violence as usaul

Proclamation of the Word part 1

Many of you will have seen in the news this week that a woman was shot in Afghanistan for alleged adultery. It reminded me of the passage from John’s gospel where a women caught in adultery is about to be stoned. I wonder what happened to the man.

In Biblical times women were regarded as possessions, and it many places still are. The practice of the Father of a bride giving her hand in marriage, comes from this idea that a woman is a possession of her father, and then her husband.  

And in the case this week, I wonder what happened to the men. One report says that :

“Salangi [Provincial governor Basir Salangi ]said two Taliban commanders were sexually involved with the woman in Parwan, either through rape or romantically, and decided to torture her and then kill her to settle a dispute between the two of them.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/08/afghan-woman-accused-adultery-shot-dead

this was a dispute between two men, about a woman, and the woman was killed.

In the gospel reading we heard this morning, another example of violence as a way of dealing with complicated relationships. John had called Herod on his relationship with Herodias, his brother’s wife.  And John is beheaded.

It got me thinking about violence in our world.

The Psalm begins with

“The earth and its abundance is the Lord’s,
the world, and those living in it;”

How is violence respecting God’s creation?

Violence in the home, violence when people are out for the night, violence as a way of solving our problems.

 “The earth and its abundance is the Lord’s,
the world, and those living in it;”

It seems that the abundance of God is made available to some more than others. Does that mean some of God’s creation is more important than other parts? Are people living in the Horn of Africa less worthy than Northern Europeans?

 “The earth and its abundance is the Lord’s,
the world, and those living in it;”

How do we treat the earth and all that is in it?

What do we say about God and creation when we allow the Great Barrier Reef to be destroyed for the sake of bulk carriers moving to ports nearby?

What do we say about God and creation when we allow some people to live in poverty, to be oppressed, to be tortured, killed?

What do we say about God and creation?

Whose voices do we hear and whose are not heard?

A reflection including song and prayer. Please remain seated and join in with the singing.

Hymn/prayer: Kumba Yah – from Bread of Tomorrow p 74-5

Proclamation of the Word part 2

What voices do we hear,
who do we see dying,
who do we hear crying,
where is the shouting,
and who do we join praying?

The voices we hear in the media are often about the price of petrol; interest rates – too high or too low depending on how you are effected; housing affordability; traffic snarls; government stuff-ups. The voices we hear in the media feed us on a diet of self-interest, and negativity.

There are other voices we regularly hear, friends or family talk of their pain, their loneliness, their illness, their grief, their broken relationships.

 “The earth and its abundance is the Lord’s,
the world, and those living in it;”

 It is not only one woman who was killed in Afghanistan this week, just one which made the news more than others. And it happens in other places, not only in Afghanistan, not only in war zones, not only in one religious group. Since time began, people have been killing each other, because they don’t want to be challenged, or found out, or because they want something that belongs to them, even when that something is a human being.

What can we do?

It seems that our society tells us to look after ‘number one’, and that means our self. But what does God say?

 “The earth and its abundance is the Lord’s,
the world, and those living in it;”

What can we do?

We can speak. Silence can be part of the conspiracy of oppression and violence. Remember the US soldiers who were ’found out’ for torture? Silence and secrets allow the violence to remain hidden. Secrets have allowed abuse to be remain hidden in the Catholic Church – but like most secrets they eventually come into the open – someone has the courage to speak out one more time.

The death of the woman in Afghanistan this week may have remained a secret except someone videoed the event.

We can speak, with words, but also with our lives. We can live as part of God’s abundant and amazing creation. We can live as if others are part of God’s abundant and amazing creation.

We can speak,
we can listen to the voice of ‘silenced’
we can name the dying,
we can comfort the crying,
we can acknowledge the shouting,
we can join with the praying?

a prophet v 2

Proclamation of the Word

I know some of you have family who visit from time to time, and they come and worship here. We look at people who we have seen grow up here, and think about what they were like as children, and how they have turned out. How much they have grown and changed. And then their children come, and there are comments about how much this grandchild is like their parent or aunt or uncle was growing up. It seems to be part of our human make-up to look for family resemblances.

