Loading...Fourteen. So far. Sixteen are planned. And I know even more will come by the end of this worship service. What am I talking about? A single word: ABIDE.
Jesus says it. John repeats it. I’m going to talk about it now. ABIDE
It’s a word that feels good. Much like the comfort we feel when we recite the 23rd Psalm, or feel the warmth, breathing, and heartbeat of someone, or some furry friend, against our bodies.
It feels like companionship. A sense of relationship. A depth of spirit. An unbreakable bond. ABIDE.
We don’t use this word very often. It feels old, perhaps. Like something Shakespeare would use. Maybe we don’t think we need a word like this in our vocabulary.
Instead, we use words like, “stay,” “remain,” or pleading statements like “don’t go.” Have we simplified the depth of ABIDE to “be careful,” or “watch out for deer,” or “call me when you get home,” or even, “I love you?”
The way Jesus uses the word in today’s Gospel, and the way John reprises it in his writing, the word ABIDE gives me a feeling of something even deeper than any of the ways we express our commitment to another in today’s language.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus likens ABIDE with the description of a vine. Jesus is the vine: the place from where the branches grow. The branches, he says, cannot grow without the vine. The fruit cannot grow without the branches. It is a symbiotic relationship that begins with the vine.
As people of faith, we believe the source of our life comes from our Creator God. As people who worship, we continually learn what it means to live thankful lives—growing from the knowledge and love of our Creator God, who is our vine, our source. As people who pray, we go to our source to petition for what we or others need and for the things for which we are thankful, because we recognize that without our Creator God, we are missing something we need to feel a part of creation.
Jesus says, “ABIDE in me as I ABIDE in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it ABIDES in the vine, neither can you unless you ABIDE in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who ABIDE in me and I in them bear much fruit…”
He’s speaking with the closest of his followers here. And yet, it feels like he is also speaking to all who will follow them. The sense of comfort he provides in the deep relationship he offers those who believe in him is breathtaking.
Last week we talked about the 23rd Psalm and the fact that God will never leave us. Today, we hear Jesus so lovingly express the depth of that commitment—that God will ABIDE with us, will remain with us, will never leave us, not even at our dying breath.
Yet we have a responsibility to this relationship as well. If we are to bear the fruit, we must live in ways that express our commitment to God. We, as heard from 1st John, must love one another -- because love comes from God.
Remember, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry says, “if it’s not about love, it’s not about God!”
As Christians, we seek our guidance from Jesus. We look at what he did in his life and ministry to care for the marginalized: the poor, the unhoused, the forgotten, the sick, the addicted, the disabled, the broken, those thrown out of the community, the orphans, widows, and immigrants. We learned how Jesus interpreted from the prophet Micah what it means to seek justice, mercy, and kindness. We watched how he challenged those who seemed to forget the belovedness of every living creature. What we know of his ministry leads us to believe there is value in every person, and that every person deserves, as we will be reminded in the renewal of our Baptismal Covenant in a few minutes, to be treated with dignity and respect.
And on this night, in the upper room, following an abundant dinner, after the command to remember Jesus whenever the bread is broken and the cup is shared, and coming after the intimacy of washing each disciple’s feet, we get to hear Jesus tell these people who have followed him and trusted him, who have learned from him and ate with him, who got to know his quirks and his gifts, how throughout these deep encounters over the course of three short years, he ABIDES with them and they ABIDE with him.
WOW.
And in the 15th verse of this 15th chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus calls them his friends. Finally. He tells them that who they are to him is more than they know or could ever understand.
Then in the 17th chapter of this Gospel, Jesus fervently prays to God for them. In their hearing—not away from them. Imagine! They will listen as he expresses the depth of his love and concern for them, to his Father. They will hear him ask for their protection and their ministries.
This little portion of what is called the Final Discourse is only a taste of the deep message of God ABIDING with these men, women, and children who have chosen to ABIDE with, to remain in the company of, and to learn what it means to deeply and broadly love from Jesus.
When we now use the word ABIDE, we may not remember the depth of this commitment to God or to another person. And yet, when we call someone our “person,” or our “love,” or some other way that expresses our endearment, we are striving to get to what it means to ABIDE with another human.
I wonder if it is even possible to ABIDE with any other person. I wonder if the only true measure of the word ABIDE can only be what happens when someone is in relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
You heard these words in our second lesson: “God is love, and those who ABIDE in love ABIDE in God, and God ABIDES in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. … We love because he first loved us.”
Maybe this is why we don’t use the word ABIDE very much anymore. It seems to reflect an intimacy with the Triune God that is not attainable in any other relationship.
I think I’m okay with that.
Let us pray. Our greatest longing, dear Creator God, is that you will ABIDE with us. When we are experiencing joy, sorrow, fear, or deep love, we pray that you are with us, ABIDING with us, through it all. Give us courage to recognize our yearning for you, knowing that as we need you, our source of love and life, you have chosen to always be with us, loving us, guiding us, teaching us, ABIDING like no other creature can. Amen.
