You Asked for It: Forgiveness

 

You Asked For It: Forgiveness

Matthew 18:21-35

²¹ Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if my brother or sister sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

²³ “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him, ²⁵ and, as he could not pay, the lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions and payment to be made. 

²⁶ So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ ²⁷ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. ²⁸ But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him by the throat he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ ²⁹ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 

³⁰ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 

³¹ When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. ³² Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³ Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. ³⁵ So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

 

 

Good morning, friends. Let’s jump right in. We’re on week two of our sermon series You Asked For It. And overwhelmingly, you submitted questions like these: 

 

·      How do I forgive someone when they hurt me?

·      How does God forgive me when I hurt Him and others?

·      Is there a correlation between these two answers?

·      Does the way I forgive others reflect my own understanding of God’s forgiveness?

·      What does scripture say about being reconciled to others before I worship Him?

·      Is there a situation where I can forgive someone and still not have them in my life?

·      Does forgiving someone mean I trust them again?

It sounds like we need to spend the next month talking through forgiveness, so I hope you will forgive me as I seek to answer these questions in just 20 minutes! But in fact, I have preached four sermons in last year on forgiveness – loving your enemies; the words of Jesus from the cross – Father, forgive them; the justifying grace of God; Jesus forgiving the woman caught in adultery… Maybe Steven is trying to tell me I need to work on this! 😊

 

So indeed, a hallmark of the Christian journey is the commitment to become a forgiving person. And not just forgiving one offense, but living as a forgiving follower.

 

Forgiveness is one of the main themes of Jesus’ teachings and example: 

 

In the Lord’s Prayer, He taught us to pray: “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.”

 

In Luke chapter 6, Jesus says, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

 

As part of His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught, “If you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then, come and offer your sacrifice to God.”

 

But I want to break apart just one teaching today. Break open that sermon quiz, and if you have your Bible, open up to Matthew chapter 18, the parable Steven read earlier. This story deals with the healing of hurts between people - that is, the way to resolve differences, to heal the breaches that frequently come in between members of families, members of churches. The lesson we learn is that the only way to break through the resentment barrier that separates us is through forgiveness. 

 

Forgiveness, of course, is the virtue we most enjoy, yet least employ. We all love to be forgiven -- we expect it; we want it. But we find it a struggle TO forgive. We resist it, and oftentimes refuse to do it. It appears the Apostle Peter had a little trouble with forgiveness, too. In Matthew 18, we find Peter, in His hasty bluntness, coming to Jesus with a question:

 

“Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 

 

Jesus said to Peter, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” 

 

I’ve often wondered – was Peter actually thinking of his literal brother? Peter and Andrew were brothers, had grown up together, and had joined this band of disciples together. I tend to believe Peter is actually speaking of Andrew here. Perhaps Andrew left the cap off the toothpaste; or he borrowed Peter’s favorite tunic and wore it without permission; or perhaps Andres never put the Legos away, and Peter stepped on them. Or perhaps it's the other way around. Perhaps it’s Andrew who resents Peter. Afterall, Andrew met Jesus first. Andrew introduced Peter to Jesus… yet Jesus included Peter in the inner-circle with James and John, not Andrew. 

At any rate, Peter feels he’s being very noble in suggesting he forgive anyone seven times, and for good reason. The rabbis taught you only needed to forgive someone three times at most, based on a misunderstanding of the text written by the prophet Amos. The fourth time you could do whatever you liked. So, you can understand why Peter feels he has gone to the utmost limit when he doubled three times, and added one for good measure, suggesting he would be willing to forgive his brother seven times.

 

I tend to think Jesus replied with His signature wit when He said, "Peter, would you believe, you should be willing to forgive 490 times?" In effect, He’s saying, it’s not a question of how often, or how many times I should forgive my brother. That’s not the question. The real question is, "Why should I forgive at all?” 

 

When we see that we should forgive, then we will see there is no limit. Jesus has only chosen this figure of 490 times as a play upon what Peter has said to Him, but in reality, it suggests an unlimited forgiveness. And, to answer the deeper question, "Why should I forgive my brother," our Lord gives us this parable of the unforgiving steward found in Matthew 18.

