“Abide in me, as I abide in you…”
When I sat down to write this sermon, the richness of these texts overwhelmed me. Each has endless wisdom that speak to us about the Good News found through Christ. But, as I read the texts over and over, “Abide in me as I abide in you” jumped out at me. Abiding in Jesus seems straightforward – have faith, follow the commandments, be a good neighbor. We’ve heard it all. But, what does it mean that Jesus abides in us? Initially, I thought I would preach a sermon on sacramental theology. The Eucharist, or being in direct communion with Christ, is at the heart of our worship, after all. But, I wrote parts of this sermon sitting on the back of a Humvee, decked in combat gear, watching my Soldiers – my flock – destroy targets. I wrote other parts of this while walking through the woods at night, surrounded by darkness with stars illuminating the way, as my team and I worked together to find our objectives. Still other parts I wrote while my Soldiers sat, cleaning their weapons. Every place in which I wrote this sermon, the reality of the world in which we live shaped discourse. Soldiers are some of the most genuine, raw, and open people when we are together; especially in a training environment. Underneath hard exteriors lay interiors with stories – stories just waiting to be shared. Stories which both point to the existence of God while simultaneously pointing to the major problems in society. Their stories highlight the fact that we live in a world of violence and war; hatred and exclusion; racism and misogyny. But we also live in a world of beautiful narratives – narratives which make people who they are; and narratives which allow Christians to not only abide in Christ, but also to see how Christ abides in all of creation. Thus, as I mulled over Jesus’s words of love, his command to abide in him, just as he abides in us as I walked aside my Soldiers training to kill, I asked the oldest question in the Good Book – Where is God in this setting? Said otherwise… What does it mean that Jesus abides in us? I believe that Jesus abides in our God-designed narratives. Thus, to have Jesus abiding in us means that we can see the face of God, the spark of the Divine Logos, in all persons through their narratives. So, today, I’m going to tell you 4 narratives that show how Jesus rests in each of us, even the most unsuspecting of persons. Three of these narratives are of my Soldiers, all anonymous, and all given with their permission. Narrative 1. Divorcee, full of anger, spite, remorse, craving vengeance on his ex-wife; but so full of love for his daughter. “Life means nothing without her,” he says. He will literally fight until he has nothing left if it means getting to spend time with her. Narrative 2. Divorcee, addiction, mistrust, alcoholism; but working towards finding purpose, overcoming anger, and has a giant heart for teaching others, helping. Narrative 3. Experienced in the worst of humanity, killed others in the line of duty, actively wrestling with PTSD and moral injury; but has a heart for life, knowledge of Scripture, desire to do good and help others like I’ve never seen before. Narrative 4. Finally, even Scripture gives us an example of how to see the face of God in others. In our reading from Acts, we hear of Philip’s interaction with a eunuch. Eunuchs were castrated men, either from birth or imposed upon by society. They commonly served as guards and servants. Thus, they were viewed as second-class citizens, to be used to serve the well-off folk. Most privileged persons, which Philip could have been, wouldn’t have given the eunuch the time of day. Philip, however, did that and more. He responded to the call of the Spirit to sit with the Eunuch and tell the court official the Gospel. He, through the Holy Spirit’s guidance, recognized the inherent value, dignity and worth of a person who others in society overlooked. Through seeing the Eunuch as a child of God, Philip then brought the Eunuch to Christ and baptized the Eunuch; thereby forever connecting this child to the Heavenly Parent. Had Philip not had Jesus in himself, he would not have been able to see Jesus in the Eunuch. Instead, he would have seen the Eunuch as others did – a lowly servant. Instead, Philip saw the face of God in the Eunuch and took the time to truly see this person – a person who was among the earliest converts to Christianity. Philip understood what it meant to abide in Christ and to have Christ abide in others. These 4 narratives, from Soldiers to Scripture, all show how Jesus resides in each person and can be seen through our God-planned narratives. So back to our original question, what does it mean that Jesus abides in us? It means that we can see the face of God in all of us – if we look closely enough. I believe that this is the Christian hermeneutic of viewing the world. Each of our readings today point to this worldview. Without abiding in Christ and having Christ abide in us, we cannot see all of creation as a manifestation of God’s Love. And if we cannot see creation as God’s love, then not only are we “thrown away like a branch and the withers” (John 15:6) because we live lives without Love; but so too do we treat the rest of creation – from people to the land – like branches and withers to be burned for our own, earthly gain. This reality has disastrous implications for our world. If God loved us so much that the Creator first sent Jesus, God’s Son, to save us; then we must love others to show even an iota of love back to God. We can do this through seeing Jesus in creation; because, when we do, we overcome the violence and war; hatred and exclusion; racism and misogyny that plagues out world. This gift of sight is eternally given to us through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection because – and thanks be to God – God came to this world, as a human, to be forever intimately connected with us and in us. While apart from Jesus we cannot do anything, with Jesus abiding in us and us in him, we can create a world defined by Love (John 15:5). When we know Jesus, we know Love. And seeing others is the truest, most selfless act of Love we can give to creation. Amen. |