LET DOWN YOUR GUARD…John 14:23-29

A young novice sailor was sailing with an experienced skipper in the Chesapeake Bay. The young sailor asked him how he knew the location of all of the bay’s many rock formations and shoals and was able to avoid them so easily. The old skipper laughed and said “BECAUSE I’VE HIT ‘EM ALL.”

That is one of the badges of honor of the mature life, isn’t it? That sometimes you feel like you are just about ready for anything because, at this point, you’ve been hit by about everything life can throw at you. That’s a nice sentiment, isn’t it? If only it were true. That eventually you reach the point where you have seen it all and nothing fazes you anymore and nothing scares you. It sounds great and heroic, but it just doesn’t jive with human nature.

Life occasionally confronts us in ways for which no amount of life experience can prepare us. And those occasions can leave us feeling frighteningly vulnerable. It can leave us feeling powerless and anchorless. And then there are those words of Jesus: “LET NOT YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED…Jesus says. AND DON’T LET THEM BE AFRAID.” These are important, powerful words because we live in a world filled with fearful, frightened people. The columnist Ann Landers used to receive about 10,000 letters every  MONTH. When she was asked what seemed to be the most common theme of all those letters she answered that most people seem to be afraid of something. They are afraid of losing their health, or their job, or their family, or simply afraid of not being loved. Yes, ours is a world of fearful people.

Psychologists tell us that the feeling of fear is one of the earliest and most elemental emotions that we feel, already as infants. In our infancy, this fear can be grouped into three distinct categories: a fear of falling, a fear of loud noises, and a fear of abandonment. As we grow into adults, we are able to deal fairly well with the first 2; falling and loud noises.  But the fear of abandonment, of being left alone, of having no one who cares about us, is a fear that all people share, and for many, the fear grows the longer we live. To us, Jesus says: “THAT CAN’T HAPPEN. I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU ALONE. I AM GOING TO MY FATHER, BUT I WILL SEND THE HOLY SPIRIT TO BE WITH YOU.”

So, the good news this morning is that God will not forget us. God will NEVER overlook us. God tells us that we are somebody – and in baptism, God calls us by name. God puts His mark upon us and makes us His own. If we welcome His glorious intrusion, emptiness becomes a thing of the past.  Suddenly, our life story is not a litany of all that we have lost or failed to achieve. It is a rendition of all that we have gained in Jesus Christ.

There’s a story about a father of a large family in Budapest who goes to the rabbi and complains “LIFE IS UNBEARABLE. THERE ARE 9 OF US LIVING IN ONE ROOM. WHAT CAN I DO?” The rabbi tells him, “go home and take your goat into the room with you to live.” The man protests but the rabbi insists “Do as I say and come back in a week” A week later the man is back, looking even more distraught. “RABBI, WE CANNOT STAND IT. THE GOAT IS FILTHY AND HE SMELLS.” The rabbi instructs him to go home and let the goat out and come back in a week. A week later, it is a radiant man who returns. RABBI, he exclaims “LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL! WE ENJOY EVERY MINUTE OF IT NOW THAT THERE IS NO GOAT – ONLY THE 9 OF US!”

I suppose we can all make our own applications here for this story. But the bottom line is, you will decide whether life is unbearable or life is beautiful. Now, Dr. Phil insists it is all up to you. We’re pretty sure we need to let the Savior into the equation and take His rightful place in our hearts and lives. And this Savior of ours, He uses all sorts of people to send us His comfort and consolation. You can keep the people in your life at arm’s length. You can refuse to allow anyone else to get especially close to you if you want to. You might even think it’s a way of protecting yourself from that dreaded fear of abandonment. But you may also be shutting out the Christ, who often reaches out to you through the touch or hug of a friend or the care and concern of a family member.

It reminds me of the time my daughter called home from school her freshman year at the Univ. of Minnesota. When she left for school, she gave her mother instructions about the need to water her two plants in her bedroom and feed and water her parakeet. She knew Dawn tended to get consumed with work, so periodically she would call to ask about the plants and her parakeet. Everything was fine until a few days before she was to come home for Thanksgiving, I went into her bedroom and found the bird on his back with feet pointing skyward. The plants were both just as dead. Dawn and I had dropped the ball big time. We thought we’d wait until she got home  to give her the bad news, but she called that night and asked about the plants first. Dawn told her that she was very sorry but she had not taken care of them and neither plant had survived. Then she asked about her bird. Dawn begged her forgiveness and told her she had forgotten about the bird and it, too, was dead. Jill paused for a minute and then asked HOW’S DAD?

A little 7-year-old boy complained to his mother who insisted on following him to school every day “MOM, PLEASE DON’T FOLLOW ME. EVERYBODY THINKS I’M A BABY.” Mom decided she would ask a friend of hers who lived a block over to follow little Timmy to school each morning once he passed by her house. After a few days of this, Timmy and his little friend noticed this strange woman following them right up to the steps of school each day. Timmy’s friend asked, “WHO IS THAT LADY WHO KEEPS FOLLOWING US? Timmy said, I THINK THAT’S SHIRLEY GOODNEST. OR MAYBE IT’S MARCY.” “Who are they?” I DUNNO Timmy replied. BUT EVERY NIGHT MY MOM MAKES ME SAY THIS PSALM FROM THE BIBLE AND IT SAYS “Shirley Goodnest and Marcy will follow me all the days of my life.”

You are not alone when you have friends and family who care. You are never alone when God lives in your life.  “LET NOT YOUR HEARTS BE TROUBLED, NEITHER LET THEM BE AFRAID,” Jesus tells us. HOW? Take this to heart. Jesus grants us the power to come to Him in repentance and the opportunity to look forward to tomorrow, and the promise that this morning’s burden, whatever it is, NOT become tomorrow’s darkness as well.

And with that power of forgiveness comes peace.  Does that mean it will it go according to plan? Probably not according to yours. Will we be protected from disappointment, from failure, from sin and guilt? Not likely. But we have this assurance. Tomorrow, we can once again stand before the cross and say FORGIVEN AND RENEWED, I BEGIN ANEW. LET OUR HEARTS NOT BE TROUBLED. NEITHER LET THEM BE AFRAID. Amen