 

The value of this parable lies in seeing it’s a picture of us. Jesus is holding up a mirror so we might see ourselves. We are the servant, who has been forgiven a vast, staggering amount, and God is the great forgiving king. This ten thousand talents is an incredible amount! A talent was worth about one thousand dollars! So, ten thousand talents converts to ten million dollars!

 

When it came time to settle accounts, the man was confronted with this enormous debt, and he knew he couldn’t pay it. The king ordered justice to be carried out - the man, his wife and children, and all they had was to be sold. Even then, it would be far short of the amount of this debt. In desperation, the man made an impossible promise. He fell to his knees and said to the king, "Have patience, sir, and I will pay you everything." 

 

But let’s be honest, he could never do that. Even if he worked his whole life, he would never be able to repay ten million dollars. But in desperation, he cried out, and the king's heart was so moved by the man's impossible situation, he forgave him out of pity and at a staggering cost to himself. It means this king assumed the debt, allowing it to go unpaid, and thus, depleting his treasury. This is no insignificant matter. 

 

We must see ourselves in this if we are going to be helped by this Word of Jesus. We must see the sum of our offenses against God through the years adds up to this kind of a debt, an absolutely impossible amount. Our rebellions, our selfish acts and thoughts, our willful choices, our lovelessness toward one another, the hurt we have caused others, our pride, our anger, our lusts, our bitterness, our hates, and our lies; all these add up through the years to a staggering debt we owe God and which we cannot repay. 

 

But then, there comes the Good News. There came a day when we stood in the presence of God and heard Him pronounce those words, "In the name of Jesus Christ, You are forgiven.” The debt was wiped away. In one moment, it was gone. Can you remember the glory of that moment when you realized that before God, you stood cleansed, blameless, free? The debt was paid; you are free.

 

Back to the parable, verse 28, Jesus continues in the story, which He says occurred immediately, as this man went out from his experience of being so unbelievably forgiven: 

 

"As he went out, he met a man who owed him twenty dollars and seizing him by the throat he said, ‘Pay me what you owe.’ But when the second man says exactly the same words the first had said just a few moments before, ‘Have patience with me and I'll pay you everything,’ instead of forgiving him this paltry amount, he throws him into prison until he could pay the full amount.”

This is exactly what we do when we refuse to forgive each other, even the most insulting, heart-breaking offenses. No matter how hurt we are by what someone has done to us, in comparison to what God has forgiven, it’s like comparing twenty dollars to ten million dollars of debt. And these two events are occurring simultaneously in our lives, in immediate context, just as Jesus said.

 

When we said “yes” to Christ, we didn’t flip a switch and stop sinning. Despite the abiding relationship with our Lord, and the increasing light and love that has come to us, we still fall short of living sinless lives. Not a day goes by that we don’t stand in desperate need of the forgiving word of our great Savior. Again and again, He cancels out the debt as we come in our vulnerability and guilt, knowing we have terribly failed, to hear anew God’s tender forgiving word. 

 

And yet, when someone offends us, how quickly we revert to the basis of justice, and start demanding, "Pay me what you owe. I demand an apology. Give me my rights. I demand to be treated with respect." How many times have we uttered such words?

 

The rest of the parable reveals the two great reasons why followers of Christ must forgive those who offend them, verse 31:

 

“When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

 

“That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”

 

There are two reasons revealed here why Christians must forgive each other: 

 

First, we must forgive because anything less is hypocritical. Jesus says, we must forgive one another because we have already been forgiven. 

 

Paul agreed. He wrote to the Ephesians in chapter 4, verses 31 & 32, our memory verse for the week: 

 

Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

 

That’s the basis of Christian forgiveness. When we refuse to do this, when we hold a grudge, or hold tight to bitterness and refuse to settle an issue, then we’re doing exactly what the unrighteous steward did. In the very moment of our own forgiveness, we are demanding justice, when we ourselves cannot, and do not, stand on that level.

