How Is Your Heart? – by Ed Dunn

Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come?

Why should my heart be lonely? And long for heaven and home?

Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is He.

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me – Classic Hymn, His Eve is On the Sparrow

What a time we are living through together. What divides we listen to daily on the evening news. Political divides, racial divides, social divides, economic divides and more. Foreign wars and local disasters. In these times, many suffer from a crisis of faith. How can we have a heart full of peace? How can we not be troubled when we are living through all we face each day?

The gospel account is well familiar to us. John 14:1-27 (KJV) gives us a glimpse into a conversation as Jesus reminds his followers: Let not your heart be troubled. As we look at both Jesus’ context and words, I must admit I love the poetry of the old King James version. The phrasing in this translation, Let not, is such a beautiful way of expressing a thought we may not hear so often these days. Beginning the thought with the word, “let,” is by no means an accident. Please, let me explain.

We see Jesus seated at a table for a meal with those closest to him. His context is truly troubling. Jesus knew well what was coming. He knew what many in the Jewish community were hoping for. He knew the depths of the insecurity and constant state of scheming of the religious authorities. At the same time, Jesus also knew the extent of Roman authority and brutality, and how the Romans used that brutality to maintain order. Jesus had no doubt seen all of it with his own eyes. Soon, the world around them all would erupt, and Jesus would suffer an unfair and unjust public and painful death.                                                                                                         

Despite all that was taking place around them, where was Jesus’ focus? How was he facing the troubling times in front of him? In the face of events that would most certainly trouble any human heart, Jesus was focused on the peace within. Jesus was focused on his heart, on his internal space, as well as that of his closest followers. Hard as it may be for us to fully imagine, just hours before a series of terrible events would unfold, Jesus was offering the peace his followers would need to face all that would happen to him, and, all that would eventually happen to them, as well.

Jesus said, Let not your heart be troubled. The word, let, indicates that we have the chance to choose to participate in his peace. The peace of Christ does not force itself upon us. God the Holy Spirit does not violate our free will. Instead, we choose to let, to allow, that peace to do its work within us. We share in the process of transformation that takes place. As we let, we face our own troubling events in life with a deep sense of calm. Christ in us calms us. Christ in us gives us peace.

We participate in a collaborative effort. We know the peace of Christ resides within us through the Holy Spirit. We focus on that peace, give thanks for it, and let it complete its perfect work within us. No matter what we may face, by Christ and his indwelling peace within us, we allow there to be space around our troubles. We breathe and stand fast in him, all the while remembering how he concludes his conversation: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you…let not your heart be troubled. (John 14:27, KJV). With all that we are living through together, we give thanks that Christ in us gives us peace and a sense of calm. In him we rest. In him we trust.

The old classic hymn, His Eye is On the Sparrow asks us questions that are so relevant in these times. Thanks be to Him we need not be discouraged and in the shadows that come. We may feel lonely in all we face, and we may well long for heaven and home. Yet, Jesus is our ever-present Friend. His loving eye is on us all.

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