SPEAKER_00: I love this gospel.
SPEAKER_00: I use it many times for funerals.
SPEAKER_00: This line is so powerful.
SPEAKER_00: Do not let your hearts be troubled.
SPEAKER_00: It sounds simple, but it is not.
SPEAKER_00: Because most of us walk through life with a troubled heart.
SPEAKER_00: Daily anxiety about the future, about what's going to happen.
SPEAKER_00: How do I do this?
SPEAKER_00: How do I do that?
SPEAKER_00: Regrets about the past that keep us stuck.
SPEAKER_00: Pressure in the very present moment.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus does not say your life will be easy.
SPEAKER_00: He says, do not let your hearts be troubled.
SPEAKER_00: Which means something very important.
SPEAKER_00: You have more control over your heart than you think.
SPEAKER_00: Now listen to what he says next.
SPEAKER_00: You have faith in God, have faith also in me.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, the answer to a troubled heart is not control, it's absolute trust.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the problem.
SPEAKER_00: We trust God in theory, we struggle to trust him in reality.
SPEAKER_00: We say we believe, but when things start to fall apart, when plans change, when life does not go the way we expected, when we're confused or troubled, something inside shakes us.
SPEAKER_00: And that's where the gospel meets us.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, In my Father's house, there are many dwelling places.
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to prepare a place for you, not a concept, a place, an actual place, not an idea, a destination, which means your life is going somewhere.
SPEAKER_00: You are not drifting.
SPEAKER_00: You are not just wandering around.
SPEAKER_00: This is a place being prepared for you.
SPEAKER_00: And then Thomas says, what everyone is thinking, Lord, we don't know where you are going.
SPEAKER_00: How can we possibly know the way?
SPEAKER_00: It's an honest question.
SPEAKER_00: Not theological.
SPEAKER_00: It's an existential question.
SPEAKER_00: How do I live this?
SPEAKER_00: How do I get there?
SPEAKER_00: How do I know that I won't get lost?
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus answers one of the most direct statements in the whole gospel.
SPEAKER_00: I am the way, the truth and the life.
SPEAKER_00: It's not, I will show you the way, or not, I will teach you some of the truths, not I will give you life.
SPEAKER_00: No, what does he say?
SPEAKER_00: I am.
SPEAKER_00: Which means this Christianity is not primarily about following principles, it's about following a person, a concrete person.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if we connect all of this to the first reading, Paul stands up and tells another story.
SPEAKER_00: It's a hard story.
SPEAKER_00: They recognize, they failed to recognize him, he says.
SPEAKER_00: They condemned him, they put him to death.
SPEAKER_00: The very people who were waiting for the Messiah missed him.
SPEAKER_00: Here's why that matters.
SPEAKER_00: Because it is possible to be religious and still not recognize Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It's very possible to know all the scriptures and still reject the one they are pointing to.
SPEAKER_00: It is possible to be close to the church and still not actually follow Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, because we do not always want the way He is.
SPEAKER_00: We want a different way, a more comfortable way.
SPEAKER_00: We want a way that is our way, a more controllable way, the way that fits our expectations.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus does not offer that option.
SPEAKER_00: He says, no one comes to the Father except through me.
SPEAKER_00: This is not exclusion.
SPEAKER_00: This is just clarity.
SPEAKER_00: And then Paul says the line that changes everything.
SPEAKER_00: But God raised him from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: That's the hinge.
SPEAKER_00: That's everything that we believe right there.
SPEAKER_00: Because if Christ is still in the tomb, then he is just one more voice, one more teacher, one more opinion.
SPEAKER_00: But he's not.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: And that means he is not just showing you a path, he is leading you through death into life.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if we bring back, we bring that back to your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Do not let your hearts be troubled.
SPEAKER_00: How do we do that?
SPEAKER_00: How is that even possible?
SPEAKER_00: Well, only if you know where you're going.
SPEAKER_00: Only if you know who you're following.
SPEAKER_00: Because a troubled heart is often a divided heart.
SPEAKER_00: Part of you trusts God, but part of you is still trying to control everything.
SPEAKER_00: Part of you believes, but part of you is afraid and doesn't know.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus says, choose.
SPEAKER_00: Trust me wholeheartedly.
SPEAKER_00: Not halfway, not when it's convenient, fully, just give in.
SPEAKER_00: Because if he is the way, then you do not need to invent your own.
SPEAKER_00: If he is the truth, then you do not need to chase every other voice.
SPEAKER_00: If he is the life, then you do not need to look for it anywhere else.
SPEAKER_00: This is where it gets practical.
SPEAKER_00: What does it actually look like to follow him as the way?
SPEAKER_00: Well, it means this.
SPEAKER_00: It means you forgive when it's hard.
SPEAKER_00: It means you trust when you don't understand.
SPEAKER_00: It means you move forward when everything in you wants to stay where it's safe.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's scary.
SPEAKER_00: Because following Jesus will always lead you somewhere you do not have, you would not have chosen on your own.
SPEAKER_00: But it will always lead you where you need to go.
SPEAKER_00: So here's the question for today.
SPEAKER_00: What's troubling your heart right now?
SPEAKER_00: Truly.
SPEAKER_00: Think about this.
SPEAKER_00: What's that place where trust has not fully taken root?
SPEAKER_00: Because if you understand that, then that's exactly where Jesus is speaking.
SPEAKER_00: Do not let your hearts be troubled.
SPEAKER_00: Trust me.
SPEAKER_00: Follow me.
SPEAKER_00: Stay with me.
SPEAKER_00: Because you're not lost.
SPEAKER_00: You're not alone.
SPEAKER_00: You're not without a way.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to know this.
SPEAKER_00: He is the way, the only way.
SPEAKER_00: And he's already walking it with you.
SPEAKER_00: Just open up, surrender, and trust him.