A sermon for the fifth Sunday of Easter during a pandemic.

This is the sermon that I offered up during Morning Prayer on May 10, 2020. This service was held via the zoom platform for St John's Episcopal Church in Dubuque, Iowa. The reason that services weren't held in person was due to the COVID-19 pandemic that prevented the congregation from gathering together. The scripture readings were Acts 7:55-60, Psalm 31:1-5&15-16, 1 Peter 2:2-10, and John 14:1-14.
Let us pray: O God, may our hearts not be troubled. May we believe in you and in your son Jesus who came to redeem all of us with the help of our advocate the Holy Spirit. Amen.

One thing that I’ve noticed in the last few weeks is that there seems to be more conspiracy theories than normal coming from all over the world and for many of us, they are maddening. I suppose that is to be expected in a world dominated by the 24/7 news cycle, the use of social media as a political weapon, and the COVID-19 pandemic. People are searching for ‘the truth’, as they see it, as a way to control the uncertainty around themselves and the effect uncertainty has on their lives.
I’m not really surprised by the readings today, especially when Phillip starts searching for ‘the truth’ from Jesus.  Jesus tells us this: 
Believe in God, believe in me, Jesus says. Do not let your hearts be troubled. 
Believe in God. Believe in Me. Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Wait, wait... did I reverse that from the Gospel? 
Well, yes.  Yes I did.  Let me explain.
If I say that my heart should not be troubled, and then think of God, Jesus becomes an afterthought. To be honest, it is easy to run full-steam ahead, and think we’ll get to the God stuff later like a type of insurance. Maybe. By putting Christ first, it seems that the focus is on Jesus and what he asks us to do, rather than looking for a certainty that things are going to be smooth and worry-free in our daily lives.  
As he gets ready to finish his ministry, Jesus is seeing things from a different perspective than the disciples. It seems pretty likely that Jesus knew the disciples were uncomfortable.  Sure enough, there’s tension, first with Thomas and then with Phillip.  
Philip demands: “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”
In other words, Hey Jesus, show us God, we want to be certain that you are God, and then we will be happy with you.
What? Philip? Really?  Phillip has been a disciple, following Jesus for a long time, and he’s still questioning who Jesus is and why Jesus is here on Earth.  
What follows Philip’s demand is the beginning of a long farewell that Jesus offers that stretch through another three chapters of John. Where Jesus tells us over and over to Love one another. Through it all Phillip’s reply to Jesus, if he had one, is never quoted.
But you know, Phillip was looking for something we all look for.  He was looking for certainty in an uncertain world.  Would you be reassured by a farewell speech by someone you had been following for three years?
I have to say, I probably would not have had much comfort in that if I was a disciple then.
The need for certainty on this earth, which I mentioned earlier, will not be found within the message of Jesus.  In fact, we see in Acts today the stoning of Stephen.  Persecution and anger and martyrdom were real consequences of believing in Jesus. 
Jesus says: Believe in God. Believe in Me. Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God. Believe in Jesus. Do not let your hearts be troubled.
The comfort we look for is also part of the message of Jesus, because Jesus promises that he will be with us, and we can be assured that Jesus will not forget us.  The letter of First Peter tells us we have accepted Jesus as our cornerstone and we have received mercy. As a result of this mercy, we are compelled as disciples to act with love towards others.  Reaching out to the poor, reaching out to the disenfranchised, reaching out to the victims of inequity, reaching out to everyone on the margins.  Jesus takes care of the needs of heaven, so we can focus on the here and now, no matter how hard that may be.
This is an uncertain world that we live in.  But we do have certainty, that is Jesus is the Savior and our salvation. 
Jesus says:  Believe in God. Believe in Me. 
My friends, even during this time, do not let your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God.
Believe in Jesus.

Amen.

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