Jesus was back in his home village, visiting his family, and teaching in the local Synagogue. At first the people were astounded, amazed, at what Jesus was teaching, then they look at him, and see it is a home town boy of suspicious parentage – he is called Mary’s son rather than Joseph’s son. The villagers have seen Jesus and his sisters and brothers grow up.

And they wonder - Who does he think he is?!

Sounds like the Aussie ‘tall poppy’ syndrome. I can remember watching sport with my father, who was similar physical build to me, and he would say, I could do that, I just don’t want to show off. Now there was no way he could run a sprint or a marathon, or swim or dive or any of the other amazing things we will at the Olympics this year. In Australia we have habit of knocking those we deem to be too much ‘in the spotlight’.

And the people of the village wonder - Who does he think he is?!

This Jesus, this carpenter, this boy who grew up with our sons and daughters.  Who does he think he is?!

The reactions of the people in the village is not unusual.

I wonder how we respond to Jesus?

When Jesus asked his disciples ‘who do people say I am?’

“[The disciples]  replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”. “ [Matthew 16:14]

Jesus reminded people of the prophets.

Prophets were, and are, people who speak God’s word into a situation. People who speak up, and act, for the marginalised, for the whole creation, for the hungry, for the abused.

We can think of Jesus as a friend and companion, healer and teacher – and he is those things. But that is only part of who Jesus is.

I wonder, have we grown so comfortable, so familiar, that we don’t hear what is being said anymore, that we miss the strangeness of the Gospel.

The gospel which tells us of Jesus including the excluded, healing the sick, calming the storm, teaching, calling disciples, challenging those in leadership. The Gospel is good news, but it isn’t about being good in terms of middle-class western respectability.

For many people today, Christianity and the Church is about respectability, being good and nice. 

But Jesus was not that.

Jesus was not respectable.

Jesus did not stay on the ‘right’ side of the powerful and important.

Jesus broke the rules.

Jesus challenged the way things were.

What might Jesus challenge today – our treatment of asylum seekers, our fixation on ourselves, the cult of individualism, the way that economics decides what health and education are available for those unable to afford private schooling and healthcare.

What might Jesus challenge today –in your life?

In this community?

In this nation?

Who does he think he is?! This Jesus, who comes asking the difficult questions.

This Jesus who comes as challenges us to step out of our complacency, to see beyond our own life.

Who does he think he is?!

a Prophet in town

After a three week break, a weekend off, then 2 weeks ill, back preaching this week.

I know some of you have family who visit from time to time, and they come and worship here. We look at people who we have seen grow up here, and think about what they were like as children, and how they have turned out. How much they have grown and changed. And then their children come, and there are comments about how much this grandchild is like their parent or aunt or uncle was growing up. It seems to be part of our human make-up to look for family resemblances.

Jesus was back in his home village, visiting his family, and teaching in the local Synagogue. At first the people were astounded, amazed, at what Jesus was teaching, then they look at him, and see it is a home town boy of suspicious parentage – he is called Mary’s son rather than Joseph’s son. The villagers have seen Jesus and his sisters and brothers grow up.

And they wonder - Who does he think he is?!

Sounds like the Aussie ‘tall poppy’ syndrome. I can remember watching sport with my father, who was similar physical build to me, and he would say, I could do that, I just don’t want to show off. Now there was no way he could run a sprint or a marathon, or swim or dive or any of the other amazing things we will at the Olympics this year. In Australia we have habit of knocking those we deem to be too much ‘in the spotlight’.

And the people of the village wonder - Who does he think he is?!

This Jesus, this carpenter, this boy who grew up with our sons and daughters.  Who does he think he is?!

The reactions of the people in the village is not unusual.

I wonder how we respond to Jesus?

When Jesus asked his disciples ‘who do people say I am?’

“[The disciples]  replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”. “ [Matthew 16:14]

Jesus reminded people of the prophets.

