Reflection on John 3:1-17

 

Walking around in the darkness is so confusing.  It is so easy to get disoriented in the dark.  It is so hard to make heads or tails of the world when living in the dark. 

Some people say that we live in dark times.  I just heard it again this week from some people that I dearly love.  And, I get it.  The division and hate in the world right now all prove that people are not guided by the light. 

But, this is not the first time our world has encountered such darkness.  The constant uptick of deaths of brave souls blaring from the television screens during the Vietnam War convinced the world then that we were in dark times. 

The destruction and death on D-Day and the crumbling cities of Europe had another generation of people thrust into the darkness in an era past. 

The black plague, which sucked the life out of so many people, had entire nations convinced in those times that the darkness had won. 

Dark times have been so persistent in the world throughout the years, that one could almost assume that darkness is simply the way the world is.  Is that too pessimistic? 

If you think so, I would like to point you to John 3:19 which reads, “And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.”  So, it appears that darkness is indeed the place into which we are born.  Not that joy refuses to exist; it does.  Not that goodness is completely hidden; it is not.  But, as a whole, we in a world that chooses to set our own courses and chooses to get to our own destinations, using headlights, when the sun would be so much better.  

With that said, it is good news then to hear that in the darkness, Jesus is present.  The Son of God, the light of the world, the one born from above, exits eternity and steps into the world in order to be a light even for those who choose to drive their own dark routes.

Darkness is the setting for today’s Bible reading.  It is not just a fact of history.  It is not just a literary device used by the author.  It is the reality of the world.  It is the dark of the night when a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews, comes to Jesus.  We get to see something quite remarkable: Jesus is very present in the darkness of the night.  The darkness does not mean the lack of the holy.  Maybe, when the eternal chooses to enter into the dark world, some light will shine?

The discussion between Nicodemus and Jesus is about being raised up out of the dark ways of world.  To be born from a kingdom that exists above the darkness.  To be born again, into this new, eternal reality. 

“Very truly, I tell you,” Jesus says, “no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 

Nicodemus replies, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 

Jesus answers, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

We are born into this dark world, and we come to understand the ways of this dark world, and we try to navigate this dark world the best that we can.  But, the point of life, Jesus is trying to convince us, is not to become really, really good in the ways of this dark world. 

The point is not to be born to be the most successful.  The point is not to be born to be the most loved by those around.  The point is not to be the most listened to, or the most agreed with.  These are all ways of darkness, yet they proliferate our culture. 

Work harder.  Do more.  Be more.  Be the best.  If you are not the best, you are not trying hard enough. Be loved.  Be richer.  These are all highways that lead off into the dark night, and almost all of us have been on one of these roads at one time or another.

But, you are not born into this world, O people of God.  Through water and God’s Spirit, breaking into this dark world and breaking into your lives, you have been born again.  Not through the womb of your mother though, but through the womb of the Spirit.  You are children of the Spirit.  You are children of the light of Jesus.  You are children who walk, not the ways of the world, but the ways of the Lord. 

Let me get something straight here though.  Living in the darkness does not make you bad.  This is not about condemnation.  In fact, there are a lot of great things that happen in the darkness.  Jesus is born in the darkness.  It is in the darkness where people are able to see a great light, Jesus Christ.  Jesus shines that light of truth upon Nicodemus in the middle of the dark night.  Jesus is raised from the dead in the middle of the night.   Lots of great things can happen in the darkness. 

Living in the darkness does not make you bad.  Living in the darkness just makes you lost. 

But this is the point: where we choose to simply take the darkness for granted, “It will be what it will be,” Jesus, instead, chooses to fill the darkness with heavenly light and truth and presence.

Our Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, steps out of eternity and enters into the darkness of the world; a world that would otherwise continue to live in its own ways.  Jesus becomes flesh and steps into the darkness to shine a light. 

