Abide with Me

Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 22:25-31; 1 John 4:7-21: John 15:1-8

Last Tuesday Andy and I were driving down Route 50 on our way to our house in Lowell, Ohio. BTW, please keep praying for our house to sell. Along the way, as we drove through Doddridge County, I began to notice more and more redbud trees along the roadside. Finally, as we approached Pennsboro, we began to go through cuts in the hills along which dozens of redbuds were in full blossom. Their mauve flowers were almost fluorescent against the green background of the other trees. It was quite a sight.

The eastern redbud is an interesting tree. I have a friend who has a PhD in biology and is an expert on West Virginia trees. He tells me that the redbud is actually a legume, like a bean or a pea, but it grows like a tree that is 15 to 20 feet tall. It only grows where the soil has been disturbed, which is why we find it so close to roadsides and rarely find it deep within the woods. The redbud is a marker tree. It tells you that you are close to a road. Flying along in the springtime, you can find a road by looking for that reddish-purple glow.

It reminded me that along the highway of life, we find markers that tell us when we are on the right path and when we’ve left God’s road. Let me tell you about some of those markers, redbud trees that God uses to tell us when we are on God’s highway.

First of all, God’s ways lead us to a land of less stress. If we are constantly having stressful days, then something is wrong in your life – but it could be either of two things. Your stress could be caused by doing the wrong things, which leads you from God’s path, or your stress could be caused by doing the right things, but your friends and relatives want you to go away from God’s path. Despite the potholes on the highway, God’s highway is smoother than driving off the highway, going over the rumble strips and then going over the ditches into the woods. But in the same way, if you have been off the highway, the trip back across the ditch and then over the rumble strip is not smooth. Only you and the Holy Spirit can decide whether or not you are headed off the highway into the woods, or out of the woods onto the highway.

Here’s some help, though. If your friends constantly talk positively of God’s ways, and you are under stress, then you are likely trying to drive off the highway. If your friends are obviously committing grave sins, if they are far from God, and your encounters with your friends are stressful, then you are probably headed back toward the highway and it is your friends who want you to stay in the woods, lost from God.

Another of God’s redbud trees is joy. Joy is that emotion that is the glimpse of heaven on this earth. Some people think that joy is intense happiness. That may be true, but that is only one way that joy appears. Joy can appear as an intense sadness for something that is wrong in this life when you also know that it will be made right in heaven and the knowledge of the heavenly state overrides the earthly state, as when you see a young child who has tremendous God-given courage die from leukemia, but you are overwhelmed with a vision of that child running with Jesus in Heaven. That is also joy, and joy is one of God’s redbud trees, telling us that our minds and souls are following His highway.

Another one of God’s redbud trees is our recognition of the beauty of a moment that is godly. Look at our first reading – the eunuch was a smart man, but was lost. He cannot understand what he is reading, yet the Holy Spirit leads Phillip to run near the Ethiopian, and to explain to him all about the sacrifice that Jesus had made. The Ethiopian – a man who was lost to God a few hours earlier – recognizes that he is lost to God, understands from what Phillip has said what is necessary to bring him into a complete relationship with God, and says, - “look – here is some water. Why can’t I be baptized right now?” If you see this as a beautiful moment, a joyous moment when a great sadness in the world was replaced with rejoicing, then you have just seen a redbud tree and are on the right track.

And some days, God puts the redbud trees all over the place. Have you ever had days when a particular verse speaks to you when you open the Bible in the morning, for example one day you are struggling to accomplish something, and here comes this verse 5 from our Gospel reading: 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." And then, your friend reminds you that you can not accomplish anything unless you are doing God’s will. Then, driving down the highway you turn on the radio and the verse of the day is 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." And you pick up your child or grandchild from school and they tell you that God helped them on a math test today.

Redbuds all over. Redbuds all over your life highway that day.

And the key message from Christ that you get and hold onto is: Abide in Me.

Abide – it’s an older word. It means to live within. We abide in a house. We abide in our abode, our house. Christ tells us to live within Him, within His system. Christ tells us to let Him live within you, within your mind and heart and soul, speaking to you constantly through the Holy Spirit.

