he confronts this fear of death head on.
Surrounded by his disciples, he gives them two important directives: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” And, “Have faith in God. Have faith also in me.”
The verb, “troubled,” means to be, “overwhelmed by the fear of death or some other grave evil.” In addition to death, we might add the fear of unemployment, of rejection, of failure, of cancer, or any form of suffering.
Do not be overwhelmed by these things, Jesus says. Rather, cling to your faith; believe in the power of love.
This was an apt message for the disciples, who were feeling deeply troubled during Christ’s final night on earth. Just days before, he entered triumphantly into Jerusalem. People shouted “Hosanna!” while laying palm branches at his feet.
The disciples thought Jesus was going to be crowned an earthly king, and they’d be his powerful advisors. But all of a sudden, Jesus begins speaking, not about glory, but about his imminent betrayal and death, facilitated by one of his very own disciples.
How could they not be scared and confused?
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As the darkness creeps in, the disciples cave into fear as they cry, reject, run away and hide from Jesus. Still, the Lord will not abandon his own.
After his resurrection, Jesus appears to them for forty days and nights, sharing at least three different meals with them – in the Upper Room, along the Road to Emmaus, and over a charcoal fire where he’s reconciled with Peter.
You might say, Jesus helps his disciples to invite their fears in for tea, so that they could confront their failures, regret, and fear of the unknown.
Only after their hearts have been calmed, and their fear largely assuaged, does Jesus ascend into heaven. We see the fruit of the disciples’ peace and conviction at work at Pentecost as Peter preaches boldly to the crowds about Christ’s death and resurrection.
He and the others were thoroughly changed.
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Like the disciples, or my four-year-old nephew, what are we afraid of?
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“Invite your fears in for tea.” But make room for a third guest, the Lord who offers us his peace. As he promises through the prophet Isaiah:
“Do not fear; I am with you. Do not be anxious; I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you.” (Isaiah 41:10).
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Image credits: (1) Erin Ruell LMHC (2) Last Supper, Andrea Del Castagno, Florence (3) Stock Cake