Prophets were, and are, people who speak God’s word into a situation. People who speak up, and act, for the marginalised, for the whole creation, for the hungry, for the abused. A few weeks ago you watched a DVD about the Uniting Church’s Statement to the Nation from 1977. To me this is a prophetic statement, even now. There are some copies available at morning tea, here are

[The] six affirmations of the Uniting Church in 1977 were: [on PP slides] [Rev Dr Dean Drayton retiring address as President of the Assembly

http://assembly.uca.org.au/component/k2/item/295-church-members-called-to-act-on-historic-statement]

1. We will challenge values which emphasise acquisitiveness and greed in disregard of the needs of others …
- compare this statement to the response of people to changes in interest rates, tax tables and various charges for services. How much do we respond from our situation rather than the poorest, the least?

2. We affirm that the first allegiance of Christians is God, under whose judgment the policies and actions of all nations must pass. We realise that this allegiance may bring us into conflict with the rulers of our day.
- are we, like Jesus willing to be in conflict with the rulers of this country – religious and political and social?

3. We are concerned with the basic human rights of future generations and will urge the wise use of energy, the protection of the environment and the replenishment of the earth’s resources for their use and enjoyment.
- are we aware of how our consumption undermines our grandchildren’s future?

4. We affirm our eagerness to uphold basic Christian values and principles such as the importance of every human being.

- Do we treat some people as less important than others? Why is the death of one person in Australia more newsworthy than hundreds in another country?

- How do we respond to the Government intervention in the Northern territory and now Bankstown and some others cities, are the human rights of some more important than others, do we afford more dignity to some people?

5. We affirm … the need for integrity in public life, the proclamation of truth and justice.

- where do we get our information from? It seems that much of the public discourse on important issues is what we get in a  30 second sound bite on the nightly news. Or from people who make a living by creating conflict and division.

6. We pledge ourselves to hope and work for a nation whose goals are not guided by self-interest alone …

 - how do we as a nation make decisions?

- ----

How do you feel about this list, about being part of a church that runs a medically supervised injecting facility, that has chaplains in prisons and detention centres, that speaks out on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers, that calls politicians to task for their double standards. What is it like being part of a denomination that doesn’t always agree with other denominations?

It can be easy to worship each week and forget about some of that the Uniting Church stands for – justice, human rights, the dignity of all people and all of creation.

We can think of Jesus as a friend and companion, healer and teacher – and he is those things. But that is only part of who Jesus is.

Have we grown so comfortable, so familiar, that we don’t hear what is being said anymore, that we miss the strangeness of the Gospel.

The gospel which tells us of Jesus including the excluded, healing the sick, calming the storm, teaching, calling disciples, challenging those in leadership. The Gospel is good news, but it isn’t about being good in terms of middle-class western respectability.

For many people today, the Church is about respectability, being good and nice. 

But Jesus was not that.

Jesus was not respectable.

Jesus did not stay on the ‘right’ side of the powerful and important.

Jesus broke the rules.

Jesus challenged the way things were.

In this passage Mark records that Jesus was unable to perform many miracles, because of the unbelief of the people. Now it would take a long time to explore this in detail, but I wonder how often we miss what God is doing in this community, and around the world, because we only see the Jesus we are comfortable with, the one who is kind, our friend, our support, our comforter.

What if we looked for, encouraged and supported the prophets in our midst, the ones who call politicians to account, the ones who question our lack of concern for the excluded of the world, the ones who make us feel uncomfortable in our comfortable lives.

Who are the prophets today, where do we speak God’s word into the world.

Trinity???

A slightly different service today, in that I am looking briefly at Isaiah early in the service, followed by the Prayer of Confession, and we will read the Psalm together, as well as hearing the Gospel.

The Sermon is preceded by a litany from Spill the Beans which ends with the question how would explain what no one yet has been able to …? - see  http://spillbeans.org.uk/

Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8
Notes: Guess What Happened in Worship

Here we read of Isaiah’s experience of worship; Isaiah had a significant encounter with God. Which tells us something about worship.