 

There is a passage in Second Peter which describes the graces God gives - the grace of self-control, of godliness, of brotherly affection and of loving concern:

 

But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

 

A lot of times, I think that’s our problem. We demand others to act in a way we, ourselves, could never achieve. And that’s when harshness creeps into our voice. We’re severe and unbending, rigid in our demands. It’s not that we don’t need to deal with the wrong. The problem lies in the spirit in which we do so. The minute we revert to the basis of justice, we are following the law of retaliation, and the law of retaliation always has an escalating clause in it. Your radio is too loud, so I pound on the wall. You squawk; I roar. The next time we meet, and you won't speak to me, I’ll spread rumors about you.

 

Jesus says forgiveness is possible because we have been forgiven. Because this staggering debt against us has been wiped out by the grace of God, we, too, have the capability of forgiving. 

So, that’s the first reason Jesus said we must forgive each other -- because we have been forgiven so very much ourselves. The second reason we must forgive is because of the torment an unforgiving spirit inflicts upon us.

 

This echoes what Jesus said at the Sermon on the Mount: 

 

If you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

 

This is addressed directly to those who have said “yes” to God – Christians, disciples, followers - in whom the Spirit of God lives, and therefore, God knows they have the ability and capacity to forgive. But if we won’t exercise it, if we insist on justice or retaliation, we will be given justice ourselves. As James tell us:

 

"There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. 

But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when He judges you.”

 

This marvelously expressive phrase describes what happens to us when we don’t forgive another. It’s an accurate description of the gnawing resentment and bitterness, the awful gall of hate or envy. It’s a terrible feeling. We can’t get away from it. We can’t escape it. We find ourselves powerless to avoid it. We strongly feel this separation from another, and every time we think of them, we feel the acid of resentment and hate eating away at our peace and calmness. 

 

This is the torturing our Lord says will take place. In the book of Hebrews, we read, "Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you.” Notice where the trouble occurs? It hits you, not the other person.

 

But please hear this: Forgiveness is not acting like the offense never happened. It’s not about becoming a doormat, or allowing someone to continuously mistreat you. It’s not a lack of accountability or consequences. It doesn’t mean you can’t set boundaries. Forgiveness is not reconciliation or giving offenders your trust again. It’s not even restoring the relationship to what it was. 

 

Forgiveness is about how you are going to deal with your hurt and anger. Are you going to trap yourself in anger and bitterness? Or are you going to take the key, put it in the lock, and release yourself? 

 

Sometimes we withhold forgiveness because we see it only as a gift to the person we feel least like giving the gift to. But I believe forgiveness is primarily a gift you give to yourself. Forgiveness is a choice, a process where you decide not to allow your thoughts, your spirit, your life to be consumed with resentment and bitterness. 

 

There is a great temptation to cling in anger to our enemies, and then define ourselves as being offended and wounded by them. But I believe, forgiveness is an act of liberation. Forgiveness not only liberates the other, but also ourselves. It’s our way to freedom.  (Henri Nouwen)

 

I’ll end with this quote from NT Wright -- 

 

Forgiveness is not a moral rule that comes with sanctions attached. 
God doesn’t deal with us on the basis of abstract codes and rules like that. Forgiveness is a way of life, 
God’s way OF life, God’s way TO life; 
and if you close your heart to forgiveness, 
why, then, you close your heart to forgiveness. 
That is the point of the terrifying parable in Matthew 18, 
about the slave who had been forgiven millions, 
but then dragged a colleague into court to settle a debt of a few pence.
 That is why we pray, “Forgive us our trespasses, 
as we forgive those who trespass against us.” 
That isn’t a bargain we make with God. 
It’s a fact of human life. 
Not to forgive is to shut down a faculty in the innermost person, 
which happens to be the same faculty that can receive God’s forgiveness.
 It also happens to be the same faculty that can experience 
real joy and real grief. 
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Friends, this is a hard one. And it’s certainly not all encompassing. I don’t claim to know your deepest hurts, and you don’t know all of the wrongs others have committed against me. But I have found that forgiveness is a life-line. Resentments are a burden on me, not on the one I resent. And Jesus, in the Lord’s Prayer, makes forgiveness as central as our daily bread. Nothing marks out the spirit of Christ in our everyday lives more clearly than forgiveness.  

