Abiding Challenge Day 5. Daughter

DWELL. LUKE 8:40-56
Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. Just then there came a man named Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, who was dying.

As he went, the crowds pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years; and though she had spent all she had on physicians, no one could cure her. She came up behind him and touched the fringe of his clothes, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. Then Jesus asked, ‘Who touched me?’ When all denied it, Peter said, ‘Master, the crowds surround you and press in on you.’ But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched me; for I noticed that power had gone out from me.’ When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.’

While he was still speaking, someone came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the teacher any longer.’ When Jesus heard this, he replied, ‘Do not fear. Only believe, and she will be saved.’ When he came to the house, he did not allow anyone to enter with him, except Peter, John, and James, and the child’s father and mother. They were all weeping and wailing for her; but he said, ‘Do not weep; for she is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and called out, ‘Child, get up!’ Her spirit returned, and she got up at once. Then he directed them to give her something to eat. Her parents were astounded; but he ordered them to tell no one what had happened.

REFLECT

I have three sons. I don't know what its like to have a daughter, but this story has always been inspiring to me.  Maybe its because I know that women and young girls are still mistreated, abused, and neglected in may parts of the world.  Women's rights are not protected.  Women still make less money than their male counterparts.  60% of people in poverty in the U.S. are women; 60% of children in poverty are in single-mother households.  Violence against women is a global problem that includes the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, physical abuse, and the trafficking of minors.  1,000 women die everyday from complications with pregnancy and childbirth.   The highest growing population of incarcerated people in the U.S. are women; over 1 million women are under the heel of the criminal justice system.  2/3 of them for nonviolent, drug-related crimes.   There is still deep misogyny in the world, that makes women and girls more vulnerable and disadvantaged.    

In the gospel story, a Father seeks out Jesus the healer to save his dying daughter. She is 12 years old girl, just before the age of marriage and fertility in that culture. She may never become a mother.  On the way, another woman approaches Jesus the healer.  She has suffered for 12 years with non-stop bleeding.  In that culture, she was unclean and unable to participate in the rituals of marriage or religious blessing as a result of her illness.  12 years connects this girl and this woman.  Bleeding was a sign of death.  This girl was dying too soon.  Without intervention, neither of these two women would experience the joy and love of motherhood.    

Jairus seeks out Jesus in desperation.  And Jesus goes with him. On the way, an interruption prevented Jesus from attending to the girl sooner.  The woman touched Jesus and she is healed.  He pauses to address the loss of power he feels in his body.  She confesses that she touched him.  And he says, "Daughter, your faith has made you well."  He credits her with faithfulness and identifies her as a daughter.  A woman, whose illness detached her from the family of faith and denied her status as a daughter of Abraham, is restored to full health and community life---including the possibility of marriage and family.  Jesus proceeds to Jairus' house only to confront the power of death.  Jesus challenges the family to let go of the power of fear and embrace the power of faith. He speaks to the girl, commanding her to get up.  And she does!  

God is acquainted with human vulnerability.  Jesus confronts the injustice of misogyny by healing these daughters. As Mother's day approaches this weekend, we give thanks for the gift of girls, daughters, mothers, and the women who give life to us all. And we are mindful of the pain of infertility and the threat of breast and cervical cancers.       

Pop singer John Mayer sings a song called "Daughters."  He says, "Fathers be good to your daughters; daughters will love like you do; Girls become lovers who turn into mothers, so mothers be good to your daughters too."     

PRAY

Mothering God, you carry us, feed us, and protect us like a hen cares for her chicks. We pray for girls and women around the world; especially those who are vulnerable and need your saving power to give healing and life. Provide for their protection and health.  Give them dignity, hope, and opportunity.  Amen.  

    

Abiding Challenge Day 6. apprenticed

DWELL. LUKE 9:1-6

Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. He said to them, ‘Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money—not even an extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there, and leave from there. Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.’ They departed and went through the villages, bringing the good news and curing diseases everywhere.