There is a process in our life that we all must go through.

First, we hear about Jesus, God , and Holy Spirit. We go to find them, perhaps at church, perhaps on a televised religious program, perhaps on the radio.

Next, we begin inviting Them home with us to visit. We sit in the pews and listen to the scripture and the sermons and perhaps we are baptized And so we sit in the pews and invite Jesus to visit us from time to time.

Then we go to the next step. We invite Jesus, God, and Holy Spirit to begin visiting us on a more regular basis, as we begin to think about Them outside of church, in our own homes, in our cars, at our work.

But this is not what Jesus tells us to do. Jesus wants us to let Him live within the home of our body. He wants to be with you every minute of every day. Jesus invites you to live with Him, and He wants to live with you, walking around with you all the time, becoming part of your life and having you become part of His life. Does Jesus live with you or only visit?

Have you ever met a married couple that did not live together? You’d expect that they had problems in their relationship and that a divorce was soon to follow, wouldn’t you? But imagine meeting a married couple that has never lived together, that after the wedding they went to separate homes and simply visited each other a couple of times a week. What a strange relationship?

But that is what many people do with Jesus. In many ways, your baptism is just as strong a declaration of relationship as a wedding ceremony is, yet so many people forget to take Jesus home with them after the ceremony, preferring to meet Him here at church, once a week for years, perhaps even less often. Is that what you are doing?

On the other side of this are the people who take Jesus home and never come to the parties that He throws – and don’t allow Him to throw parties at your home. That’s what church worship is, after all. It is a party where the friends of Jesus get together and celebrate the good things He has done for us. If you never come to the party, how will anyone know what He’s done for you. Of course, you may not notice what He’s done for you, and that’s why you haven’t been coming to the party. Of course, you might want to consider how often you talk with Jesus at home and how close your relationship is, if you never want to celebrate anything with other friends of Jesus. If you have a Christian friend who rarely visits church, you might want to mention this idea of the party to them.

Let me suggest something. Imagine that the year is 2017 – two years in the future. Someone has just been inaugurated as our next President, and suddenly you realize that the President’s son has just moved in next door to you. The son comes over to talk – he’s a really nice down-to-earth guy! and he invites you over to his house – he’s planning on grilling some steaks with his immediate family and would like you and your immediate family to join them. Wouldn’t you think – this is someone who would be good to know, someone who could help in a time of trouble, someone who you’d like to have for a friend? Or would you decline the invitation because his father’s name and power frighten and intimidate you?

Now I’d like you to take some time this afternoon to consider just what it means to abide with Jesus, to live with Him, to live with the son of the Creator of the Universe. Are you taking advantage of the wisdom that He brings and willingly shares? Are you taking advantage of the power to accomplish good that He brings? Are you asking this man who knows more than any other man questions about what you should do, how you should live, and what is best for you and your family? Or do you prefer to keep your distance because you are afraid to get too close to God, because you are afraid of losing your independence, because you are too arrogant to admit you need help?

Hear again the words of Jesus:

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away;[a] and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will[b] ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

The highway of life is indeed lined with God’s redbud trees. Why? Because the highway of life is God’s driveway, leading you to God’s house, where you are invited to abide with God and Christ forever. Will you abide with Christ – or will you be a branch that is cut off and thrown into the fire and burned?

Every good home is known for the joyful meals that are served in that home. Christ is throwing a meal for you today. Served today is bread which Jesus said is His body which was broken for you, and the juice of grapes, which Jesus said was His blood which was shed for you. All who are friends or wish to be friends of Jesus are welcome at His table, but He asks two things of us before we eat.

First, He asks us to come to the table with a humble spirit, leaving our arrogance behind. Thus we will shortly pray a prayer of humbleness and ask forgiveness for the wrongs we have done. Secondly, Jesus asks us to be at peace with one another when we come to His table, and so we will shortly shake hands and hug each other, forgiving all who have harmed us and asking forgiveness for the harms we’ve done others.

When you receive the meal, you may pray at the altar by kneeling or standing. Any funds left on the altar rail will be used to help those in our community who are needy.