Being Along the Way, the main point

PART III We continue where we left off. The last two entries should be read, if you want to pick up where we left off.

"So let’s come back from the rabbit trail. I want to be fully present in life. I want to be. How? I keep coming back to Jesus’ command to abide in Him. So I’m going to read some Scripture but let’s do something before that. I learned a way to read Scripture as I was reading Passport by Tim Davidson.

"Let's take a moment and I want you to engage your imaginations. I want you to image yourself as a disciple of Jesus as I lead you through this sort of 'guided meditation' on the Passover celebration before Jesus went to the cross." The sun is setting on a cool spring evening. You are with your close companions. You gather in a large upper room. A traditional feast is prepared for you all. A feast you’ve had before many times growing up. It’s like any good holiday celebration. There is much commotion going on outside as thousands of people celebrate the very same thing. The smell of fresh cooked bread fills the room. Though you’ve celebrated this festival before, this time it is different. There is something in the air tonight. It is like all of heaven is watching your small group. Every word being spoken is going to impact all of history.

Though this is a uniquely special night your heart is mixed with feelings. The ONE you and your companions have followed faithfully has been longing to have this feast with you. Yet your heart is filled with anxiety and your mind confused. The ONE you’ve put all your hope in seems troubled. He is talking about dying, rather than living and becoming King like you had hoped. The Master whom you love is talking about going to a place where you will not be able to go to for awhile. You ask “Where?” “Why?” He gives You words of hope. Firm and true. This is not the end, but the beginning though you can’t see it now, you will soon, He says. The Teacher says to you and the group that He loves you and He is going to prepare a place for you all. He promises to come back. You don’t understand why he should leave in the first place. “How will we survive without You being here?” you wonder. “I will send the Helper. He will guide you and strengthen you,” The Teacher replies. He keeps talking about love. “Love me and love one another,” He commands. Your heart is heavy. Your mind is blurry.

Then Jesus says, 3 SLIDES

Jesus the True Vine

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. ^2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. ^3 You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. ^4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ^5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ^6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ^7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ^8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. ^9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. ^10 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. ^11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

^12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ^13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ^14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. ^15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. ^16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. ^17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

Now part of the exercise is to read it slow.

What does our Lord mean when He says Remain in me? When I ask questions like this I tend to first start from an individual context rather than a communal one probably because of the individualism we grow up with.

Remaining in Him certainly means talking, crying, listening to Him, having alone time with Him, worshipping Him, being obedient to His active voice, and reading the Scriptures. What else? Jesus was talking to a small group-community. In the center of this abiding command, Jesus continues to talk about love, loving one another. He commands the disciples to love one another over and over again. Abiding means loving one another. Serving one another and serving the world. The life of this abiding community in Christ was an active one. One of a heart for people, especially the least, last and the lost.

This whole abiding dialogue that Jesus is having has an ancient tone to it doesn’t it? It is like what is happening is a new thing in one sense but not new an another. What do I mean? Along time ago humanity did abide fully with God and He with them. We got our worth, love, and purpose from Him. Then we chose independence from Him. We rebelled. As a result of our choice to do things our own way we were alienated from God and each other. Throughout history God has been saying that He loves the world so much that He wants to abide with us again. We see His desire for this in the Last Supper as Jesus who is God says abide in me and me in You. God has made a way through Jesus to rejoin us back to Him. In a nutshell what it means to Remain in Jesus means death to my independence. Abiding in Christ means death to our independence and our desire for god-like control over our life and the lives of others. Jesus is saying choose dependence not independence from me.

But what does this all have to do with my desire to want to be fully present in life, to be? EVERYTHING. Abiding in the source of life and love, the ONE who is being, the One who created it all, the One who provides, has everything to do with living in the present fully. I will continue to remain the same anxiety filled trying to find my worth in accomplishments type of person if I abide in myself rather than in Jesus. I don’t like the results of abiding in myself. I don’t like the fruit of it. Abiding in myself hurts people and destroys me. But the fruit that Jesus desires us to bear from abiding in Him is going to last forever. That’s what I want! When we abide in Jesus we become like Him. That’s what I want! Don’t you?

