Eastertide
May 8, 2021
Scripture Reading: John 15:9-17
As the Father has loved me, so I have 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. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. John 15:9-11
After major surgery, I groggily awoke in the night to see an ebony arm extended from a crisp white sleeve as the hand patted my arm. A reassuring voice said, “You are all right, just go back to sleep. Everything is OK.” I experienced the deepest level of trust and peace. God’s emissary had come to care for me, and I went back to sleep. She was probably the night nurse checking my vitals, but her assurance came from God, and I abided in it.
We call on God to abide with us when we are most vulnerable, and that is good and right. However, Jesus instructed us to abide always in his love as he continuously abides in God’s love. Abide, translated from the Greek word meno* means to stay, wait with, or remain, suggesting an intimate level of connection. We must not confuse it with the English word having the connotation of putting up with something.
Abiding with God takes practice. I worked with a man who was born in another country. English was his second language. Even though he had lived in the USA for 40 years and spoke the language with an Oklahoma accent, he still translated English into his native tongue, prepared his response in that language, and finally expressed his answer in English. He did it very quickly as it was not apparent in conversations that he was processing something before he spoke. I wonder how long it would take Christ-followers to screen our lives through Jesus’ lens so that we could feel more confident in our loving like Jesus all the time.
Prayer:
Abide with me, fast falls the eventide
The darkness deepens Lord, with me abide
When other helpers fail and comforts flee
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me*. Amen.
First verse of hymn Abide with Me by Henry Francis Lyte see at https://www.google.com/search?q=abide+with+me+lyrics&rlz=1C1CHZN_enUS922US922&oq=abide+with+me&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j46i433j0l3j46l2j0l2j46.6647j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.