Jesus made a place for us; Make a place for him.

We are now two months into this COVID-19 pandemic. As of this morning, over 280,000 people have died from this virus worldwide, over 79,000 in the United States, over 1,700 in Florida, 33 in Polk County and one of those, Bill Smith, in our church family.

Jesus told his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

We hear each day about new statistics, new theories as doctors and researchers and epidemiologists all over the world are working as hard as they can to try and understand this Coronavirus, to determine its means and rate of transmission from person to person, to understand how and why it affects some people and regions more than others, to find treatments and cures, as well as strategies to prevent its spread.

These brilliant minds around the world are working and they are working together. There is actually a “Master Questions List” that is tracking which doctors and scientists around the world are working on which aspects of this pandemic so that they can build on each other’s work and fill in the gaps.

Jesus said, “Believe in God, believe also in me.”

We learn more each day about the tens of millions in this country who have lost their jobs, tens maybe hundreds of thousands here in Florida. We know our unemployment system is overwhelmed. We also know that unemployment checks – when they come - and government stimulus checks are temporary and inadequate.

Jesus said, “In my Father’s house there are many rooms.” 

And while all of that is going on, other pressing concerns and sorrows continue. Each night many of us join in Compline and share prayer needs. A number of our church family are battling cancer and other diseases, many of them chronic. Some of us have lost family and dear friends from other diseases and accidents. We continue to see soul-rending examples of irrational violence and acts of senseless inhumanity.

When Jesus said “Do not let your hearts be troubled,” everything was clearly not ok. They are in real trouble. After his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, he had repeated confrontations with the Jewish authorities. They were under a brutal Roman occupation. Judas had just left their Passover meal to betray him – and all of them. Jesus had just told Peter that he would verbally betray Jesus three times before the cock crowed the next morning. Jesus knew he would be arrested, tried, beaten and then crucified.

And, in truth, everything has clearly not been ok since. We tend to remember better times in the past as we honor the brief and all too rare incidents of great and wise rulers, of relative peace and stability. We should revere such examples and celebrate the progress we have made across the centuries.

But we must also be honest about the rest of it. We remember the great leaders, innovators and movements because they stand out against the long and sordid history of poverty, disease, hunger, violence and cruelty that has plagued the vast majority of humanity for the vast majority of its existence. And then we die. And that’s not ok.

This Gospel passage is one of several that the Book of Common Prayer recommends for funerals, and in my experience it is by far the one most often chosen. I believe that is so because Jesus speaks so clearly about God’s transformative and redemptive work being done in and through him. This is God’s answer and ultimate victory over all that is wrong in the world and in us.

Remember that at the start of his Gospel, John describes Jesus as “The Word” through whom God speaks all of creation into being, bringing order out of chaos. The creative, transformative power of God’s Word is who Jesus is.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5)

The darkness of sin shall not overcome it. The darkness of evil shall not overcome it. The suffering from COVID-19 and every other disease shall not overcome it. Our grief and sorrow shall not overcome it. The struggles of our economy shall not overcome it. Death itself shall not overcome it.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

In Jesus, we find that God’s creation continues. He’s working ahead of us bringing order out of chaos, building dwelling places, rooms, mansions for us. Remember that wherever you are, he created that place for you already. He’s working on a better one, a perfect one.

And his creation continues within each of us. Whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever has happened or is happening or not happening in your life, he is creating this place for you and in you. He is the ultimate truth, Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done. He is the way to get there, God’s creative power spoken into being. And the getting there is true life. It is what pulls us through the hardships of life and brings us hope in the face of all of it including death.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Remember that God has prepared a place for you and is creating a place in you.

AMEN!