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.