I Miss You

I recently stood in an empty room, looking down the barrel of a lens, and spoke these words to my church. I’m hoping they were an encouragement to them, but maybe they can be to you also.

I just want to be completely upfront, this is a bit strange for me. Actually, more than a bit strange, it’s unsettling; I’m not used to this yet. Actually, I don’t know if I want to ever get used to it. This is not what preaching should be. I’m not saying it’s bad, or can’t be helpful, but a preacher should stand in front of his people, not a camera. I miss looking out at you, people I know and love, seeing your faces as I read and proclaim God’s Word. I even miss seeing those of you who catch a bit of shut-eye during the sermon. In short, I miss you.

In some ways, the early days of this new normal were kind of exciting, a bit of a novelty, and I’m not sure about you, but that novelty is wearing off fast! All of a sudden Zoom has entered our regular vocabulary; we’re Zooming in here, and Zooming in there. Church isn’t meant to be like this, right? Life, isn’t meant to be like this. And everyone is saying, “We just need to get used to new ways of doing things”, and that’s probably true. And we can put a forced Christian smile on our face and say, “Well, I’m just going to be happy, because that’s what Christians are supposed to do!” But we all know, don’t we, that something about all this isn’t quite right? We know it’s not the way it’s meant to be. And it’s unsettling, like life is playing out of sync, like a cheap recording of a foreign film with English dubbed over the top—something just isn’t lining up.

Maybe you’ve seen your kids do this, or maybe you remember doing this yourself as a young child; something unsettling occurs, maybe you watched a scary film or had a bad dream, and we all pull the blankets over our head and pretend the monsters aren’t there. Pulling the blanket over our head somehow magically created an impenetrable force-field around us, a shield that would keep us safe. Except it didn’t. And it doesn’t today, either. But that’s what we often are tempted to still do. When life gets hard and unsettled, when something scary is happening around us, we tend to still pull the blanket over our head and pretend that we’re all safe and sound.

But I want to show you something from God’s Word that will change everything. God doesn’t want you to live these weeks and months hiding under a blanket, hiding away from the world in fear. God has something better for you. God wants you to know something better than the fears we fool ourselves with, and distractions we hide under for protection. 

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.  (John 14:18-20 ESV)

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you

Despite feelings of abandonment or isolation, as a child of God, take courage. You are not an orphan. You have a Father. You have a home. You have a family.

Consider how the disciples felt when Jesus all of a sudden told them he’d be leaving them; their whole world of expectations suddenly turned upside-down. What was Jesus’ response?

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.”  (John 14:1-4 ESV)

We have the assurance of Jesus, not only when the path of life is smooth and care-free, but also (and maybe, especially) when the way seems dark and uncertain. You are not alone. You are not an orphan. You are not abandoned. You have a family.

Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me

Though the circumstances seem grim, though the world saw Jesus lifted up and dead, buried in a grave — we know that appearances can be deceiving. Things are not the way they appear. The world sees fear, but we see Jesus.

Maybe you’re doubting; you’re not the first. Look at Thomas’ response:

Thomas said to him, “Lord, 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 had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”  (John 14:5-7 ESV)

When the way forward is dark and uncertain, when fear and anxiety is at its loudest, that is precisely the time to fill your vision with Jesus. He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. There isn’t another path. Jesus is who we see.

Because I live, you also will live

Your security is as secure as Jesus is. Your life is wrapped up in his. We live, because he lives.

One of the most beautiful images of our life with Christ, something that Jesus would actually tell these disciples a little later, is that it was better that Jesus would leave them, than if he had stayed! Better! Maybe you’re thinking, “What on earth could be better than to have Jesus himself walking beside me?” Well, I’ll let Jesus himself answer that:

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.  (John 14:16-17 ESV)

Jesus lived with us, but God, by his Spirit, now lives in us. When Jesus disappeared early in the morning to go pray, or wander over to the other side of the lake, the disciples would wake up alone and afraid; they’d scurry all over the place searching for Jesus ‘till they found him, “Where were you? We’ve been looking everywhere for you?” But if you’re a child of God, you’ll never wake alone. You can’t find yourself anywhere, or lose yourself in anything, that separates you from the presence of God.

That’s why, just before Jesus ascended into heaven, he told his frightened and confused disciples to not go anywhere, don’t do anything, just wait in Jerusalem. Wait for what?

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”  (Acts 1:4-5 ESV)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”  (Acts 1:8 ESV)

But something amazing did happen with Christ. Not in the sense of simply walking beside him, but in the sense that something happened to Jesus that was then also transferred to us. Something happened to us with Jesus.

even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—  (Ephesians 2:5 ESV)

So what happened there? Well, Paul explains it a different way in his letter to the Romans.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.  (Romans 5:10 ESV)

The is what Jesus was trying to get his disciples to understand, and it’s what he wants you to understand today. "Because I live, you also will live.”

In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you

See the beautiful thread of God’s love, woven together in Christ. Jesus in the Father. You in Jesus. Jesus in you. 

You are wrapped up in the powerful hands of God. Right now, despite the fear and anxiety, despite the uncertainty, despite the inconvenience of an upturned life, Jesus grips you with an unshakable strength, and you are completely secure. Yet, as if that weren’t enough, with more glory and power and majesty than you could possibly comprehend, the Father wraps his hands in and over the top of Jesus’, and you, well, you’re held tight by the impenetrable protection of the Ancient of Days, the Almighty, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.

So what should we do with this? Jesus said these things to give us peace, but not the type of peace that makes us comfortable. This peace, the peace of Jesus, is a compelling peace. This is the sort of peace that grows creates confidence.

John 14:25-31 — “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

Did you notice the last words Jesus said on that special night just before the Cross? ”Rise, let us go from here.” The peace that Jesus brings is the peace that compels us to action. Fear and anxiety will cripple us, but the peace of Jesus liberates us to rise and go.