REFLECT
Jesus was raised by a carpenter. Like all good tradesmen, he was likely apprenticed by Joseph to take up the family business. In this system, an apprentice would train under a master. The apprentice would work alongside the master for years, learning everything about the work. They must learn about the tools and materials of the trade; They must learn how to construct houses and furnishings from scratch. Masters would increasingly give their apprentices challenges as they learn to do what the master does. By imitation and information, the master would reproduce his skill in the apprentice. At a certain point in the learning process,the master would send the apprentice as a journeyman to apply their skills. They would work at a subsistence level, basically receiving room and board for their work. They would bring only the essentials to ply the trade, because they would not remain in one place. They would seek out labor where they could find it. After a season as a journeyman, their workmanship and skill would improve. They would continue to work with the master to grow in knowledge and skill. Eventually, they would settle in a place, marry, and become a master craftsman capable of reproducing the best work of the one who taught them. They would acquire students of their own---likely their own sons. This learning model effectively trained men for the necessary labor and industry of the 1st century culture.
Jesus applies this apprenticeship/journeyman model to his healing and teaching work. He is an itinerant rabbi, a master in practical theology. He is a storyteller and a healer, known to have cured the sick, raised the dead, and given sight to the blind. But his practice was not a solo project for one miraculous holy man. It was a teaching model that was intended to be passed on like the family trade. So Jesus trains disciples as apprentices. They watch him heal and hear his stories. They participate in the way he feeds crowds and offers the power of compassion to those who are suffering. And then he sends them out, as a master sends out journeymen, to apply what they have learned. They are sent like interns, with no self-sustaining resources. They will live on room and board in exchange for their labor. As unskilled apprentices, they will continue to learn on the job. Sometimes their work will be appreciated, other times thy won't be well received. They must move on and continue the master's work.
In my training for ministry, I was sent to Penn State Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA for three months of clinical pastoral education. I lived on the hospital grounds in nursing student housing. I was assigned to adult intensive care unit. There were six of us, supervised by a certified chaplain. We made rounds as chaplains, visiting the sick. Some people welcomed me. Others told me to go away. I walked with families through trauma and acute grief. I did not know how to pray with and for others until I spent a summer at Geisinger. The supervisor met with us daily to teach and to listen and to continue our formation as compassionate caregivers. It was challenging. I was poor. And I learned more about God and the human condition in three months than I did in the previous nine months of bible and theology classes. I continue to learn.
Following Jesus is a lifelong learning process for all of us. There are skills and tools and practices that are essential to reproduce the work of Jesus. Those of us who have been practicing for some time as apprentices and journeymen are ready to take on students. We are building a community, a kingdom, a way of life together. It takes willing practitioners and patience. Would you like to become an apprentice in the life of Jesus?

PRAY
Jesus, you invite us to follow you. You teach us the way of compassionate presence and healing. You show us how to confront systems of powerful injustice and oppression, not with weapons of violence, but with words of love and grace. You send us to practice what you have taught. Help us to go and do what we have heard and seen from you, master.

Abiding Challenge. Day 4. Haunted

DWELL:  LUKE 8:26-39

Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me”— for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

REFLECT

We must not dismiss the supernatural parts of the gospel story as pure fiction or fantasy.  This is a haunting story with demons and graveyards and eerie voices and fear.  When I read the gospel stories of demonic possession, I read mental illness and deep suffering.  In this story, Jesus has wandered into Gentile territory, among pig farmers and cemeteries and a man who is not in his right mind.  There are boundaries that good people ought not to cross, right?  Places we ought not to go to avoid danger and harm.  There are people and places that frighten us.  Jesus risks his own safety and his religious piety by breaking the cultural and religious boundaries---crossing the sea to do so.   We see Jesus here as an infiltrator, an invader who goes on the offensive to engage with the potential dangers of the secular world beyond Judaism. Rather than remain in a safe, pious bubble among his friends, Jesus shows us the way of the cross---as a participant in human suffering.  What if more Christians acted like this? What if churches sought out those who were suffering in isolation, in order to bring healing and hope to them?  So many churches have chosen safe and comfortable habits rather than the way of Jesus. Churches establish boundaries and avoid crossing them to avoid any danger.  

Jesus does not see danger.  He sees a man who is suffering.  The man comes to Jesus as a homeless beggar, crying out from a place of torment.  And although it may seem like Jesus is the one who has gone rogue in the story, the perspective of the gospel writer is that evil has overtaken and overwhelmed humanity.  Like weeds invading a garden, the power of evil and death has crept into the whole human family, threatening to destroy God's good creation and send us all into the abyss (devoid of life and communion with God). Jesus goes to pull out the weeds, so that life might flourish again.

The notion that the demons' name is 'legion' is also a reminder that an occupying army violently plunders this place and these people.  The army is the physical manifestation of a deeper spiritual reality---God's kingdom is threatened by the kingdom of malevolence (wickedness) an oppression. Jesus comes to set us free from the powers of darkness that threaten to destroy God's world and God's children.  Fear holds us hostage to the things that threaten us. 