Firstly, Isaiah was aware of God ‘he saw the Lord’ Genuine worship starts with God, and recognising the holiness of God.

Then when Isaiah is awed by God’s presence, he sees himself realistically, and he becomes aware of his sin;  "Woe is me! I am lost” .

God wants us to recognise our frailties and failings, but God also has  a way of dealing with those things. God’s forgiveness not only removes our sin, but also the guilt that so often accompanies our awareness of our sin.

Isaiah’s encounter with God does not end with recognising God and being overawed by the scene; nor does it end with his guilt and sins being removed. The encounter win the temple finishes with Isaiah going to serve in God’s world. To meet human needs, God uses people.[i]

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[i] Ideas from http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/article/entry/2823/sermon-options-june-3-2012

Gospel : John 3:1-17 Proclamation

 The question got me: how would explain what no one yet has been able to …? That question could refer to a range of things, like how will you know when you are in love; how can I have faith; why do cows eat grass; but here the question refers to the Trinity. I am told that this is one day of the year when ministers will try and find a lay preacher. Trinity is one of those ideas that we have in the church, one of those ways that we have of expressing something about God, when really trying to describe God is so difficult within the constraints of human language.

 In the reading from Isaiah, we have Isaiah attempting to put into words his experience of worship. Isaiah describes the hem of God's garments as filling the whole of the temple, and the six winged creatures flying around singing holy, holy, holy. I don't know about you, but I don't think I've been in any worship experience where I've encountered six winged creatures flying around. When asked to explain what worship is like for many of us we think about prayers and music and readings and the functional things that happen in worship. Other times we might try and explain the experience, the sensation, the mystery of encountering God when we meet together and worship together as a community of faith. The functional stuff is much easier to put into words than the sense of awe and mystery.

Turning now to the gospel reading, Nicodemus comes and speaks to Jesus. Nicodemus is a Pharisee, which means he was well versed in the Jewish religion. It also means he was one of the guardians of the Jewish faith. We hear of him coming to Jesus, and discussing the kingdom of God. It seems that in many encounters with people who think they know the truth, or the set answers, Jesus doesn't make it easy for Nicodemus.

Reading of Nicodemus’s encounter with Jesus, reminds me of how hard it is sometimes to understand faith, to be articulate and put into clear words what our faith means, or even what faith is. Nicodemus is correct, in a functional sense, you can't be born a second time, so what else might this mean.

Back to the Trinity for a few moments, something I read this week[i] talked about Trinity by starting with the creation story, in the first chapter of Genesis verse 26 it says :

‘then God said ‘let us make humankind in our image according to our likeness’ ”. The Genesis story begins with a sense of God who is plural, while the Jewish faith is monotheistic, the creation story has a sense of God being part of community. If God was a single creator God, we could worship, we could pray, we could bow down, but it would be about paying homage to, not being in relationship with, or being transformed by. Because God is God in community, because creation is an action of voice of God, word and Sprit, God calls us into community.

The doctrine of the Trinity does not give us a way to explain the details of God, or of faith. What Trinity does is allow a framework, a tool, for seeing God in a new way.

The challenge for Nicodemus in his encounter with Jesus is to let go of what he knows of the physical world, to let go of the certainty of the religion that he knows so well, and to risk being in relationship with God, to allow himself to be swept up into the community of God.

That is our challenge as well. It is easy for us to focus on the physical in life, that which we can touch and see; it is easy for us to be comfortable with what we know; but as we worship we open ourselves up to God; as we come together around the Lord's table we are allowing ourselves to be part of something more, that can be wonderful and joyous and challenging and frightening. Because when we open ourselves to God, when we allow ourselves to be swept up into the community of God and God's people, we don't know what will happen. God being Trinity, God in relationship with God and with us, is part of the wonderful mystery of faith.

Let us take some time to sit in the mystery.

