Abide

We have been looking at Jesus' parable of the vine and branches. Over the past couple of weeks we've looked at what He has to say about bearing fruit and being pruned. Today, we're going to look at another word that describes what it means to be a disciple. As I read what Jesus said, listen for the times that He uses the word 'abide'. It shows up quite a lot.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.  As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.  “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.  No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another. (John 15.1-17)

Abide. Some of you may have encountered this word before. A whole movement within the Church was based on a particular understanding of this word. This movement taught that abiding in Christ is this vague, mystical something that you just have to experience to understand. But that's not right. Something important is going on here, but it's not very mystical. It's something that can be understood easily enough. The word is translated elsewhere as 'remain' or 'stay' or the like. And that's what Jesus is talking about here. He wants you to remain in Him. Remember, He is presenting a parable about a vine and its branches. And, as He says, there are branches that bear lots of good fruit, and then there are those that don't and are lopped off as a result. So, how does a branch, a disciple, become fruitful and avoid being tossed on the burn pile? Jesus tells you: abide/remain/stay in Him. The connection between you and Him needs to remain full of sap, full of life.

I'm going to unpack what Jesus is getting at, and I'm going to use marriage to do that. That makes sense since marriage was established by God to be a picture of the relationship that He has with His people. So, imagine this. It's someone's wedding day. Two people enter the room as single people. They make certain promises to each other - vows. Then, they leave that room. Something has changed. They are now married. He has become this woman's husband. She has become this man's wife. A special relationship has been established by covenant.

Now, will that marriage work? Will it develop and grow according to the hopes and dreams of those two people? It will - if. No marriage develops all by itself. There is no automatic pilot setting when it comes to marriage. There are things that these two need to do. What are they? I could give you a list for each, but I won't. That's actually not very helpful. No list can anticipate every situation. Instead, what these two need to do is continually remember what they promised back on their wedding day. He promised to be a husband to this woman. She promised to be a wife to this man. So, if this marriage is going to flourish, they both need to work at what they promised. He needs to be all that a husband is to be, and he is to be that for this woman. She needs to be all that a wife is to be, and she is to be that for this man. And remember that God has defined what it means to be a husband and to be a wife.

However, there's also the other side of the coin. This doesn't usually get emphasis that it needs. He also needs to understand that this woman has promised to be a wife to him. So, he needs to learn to have expectations of her. He needs to learn to expect her to be a wife. And she needs to learn to have expectations of him. She needs to learn to expect him to be a husband. After all that’s what he promised. He needs to learn what it means to depend on a wife. She needs to learn what it means to depend on a husband. They are no longer these two single people. They are now a team, a team of two, and they need to learn how to be a team with each one fulfilling his or her promises as well as depending on the other to do the same. So, how does a successful marriage develop? By each one keeping promises and depending on the other.

That's what abiding in Jesus is about. Jesus is the husband and the Church is the wife. And the promises made can be summarized by something God says a lot. 'I will be your God, and you will be My people.' So, Jesus will be God to you, His Church. He has explained what that means in the Bible. It includes things like directing you, caring for you, protecting you and correcting you. Jesus will keep His promise to be your God. You, on the other hand, have also entered into some promises. And they can be summarized as 'being His people'. The Bible has also explained what that means. It includes things like loving Him, obeying Him, trusting Him. But this isn’t all that needs to happen. There's the other side of the coin. Jesus, as husband to His Church, has expectations of you, His Bride. He is depending on you to keep your promises. And you, as His people, are to have expectations of Him. You are to depend on Him to keep His promises. Jesus and His Church are no longer two singles. We are married. We are now a team, a team of two. That's what Jesus is getting at when He talks about abiding.

Now, Jesus will do just fine in keeping up His end of things. The problem comes with us doing the same. We have promises to keep. But, in addition, we need to learn how to depend on Him to keep His promises. And that's where we have some significant problems. We have been taught to be independent. That is, we have been taught to depend on ourselves. How many marriages have failed to blossom as much as they might because those husbands and wives do not know how to depend on each other to the extent that they can, should and actually need to? And how many churches have limped along because they have not learned how to depend on Jesus? They have been depending on other things to try to succeed as a church. And what are these other things called? Idols. Along with keeping our promises to Jesus, we are to depend on Him to keep His promises to us.

What does that look like? What does it mean to depend on Jesus? Let me speak out of my own experience dealing with fear. Fear sometimes hides behind aliases. So, we talk about 'insecurity' or 'worry' or 'being a little anxious'. But what we're really talking about is fear. While I could talk about lots of ways that I have had to deal with fear (and still do), I'll just talk about car noises. So, there we are, my family and I, and we're driving along until I hear something that doesn't sound right. 'Was that from the front end suspension of the car or was it a knock from the engine?' I'm not sure, but I'm thinking about it. Or better, I'm stewing about it. My fear begins to assert itself. And I know that it is because there's this knot in my stomach. I’m becoming anxious. Something isn't good, and it might become a real problem. We might be stuck on the side of the road. And then what will I do? This would be worse if we are half-way to New Jersey, also known as 'the middle of nowhere'. And to make matters worse, it's not as if we've never been stuck on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. We have. It wasn't fun. And bear in mind this is all B.C. - before cell phones. So, my thoughts in these situations quickly go to, 'What am I going to do if we break down?!?' Understand my assumptions. I am responsible for the care of my family. Or to be clearer, I, alone, am responsible for the care of my family. And I am not convinced that I am up to the task, not even close. Fear.

Now, what's missing from this scenario? Abiding in Jesus. In the midst of all of this, I never tell myself that I can depend on Jesus to keep His promises to me and my family. I never tell myself that we will be cared for, not by me but by Him. And so, instead, I fear.

Over the years Jesus has been faithful to His promises made to me so long ago. And I have noticed that. One result of that is that I no longer fear like I used to. Now, when I hear a noise in the middle of nowhere I tell myself, 'What's the worst that can happen? I could die. So? It is going to happen at some point. But whatever happens He'll work it out for some good. And He'll walk with me through the process every step of the way, holding me close. (Immanuel.) He promised. So, what is there to be afraid of?' Now, when I am confronted by the temptation to fear I remind myself of what He has promised me and then I discuss the situation with Him, something otherwise known as prayer. And the point of that prayer goes something like this. 'You're going to have to do something here. I cannot handle this. I'm counting on You.' I am learning to depend on Him to keep His promises to me. In this I am doing what He commanded. I am abiding in Him. I am abiding in His love. This also goes by an alias: 'believing the Gospel'.

So, you see, abiding is all about learning how to keep your promises to Jesus. It's learning how to live as becomes a follower of Christ, just as you promised when you answered those five questions to become a member here. But it's also about learning how to depend on Jesus who has promised to love and care for you. And out of that abiding comes the lush evidences of the life of God in you, the fruit of a pious Christian life.