There’s a wonderful line from the great American evangelist Billy Graham, who once said, “I’ve read the last page of the Bible. It’s all going to turn out all right.”
Some days, that sentence feels more real to usthan others. Some days, we need to hear it with a little more conviction, a little more reassurance. Some days we don’t seem so concerned!
The readings we’ve heard this morning (John 14:1-14/ Acts 7:55-60/ 1 Peter 2:2-10) don’t take us to the very last page of the Bible, but they certainly point us toward hope. They point us toward God who steadies us when we’re worried or struggling, who prepares a place for us, who walks with us through every chapter of life - those we enjoy and those we just have to endure.
In our gospel reading from John, Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.”
They’re powerful and comforting words, because they come from Jesus himself. But let’s be honest - they’re not always easy words to live by.
There are times when we want to trust, and we want to be sure, and we want to believe that everything will be all right in the end… but it just doesn’t feel like it.
Life has a way of shaking us. Circumstances unsettle us. The future can feel muddled. And even when we know the promises of God in our heads, our hearts sometimes struggle to catch up.
But Jesus doesn’t stop with “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” He goes on:
“In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”
When people hear these words they often just think about “this life” and “the next life,” as though they’re two separate things. But Jesus is actually doing something far more wonderful. He’s joining them together.
He’s talking about one life - eternal life - life that begins now and continues beyond death, life held securely in God.
Jesus has lived among us, died for us, risen again, and gone ahead of us. And he prepares a place for us - not just a room, but a home.
The Bible doesn’t give us many detailed pictures of heaven, but the glimpses we do get are incredible - a place with no pain, no mourning, no tears; a place where we live in the unfiltered presence of God.
It’s a picture that says:
Whatever is happening today, whatever happened yesterday,
whatever tomorrow brings…
in the end, it will turn out all right.
Billy Graham wasn’t being sentimental. He was being biblical.
But imagine hearing these words for the first time, as the disciples did. They didn’t yet know the full story.
They didn’t know Jesus was about to die and rise again and they didn’t understand the power of the Holy Spirit that would soon fill them.
They had no idea that this small group of followers would become a worldwide church of millions.
So, it’s no surprise that Thomas speaks up,“Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
And Jesus responds with one of the most famous lines in Scripture:
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”
I think Jesus is saying something like this:
“You don’t need to have it all figured out. You don’t need a map. You don’t need a fivestep plan. You just need me.”
He is the way - the one who leads us, guides us, and walks ahead of us.
He is the truth - the one we can trust, the one who shows us what God is like, the one who teaches us how to live with compassion, hope, and courage.
And he is the life - the giver of abundant life now and eternal life always.
So, Jesus invites us to follow his way, to trust his truth, and to receive his life, life in all its fullness, as we heard in last week’s gospel.
And once again, John’s gospel gently nudges us toward a decision. What do we make of Jesus? What do we do with his invitation? How do we respond to the one who calls us closer?
Our reading from Acts gives us a real-life example of someone who took that invitation seriously - Stephen, the first Christian martyr. It’s a difficult passage. It’s violent. It’s painful. And at first glance, it might make us think, “Well, following Jesus doesn’t look very appealing!”
But Stephen shows us something extraordinary. He doesn’t face death with fear. He faces it with hope. With trust. With a vision of heaven so real that it shapes the way he dies. He says, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
The crowd don’t really want to hear it. But Stephen sees clearly. He knows that this moment isn’t the end of his life but the beginning of a new chapter. He understands what Jesus meant about eternal life being one continuous life with God.
And that is the life we are invited into. A life that will have its ups and downs. A life that will include joy and sorrow, celebration and struggle. But above all, a life lived with the deep assurance that God is with us. Not far away. Not distant. But right here, walking every step with us.
There’s one more detail in that reading from Acts that’s easy to miss. The final line we heard says: “And Saul approved of their killing him.”
Saul approved. Saul stood there, watching Stephen die, and thought it was the right thing to do.
And yet… this same Saul would soon meet the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus. This same Saul would become Paul, the greatest missionary the church has ever known, the writer of much of the New Testament, the man whose words still help to shape our faith today.
Who knows what impact Stephen’s courage had on Saul?
Who knows what seeds were planted in that moment?
Who knows what God was already preparing in Saul’s heart?
And that’s a reminder for us. Most of us will never be called to die for our faith. But we are called to live for it. To live for Jesus. To share something of his love, his peace, his hope with the people around us.
And we may never know the impact of our words. We may never see the fruit of our kindness.
We may never realise how our quiet trust in God speaks to someone else.
But who knows what God is doing through us?
Who knows what someone might see in us?
Who knows when a person will finally hear Jesus’ invitation to follow him, the way, the truth, and the life?
So perhaps today, Jesus’ words come to us again:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.”
“Believe in God.”
“Believe also in me.”
And perhaps today, we might respond with a simple prayer:
“Lord, help me trust you more. Help me follow your way.
Help me live your life. And help me share your love wherever I am.”
Because the last page of the Bible has already been written.
And in the end, it really will turn out all right.Amen.
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