This homeless man battling mental illness had been imprisoned, chained, cast out of society.  He was alone in the tombs until Jesus came. What does Jesus offer the sociopath, the serial killer,the mass murderer?  Can they ever be free from the demons that haunt their minds?  

Are there people living alone in their suffering around us?  2,000 years later are we doing much better with those suffering from mental illness?  Is not our answer self-medication and professional help? 

Is it possible that the power of love and compassion, which demands risk-taking for the one who suffers, could bring about real social and personal change? Mental health professionals and medication are important and necessary.  But they do not address the deeper spiritual implications of isolation and loneliness that often accompany illness, homelessness, and/or incarceration.  If we follow Jesus, he may take us to those places we dare not go alone.  Let us go together and meet the children of God who have been suffering apart from family and friend. Let us loosen the chains of injustice and the yoke of suffering that so many people experience.  This is the calling of the church.

PRAYER 

Lord Jesus, you go ahead of us to the places and people that frighten us. Give us your deep compassion to boldly meet them where they are and invite them into your healing love.  We ask for healing for people struggling with mental illness today.  Amen.  

  

Abiding Challenge. Day 3. Family

DWELL. Luke 8:16-21

‘No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light. Then pay attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given; and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.’

Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.’ But he said to them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.’

REFLECT

Jesus redefines the family. For some of us this is good news. We expect our families of origin, our blood relatives, to treat us with love and respect. But so often siblings and parents are divided, disconnected, and disloyal. There are so many broken families. And yet, humans are made to live in them. We are programmed to be in families or to find one if the one we're in does not work. People are not solitary creatures. We seek to belong. And yet family life can be destructive and painful. Some of us experience trauma in our families. We keep our families small, for lack of trust. An extended family system make us feel vulnerable. Our emotional health is tied to our family relationships.

So, Jesus reorients the nature of family; those who hear the Word of God and do it belong to Him. For Jesus water is thicker than blood. Those who have entered the waters of Baptism (step one in a process of rebirth and renewal) and have joined the movement to hear the Word of God and live it are a new kind of family. Family is not only about ethnicity or lineage or ancestry. It is characterized by a human community that celebrates and follows the intentions of God, made known to us by Jesus, the prophets, and faithful proclaimers through the ages. Which Presumes that God has spoken, enlightening real men and women with truth and empowering them to bear that truth on behalf of the world. God seeks representatives who will hear and speak God's words for the world. God intends for us to live as family, united in love. When we do, the family multiplies. Love begets love. We are all beloved children of God called to love one another with actions that speak love. Jesus' family multiplies as the Word spreads.

But strife also begets more brokenness. We see family strife devour people and create more fragmentation. Like a cancer, enmity grows and eats away what is good and healthy. "Those who have will be given more and those who do not have even what they seem to have will be taken away." This is not economic, its relational. And it happens.

The human family is a broken and fragmented mess. But our allegiances need not be tied to tribal feuds, national politics, or ethnic prejudices. Instead, we are invited to bind ourselves to Jesus as the family of faith on a mission to love the world God made and work for its restoration and peace.

We are invited to be a family of siblings whose love for one another requires forgiveness when we hurt one another. We are invited to be a family whose love imitates the Father's love for us.  

PRAYER

Jesus, our brother; we ask that our families be filled with love and forgiveness and gladness. Protect those whose families are unsafe, especially children who experience domestic abuse or neglect. Form your people into a family through faith that we may love and serve one another. Amen.

Abiding Challenge. Day 2. Seeds, Soils, Sower.

DWELL. Luke 8:1-15
Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him,as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them* out of their resources.
When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: ‘A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.’ As he said this, he called out, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’
Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets* of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak* in parables, so that
“looking they may not perceive,
and listening they may not understand.”
‘Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance.