Even today, the Spirit blows wherever it wants in the darkness of the night.  It infects whomever it chooses with eternal light.  It infects us and we blow with it, through the darkness.  We blow across men and women and children and creatures and trees and nations as if we were born from above and filled with the light of God.  And, the words on our lips sound a lot like loving the world, and trusting in the Lord.  Our lips repeatedly bear the words:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.’”

And, those words are our reality.  Those are the words emblazoned in the hearts of us, who are born from above.  Trusting in the Son; loving the world; entering into the world; saving the world; refusing to condemn the world; this is what being born from above is all about.  This is what living in the kingdom is all about.

Those born of the flesh, will just choose to live in the darkness.  They do not know any better.  But, those born from above, born from eternity, born into a new life trusting the Lord, live in the light of God’s saving love for the world.

Wow! So how will tomorrow look different from yesterday, knowing now that you live in the light of God’s saving love? What choices from yesterday would be different if made from the heart of Jesus’ saving love for the world? What if we looked up a little more?

Go ahead; have your heads in the clouds.  Be accused of reaching too high or placing your trust too far up.  After-all, you are a people who have been reborn from above.

Reflection on John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

 

The Bible preaches that the Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us, especially when things change.  If that is true, and it is, then I say that we need a whole lot of Holy Spirit coming down to us in this world!

There has been so much change in the world this past year, and it is not ending.  Just the other day, someone asked me in the grocery store if they need to wear their mask anymore.  “I’m not sure what we are supposed to be doing!”  I hear you!  It is not possible to get back to a sense of “normal” when the earthquake has not stopped and the ground keeps shifting under your feet.  Change just keeps coming.

Change is hard.  Just the other day I read that a beloved professor of my father’s died.  They called him “Pope John,” because his first name was John, and because he was a beloved professor of religion.  When I heard the news, I grabbed my phone to call my Dad, to let him know, and suddenly realized that I could not.  My dad has been dead for over a year now.  Somehow, my mind still has not been able to get a handle of the changes that have been thrust upon it.  We are rarely prepared for change.

In today’s gospel reading from John, we read that Jesus is preparing his disciples for change.  He is about to go to the cross.  He is about to be raised.  He is about to ascend into heaven for a long, long time.  After he has broken the disturbing news of his absence to his disciples, Jesus looks at them with compassion and says,

“Sorrow has filled your hearts.  Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

What did I say at the top of the sermon?  “The Bible preaches to us that the Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us, especially when things change.”  Today, on Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate this gift from God.

Before we go on, I will answer the question that I thought was probably one of the stupidest questions that I ever asked during my pastoral training, “What is the Holy Spirit anyway?”  When I asked it, I felt the eyes of the class all creep my way, as if I were a kindergartener who had suddenly invaded a graduate level religion class with peanut butter smeared across my face.

“That is a great question.  Thank you, Jira.”

“Ha!  Great question!  Take that!  At least I have great ignorance!”

Wait, that didn’t come out right. 

In any case, the professor went on to teach that the Greek meanings for “Holy Spirit” are vast.  They encompass a lot of ideas.  You could translate the Greek as “Advocate,” someone who fights on behalf of someone else.  “Comforter” is another good translation.  “Counselor” or “Teacher” would also be appropriate. Thus, “Guide” gets at the idea. 

In other words, the Holy Spirit is to us as Jesus Christ was to those who walked with him and talked with him.  Jesus taught, and comforted, and healed, and guided those few who had the privilege to know him, and the Holy Spirit is the same power of Jesus Christ, present with us, walking beside us today.

And, boy do we need a teacher, and comforter, and healer, and guide, and advocate to walk beside us in today’s changing world. 

When we see the Pandemic’s toll floating down the rivers of India, with no end to the horror in sight, we cry out, “Come, Holy Spirit, Come!”

When the sparkle in the eyes of little four year olds cause them to bend down in wonderment at the new life sprouting from the ground, we cry out, “Come, Holy Spirit, Come!”

When the job is lost and the home is no more, we cry out, “Come, Holy Spirit, Come!”

When the young couple celebrates with a kiss, and bubbles are blown as they walk out of the marriage ceremony into their brand new, unknown life of love together, we cry out, “Come, Holy Spirit, Come!”

