John 15:1-11

Georgetown Presbyterian Church

May 14, 2006

Rev. Stephen H. Wilkins

One day a man came home from work, and his wife met him with the news that the pastor had come by for a visit. "What did she have to say?" asked the husband.

"She asked if Jesus lived in this house, and I didn’t know how to answer her."

"Well," said the husband, "why didn’t you tell her that we always go to church, and that we give faithfully, and that we even read the Bible from time to time?"

"She didn’t ask about those things," replied the wife. "She asked if Jesus lived in this home."

Is Jesus living with you? Maybe we ought to look at it from the other side of the coin and ask, "Have you taken up residence with Jesus?" There’s a word that appears several times in both of our scripture lessons this morning. It has the connotation of "living with", of "dwelling among". The word appears 16 times in those two brief passages. It’s a word that implies a sense of permanence, a steadfast commitment to Christ. The word is "Abide."

It’s not a word that we hear very often anymore. "Abide" is foreign to our modern-day vocabulary. You don’t hear advertisements for hotels that say, "Come and abide with us for the weekend." You don’t hear a baseball coach calling out to his runner to abide on second base instead of stealing.

"Abide" is foreign to our vocabulary today, so much so that many of the modern day translations of the Bible will have another word instead of "abide". The NIV, for example, uses the word "remain", which I think is much weaker, because it really doesn’t capture the "living-with" essence of "abide."

But perhaps even more foreign than the word itself, is the meaning that the word brings to our world. "‘To abide’ has to do with persevering, continuing, lasting, staying with it. No wonder the term is rare. What it means is rare, in this or any time." The truth is, we live in a society where instant satisfaction is promised, or you can go somewhere else. We live in a world that values drive-through dining over a family meal around a table. We live in a world that says you need a new car every year. We dare not ask people to make a commitment, because that would be too demanding. "To abide" calls for faithfulness, steadfastness, commitment, and in that sense the word "abide" is completely lost in modern times.

Both word and meaning are foreign to us today.

But in terms of Christian discipleship, the word "abide" is crucial. So important, in fact, that Jesus uses it 10 times in the verses we read from John’s gospel.

"Abide in me, as I abide in you. . .

Those who abide in me and I in them will bear much fruit. . .

If you abide in me and my words abide in you. . .

Abide in my love. . ."

Do you get the idea that what matters to Jesus is the strength of our relationship with him? Do you get the idea that what matters to Jesus is that we remain steadfastly connected to him? Do you think that maybe what Jesus wants from his disciples is that we be committed to him?

How is your abiding? Have you taken up residence with Jesus?

Jesus is not just one of many options--Jesus is everything. Perhaps you remember several years ago, there was a great deal made about the comments that a Presbyterian pastor made at an interfaith gathering. He asked the question, "What’s the big deal about Jesus, anyway?" I don’t think he anticipated the fallout of his remark, which was made in all seriousness. You see, the correct answer to his question is, Jesus is everything. Apart from Jesus, we are nothing.

The story is told of a native from a remote mountain village who had the opportunity to visit a large modern city for the first time. He could not bring much home with him, for he had little money. He was dazzled at the trappings of civilization, especially the bright lights he saw everywhere.

So he bought a sack full of light bulbs, and some sockets with chain switches on them so he could turn them on and off. When he returned to his village, he began to hang the light bulbs in front of his home and on his trees and on his neighbors’ trees. Everyone watched with great curiosity, and they asked him hat he was doing. He just smiled and said, "Just wait until dark--you’ll see."

When night came, he pulled the chain switches, but nothing happened. Nobody had told him about electricity. He did not know that light bulbs were useless unless they were connected to a source of power.

Jesus says, "Abide in me... Apart from me, you can do nothing." Just as a light bulb cannot burn when it is disconnected from the flow of power, just as a branch cannot survive when it is not connected to the life-giving source of the vine, so it is with us. Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing, for Jesus is everything to us. He is our life.