REFLECT

Do you ever feel like the time or the money or the personal resources you invested in someone or something were wasted? Like the result or the response you receive disappoints or fails to meet your expectations? That can be frustrating. We spend ourselves on people and things that sometimes don't bear any fruit. I've invested hours and hours of time in a person's life, only to have them walk away without any sign of growth or change. I've bought a thing, only to have it break within hours of bringing it home.
Sometimes, the investment that others have made in us doesn't pay off either. We waste time and the gifts we're given, too. We are worried and distracted by things that take us out of focus, things that prevent us from reaching the potential of becoming our truest selves. We choose easy and safe ways: comforts, pleasures, and entertainment that prevent us from experiencing the things that lead to real maturity. We have created a culture of perpetual adolescence in this way, avoiding hard things and the rich wisdom and deep compassion that often result.
The New Testament suggests that God has made an extravagant investment in our lives. God comes to us in the form of a servant, a teacher, and a friend. God takes on human flesh and the hardship that entails---including hunger, exhaustion, pain, and death. God does this to save us from ourselves. Only a God who digs into the human experience is a God worth believing in. A god that desires our worship and our offerings and sacrifices without any personal investment in our present and future well being is selfish and unworthy of the name. But we see a God who has come near.

The parable of the sower reflects on these things from the perspective of the one who sows seeds. (Jesus--teacher of sacred wisdom). It seems like a waste to scatter the seeds in this way. Usually, to assure growth and a good harvest, a planter selects only good soil on which to cast seed. But we see Jesus the Rabbi scattering the seed of God's mercy everywhere without discrimination. Unlike Gnosticism (believers in secret wisdom or knowledge that is revealed to a select leader and community), Jesus invites and challenges everyone to experience the abundant generosity of God.
Jesus acknowledges rightly that there are forces, both internal and external, that threaten the process of maturity in the human family. Though God's words and ways have become available to us, we do not always see or hear.
Jesus offers himself, giving us full access to God. We are invited to learn acceptance and gratitude. Good soil looks like patient endurance as we grow and mature into the people God intends for us to become; People that reflect the image of God, goodness and light and peace. People that remind others of Jesus.

PRAYER

Teacher, prepare the soil of my heart and mind to receive your words and your ways with acceptance and gratitude. Direct my thoughts and my actions toward the things that please you and bring more abundant life to others. Amen.

Abiding Challenge. Day 1.

DWELL

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table. And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.”Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher,” he replied, “Speak.” “A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt.” And Jesus said to him, “You have judged rightly.” Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet.You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?” And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” LUKE 7:36-50


REFLECT

Simon, the host of this little party, is offended by the interrupting presence and obscene actions of this woman. Known among the men as a "sinner", she was not welcome in his house. Can you imagine? A dinner party interrupted by this inappropriate behavior. Moreover, Simon questions Jesus' reputation as the recipient of this woman's strange and affectionate gesture. So, the teacher teaches. His little parable about two debtors demonstrates the power of grace to affect one's actions toward others. This woman has been forgiven much in her life and so she is capable of great love and generosity. Simon has been forgiven little, a self-righteous, law-abiding Pharisee. And so his lack of love and generosity reflects his own heart. Cold, judgmental, inhospitable.

Our love for Jesus, and by extension for the people Jesus' loves (the poor, the abused, the oppressed, the minority, the single mother, the addict) is directly related to the measure of grace and compassion we have received from him. Are we able to acknowledge our own faults, shortcomings, failures, and sins? Are we able to receive the grace and forgiveness that Jesus offers us? Faith prepares us to receive that gift. Jesus says to the woman, "Your sins are forgiven you." That is to say, your past failures to obey God's commands do not prevent God from loving you and holding you fast and blessing you with provision, protection, and peace. God loves you. Period.

Jesus said to Simon, "Simon, do you see this woman?" Jesus saw her as a person, a woman, a child of God, a sister. She was a human being worthy of acknowledgment. Simon had all but ignored her. He could not see her, only her sins. How often do we fail to see the person because we are offended by them? This is how the poor are mistreated--characterized as lazy takers and welfare cheats. Or young black men are seen as violent drug dealers.

Ultimately, Simon cannot see this woman, because he cannot see himself. She is a reflection of his own unacknowledged guilt and shame.

Jesus loves Simon and he loves this woman. He desires that they are reconciled to one another. He welcomes them into his life and shows them what it means to love. Because he longs to be in relationship with us. He wants us to experience the fullness of God's love. And to offer it to those who are hurting and vulnerable and lost around us.

What does it take to build a community of reconciliation where prejudice is replaced by love?


PRAYER

Lord Jesus, our love for you comes from a place of gratitude for the deep forgiveness you offer us. Help us to acknowledge our faults and our prejudices; give us the faith to receive your forgiveness and the will to generously share your love with those with whom we take offense and struggle to welcome. Amen.

