The Abide and The Abode
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
As we read our passage this morning from John 15, we’re immediately met with the image of being part of something much bigger than ourselves. Jesus is speaking and he begins:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
He continues in this theme throughout this passage which is spoken in an agrarian community. They would have understood exactly what he was talking about.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
Abide, abide, abide, abide, abide, abide, abide - seven times the word is used in those 4 verses. 10 times in the first 10 v3rses. Clearly there is something there, but what is it?
What does it mean to abide? To abide is
Abide = to “dwell,” “remain,” “be present,” and to “be held and kept.”
Abiding addresses our posture and place.
It’s where we live.
There is a concept in people’s minds that prayer means going somewhere else: going to a chapel, going to a church, going to a retreat center, going to the mountains, going to the beach, even internally going to a different place in their minds - going somewhere to get closer to God. Jesus actually said, “The kingdom of God is near.”
In John 14:23
Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
You don’t have to go anywhere. God is “here”. We tend to think of where God is as God is there. No. God is here.
If you can say, “I’m here.” God is in that space with you.
I spent many years in youth ministry taking kids on trips etc, and you always hear that question, “Are we there yet?” One time while feeling rather philosophical I responded, “Do we ever really get there? Because when we do we say that we’re here, not we’re there.” The kids response was typical. “Huh?”
Sometimes that’s how we are with prayer. Let’s look at vs. 5 again
John 15:5
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
A branch cannot bear fruit if it is not attached to the vine. A branch that is not attached to the vine withers and dies. We need to be connected.
How do we connect - through God’s word, through Jesus, by the Holy Spirit.
What does it mean to abide in Jesus?
What does it mean to abide in Jesus’ words and have His words abide in us?
What does it mean to abide in Jesus love?
Think again about what it means to abide.
Abide = to “dwell,” “remain,” “be present,” and to “be held and kept.”
We dwell in, live in, remain in, are present in. This is where we live, this is what we think about, this is what our environment is.
So what does it mean to abide in Jesus’ words and have His words abide in us?
Spending time reading, thinking, imagining in God’s word.
The idea of meditating on God’s words goes all the way back to the early Old Testament. In Joshua 1:8 we read
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
and in Psalm 1 we read:
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
Clearly there is benefit in spending time in God’s Word, and seeking to live by the directions found there.
The psalmist writes:
I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
Again, John 14:21
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
I switched translations there, to NIV. In the ESV it says “manifest myself to them.” I think “show” is easier to understand.
We read God’s word, and we know it calls us to prayer. As we learned last week, prayer is more than merely asking and sitting back in our Lay-Z-Boy chair to take a nap. It involves our mind, our senses, and then it takes action. Ask Seek Knock.
Jesus is the vine, we are the branches.
Now some of you notice right away that Jesus is speaking to jews here, so how does that include us? The Apostle Paul reminds us that we were “grafted in among the others and now share the nourishing root.” Romans 11:17.
It is also Paul who encouraged us speaking of his own journey:
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
That is what we are to do. We keep pressing forward, or perhaps better put, inward recognizing God and Christ dwell within us. So that our heart is like God’s heart, and our lives reflect Christ dwelling within us.
Here’s my challenge for you this week. Read through Psalm 119. Then try and pray it, making the words your own.
How can we better understand what it means to abide in Christ in our daily lives?
What are some practical ways you can stay connected to Jesus amidst distractions?
In what specific areas of your life do you struggle to abide in Jesus, and how can you address those struggles?
How can meditating on God’s word change the way you approach challenges in your life?
Read through Psalm 119 this week. Then try and pray it, making the words your own.
