Abide In Me: We Are Chosen
Sermon for May 5th, the Sixth Sunday of Easter: John 15:6-19 and 1 John 5:1-6
Today’s readings are continuations from last week’s both from the Gospel of John and John’s first letter to the early church.
In the Gospel reading, we recall from last week, Jesus is with His disciples in the upper room at the last supper. He has initiated the New Covenant with bread and wine as His body and blood. He has washed the disciple’s feet with the directive to them, and us as well, that we are called to serve – not to be served. Then, Jesus begins His farewell discourses which convey several critical reminders for His disciples. One consistent message throughout the three full chapters that comprise Jesus’ discourses is the foundational message of: “Abide in Me. Like the branches of the vine, remain in Me and I in you.”
Abide meaning that in all that the disciples will face – and us as well – to remember always to remain anchored in Christ. The frequent repetition of this message throughout Jesus’ farewell discourses is bound with a real sense of urgency, of importance, a kind of life-saving fundamental never to be ignored or overlooked.
It is with the same kind of urgency that we might experience when we – for example – take a child out to a theme park. We want to be sure that they don’t get lost in the crowd. We know that the attractions around them can easily lure them away from our care and they risk getting lost. And a day that was intended for joy can quickly turn to panic. We tell them over and over again, “Stay close. Don’t run off. Stay where I can see you.” So too does Jesus tell us as well, “Stay close. The attractions of the world can lure you away from Me – the One who is charged with your care and safety. And the joy that was intended for you will be lost in a crowd or a place you were never intended to go.”
“Abide in Me,” Jesus tells us, “Abide in My love for you were chosen. It was not you that chose Me but I who chose you.”
What does it mean to be “chosen”? The dictionary defines the term “chosen” as follows: To be chosen means to be selected as the best or most appropriate choice; to be favored – divinely favored, selected for privilege.
When we think about being chosen it means we have been seen. It means we have been known and that something about us has made us the best and most appropriate choice. “I choose you,” Jesus tells us, “to be a part of My life and mission on earth as it is in heaven.”
As we travel through Jesus’ farewell discourses, we come to learn the following:
We were chosen for joy. There is joy in doing the right thing. When our choices and behaviors align with God’s will, when in all that we say and do is a genuine attempt to reflect God’s love in the world, we experience an inner peace and joy. We are chosen to follow God’s commandments which are not only about rejecting sinful behaviors, it is also about listening for God’s voice and following His will for our lives. To have such a close abiding relationship with Him that we recognize God’s still small voice in the ears of our hearts calling us to the mission of His work on earth. We hear and we follow. We were chosen for joy.
We were chosen for love. God is love and we are made in God’s image; therefore, to love one another is to live more fully into our true identity as children of God and when we become more of who we were created to be, we feel more complete – and our joy is complete. We love because it is what we were made to do, in the very design of human-ness. “Abide in My love,” Jesus tells His disciples and us as well. To abide in God’s love means we choose to live a certain way in life, to integrate into our being the qualities present in our closest friendships to all we meet: seeking always what is best for the other, loyalty through the good days and the bad, honoring their authentic and unique self, always seeking the beauty of God’s creation in all people. “Stay close,” Jesus says, “don’t get lost in the crowd. Don’t get lost in places you don’t belong: the place of resentment, anger, jealously, or hate.” We were chosen for love.
Finally, we were chosen for friendship. In the English language, there is only one word to convey all different types of love. We use the same word to say, “I love ketchup,” as we do to say, “I love God.” In other languages, especially in ancient Greek, there are different terms used to express the different types of loves. For example, the Greek word, agape, means unconditional love. And, the Greek word, philos, means the love of friends. The Gospel of John was originally written in Greek. John uses these various terms inter-changeably in a beautiful, poetic literary style to emphasize the inter-connectedness of Christ’s unconditional love of His disciples with the relationship that now exists within their bond of friendship.
Like the bond that exists between the Father and the Son is the bond reflected between Jesus and His disciples – between Jesus and us. Our God is a Triune God: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. So closely bound though distinctly three persons, they are yet One God. The Holy Trinity in and of itself is community. We were born to live in community. We were chosen for friendship.
Jesus’ words to His disciples on that last night before His Passion are words that Jesus speaks to us today. We are the stewards of God’s abiding love in our world today – never attempting to go it alone but always remaining anchored and supported and guided by Jesus Christ. We are chosen and, therefore, we go to do the work we have been called to do in Christ.
Amen.