Abide in Jesus. Commit to Jesus. Hold onto Jesus. Take up permanent residence with Jesus.

I’m sure you noticed it in the gospel lesson. While it’s true that apart from Jesus we can do nothing, on the other hand it is also true that by abiding in Jesus we can bear much fruit. I would go so far as to say that that is the purpose of our abiding--that we may bear much fruit.

Some are tempted to remain on the Vine, but they don’t want to produce fruit. That is, they are willing to be fed, but they don’t in turn want to produce fruit that will feed others. You can’t do that. The purpose of our abiding is so that we might bear fruit in our discipleship.

As far as I can tell, fruit function in at least three ways. The first is that they are ornamental, attractive. They attract others to the vine, because they are appealing. As disciples who abide in Christ, one of our purposes is to live in such a way that people see the fruit of our abiding in Christ, and they want some for themselves. While we don’t want to fall into the marketing trap, we do want others to want what Christ has to offer.

The second function of fruit is to provide nourishment. Fruit is not only attractive to look at, but it also nourishes those who eat it. Translated into our discipleship, it means that we come to Christ not just to be fed, but also to feed others. If it is our abiding in Christ that nourishes us, it is the fruit we bear in our discipleship that in turn offers the spiritual nourishment of Christ to the world.

The third function of the fruit of the vine is to act as the seed-carrying mechanism of the vine. As we share the fruit of our discipleship, as we engage in activities that serve to nurture others, as others receive from us the same love of Christ that we have received from Christ, then our fruit carries with it seeds that in turn will later bear fruit. Bearing fruit is the way in which our faith is shared and spread. Bearing fruit is the way in which Jesus is shared and spread.

Certainly more than any other writer in the New Testament, John captures the essential element of discipleship as abiding. Not just abiding in Christ, but even more specific, abiding in Christ’s love. You can’t read the two passages before us this morning without sensing the priority of love in our discipleship. It is by abiding in the love of Christ--loving others in the same way that Christ has loved us--that we are most fruitful in our discipleship.

But it’s not just John who emphasizes the priority of love. Paul, unfairly thought of by contemporary scholars as being too old-fashioned and even overly strict in some of the instructions he gives, is a great advocate of love. I don’t think that it’s just a coincidence that when Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit in his letter to the Galatians, the first fruit mentioned is love. I don’t think that it’s a random thought that in his famous chapter on love in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul concludes with this thought: Now these three remain--faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.

The kind of love described in the New Testament, the love that Jesus commands of us, is agape love. It is not a warm-fuzzy feeling type of love. It is not necessarily affection toward another. It is love that translates into action on behalf of others and for the benefit of others. And so to abide in Christ and in his love is to be people of active faith, of faith in action.

Over the last couple of weeks, members of this church have shown up to paint at the Habitat house on Church Street. They are engaging what Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, has called, the Theology of the Hammer (or maybe the theology of the paintbrush!). Simply put, they are abiding in Christ’s love and bearing fruit through tangible actions that are an expression of their faith. You have an opportunity to bear fruit this Thursday, because we still have some painting to do.

Have you ever been over to the Outreach Center after school on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday? If you have, then you’ve seen volunteers working with some young Hispanic children, helping them with their homework, helping them succeed in our school and giving them a foundation for success in our society. But there’s more to it than that, for something as simple as tutoring is also a tangible expression of the love of Jesus, and it tells the children that Jesus loves them.

Last month four people from this church traveled to New Orleans to help clean out a house that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. They had to don hazmat suits and rubber gloves and goggles. They endured sweltering heat and less-than-ideal sleeping conditions. They were road weary from their travels. But for the family whose home they cleaned out, our members were a tangible expression of the love of Jesus; our members were a critical means of communicating to that family that people elsewhere cared about them. By abiding in the love of Jesus, they were able to bear much fruit.

Abiding in the love of Jesus can take many forms. Really, how it looks is up to you.

How is your abiding? Have you taken up residence with Jesus? What kind of fruit does your discipleship produce?