Abide with Jesus

Beloved in Christ, grace to you and peace from the God who is and was and is to come. One of the things I like to do as I study scripture in preparation for writing a sermon is to consider what word or image in the texts captures my attention – what stands out to me – what shimmers with possibility. Then I like to play with that word or image a bit, to hold it up to the light and examine it from all sides.

In this week’s gospel reading, the word that shimmers for me is “abide”. This word appears 3 times in today’s gospel; and, in fact, it was also used many times in last week’s gospel reading, so the word “abide” has been wandering around in my mind for a couple of weeks.

The 2 gospel readings (from last week and this week) are connected; together, they come from the 15th chapter of John, verses 1-17. They are part what is called the Farewell Discourse (John 14-17) which is
Jesus’ final teaching with his disciples that takes place at the end of the last supper they share together on the night before Jesus is crucified.

As Jesus gathers around the table with his 11 disciples (Judas has already gone out from the group to complete his plans to betray Jesus), he offers the disciples words of love, comfort, hope and peace, as he prepares them to continue to faithfully follow him even when he is no longer with them.

These words of love, comfort, hope and peace are meant for us today as well, as we strive to figure out how to faithfully follow Jesus in the complex world in which we live.

So, for me the word abide is a place to begin.

Last week we heard Jesus say to his disciples “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Today we hear Jesus tell his disciples “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love…” (John 15:9-10) Abide in me, Jesus tells us. What comes to your mind when you hear that phrase?

I tend to think of abide in the sense of to dwell – to live among; to remain and be present. This thinking takes me down a path in my mind that leads to another verse from John – John 1:14 – And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory… I generally remember the King James Version of this verse: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory)…

The Word made flesh, of course, is Jesus, who even now dwells among us, even now abides with us and lives among us and remains with us, connected to us as a vine connects with its branches. Our connection to the vine of Jesus connects us with the source of the vine – that is, with God – and to all the other branches of the vine – that is, all God’s people who form with us into the body of Christ.

Now Jesus has called us his friends and has given us a new commandment – to love one another as Jesus has loved us. This is the call of being the body of Christ – the community of faith together – to
love all those around us who also abide in Jesus.

You may know that the New England Synod is a companion synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL). That means we share a particular connection with the pastors and people of the ELCJHL. We have accompanied our Palestinian friends for many years, connecting with them through companion synod trips to the Holy Land (where people from New England visit and meet the pastors from all 6 churches in the synod and hear their stories of living faithfully under occupation). As we abide in love together, these trips have led to strong relationships between our synods and a deeper understanding on our part of the apartheid conditions under which the Palestinian people live.

Our friends in the Holy Land know what it means to abide in Jesus – to dwell with Jesus – to remain in Jesus – even during these most difficult days since October 7th. In these 210 days of ongoing catastrophe and war, the ELCJHL pastors have been consistent in their public witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ, proclaiming through their words and their deeds their conviction that God is with them in the rubble. They have been consistent in teaching their people to trust in God’s promise of new life through the death and resurrection of Jesus, even in the midst of so much death and destruction around them. And they have been consistent in demanding that the church, including the ELCA, stand with them in speaking out for an end to the genocide.

Perhaps this is what Jesus means when he says “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

We may find it difficult to consider – to lay down our life for a friend – and even more difficult to do.

Jesus, though, finds joy in doing just that, as he is ready to lay down his life, for the sake of God’s people, through his death on the cross.

There is joy in trusting in God’s promise of resurrection and new life. There is joy in loving one another.

There is joy in gathering in community for the glory of God.

This is the joy that Jesus offers to all of us.

As followers of Jesus, we abide in Jesus and share his joy

• in and through the waters of baptism
• in, through and under the bread and the wine of holy communion
• in, through and with the body of Christ, gathered into this particular
  community of faith

Let these words of love, comfort, hope and peace dwell deep within you as you live your life in this world.

Abide in Jesus… dwell with Jesus…remain in Jesus.

Stay connected to Jesus, the vine, and to God’s people, the branches.

Love one another as Jesus loves you.

Lay down your life for your friends.

And be filled with joy.

To God be the glory. Amen