 

And so, my prayer today for each of us is this: 
to move forward in love, 
leading with forgiveness, 
to heal the church, 
to heal our families, 
to heal the heart, 
and to heal the hurts, 
one with another, 
by the grace God has shown to us. 
May we let go of our treasured grievances and resentments.
May we forgive and go on forgiving.

Amen. And Amen.

Finding Meno

Finding Meno

John 15:1-11

Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday, I realized next week is my ninth anniversary at First Methodist. When I arrived at FUMC in 2013, my life was in the midst of a huge transition. I not only started a new job at a new church, in a new city, in a new state, but I also started a doctor of ministry academic program. And I should tell you, I HATE change. I resist it at all costs. BUT, it appears God loves change! Or He at least uses times of transition to change me. Apparently, that is when I'm ripe for the molding. Maybe it’s because I'm at my most vulnerable state. Or maybe it’s because when I’m anxious and nervous, I find myself totally relying on God to see me through the transitions.

 

So here I was in Shreveport, Louisiana, studying cross-cultural partnerships, and creating a global missions ministry with our team. Now, what I am about to say may shock you…but I LOVE missions! I love missions. I started going on international mission trips when I was 16 years old. I ended up living in Mexico for a bit, and then in Haiti off and on for a couple of years.

 

And the more I studied missions and how we, as Unite States Americans, have historically gone about missions, the more I learned that we, or at least I, had been doing it wrong:

 

• I was loving people by trying to fix them.

• I was loving people by trying to do things for them, because I thought I knew better.

• With no humility, nor curiosity, I was loving people by assuming I knew them and knew what was best for them. 

 

And then I began to study my relationship with God...

• Do I treat God the same way?

• Do I call upon Him only when I think I need Him?

• Am I spending time with Him only to consume, or am I taking the time to learn who He is and obey His commands and walk on His path for my life?

• Was I really loving God with all my heart, soul, strength and mind?

 

When I was a kid, I created a personal mission statement for myself: “Love God, Love People.” But was I really living into it? So the year 2013 became a huge reexamining of who I am...who God is…and our relationship with each other!

 

Fast-forward to 2015 when I was flying back from Uganda, and I opened up my Bible, and it naturally fell to John 15. The passage struck me so much at that time and place that I studied the first 17 verses for the next two years. The vine and the branches proved to be a model for cross-cultural partnerships - God being the vine, and we being the branches growing from the same vine. 

 

You know this story that Maddie read earlier. Jesus arrived in Jerusalem after a long journey, probably from Capernaum. It was a journey He had made every year since He was a boy. And I imagine He was exhausted. Travel wears me out! When He arrived in Jerusalem, He was greeted like a King, but then the religious leaders turned on Him, and questioned Him, and tried to trap Him in His responses. It was exhausting. And He knew what was coming. On that Thursday, He just wanted to spend time with His friends around the table and BE with them. When they arrived in the Upper Room, He washed their feet. It was a beautiful act of humility. And then they shared the Passover meal. And the best conversations always happen around the table. Jesus used this time to emphasize all the big teachings of the last three years He had spent with them. Following dinner, they went on a walk to find a place to pray. On the way, they passed a vineyard, and Jesus loved using a visual, an object right in front of them, to make His point. So, these were His words…

 

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Abide in me, and I will abide in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you abide in me.

 

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” 

 

As you may know, we’re in the midst of a sermon series entitled, Babel, where each week we explore a Hebrew or Greek word. Each of these words is like an over-stuffed suitcase, bulging with extra meanings to fully describe its reality. And this week’s word is Meno. M-E-N-O. You may know it as Abide. 

 

When Jesus walked the earth, the main phrase He used when He spoke of the disciples’ relationship to Himself was: "Follow me." But, when it became closer to the time to leave for Heaven, He replaced the word "follow" with a new word. It was a more intimate word. It was this word - meno - abide. His new chosen phrase indicated not just obedience, but a spiritual union, an intimacy of fellowship, oneness of life. He invited His disciples to "Abide in me."