When the hospital is your new home, we cry out, “Come, Holy Spirit, Come!”

When new friends get in the car and set out on a journey together, full of joy and anticipation for the days to come, we cry out, “Come, Holy Spirit, Come!”

When the one who used to be your friend now cannot stand to be in the same room as you, and you yearn for the days that were, and cannot understand the days that are, we cry out, “Come, Holy Spirit, Come!”

When we look at each other, with excitement about the possibilities that God is providing us in our ministry together, not knowing where we are going to end up, but knowing that at least we are doing it together with each other and with Jesus Christ, we cry out, “Come, Holy Spirit, Come!”

When the world changes, when saviors leave, when parents die, when the old ways remain old, when the new ways remain unseen, and when we are not in control, we cry out, “Come, Holy Spirit, Come!”  Because, we need the Spirit. 

As the Bible says, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”  We live in a world that seems to have lost a grasp on the idea of truth.  So, Come Holy Spirit, Come.

Because, when we cry out to the Holy Spirit to come, it does.  It comes to us like on that day of Pentecost when it came down from the heavens as tongues of fire, speaking to us in a language that we can understand. 

That is the gift of the Holy Spirit after-all.  Jesus was only able to reach those who lived within walking distance.  The Holy Spirit that Jesus sends, on the other hand, is able to reach the entire world. 

And, it speaks to us all in ways that we can understand.  When I was still in the theatre, it spoke to me from the stage in the form of a Christian, rock musical.  To others, the Spirit speaks through the painting they see, or through the unique people they encounter around the world, or through the hard working hands of the farmer who cares for his neighbor, or the teacher who goes above and beyond to reach out to those who others view as lost. 

The Holy Spirit speaks in all of these different languages, and it speaks yours as well.  

When you sing, “Come, Holy Spirit, Come!” it comes.  Like a tongue of fire it comes, and it allows you to speak the truth of Jesus Christ, your teacher, and comforter, and healer, and guide. 

And, the Holy Spirit fills you with the language you need in order to walk alongside someone else; someone who is lost in this changing world; someone who needs a special person right next to them.  

Your soul cries out, “Come, Holy Spirit, Come.”  And, the Spirit comes. And, after the Spirit walks with you and speaks to you, all of the constant changes in the world suddenly seem more eternal than chaotic.  When we find ourselves walking with the Spirit, everything is right once again.

Reflection on John 17:6-19

 

Does it make a difference to know that Jesus prays for you? 

That is what this big long prayer is after-all, it is a prayer for us, Jesus followers.  So, I ask again, does it make a difference knowing that Jesus prays for you? 

You see, Jesus’ prayer in John 17 is worth so much more than receiving the praying hands in a text, or a long list of people typing “praying for you” at the bottom of your social media post.  Now, I understand that some people really mean it when they do this; some people actually stop and pray when they post such a thing, but I am suspicious that many of these posts are people who just want to be nice, but do not actually pray anything.  Is that too pessimistic? 

You see, I was first clued in to this when an atheist friend posted some praying hands to me.  Seeing those praying hands actually made my day, because I knew the person most definitely was not praying for me.  But, I loved it all the same because I was struggling and I just needed something really funny that day.  My atheist friend came through.

For those of you who do not text or use social media, what we are talking about is akin to saying, “I’ll be praying for you,” at the grocery store, not because you are actually going to stop in the middle of the grocery store and pray with them (which would be great), but because you are both holding up the checkout line and you just need the other person to stop talking.  “I’ll be praying for you!” 

If we had some sort of futuristic, universal language translator, “I’ll be praying for you,” in most cases would simply be translated as “Goodbye.”

But, when Jesus prays for us, it means so much more.  I imagine that when Jesus prays for us, it is a lot like when my elderly neighbor in Dubuque, Iowa said that she would be praying.  While sitting and talking with her one afternoon (she had a tendency of luring Randele and I over to her house with cookies…that works for college students) she reached over, opened her worn out, about to fall apart Bible, and retrieved her “bookmark.”  It was a grocery receipt, and on the back of it was a list of names. 

