Abide, Lenten Reader Day 42
Posted on 19. Apr, 2011 by Josh Agerton in Formation
Glad to be hosting day 42 of our Cornerstone Lenten Reader here on my blog. If it’s you’re first time around – welcome and glad you made it.
This past Sunday we dove into Jesus’ words in John 15:1-5…”I am the vine and you are the branches” and we touched on the beginnings of abiding in him. So today we’re taking this a little further as we live in vs. 9-13.
“9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now abide in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will abide in my love, just as I have obeyed my Fathers commands and abide in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one that this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:9-13
Wow – what Jesus asks of us in vs. 12-13 is a tall order isn’t it…to love others has he has loved us. And to be honest – that sounds hard and kinda “not fun”. For me his words carry even more weight as we approach Good Friday and remember the suffering he endured on the cross.
One thing I’ve learned over time is that when I try really hard at loving others in the way that Jesus has loved me – I usually come up short. I’m left frustrated, defeated, and thinking “I just need to try harder”. But it’s like I can’t do it. And the reality is I can’t…on my own. Me fulfilling this commandment is just as likely as picking a ripe and succulent apple off a branch that’s been on the ground for months. It’s just not going to happen – at least in any way that is real and authentic.
But this whole scenario changes with just a few words… “Abide in my love” John 15:9. Read it again slowly but this time aloud so you can hear yourself. “Abide…in….my…love.” It’s only when we embrace and make our home in the reality of Christ’s love for us that we can then love others in the most selfless way. And by using the imagery of the vine and branches – Jesus is simply inviting us to open up the channels of our souls and allow his grace to pour in and fill all the cracks. (Remember “Root Pressure” and how a vine forcibly presses it’s sap into the branches rather than the branches doing the work of extracting out the sap). When we abide in his love that becomes the source of of all fruit that it is born – not our own striving and trying hard.
So to lead us in the way of abiding today I want to offer an image to contemplate on. It’s a painting called “Grace” by artist Charley Mackesy of UK. I hope you don’t rush off but instead take a few minutes to see yourself in this painting.
“Now abide in my love.”