---

[i] Nadia Bolz-Weber  http://sojo.net/blogs/2012/06/01/some-thoughts-holy-trinity/

Don't know where I got this from - an Ascension story.

I heard the story from someone who’d read it in the works of Abba Sayah …He admits that it’s a pretty shaky story when it comes to reality but there is no doubt whatsoever that it’s true.
As the gospels tell us, after forty days of resurrection appearances, Jesus knew it was time to leave his disciples – his mother, his brothers and sisters, all his companions in the Way. It was hard to say goodbye, but he knew that the time had come. After all, he was the Truth and we humans can only take so much of that.
So Jesus called them all together on the mountain top, and made his farewells. It was a tearful moment. Mary was crying. John was crying. Jesus was crying. Even Peter, the immovable rock, was reaching for his handkerchief.
They knew that Jesus had said he would always be with them. But they also knew it wasn't going to be the same. There would be no more breakfasts by the seashore, no more late night discussions around the campfire, no more unexpected jugs of wine…and so they wept.
Jesus was sad too, but he was glad to be returning to his Father, and he knew it was all part of the plan. And so he began to ascend.
As Abba Sayah told the story, as Jesus began to rise, slowly and gracefully into the air, John just couldn't bear it. He grabbed hold of Jesus' right leg, and refused to let go.
"John?" said Jesus “What are you doing?”
And John shouted back,
"If you won't stay with us, then I'm coming too."
Jesus calmly continued to rise, hoping that John would let go. But he didn’t. And then, to make matters worse, Mary suddenly jumped up and grabbed hold of Jesus' other leg.
"I'm coming too," she shouted.
By now, Jesus’ big exit had obviously been ruined, but he looked up into heaven, and called out:
"Okay, Father... what do I do now?" And a voice came out of the clouds, deep and loud like the rumbling of thunder in the distance.
"Ascend!" the voice said.
"Ascend?" Jesus asked
"Ascend!" the voice replied.
So Jesus continued to rise through the air, with John and Mary holding on until they too were lifted off the ground. But the other disciples couldn't bear to be left behind either, so they too jumped on board…and within moments there was this pyramid of people hanging in the middle of the sky. Jesus at the top. John and Mary next. The other apostles hanging on below. Quite a sight, if anyone had been watching...
And then - what was this? Suddenly all kinds of people were appearing out of nowhere…friends and neighbors from around Galilee, people who’d heard Jesus’ stories, people whom he had healed, people who just knew that he was something special…Young and old,- men, women, children, Jews and Gentiles…a huge crowd – and they too refused to be left behind…So, they made a grab for the last pair of ankles and hung on for dear life. One way and another there was quite a kerfuffle -people squealing “Wait for me” -then startled yelps as they felt themselves seized by the ankle -and above it all the voice of God calling out, “Ascend!"
But all of a sudden, from the bottom of the pyramid, there came the voice of a small child.
"Wait!” he shrilled, “I've lost my dog! Wait for me”
"I can't wait," Jesus called back, "I don't know how this thing works."
But the little boy wasn't going to be left behind, and he was determined his dog was coming with him. So, still holding on with one hand, he grabbed hold of a tree with the other, and held on with all his might.
For a moment, the whole pyramid stopped dead in the air - Jesus pulling upwards, and the little boy holding on to the tree, scanning the horizon for his lost dog. But Jesus couldn't stop. The ascension had begun, and God was pulling him back up to heaven.
At first it looked as if the tree would uproot itself. But then the tree held on, and it started to pull the ground up with it. Sort of like when you pull a rug up in the middle, the soil itself started moving up into the sky. And hundreds of miles away, where the soil met the oceans, the oceans held on. And where the oceans met the shores, the shores held on. All of it held on, like there was no tomorrow.
Jesus DID ascend to heaven, He went back to his natural habitat, living permanently in the presence of God’s endless love and care and wholeness and laughter. But, as Abba Sayah tells it, he pulled all of creation – the whole kit and caboodle – everything that ever was or is or ever will be – he pulled it all up into heaven with him.
There's a sense in which we can think about the Ascension as “Christmas backwards”. At Christmas, we concentrate on Jesus coming to earth to transform us with the presence of God. At Ascension, we focus instead on Jesus taking earth back with him into heaven…
Whichever way you look at it, the work of Jesus was to transform us and the world we live in by infusing everything with the presence of God. Heaven meets earth; earth is drawn into heaven.
And, as Abba Saya said. that's where we've been ever since.
If you have a source for this let me know and I'll be glad to credit it. I have no idea where I got it.

