The following is a written outline of the Rev. Thomas Barron's sermon that he preached. To listen to his full sermon, please watch the Sermon Video on this website or by clicking on this YouTube link :
The great mystic, monk, theologian, teacher and author once asked a student of his who was struggling with his lack of spiritual growth:
How does and apple ripen? By sitting in the sun.
Imagine an apple trying to grow on its own.
It’s a ridiculous image, but if I am honest, this is how much of my spirituality looks throughout the week.
My spiritual growth does not come through working harder in ministry, wearing a fancy stole and alb, or even writing and delivering a sermon.
My ripening takes place in the context of listening, of rest, of abide, or as Merton put it, “sitting in the SON of God;
In John 15 Jesus paints us an image of the vine and the branches:
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
Now back in seminary I was taught biblical hermeneutics.
One of the principles of hermeneutics is to look for repetitive words or phrases.
If it is said enough times then it must be important.
Like the thousand times a week I have to remind my children to brush their teeth.
Here in John chapter 15, Jesus uses the word abide 10 times in just 10 verses.
The Greek word for abide is meno.
Men’ – o - to remain, abide, continue, endure, last, live, stand, stay, wait.
Jesus is telling us to continue to be present in him.
Jesus is telling us to be held or kept continually in him.
Jesus is telling us to continue to be, not to perish, to last, to endure in him.
God is telling us to survive and to live in Jesus.
Or as they said in the first century, “In him we live, and move, and have our being”.
And in our gospel lesson this morning, Jesus specifically spells out exactly what it looks like to abide in him: we are to abide or continue in his love.
As the Father has love me, so I have loved you: abide in my love
Not phileo, or brotherly love.
Not eros, or romantic love.
Jesus uses the word agape, which is translated as unconditional love.
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you: abide (remain, continue, last, live, stand, be present) to my agape (my unconditional, ever present) love (my affection that that has no limit, my love which has no measure or conditions).
And remember that we are with Jesus and his disciples here in the upper-room discourse, where Jesus is spelling out everything he has demonstrated to his disciples thus far with great detail and practicality.
If you keep my commands you will abide in my love.
Well you might say this sounds conditional until you get down into the next verses.
This is my command, that you love one another.
Lay down your life, or, give it away.
Love extravagantly, recklessly, without limit, give back that which has been freely given to you.
Do not judge others, do not discriminate, welcome everyone from every race and nation, regardless of their sexual orientation or cultural practices.
Love your friends, love your enemies, love your exes.
And as Bishop Curry likes to say, and while you’re at it, love yourself .
Free yourself from the bondage of hate and separation.
Let the joy of Jesus be in you, and your joy will be made complete.
And then give it away, give it away, give it away!
This is what it looks like to abide in Jesus’ love.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Growing up my mother was the warm gooey center of our family (story).
Her love is the foundation that helps me to begin to grasp what Jesus is talking about this morning.
My wife has come pretty darn close to loving me and our children unconditionally.
This is what it looks like to bear fruit in the vine: to radiate transformative love.
The first century Christians had a Greek word they used to describe this abiding love: perichoresis - a mutual indwelling without loss of individual identity.
When one weeps, the other tastes the salt.
This is the same love we see in the mystery of the Holy Trinity.
That love overflows from their abiding and into creation where we are then made the crowning achievement.
The kingdom of God looks like us abiding in God and giving away his love to one another.
Or as my first pastor Reggie Williams used to say, “No matter where you are or how long you are in a community, put your roots down as if you are going to remain there forever.”
Merton’s perplexed student, whose name was James Finley, who became quite a powerful writer himself, wrote about his own pondering upon Merton’s question:
“Like the birth of a baby or the opening of a rose, the birth of true self takes place in God’s time.
We must wait for God, we must be awake; we must trust in his hidden action within us.”
As we sang this morning in Hymn 291:
"We plow the fields, and scatter the good seed on the land, but it is fed and watered by God’s almighty hand; he sends the snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain, the breezes and the sunshine, and soft refreshing rain. All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above; then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord for all his love."
Or as the great mystic, monk, and poet Thomas Merton put it:
"God is like the air we breathe. Perhaps that is why the deeper we grow in the prayerful awareness of the Divine presence in our lives, the less we actually say with words and the more we simply breathe and enjoy it. How does an apple ripen? It just sits in the sun."