 

Meno is one of the Apostle John’s favorite words. He used it 34 times in the Gospel of John and 19 times in his letters. Meno refers to both a place and an attitude: to stay at home and to be at home – which serves John’s narrative very well. He uses meno to say God abides in Christ. He dwells in Him, and therefore, has a constant influence upon Him. The divine presence is continually operating in Him. Jesus said, I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me. John then tells us the story of how we disciples abide with Jesus, going wherever He goes, but also how His Word abides in us – taking up residence in our lives. To abide in Christ means not only to stay with Him no matter what, but also to find shelter in His words.

 

But my favorite definition of meno is four simple words:

 

Inward, enduring, personal communion

 

Say it with me… INWARD, ENDURING, PERSONAL, COMMUNION.
Let’s break these four words down:

 

 

INWARD

 

What does inward mean? - Spiritual, Mental, Emotional Connection; God with us.

 

Abiding in Jesus means to have a life-giving connection to Him. The Spirit lives within us, and this connects us, as branches, to the vine. A branch is connected to the vine, and a vine is connected to the branch. Theologians frequently describe this as “union with Christ.” Notice that this connection, this union, is mutual. We abide in Him, and He abides in us. If there is no connection, there is no life, no fruit.

 

But abiding also implies dependence. This aspect of abiding, unlike connection, is not reciprocal. The branch is dependent on the vine, but the vine is not dependent on the branch. The branch derives its life and power from the vine. Without the vine, the branch is useless, lifeless, powerless. Sap flows from the vine to the branch, supplying it with water, minerals, and nutrients that make it grow. And we believers receive the “sap” of Christ’s grace through our life-giving connection to Him. We are completely dependent upon Jesus for everything that counts as spiritual fruit. Apart from Him, we can do nothing.

 

To abide in continual, enduring dependence upon Christ is to keep ourselves in the position of child-like trust and dependence upon Him. Jesus said He could do nothing on His own; therefore, we can do nothing on our own. Everything about abiding means we must remain united with Him, just as the Son remains united with the Father. Which leads us to the second word…

ENDURING

 

What does enduring mean? - Ongoing, Continuous, Forever; He never leaves nor forsakes us.

 

In some of your Bibles, the translators may substitute the word “abide” for “remain,” because abiding involves continuance.

 

We find meno again in John 1:38-39, where two of the disciples who first encountered Jesus asked Him, “Where are you staying?” They wanted to know where Jesus made His residence. The word “staying” is the same word translated “abide” in John 15. To abide is to reside. Where we reside is HOME. So, I think of abiding as being at home in Jesus and remaining in Jesus. This simply means that we go on trusting, that we keep on depending, that we never stop believing.

 

I don't know about you, but I learn lessons best by repetition. One of the lessons I have learned is that being a disciple of Christ is not just a one-time commitment. It means every morning waking up and committing again to Jesus. It is the ongoing invitation and acceptance to abide in Him. When we continuously fix our minds on the lessons of faith, that is when we, believers, will gradually come into the spirit of abiding in Christ.

 

PERSONAL

 

What does personal mean? - Intimacy, Closeness; Nurtured, Individual; God knows me, I know God.

 

I love when Stefania, our missionary from Romania, comes to visit. We are the best of friends. But you know what I love most? We can sit in my living room, or ride in the car, and not say a word to each other for hours, yet come away having the BEST TIME EVER. It's when you cultivate this personal closeness, this intimacy, which comes from spending significant amounts of time with one another, that you can let your guard down and BE with each other.

 

One of Jesus’ earlier personal invitations is found in Matthew 11:28-30:

 

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

 

 

Do you hear the earnestness, the faithfulness in Jesus’ invitation? It is kind, loving, and tender. His invitation to “Come” is full of compassion. Yet, in John 15, Jesus grants us a personal invitation to abide. And this invitation is full of grace:

 

• He opened His arms, to envelop you and hold you close. 

• He opened His heart, to welcome you there.

• He opened up His divine fullness of life and love, and offered to take you up into its fellowship, to make you wholly one with Himself.

 

It's when we abide that Jesus gives us rest in Him.

