There’s a lot of abiding going on this morning. It’s not a word we use all that much…and usually when we do, we are saying something like..
“As long as you live in my house, you will abide by my rules”. Any of you ever heard that one? Which basically means…’you’d better do as I say, young lady (or young man)..or else! ‘ Or maybe we might say “I cannot abide your constant whining”…in other words…’I am going to lose it if you don’t stop right now!’
And because that’s the way we use the word abide…we might be tempted to think that maybe that is what Jesus is saying…after all, he does say “Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” Maybe this is a thinly disguised threat — “do as I say…or else.” But somehow…I don’t think so.
Because Jesus is talking to his friends, here…his friends who have been with him and shared his life for the past three years — friends he loves and who are shortly going to have to watch him be arrested, mocked, beaten, and executed. Now, he knows this could be just a tad bit discouraging, to say the least. More accurately… this will have the potential to send them into a tailspin of fear and despair and hopelessness. And he also knows that if they lose hope…if they succumb to fear…they will just be more fuel for the world’s fires. They will dry up and wither… and will have nothing left to offer…no fruit to share. That’s what despair does. It shrivels us. That’s what fear does. It dries up everything good inside us. And Jesus doesn’t want that to happen. He wants them to know love. That’s why he came.
So Jesus wants them to know that whatever comes…when the worst happens, they do not have to be afraid. They do not have to despair. Because he is still with them…in them. They are still rooted and grounded in him..in God…and in love. Jesus abides in them…and they abide him him. What they share does not end….they will always be a home for eachother. A safe place. Even in the midst of all the awful things that are going to happen…they can still trust that the goodness of God they came to know in Jesus has not ended. They can trust that God is still in this world, and n the people around them. They can still trust that all their moments are holy — God-filled….just as they were when Jesus was with them. Not just the “wow” moments…but all the mundane ordinary moments…all the “what are we supposed to do NOW” moments….all the hard and painful moments…and even the ungodly moments. That’s what abiding means.
You know…I believe Jesus wants us to know the same thing. Sometimes, the bad news…the ugliness and evil of the world is more than a tad bit discouraging. And sometimes the bad news in our own life seems overwhelming. And when it does… we also can get caught in our own tailspins of fear and hopelessness. And we know what it is like at those times, don’t we?…how we dry up like a branch that has been cut off the vine. Everything good in us dries up. Our joy…our hope… our laughter…our delight…our wonder…it all withers, and we simply become fuel for the world’s fires. We find ourselves joining in the cynicism and anger…we find ourselves looking at others with resentment and suspicion. But Jesus wants us to know that this world…our lives…are not empty and fruitless. This world…this life we live…is holy — God-filled. Our moments….all our moments are immersed in Jesus. Really…Jesus abide in ALL our moments.
Our sitting at the beauty salon or barber shop moments…all those people around you are God’s people. That place is a place where holy things happen — where people live lives and tell stories and rest for a moment and work to make a living. Our watching baseball moments — seriously — the imagination and joy of God who made humans who love to run and strive and entertain…and the way crowds actually feel the rise and fall of their home team inside themselves..that is holy stuff. And how about our drinking coffee moments?..as we pause to wonder what will be expected of us in the day ahead. God is in that day. But here’s the thing. Jesus also abides in our too empty house moments …God’s breath is in the stillness and permeates the walls. And our “why do bad things happen?” moments…God hold us then too…and those we love…and those who are hurting around the world. No place is godless after all. We abide in Jesus…in God. And Jesus…God… abides in us. And the holy is everywhere. Sure, it explodes in our springtime gardens…but it also pervades homeless shelters and hospital rooms and the bombed city streets and offices of corporations and halls of government. It permeates prisons and crack houses, funeral homes, military barracks and psych wards.
In all these places…God’s vine still grows…God still abides and gives life. In all these places….God prunes away all that is dead in us, and brings us back to hope and joy. In all these places, the love of God remains and cannot be removed…not by any human effort. In the face of rejection and hate — death and violence…Jesus speaks of hope and love and a future. I abide in you. You abide in me. Dare to love. In spite of everything. Let my perfect love for you…fill you so completely that you have no room for fear.
I came across some quotes by Corrie Ten Boom yesterday as I was reading. Corrie Ten Boom was the first woman to be licensed as a watchmaker in the Netherlands, following in her father’s footsteps. She found her other passion as a volunteer working with disabled youth. When Germany invaded the Netherlands and the Nazis began to round up the Jews, her family became active in the underground, hiding her Jewish neighbors and hundreds of other families and helping them make their way to freedom. They were arrested, and her father died after just 10 days in prison. She and her sister ended up in Ravensbruck, a German labor camp, where her sister also died. But before she died, she told Corrie “there is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still.” In that camp, they had seen all the evil that humans are capable of. They knew the fear that dried up people’s souls, and left them without hope. But they tenaciously claimed Jesus’ abiding presence…even there. They tenaciously trusted Jesus’ love…even then. Corrie Ten Boom was released from prison by mistake just about a week before all the women her age at the camp were gassed. She went home and continued her work with the mentally disabled…and also wrote books sharing her story. Some of you might remember “The Hiding Place”…I remember reading it when I was a girl. Corrie Ten Boom knew that Jesus abided in her. And she abided in Jesus. And she saw Jesus in every moment of her life…whether she was lost in her clockwork, surrounded by those beautiful children she knew who were disabled, or suffering the horrors of a concentration camp. There was no place, she knew, where God was not present.
And that is exactly what Jesus wanted his disciples…his friends..to know. And that is what Jesus wants you and I to know. There is no pit so deep that God is not deeper still. There is no place where God does not abide…no place where the vine does not grow. God’s beautiful, holy, life-giving vine. Amen.
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