May 10, 2009 Sermon
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Easter 5 - B 2009
May 10, 2009 Allan Conkling
Draw near to God while allowing God to abide with you. This is the theme of the readings for today. We are now at the fifth Sunday of Easter. Like a galaxy spinning with centrifugal force further and further away from the center: the Resurrection moment, we are nonetheless held together by central gravitational point.
"Abide in me as I abide in you," says Jesus in the Gospel.
Personally, I cannot hear those words enough. This is a good thing, since in the word "abide" is used 14 times. You think it is trying to tell us something!
Whenever Communion is taken to someone at home or in the hospital this reading from John’s gospel is appointed in the Prayer Book. Why? It is about remaining in contact with the "ground of our being"--God, and others. In times of illness, loneliness, when one is confined to a bed or restricted to a walker or chair, the words, "abide in me" can be very powerful.
"May you carry the prayers of all of us as you take this sacrament of Christ’s presence.
May those who receive it from you be strengthened and encouraged in that community we have together in Christ."
I remember as my children were growing moving through the uncharted and perilous waters of adolescence, and just how much I wanted to protect them. But with each milestone they moved further and further away from the center point. Now it has become important to keep in touch with my grandchildren--Wherever they are we are family. In the process of letting go I eventually saw that the "bonds of affection" would be enough to keep us together:
"Those who abide in love abide in God and God abides in them,"
The purpose of the Christian is to live a life in unity with God and in community with others. Elsewhere in scripture, the writer of 1 Peter 3, lists specific virtues by which Christians are to pattern their lives:
Unity,
Sympathy,
Love for one another,
A tender heart
A humble mind,
Not repaying evil with evil but with a blessing.
Paul was even
more specific, giving his followers a list which he called the fruit of
the spirit in
"Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control."
Thus the bar is set high, although we often fall short. Being a Christian is more than simply coming to church.
Over and over again we are reminded of our calling as believers, and of the theme of today’s readings:
Draw near to God while allowing God to abide with you.
Our culture values personal freedom and independent choices. We value individual initiative and self-sufficiency. I don't disagree with these things; at the same time I realize that there is more to life than the individual. We don’t live in a vacuum. We are all members of the family of humankind. The real action, the "punch" of this story is not found in the triumph of the human will, but in the unconditional love of God. God glories in giving us what we need and in seeing us bear fruit. The image used by Jesus is grapes, growing in clusters on branches. The tendrils get their nourishment from one central vine. On our own we are very wither and dry up, but in Christ we are sustained. And we need each other.
In the church calendar there is no reference to Mother's Day. But it occurs to me the relationship of mother to child is similar to the point that Jesus was making when he taught about the Vine and the Branches. Our lives, for the most part, would not have been possible without the love, care, and discipline that we received from our mother. [And this is the time when I get to ask kids did you say Happy Mother's Day? Husbands? Have you called your mom if she is still living, and said thank you?]
Frederich Buechener puts it this way in his book called Whistling in the Dark:
"To be [Jesus'] friends,…we have to be each other's friends, conceivably even lay down our lives for each other. You never know. It is a high price to pay, and Jesus does not pretend otherwise, but the implication is that it’s worth every cent."
Draw near to God while allowing God to abide with you.
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Revised: 06/07/09