 

When I was studying this invitation, I noticed the promise of rest is repeated twice. Perhaps it is because the abiding rest could only be found in abiding nearness? First Jesus says, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.” The very moment you come, and believe, He will give you rest - the rest found in forgiveness, the rest found in acceptance, the rest felt in His love.

 

Then He says, "Come to me. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me." He wants us to become His scholars, yield ourselves to His training, submit in all things to His will. He wants our whole lives be one with Him. In other words... ABIDE in Him. And then He adds, not only, "I will give," but "you shall find rest to your souls."

 

The first rest He gives at "coming.” But the deeper abiding rest comes from longer acquaintance and closer fellowship, from entire surrender and deeper sympathy. "Take my yoke and learn from me." Abide in me. That is the path to abiding rest.

 

COMMUNION

 

We find meno again in John 6:56 where Jesus says:

 

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.

 

Jesus' goal is to have a life of abiding, unbroken fellowship with us. He has destined us for something better than a short-lived blessedness. God did not create humans to just spend time with them when they could make time in their busy schedule. He created humans for fellowship. He created humans for friendship. Yes, we have lives, families, and responsibilities, but He has prepared for us an abiding dwelling with Him. He wants to be part of our everyday lives, where all the while we might enjoy unbroken communion with Him.

 

The experience of living in union with Him, the experience of His daily and hourly presence and keeping... That is unbroken communion.

 

Yesterday, I stepped off another plane, this time after spending two weeks with our mission partners from around the globe. The veil between heaven and earth was as close as I have ever felt it… and not because we were holed up in a beautiful Tuscan villa, but because we sat in the midst of seven physical vineyards coming together on one hilltop with seven global missionaries and their families, marveling at how God had intertwined our lives through First United Methodist Church. 

 

And though some were meeting in person for the very first time, it truly felt as though we were in the midst of a family reunion. For nearly ten years, we’ve worked toward creating abiding relationships with our mission partners both locally and globally – 

·      an inward connection because of the love of Christ; 

·      an enduring relationship, not just short-term trips and projects; 

·      personal partnerships, based on the individuals we have come to know and love; 

·      all the while communing with God and each other through the ministry of presence.

 

As we walked together thru the rolling hills of vineyards, the object lesson Jesus spoke had never been clearer. Yes, He is the vine - strong, purposeful, and true - and we, each of us, are different branches growing from the same vine - all with different gifts and callings, but united in our love for God, our love for each other, and our love for those He has entrusted to us. God has intertwined His people with a beautiful abiding love.

 

Friends, Jesus invites us to abide in His love. That means to dwell with all that I am in Him. It’s an invitation to a total belonging, to full intimacy, to an unlimited being-with. As my favorite theologian, Henri Nouwen, said, “Through abiding, we can keep ourselves from being pulled from one urgent issue to another and from becoming strangers to our own heart and God's heart. Abiding keeps us home, rooted and safe, even when we are on the road moving from place to place, and often surrounded by sounds of violence and chaos. Abiding deepens us in the knowledge that we are already free, that we already found a place to dwell, that we alreadybelong to God, even though everyone and everything around us is suggesting the opposite.”

 

Friends, we abide in Christ, and He in us, when we enter into a personal relationship by putting our trust in Him as our Savior. I ask you…. Where are you finding meno? How are you living in an inward, enduring personal communion with Christ?

 

Let us pray:

 

Abide in me, I pray,

for apart from You

there is nothing I can do -  

nothing of eternal value,

that truly matters,

that I will care about, in the end.

 

So, help me, Lord, to abide in You,

when so many things try to pull me away.

Help me to turn to You, 

and return to You,

throughout this and every day.

Help me to dig my roots deeply

and stay planted by the stream.

 

But not for me, I pray -

for the fruit You would bear in me,

throughout this day,

throughout this world,

as I share the love and peace

that You first gave to me.

 

This I want, above all else,

to bear this fruit for You.

But apart from You,

I wither like a branch 

cut off from its vine.

So, abide in me, 

my vine-growing Lord,

bear Your fruit in me this day.

Amen.