I want to be fully present in this life along the way. I want to abide. I want to be. And when I look into the future or the past let it be because I am fully living in the present right now. And when I plan ahead may it be because wisdom is calling me to do so not anxiety. When I do stuff may it be not because I need it to feel worthy but because I am simply abiding in Him and His people.

May we not miss out on the present any longer worrying about the near future, or dwelling on the past. Rather may we discover the beauty, joy, and pain of daily abiding in Christ and with His people. May we discover what it means to abide in Him and to be today as we go on this journey of life along the way."

Where am I getting my worth from?

So picking up where we left last time (You'll need to probably read April 25th blog, at least the part in the maroon red). Again below is me sharing what began to happen to me last spring and this whole idea of living in the Present, rather than constantly anxious about the future or dwelling on the past.

"This part of my journey that I’m sharing with you began back in early April. I was given a book to read called Ministering Cross-Culturally by Sherwood G. Lingenfelter. It was given to me by a guy from the Fort Collins Vineyard to help me prepare for the Jordan trip. This book is not just for those who go on foreign missions but for anyone wanting to grow. It has deeply rocked me to the core. It has convicted me of some of my unhealthy cultural tendencies and has invited the Lord to change me.

So what’s going on with me? Where is my mind much of the time? Why do I constantly worry about getting the next objective done and often see people as tasks? Why am I not fully present many times? Sherwood talks about how generally speaking Americans are task oriented people. Sherwood says on page 79 “Individuals who are task oriented find satisfaction in reaching their objectives and completing their projects. Their lives are motivated and directed by an unending succession of objectives. Frequently they aspire to complete a greater number of tasks than is humanly possible in the time they allocate; as a result, their lives take on a frenetic pace filled with activities. Many become workaholics, allowing tasks to so dominate their lives that other people are viewed as merely a part of their work schedule.” My life often takes this ‘frenetic pace,’ with an unending succession of objectives. It gets tiring.

Also I learned from Sherwood that the way we see time in this culture affects me often not being fully present in the moment. If I’m late five minutes for something I get upset. Or if someone else is late. I see time as something I am constantly losing. So if someone is taking too long I get very impatient. You’re messing with my TIME!! What is most saddening about my condition is I realized through this book that I find my worth often in how productive I am. How many objectives did I accomplish today? If I don’t accomplish a high amount I feel like I’ve FAILED. Sad huh? That’s why it is so important to understand where we get our worth from. That’s why it is important to take Sabbath regularly to remind ourselves that we are not machines and that God loves us, and places worth on us simply because we exist.

Where are we getting our worth from? I’ve started many of my days recently asking God this question out loud. “Do You love me?” Now you may say ‘Of course the answer is yes.” We could probably quote some verses from the Bible. Yes it is a FACT that God loves us. Why do we tend to turn the Bible into a fact sheet, into a dead noun? Isn’t it alive, an active—a verb? I’m not entirely sure. Why do I ask God a direct question to which I know the answer to intellectually? Because the God we serve is the Living God, and His word is living and active. So when I ask Him a question like “Jesus, do You love me?” a question which answer seems so elementary and basic what I am doing is inviting Him to let the truth spoken in the Bible come to life in my heart and mind. I’m inviting Him to make those words come alive. I’m inviting Him to actively answer me by His presence and any other way He wants to reveal Himself. He answers me in many different ways but all point to the answer of ‘yes I love You.”

You see if I don’t start my day that way I try finding my worth and love from many different places. In how many objectives I accomplish. How well I managed my time.

Another reason I ask God often the question, “do You love me?” is because it directly challenges my biggest insecurity and fear: “What if when I ask God do You love me? If He doesn’t answer or says no?” That is a fear of rejection deep down I have. Of not doing enough to please Him. But He drives that fear out when I ask that question, “do You love me?” because He responds with His love.

So try doing this with the Bible. When you read about God caring about the poor ask God “Lord do You care about the poor? Show me, use me this week for that.” Allow the words to become flesh and blood through you. Just as the Word became flesh and blood in Jesus and walked amongst us so now the church is called to be the flesh and blood, the skin. When you ask these questions you are inviting Him to work in and through you and the Scripture comes to life in your life."

We'll continue next time.