“Come here, I want you to see this,” she said. 

So, coming near and looking at the slip of paper, I immediately recognized two names at the top of the list: “Jira” and “Randele.”  We were prayed for.

I do not know if the adults out there ever struggled in your early twenties with finances, or keeping cars working, or finding a job that you can actually pay the bills, or struggled with just knowing who you were in the world, but I did.  And, it really meant something to me that Dorothy, our Christian neighbor, took time out of her day to actually pray for Randele and me. 

In truth, the prayer emoji does not really draw me closer to anyone when I see it, though I certainly appreciate the kind gesture…do not get me wrong.  But seeing that piece of paper meant of Dorothy’s that we were someone special to her.  It drew us closer to her.  We were more than neighbors.  We were worth being prayed for.

Dorothy understood prayer.  Dorothy understood Jesus.  Dorothy knew what it meant to be prayed for by her savior, Jesus Christ.

Instead of being intimidated by these many, many, many, many words of Jesus, and before we try to dig in deep and tackle them all, I just want you to note that Jesus spent all of those words on you, his friends. 

If time is worth something, then the time that Jesus spent in prayer for you means that you are very, very, very, very valuable. 

Jesus desires more than anything to be close to us, his friends.  And, prayer is a way to do just that.  In fact, that is a part of the prayer.  Jesus prays to God the Father, “All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.”  Everyone who belongs to God, belongs to Jesus.  We are his. 

I like that.  It reminds me of the first words out of my Bible camp counselor’s mouth.  When the intake woman asked my name as I held onto my sleeping bag, a woman in red shorts, a baseball t-shirt with the words, “All we need is glove,” and a baseball cap on her head turned instantly at the sound of my name, pointed right at me and declared with a smile, “You are mine!”  I did not know if I should feel frightened or loved, but I took a chance on love.

“All yours are mine,” Jesus says.  We belong to Jesus Christ.  We are his.  We are worth being prayed for.  Salvation in the gospel of John is not so much about the cross, but rather being near Jesus.  We are saved because we are his.

I want to go back to that camp counselor, because I really was hers, for the week anyway.  She was a good mentor, and became a good friend during that week.  She talked with us.  She sang with us.  She told ghosts stories with us.  And, one time while I was talking constantly and not paying any attention to where I was going along the trail, she suddenly grabbed me, placed me safely with the rest of the group and saved me from a horrendous patch of burning nettles.  I was just inches from an itchy, burning week.  She protected me. 

I only mentioned that because that is precisely what Jesus prays for us.  Well, not the burning nettles part, rather the protection part.  Jesus prays, “And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”

This protection is so much more than pulling us from burning nettles though.  It is a prayer of protection against being divided against each other.  Though this prayer was prayed two thousand years ago, I am certain that Jesus is still praying it today.  He is still praying it because we are not one with Jesus Christ when we are divided against each other. 

The last few years have been nothing but division, and disagreement, and disillusionment on the world.  But, God’s people are not made stronger by divisions.  No matter what the world says. 

No matter if the world says that ideals should rule the day.  No matter if the world says that political ideations are what are ultimately important.  No matter if the world says, love your friends and hate your neighbors. 

We have a prayer right from Jesus Christ himself, where he earnestly prays that we not fall prey to the lures of the divisions of the world, and, through sweat and tears, prays instead that God the Father, “protect them…so that they may be one, as we are one.”

Jesus’ arms are opened wide on the cross to gather us in, not to spread us apart.

It is the way of the world that would interpret Jesus’ spread out arms to mean keep your distance…keep apart. 

Do not get too close, you might start thinking like them, the world says. 

Do not get too close, you might love the wrong person, the world says. 

Do not get too close, love just may break you the world warns. 

But, I have to tell you brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus went to the cross with love as his companion.  He went to the tomb with love.  And, love broke through the stone of that tomb on the third day.  Jesus’ wide open arms cannot be pushed together.  We are gathered into the arms of Jesus Christ our Lord who holds us together with an eternal sort of love that overcomes the suspicions and condemnations of the world. 