Joy

John 15: 9-17

Last week we thought about what it means to abide, or dwell, in Jesus. the passage we heard today follows on from the image of the vine and the branches, and continues on with the theme of being in relationship with Jesus, and of Jesus being in relationship with ‘his Father’.

Today we read this passage which mentions ‘love’ so many times, I wonder if John was in a contest to see how many he could use the word in a paragraph. 9 times in this section of text, including 5 times in the first 2 verses. So we could say this passage is about love. Love is a word that gets used lots these days, but I wonder what we mean when we speak of love.  I doubt it is the same love that Jesus was talking about. I love your new haircut, car, dog, whatever; I doubt that is what Jesus is talking about here with his disciples. Jesus is talking with the disciples after the last supper, before the betrayal in the garden. 

Jesus knows that the world was not an easy place for his disciples, nor would it be easy for them after his death. The idea of crucifixion was that the ring leader would die in this very public way, then everyone else would return home and be ‘good’ citizens, and not cause the Roman or Jewish leaders any more trouble.  There are still places around the world where this method of control is still in use.

Jesus is telling the disciples to remain in his love, to abide in him as he abides in God; to love as he loves; and he calls them friends, not servants; tells them to go and bear fruit; and a final love one another, just in case they haven’t got the message.

Love one another as Jesus has loved you. If this is the standard we need to reach, I am doomed, and I am guessing you are all doomed as well. It is a standard we cannot possibly reach, it is not possible for us to love as Jesus loved, as purely, as unselfishly, as courageously, as honestly, as perfectly as Jesus loved. So we might as well just give up and go home, because of that is the standard we have no hope.

But what if Jesus is not giving a standard, an absolute so impossible for us to even think about ever reaching; what if Jesus is telling the disciples, and us, that life is about relationship, relationship with Jesus, with God, with each other. And yes our relationships with God and each other should be characterised by those qualities I mentioned, courage, honesty and purity; but maybe this is saying that when we abide in Jesus, when we our lives are saturated by Jesus and his love, our loving will be like that. We won’t be perfect, and we will not always be loving, but when we stay in relationship with Jesus, we live out the life he gives us, and we bear fruit for the kingdom.

Imagine your life saturated by Jesus. Wouldn’t that be amazing!

Now I said the theme today is Joy -  and that comes from one of the verses in this reading: I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

Our joy may be complete – after being told to love another as Jesus has loved us, it is so our joy may be complete. When are people joyful – when their team wins, when they do well in a test, get a job, buy their dream house – such joy is short lived.  Looking up the word joy on my computer’s dictionary, it means happiness or delight.

What brings us joy, what might this joy be. Again I think it has to do with relationship with Jesus. by living this closely with Jesus, by abiding in, dwelling in his love and life, our lives will be full of joy. Joy that comes from knowing we are loved by God, joy that comes from being in relationship with God through Jesus Christ, joy that comes from living deeply with Jesus.  Now that isn’t to say that life will be all smooth sailing.

The next part of this chapter of John talks of persecution, the disciples will be persecuted just as Jesus was, now how is that for a message of hope.  Yet I think it is. If we live as Jesus lived, love as Jesus loves, if we feel his joy, are his friends, bear kingdom fruit, why should we expect to be treated any differently to the way he was treated.

Jesus said: I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

Joy to me is deep within me, it is an awareness and acceptance that I am loved by God, valued by Jesus, that I abide in the vine, that I have been chosen, called and sent. Jesus came that we might have life, abundant, overflowing life.