Abiding

“My Father is glorified in this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”   John 15:8.

Become my disciples.  I was in Charlotte for a couple of days this week at a gathering of church leaders from a variety of traditions—Methodists, non-denominational, Vineyard, Pentecostal, Southern Baptist… I went because I have been exploring a ministry practice they have recognized and reproduced around the world.  It’s a growing movement called 3 DM that started in Sheffield, England.  It is a kind of revival or reformation movement within the church.  Its premise is that most congregations and church leaders have failed to make disciples of Jesus.  We have made good church people, but not disciples.  I know.  Because disciples are equipped to make more disciples.  To invite and challenge people into the Way of Jesus; a way of living life as children of God and representatives of His Kingdom mission to love all the people, places, and things that God loves and to take action consistent with that same love.  The love of Jesus is contagious, infectious and unstoppable.  Those who have caught it always pass it on.  Who have you discipled into relationship with God?  And there is no retirement age for disciples.  It is our mission as church.  To make disciples of Jesus by loving one another and the world God made.    

One thing that characterizes a disciple of Jesus is that we bear fruit.  That is we create or reproduce the love of Christ.  “Beloved let us love one another, because love is from God.”  So we know what bearing fruit looks like---it looks like the kind of love that Jesus offered to each of us.  So how do we know what Jesus’ love for you and me is like?  We abide in Him.

How many of you spent time abiding this week?  How does one abide?  It means to dwell with.  So how do we dwell with Jesus?  I suspect we experience His absence more than his presence most days.  We are too busy, already full. 

If the life of a disciple of Jesus is characterized by periods of abiding and periods of fruitfulness, what is the other way of life that most Americans live? How about Busyness and Burnout?  Or Work and exhaustion?  The new response to the question ‘How are you” is “Busy.”  People assume the answer.  Someone asked me, “How was Charlotte?”  Because they saw that I posted about it on Facebook.  They said “How was Charlotte, busy?”  Or for some it may be more like sloth and greed?  I do for me and little else of meaning or importance.  I think a generation has emerged in which that may be a choice. One may sit on the couch and eat be entertained.  That may be the choice for many.  Even some of us who are so busy.  We fill the silence, the stillness, the moments of inactivity with entertainment.  And so we fail to abide.  Its just too hard.  And what’s the point anyway?  Well, one point might be renewal of one’s mind and spirit.  When our lives are chaotic, hectic, and overscheduled we stop noticing and appreciating gifts. We forget that we are human beings, not human doings.  We forget who we are.  The beloved children of God.  We forget that we are the crown jewel of God’s creation, the cherished sons and daughters of the creator.  And when we forget that, we treat others as objects, as problems, as enemies.  We dehumanize and demonize and wage war.  When we see others as we see ourselves, and we fail to see the image of God in ourselves, we fail to love as we have been loved.  Apart from the vine we do nothing.  We fail to bear fruit.  To abide is to dwell with the one whose love makes us whole again.      

So,how do we experience the restful, rejuvenating presence of God in the midst of the busyness we call life?  How do we abide? First, we find silence and stillness.  We dwell in the words and works of Jesus.  We listen.  We take refuge.  We open our hearts and minds to receive God’s love.  By faith we embrace our God-given identity and name.

Second, we consider actions consistent with our identity.  What might we do that imitates the love of Jesus for someone else?  This is the purpose of abiding; to bear fruit.  To reproduce the same desire to love in someone else.  To reproduce the sweetness and joy and hope we find in the words and works of Jesus. To bear fruit is to offer something of value out of one’s relationship with Jesus to someone else. Someone may need the fruit of your life this week. Abiding and pruning and fruitfulness is a process we learn as disciples.  It includes daily, weekly, and seasonal rhythms that we cannot learn in one morning.  I am learning and practicing these rhythms; I will invite you to do the same.

So, this week I give us a way to start:  the 10 minute daily Abiding Challenge.  Ten minutes every day.  I will send you, by email or Facebook, a daily gospel story, reflection, and prayer.  If that takes less than ten minutes, spend the rest in silent reflection.  Consider what God is giving to you and what you may be called to do about that. 

I will not be with you next weekend.  Cherie and I are retreating to the Adirondacks to abide together, to encounter the refreshment of God’s Spirit, and the restoration of our bodies.  We will come back.  Abiding always brings fruitfulness.  May you experience the abiding presence of Jesus, nourishing you back to life and fruitfulness this week.