We belong to Jesus.  We do not belong to this world.  Jesus prays, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.” 

Indeed, Jesus does not pray that we be taken from this world.  Nor does he pray that we become a part of the world.  Rather, Jesus prays that we be in the world, but not of the world.  We are Jesus’ hands and feet in the world.  We are the ones Jesus has called to proclaim the promise of John 3:16, “for God so loved the world…” 

For that reason, Jesus prays that we be protected from the evil one; not so that we can live a sheltered life, like a butterfly in its cocoon, but so that we can spread our wings and follow Jesus; so that we can bring God’s love to the world; so that the world can know Jesus’ love through us; so that we can glorify Jesus; so that we can lift Jesus and his love for the world high like a baseball team lifts high on their shoulders the hitter who won the game with a homerun. 

Jesus prays that we be protected, in order that we can continue to lift him high; so that we can continue to lift high God’s grace.

After-all, you have been “sanctified” for this.  You have been “set apart” for this.  That is what Jesus means by sanctify here: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”  We have been set apart to draw others close to God, just as we have been drawn close to God.

How do we do that?  What has this much too long prayer and this similarly much too long sermon taught us about drawing others close to God?

Well, I know a great place to start, “prayer.”  Pray for people.  Really pray for them.  Pray much too long.  Pray like they matter, because they do.  Because, when you pray like they matter, you will find that they actually do matter.  You will give them cookies and teach them the importance of prayer and love them until they move away.  The world shoves people aside.  We pray them into unity with God the Father, and with Jesus, and with us.

I know another great place to start.  Like my camp counselor, tell people that they belong to you, because, they do.  As followers of Christ, these tender souls of the world have been given to us.  And, when these tender souls know they belong to us, they will know that they belong to the one who sent us, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Include them too much.  Ask them to join with you obnoxiously.  Be there for them too much, because Jesus is there for them, just as he was there for you.

And, when you can, protect them, just as Jesus protects you.  Protect them from the evil one.  Protect them from those who do not care about God’s love.  Protect them from those who do not know how to forgive or empathize.  Protect them from those who can only criticize.  Hold them close as if they were a precious child of God who does not deserve all of the evil that the world inflicts, because they are. 

Pray, Include, and Protect.  That is the way of Jesus Christ.

Reflection on John 15:9-17

 

What a friend we have in Jesus. 

We sing the words so easily, probably because we know it to be true.  Jesus is not just our teacher, though he is.  Jesus is not just our savior, though that is the root of our faith.  Jesus is more than God, come down from heaven to us, living and walking among us, though that is what sets the truth of Christianity apart from other beliefs.  Jesus is our dear, trusted friend.

But, when we say that Jesus is our friend, it is obvious that we Christians must mean something different by “friendship” than the wider world.  After-all, we go dine with our friends, we jog with our friends, we watch movies together with our friends, we play games with our friends, and we share secrets with our friends.  Our friends are our companions in life who we love and with whom we drink beers and play cards.

These friendships are great by the way.  These friendships are gifts from God which make the struggles of life bearable and, maybe, even a little more humorous.  Who else has your back, or more to the point, your bottoms when the waterslide takes your shorts right off?  Not that such an embarrassing episode ever happened in front of my friends when at the waterslides in south Omaha. 

But, when we think about these God-given friendships, it is already apparent that we must mean something different when talking about our friendship with Jesus.  Jesus is not right there with us, in the flesh, for us to see and feel.  He is not there to guzzle a drink and sing at the top of our lungs when on a road trip. 

Even so, our friendship with Jesus is essential to our lives.

Luckily for us, the gospel of John helps us to understand the true meaning of friendship, and it guides us as we seek to be friends in the same ways that Jesus is our friend. 

In John, 13:15, Jesus teaches us that “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  That is an amazing sort of friendship.  It is a radical sort of friendship; “laying down one’s life.”  Though we say, “I’m there for you, no matter what,” I can think of countless times when I, as a friend, was not. 

