Don’t worry about it. - John 14:25-27
“Don’t worry about it.” Isn’t it maddening when people say that to you? “Don’t worry about it.” Is that the best advice they can give? As if you were so thick headed that it never occurred to you that the solution to your troubles was to “not worry about it”. "Thank you for your deep insight to my complex problem. I had no idea that not worrying about it was an option. But now that you, oh mighty seer of solutions, have spoken to me such words of wisdom, I will hence forth cease from worrying about it." As if it were that simple right? Doesn’t it irritate you when someone tells you “don’t worry about it.”?
I know it irritates my wife when her husband says “don’t worry about it” to her. My wife will be looking at tuition payments and comparing them to our cash flow in the context of our other obligations. She will have spreadsheets open, bank statements will have already been examined, potential problems will have been identified, evaluated, and noted. She will spend a few hours doing a detailed analysis of the situation. When she is finished, she will express some of her concerns to me in the hopes that I can shine some light on her troubling situation. But I, with no insight, no thought, no time invested, no comprehension of the complexity of her issue will flippantly say to her, "baby ... don't worry about it." God bless her, she is usually able to refrain from calling me a simpleton or something worse, but I can tell by look on her face she was hoping I would offer her something more helpful than a “don’t worry about it”.
I imagine the disciples were hoping for something more helpful than a “don’t worry about it”. The disciples were not having what you would call a good day. In fact, this was probably one of their worst days. For the past few days Jesus had grown increasingly troubled in His spirit. He spoke more and more about His “coming hour”[1] when He would be “lifted up”[2]. He who once identified Himself as the “light of the world”[3] said things like “you are going to have the light just a little while longer.”[4]. Things got downright ominous when they gathered to eat the Passover meal. Jesus who was clearly upset told His disciples, “I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.”[5] Then He handed Judas a piece of bread and told him, “what you are about to do, do quickly.”[6] Judas took off running and that is when Jesus said, “33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.” [7] Peter did not like the sound of that. “37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times![8]
So, the disciples have just learned that one of them is going to betray Jesus another one is going to disown Jesus and then Jesus is going to leave them forever, likely under horrific circumstances. Like I said, not the best day they have had. These guys are anxious, they are upset, they are worried, they are troubled, they are frightened, they are afraid. They look to Jesus for some clarity and comfort, and Jesus says to them… “don’t worry about it.” His exact words were, “27… Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
What’s making you anxious and upset right now? What are you worried and troubled about? Is there something that is filling you with fear and making you afraid? If you are like most people, I would be willing to bet one of the three “R”’s Resources, Relationships, or Redemption has got you looking to Jesus for some clarity and comfort. Maybe you are anxious and upset that you might not have enough resources, be it time talent or treasure, to provide what you and your family need in the present or are you anxious and upset because you are not sure you have enough for the future. Maybe you are worried and troubled about a strained relationship with a family member, or an unhealthy relationship with a friend, or a toxic relationship with a coworker. Maybe the evil you have done and the good you have failed to do have filled you with fear and you are afraid that you have missed the mark by so much, trespassed so boldly, transgressed so badly, and sinned so grievously that you are beyond redemption. Whatever it is that is making you anxious and upset, worried or troubled, frightened or afraid you know you can turn to Jesus. Jesus invites you to come to Him when you are weary and heavy laden[9], He invites you to call upon Him in the day of trouble[10], He tells you to ask, seek, and knock.[11] Jesus wants you to look to Him for clarity and comfort so that He can say to you, “don’t worry about it.”.
It would be maddening to hear “don’t worry about it” from anyone else, but when Jesus says “27… Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” It’s not maddening at all. Quite the opposite, actually. When Jesus tells us “don’t worry about it” we tend to be less anxious and upset, less worried and troubled, less frightened and afraid, because it’s different when Jesus says, “don’t worry about it”. Typically, when someone else tells you “don’t worry about it” what they want you to do is is try not to think about it or pretend it isn’t happening. But you know forgetting about or ignoring the things that make you anxious and upset, worried and troubled, frightened and afraid will not make those things go away. In fact, more often than not, forgetting about or ignoring such things will only make them worse. That’s why when Jesus says, “don’t worry about it” He isn’t asking you to forget about or ignore your problems. Rather Jesus is inviting you to remember His promises are more powerful than your problems.
Over the past three years Jesus had shared comforting promises with His disciples. However, Jesus was about to go to a place His where His disciples were for a time unable to follow. Jesus is in that place right now preparing it for our arrival, but, until that time, we cannot be with Jesus as His disciples once were. We don’t get to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear Him sharing promises with us like He once did. Thankfully, Jesus told His disciples, both the ones gathered in the upper room and the ones gathered in this sanctuary, “26 .. the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” God the Father sent God the Holy Spirit in the name of God the Son to teach and remind His disciples about God’s promises.
The Holy Spirit taught you God’s promises by working through parents who modeled their faith both by producing fruits and seeking forgiveness and who also brought you to church and Sunday School, read you stories from the bible and prayed bedtime prayers with you. The Holy Spirit taught you still more about God’s promises through pastors and teachers who taught you about law and gospel; sin and grace and made you memorize the ten commandments, the Lord’s prayer, and more bible passages than you ever thought you would need to know. Even after you leave your parent’s house and get confirmed by the preacher, the Holy Spirit continues to teach you about God’s promises as you open the scriptures in your private devotions and meditate on their meaning. When life’s problems make you anxious and upset, worried and troubled, frightened and afraid Jesus is able to tell you, “don’t worry about it” because the Holy Spirit has taught you about God’s promises that are more powerful than your problems.
However, Jesus knew that problems often have the power to make a person forget about promises. Which is why the Holy Spirit repeatedly reminds us of those promises. I am not suggesting we have direct revelation when I say this, but sometimes I think we mistake memory for the working of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes I just remember things that I am not smart enough or cleaver enough to remember and I remember these things at precisely the moment I need to remember them the most. You know what I mean? Sometimes the perfect verse pops into your mind at just the right time. This has happened to you too, I know it has. Maybe you don’t remember the exact chapter and verse, maybe you get some of the words jumbled up, but when you are feeling anxious and upset about your resources a verse pops into your mind like “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” Or consider “how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you?”[12] Or when you are worried and troubled about a relationship you suddenly find yourself thinking about a verse like “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven.”[13] Or when you are frightened and afraid about your redemption you find yourself muttering a verse like “1 There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” [14] When life’s problems make you anxious and upset, worried and troubled, frightened and afraid Jesus is able to tell you, “don’t worry about it” because the Holy Spirit repeatedly reminds you God’s promises are more powerful than your problems.
When anyone else tells you “don’t worry about it” it’s difficult to resist the urge to slap the backside of their head and call them a simpleton. But when Jesus says, “don’t worry about it” we are filled with peace, because when Jesus says “don’t worry about it” He isn’t asking us to ignore our problems or pretend they don’t exist. When Jesus says, “don’t worry about it” He is inviting us to remember that His promises are more powerful than our problems. So, the next time you are anxious and upset, worried and troubled, frightened and afraid listen to Jesus when He tells you “don’t worry about it”. Amen.
[1] John 12:23
[2] John 12:32
[3] John 9:5
[4] John 12:35
[5] John 13:21
[6] John 13:27
[7] John 13:33
[8] John 13:37-38
[9] Matthew 11:28
[10] Psalm 50:15
[11] Matthew 7:7
[12] Matthew 6:26 & 6:30
[13] Matthew 5:10-11
[14] Romans 8:1