Is the joy of Jesus part of your life?

vine of love

1 John 4: 7-21

John 15:1-8

This reading reminds us of our dependence on Jesus, the vine, as the source of life, but also how interconnected we are. From the biology I learnt many years ago, I remember something about sap moving through plants, as part of the way they live, sounds to me a bit like blood running through our bodies. Plants have sap. Looking at the image of the vine, and the reading from the first letter of John, I wonder if love is the sap in the vine that Jesus is talking about. I wonder if love is the life force that keeps the church alive and growing. I wonder if love is the life force that keeps us alive and growing.

Jesus tells the disciples : ‘abide in me as I abide in you’

We live in a time when we are judged by what we produce or how much money or status we have. We are valued for our busyness. Here we are reminded that what matters most in life is relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  In the paper yesterday there was an article about the things that worry people the most, and 3 of the top five were future career, achievement and the future. These are amongst the issues that worry people enough to affect their quality of life and their health. The message of the gospels is that relationships matter more than anything, and our most important relationship is with God.

Jesus says : ‘abide in me as I abide in you’

How do we abide in Jesus? Abide is a word we don’t use all that often these days, it means to dwell in, so Jesus is saying we should dwell in him, as he dwells in us – it is an intimate relationship, and one which is in every fibre of our being. This isn’t some God who is miles away. This is a god who wants a close relationship with each one of us; a close, personal, profound, relationship. and Just thinking about it is amazing, and as you can tell I am struggling to put this into words.

So how do we abide in Jesus? or maybe the first question is do we abide in Jesus – is the love of Jesus what runs through our veins?

…

Thinking back to the image of the vine for a few moments, when the sap stops flowing through a branch, it dies, gets pruned off and burnt. And sometimes you need to prune the plant where it is still growing to get the best out of the plant. When the love of Jesus isn’t flowing through our lives, we become ‘dead’, even though we may still be breathing and eating and talking, we are no longer living in Christ, we are no longer connected to the vine that is the source of life.

So how do we abide in Jesus? a few ways I think of are: prayer, scripture, sacraments, worshipping together; and some people will have others, for me drawing is helpful, for some I know gardening or bushwalking. I encourage you to find those things that keep you in close relationship with Jesus. again I say I think for all Christians, prayer, scripture, sacraments and worshipping together are important in being part of the vine.

This image of a vine also reminds us that we do not produce fruit by our own efforts, by trying harder, fruit is a by-product of staying connected to the vine. ‘Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing’.

I am surprised how often we get caught up in negative, pessimistic talk about the church. Yes, fewer people attend worship than fifty years ago; and prioritising budgets, at all levels of the church is difficult; and it seems that the church has less influence in the community. But, looking at the readings in John’s gospel, back in chapter 13, the Passover meal is eaten and Jesus washes the disciples feet, then comes about 3 chapters of teaching – Jesus was a long- winded after dinner speaker if this all in one go – here John has included sections on loving one another, dwelling in the house of God, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the vine and the branches, offering peace and Jesus praying for the disciples. For me it is like a long ‘last words’ to prepare the disciples for the time when Jesus isn’t around. Jesus is reminding them of the basis of his teaching, relationship and love.

Being part of the vine means we are not isolated individuals, nor are we isolated congregations, we are all connected to the one true vine, Jesus. Which means we are in relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and we are called to abide, to dwell, in Jesus. That isn’t the end of the story, because when we abide in Jesus, when we are in relationship with God through Jesus Christ, then we have the love of God flowing through us, we have the Spirit as part of us, and that means we will bear fruit, we will be part of the kingdom of God here on earth. That is what happens.

And Without Jesus we can do nothing.

Just as no matter how hard it tries, a branch on its own cannot bear fruit, to bear fruit it needs to be connected to the vine; so we cannot try harder to bring the kingdom into being, we can only stay true to our relationship with Jesus.

Jesus says : ‘abide in me as I abide in you’

Take some time now to abide in Jesus.