My mind wanders to a particular time in school.  Though I thoroughly enjoyed most of my years in school, I could not care less if seventh grade fell off a cliff.  You know 7th grade, the grade where everyone picks on everyone else, and you cross your days off on the calendar, just hoping to get through the year without too many scars? 

Well, I had this good friend in 7th grade: Aaron.  We played games together, we shared the titles of books we enjoyed, and we simply enjoyed each other’s jokes.  No one else got our jokes.  No matter.  We got them and that is all that mattered.  We were friends.

And then the day came when I saw that the school bully was out for blood.  He was making fun of random people as he walked down the hall, seeing if he could get any reaction. 

I despised that kid.  He made our lives a living hell.  He was the reason that we marked our calendars, hoping to get to the end of the school year. 

Soon, he had gathered a following of classmates who were encouraging his taunts, and he heaved himself near Aaron and me.  Fortunately for me, my locker happened to be a number of feet further down the hall than Aaron’s, so he saw Aaron first.  When he did,  he went in for the kill. 

Remember the old adage: “You do not have to be faster than the bear, just faster than your friend.”?

Reflecting back now all these years later, what I would love to say is that I stood in front of Aaron and took the abuse myself, thereby protecting my friend.  But, that would not be true. 

The truth is that I acted out of self-preservation.  The truth is that I walked to the back of the group of taunting kids, out of the bully’s sight.  I had failed as a friend.

You have no idea how many people have come and talked to me about their struggles with their friends, or maybe I should say, “Former friends.”  They talk about how they have been let down, and abandoned, and hurt by those who they thought had their backs.  And, each time I hear these stories, I think about Aaron, and how surface our worldly friendships can be.

And, then I think about Jesus as a friend.  I think about how, just before he was to be betrayed and denied, Jesus got down on his hands and feet and washed the disciple’s feet.  Jesus even washed the feet of Judas, the one who led Jesus’ killers right to where he could be found.  Jesus even washed the feet of Peter, the one who made himself out to be Jesus’ staunchest, most devoted friend, and who abandoned Jesus to death like a school kid who abandons his friend in the face of a bully.

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,” Jesus says. 

For Jesus, friendship does not have so much to do with enjoying the same pastimes together, as it has to do with this unconditional love, as the Bible puts it, this “agape” love, that would stoop down to wash dusty feet like a servant, and who would go to the cross to save those who would betray and deny. 

That is what true friendship looks like.  That is what true love looks like.  It looks like Jesus choosing to love us anyway, even when we betray.  It looks like Jesus choosing to love us anyway, even when we deny or ignore. 

“You did not choose me but I chose you,” Jesus reminds us.  Jesus is the friend who sticks with us, even when we fail to stick with him.

But, more than that, the Bible also teaches us in John that a good friend is one who does not hold anything back. 

Jesus says, “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.”  In other words, Jesus is the friend who gives you too much information. 

Who here has the friend who has no problem telling you how last night’s Mexican meal affected them through the night?  That is Jesus, but in a good way.

God the Father has let Jesus in on all the secrets of life, and Jesus has shared all that important stuff with us, his friends.   His life is an open book.  He knows the truth: that serving others and dying for them is the way to redeem the tough situations in life and to redeem the tough situations of the world.  Though the world would disagree, Jesus lets us in on the truth that unconditional love, agape love, is where we will find life, and meaning, and purpose. 

A true friend, according to Jesus, holds none of this heavenly truth back.  We have been given it all.  After-all, we are his friends.

Do you desire to be a friend?  Do you desire to be, not just a worldly friend who has a good time…once again, there is nothing wrong with that, those friends are certainly a gift from God…but a true friend in the Christian sense…in Jesus’ sense of friendship? 

Here is what Jesus has to say to you:

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

And, Jesus continues:

“I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.”

Christian friendships are unique.  They are friendships where unconditional love is shared without that love being earned. 

They are friendships where we lift other people’s burdens off of their shoulders, not because they deserve such compassion, but because it is the way of God. 

They are friendships where we give up our lives in small ways and large for the sake of another, even if that other is a betrayer or enemy. 

Christian friendships are friendships that do not hold back the truth of Jesus’ and his love. 

They are friendships that display to the world the love of God; inviting others to abide in that heavenly, joyous, unconditional love of Jesus Christ.

Aaron never held it against me; me not having his back that is.  A few days later when it was my turn to take the wrath of the bully, Aaron walked up behind him, called him a name that I should not repeat in polite company, and the bully immediately forgot about me. 

It was then that I realized what true love, Christian love, is all about.

Reflection on John 15:1-8

 

Today, I deeply pray that you will be able to live in Christ and know Christ’s presence in your life, just as Christ lives in you in a very profound way.  Jesus urges you to, as the gospel of John reads, “Abide in me as I abide in you.” 

I happen to know, that you want this.  I happen to know that you want something that is so much more than sitting through yet another worship service, or reading through yet another chapter of Numbers in the Bible as you trudge your way through the Bible, and trudge your way to a very nice nap. 

Some of you are saying, trudge your way through the Bible, I have not even trudged across the living room to get my Bible. 

I hear you!  I hear you.  That is exactly what I am saying.  We desire so much more. 

What we actually want is life!  We want a life with meaning and purpose.  We want a life filled with love, and hope, and Godly courage.  We want to live in the glory of our creator God, and want God’s life blood to course through our veins and direct our hands and feet and minds.  We want to live in Christ, and we want Christ to live in us.

We inherently understand the truth of what John, chapter 15 is talking about when Jesus says, “Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.”  And so, in order to fulfill this deep need to have this deep meaning and purpose and connection in life, we set out to make it happen. 

I remember one Easter wanting to connect with God so badly that I got up from the couch, exited our apartment, got in the car, and drove to Wal-Mart.  Yes, yes, I know, Wal-Mart is the first place that you think of when you want to find meaning and purpose.  This is probably a very American thing.  If you have a problem, you go and buy the solution…as cheaply as possible.  Well, that is what poor American students on internship think anyway. 

So, as ridiculous as it seems, I set out toward Wal-Mart, seeking scented candles and soothing bath soaps.  You see, I was thinking that if I could just quiet my mind from all of the worries and stresses of the world, I would finally be open to hearing what God was saying to me.   

So, just like the commercials portray, I bought a bunch of scented candles, some soaps, went home, filled the tub with warm water, and prayed that my wife did not come home from work early wondering what the heck I was doing in such a romantic bathtub without her around. 

I eased into the hot water, looked around at the water and the candles and the soaps, yes I had opened multiple packages of soap (More is better, right?), and I said to myself, “Here I am, in a bath with candles and soaps.”  Then I looked up and said, “Time to work your magic God.” 

And, do you know what happened just then?  Nothing.  Absolutely nothing. 

I have to level with you; I have a sneaking suspicion that commercials lie to us.  Those images of people having a fulfilled life on their faces as they lower themselves into the bathtub, I hate to tell you, I think are just a rouse to sell soap. 

I did not find any meaning or purpose in that bath tub.  And, I also discovered that facial soaps give me the glorious gift of hives.

I know this is all ridiculous, right?  But that was not the only time. 

I once thought that I would find God hiking, but the only connection with God that I got was a prayer for my blistered feet to stop hurting. 

I once thought that jogging would do the trick, but the only connection with God that I got was a prayer for my lungs to stop hurting. 

At least I have the prayer thing going! 

I once even believed that a crystal would bring me closer to God, but all I got in the end was a rock.  And, I am not even sure it was a rock.  After holding it up to the light, my friend told me he thought it was a shard of plastic.

In other words, I guess that I am confessing to you that I can be a hot mess of misdirected beliefs.  I constantly misguidedly think that I can create some way to discover God, but I always end up at the same spot: still feeling empty and desiring true life.  I still desire meaning and purpose, and love and hope.  I still desire to live in the glory of our creator God, and I still want God’s life to course through my veins and direct my hands and my mind.  I still desperately want to live in Christ, and Christ to live in me.

You know, my own failed efforts to connect with the divine make me feel like one of those branches that God the Father removes.  The Bible says that God the Father “removes every branch…that bears no fruit.”  Somehow, my own efforts to be holy and connected with the divine make me feel even further removed from the life of Jesus Christ our Lord.

And, that might be because I have rarely stopped to consider the words that Jesus is screaming at me in John 15:3-4.  “You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you.  Abide in me as I abide in you.” 

Listen up.  We do not need to go to Wal-Mart and buy the makings of a nice bath.  John 15:3 tells us that we have “already been cleansed.”  We have already been washed clean.  We have already been amply prepared by the Lord Jesus Christ himself.  He has washed us in baptism.  He has cleaned us from sin by the blood of his cross.  He has risen from death to life and he drags us along with him.  And, it is in the Bible where we discover all of these promises.

I think that is where it all went wrong for me that day in the bathtub.  I did not need candles and six different types of soap.  I needed God’s word. 

Jesus said, “You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you.”

In other words, the word of God is not simply something that really religious people and Bible nerds crack open whenever they want to have a good time.  God’s Word, Jesus Christ, the word and wisdom of God in the flesh, come to live with us; and the written word that bears to us the living Christ, is the very gift that has already been given to us. 

God’s word has already brought to us life and meaning and purpose.  God’s word and the breath of the Holy Spirit, blown over the pages toward our souls are already filling us with life.  So, maybe instead of seeking God, we need to stop and listen.

Think of it this way.  Jesus is a vine and we are branches.  Jesus, the vine, gives the branches life.  So, as long as the branches stay attached to the vine, they live in the vine.  They share in the vine’s life and nourishment; so much so that the branches bear wonderful, juicy fruit for the world to enjoy. 

The problem comes when we forget that we are simply branches and we act as if we are the vine.  When we try to give life to ourselves or, heaven forbid, try to give life to others, we wither like a branch that has separated itself and now lies on the ground to rot.

Another way to think of it is like the game that my three year old loves to play with my wife and me.  In fact, we just played the game a couple of days ago in the fresh outdoor air.  My wife and I take both of Isaac’s hands as we walk, and we count together, “One, two, three,” and then we swing Isaac into the air which fills him with life and laughter. 

Now, Isaac knows that this does not work without us.  He cannot have this pure sense of joy, and the butterflies in his stomach without us.  It is something that can only happen when we grasp onto him, and he to us, and we become one.

Now, there are several ways that Jesus grasps onto us, and they are all related to the gift of the word. 

In prayer, Jesus connects with us deeply, and when prayer is in conversation with promises of scripture, Jesus lifts us up from our low places. 

Hearing the word of God preached in worship and singing the words of scripture in song, and gathering together, as living Bibles opened up for others to see and touch, allows Jesus to fill us with purpose and meaning. 

Feeling the love of Jesus in the waters of baptism and eating the love of Jesus in the meal, all with words of eternal promise and grace help us to see that Jesus is already with us. 

We do not need to seek Jesus, he seeks us.  He is already present.  He is already here with us through the power of the Holy Spirit.

“Abide in me as I abide in you,” Jesus says.  What he means is, “Live deeply in me, because I am already living deeply in you.  My life and my words are already deeply within you.”

Do you want Jesus to shape you?  Do you want Jesus to be real to you today and throughout the week?  Well, he is already here.  

So, here is something very practical that you can do to remember that truth; memorize this promise from scripture: “Abide in me as I abide in you.” 

Or you can memorize, “Live in me as I live in you,” if you like that better. 

That way, when you enter your home, you will hear Jesus say to you, “Abide in me as I abide in you.”  When you go to school or work or the gym or the park or anywhere you go, you will recall the word of God and hear Jesus say to you, “Abide in me as I abide in you.” 

I promise that your desire for life and meaning and connection with God and others will bear some delicious fruit.