John 15:9-17
May 5, 2024
The Rev. Todd R. Goddard, Pastor
Rush United Methodist Church
John 15:9-17
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
| Centering Prayer |
I’d like to express my sincere thanks to Pastor Paddy
For covering for me the last two Sundays.
Paddy has been a friend and colleague for many years
And I’m always delighted when we can work together for God’s greater kingdom.
Thank you, Paddy.
Thank you to everyone who have showered me with prayers, cards, rides, and kindness.
Rehabilitation teaches me humility and gratitude.
Dependence upon others teaches me about my relationship with God.
Every thought.
Every prayer.
Every act of kindness is so appreciated.
Thank you.
…
Our Gospel for this morning is a continuation
Of last Sunday’s passage from John:
“I am the vine, you are the branches.”
(John 15:5)
Jesus is the vine.
You and I are the branches.
And our Heavenly Father is the Divine,
vine-growing Gardner.
This is a straightforward metaphor
With deep seeded implications.
When we make our soulful home in Jesus Christ,
– when we “abide” in Christ –
And since we keep His commandments,
To Love God and Love Neighbors,
Then we have joy,
– complete joy –
In our life.
Live in Christ.
Love God and Love Neighbors.
Be flooded with love and live in joy.
It’s that simple.
…
In my childhood
I attended vacation Bible school every summer.
Held at the Camp Street United Methodist Church in Jamestown, NY,
I can recall a hot, packed sanctuary
Filled with sweaty kids singing with gusto:
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy,
down in my heart, down in my heart, down in my heart.
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart to stay.
R: And I’m so happy! I’m so very happy!
I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart!
And I’m so happy! I’m so very happy!
I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart!
I’ve got the peace that passes understanding,
down in my heart, down in my heart, down in my heart.
I’ve got the peace that passes understanding, down in my heart to stay.
R: And I’m so happy! I’m so very happy!
I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart!
And I’m so happy! I’m so very happy!
I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart!
I’ve got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus,
down in my heart, down in my heart, down in my heart.
I’ve got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus, down in my heart to stay.
R: And I’m so happy! I’m so very happy!
I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart!
And I’m so happy! I’m so very happy!
I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart!
…
If the essence of John 15, “I am the vine, you are the branches,”
Can be summed up in this simple children’s song,
Then, certainly, we should understand
The concept of Christ’s love and joy today.
Or, do we?
Many people are searching for love and joy these days,
Both inside and outside the Church.
Over the years,
I’ve taken notice of three different groups of people.
These different groups are not all inclusive of everyone in society.
I’ve just taking a keen interest in these three:
1) those who search for love and joy without a foundation of faith,
2) those searching with a life of casual or waning faith, and
3) those searching for love and joy with abiding faith.
…
One.
Sadly, there are some people raised with no exposure to a life of faith, or
Worse, yet, a negative exposure to faith.
When I used to conduct psychiatric assessments
for Clifton Springs Hospital,
I grew convinced that,
From my observations and experience,
Four basic things make people crazy:
- Bad genes,
- Abuse or violence in the house,
- Substance abuse,
- A traumatic exposure to religion,
Or, some combination of these four events.
People without a foundation of faith
Or who have been driven away from faith
Never learn of the generous and benevolent
Covenants God has made with us.
They have never experience the elegant design
balancing law and grace.
They have never come to know
The promise and hope of redemption and salvation.
They have never felt the love of Christ and His Church.
Where then do people turn who’ve never learned the Biblical story,
Or who’ve had the Biblical story warped and misrepresented?
Sadly, many turn to self-reliance, to self-gratification, to self-promotion.
Others become cauldrons of pride, ego, and grandiose delusions.
When the self isn’t strong, it breaks.
When the self doesn’t get it’s own way, it angers.
When the self has no answers, it despairs.
When the self runs out of everything else, the self
Ceases to be.
Fatalism has no joy, no hope, no promise.
Fatalism may be sufficient for some,
But it is does not sustain me.
Love may be found with people without faith.
But it is transient and mortal.
It is elusive and fleeting.
Love that never becomes larger
than something shared between one or two
Can hardly be expected to become the source of joy that many seek.
…
Two.
If you are a child of American culture in the past six decades,
Then you, as have I,
Have been exposed to a tragic deflation of Christianity.
I recall my father serving local churches in the 1960s and 70s,
Coming out of his office in despair,
Complaining about how difficult it was trying to
Motivate a congregation full of less-than-willing, apathetic volunteers.
Casual Christians are those, I’ve noticed,
Who seek
The benefits of the love and joy of Christ
But on a part time basis,
According to their terms,
Not according to God’s terms.
“Church is okay, so long as it doesn’t interfere with my life.”
The stories of faith may have been taught as a child or youth
But faith development was abruptly stunted by
A bad preacher,
A church fight,
Or a divided family.
The attitude of “Oh well, not much I can do about it”
Grows and proliferates like a thistle in a lawn
And has led to declining worship attendance.
I’ve even noticed a
Dwindling numbers of Christmas and Easter Christians.
Nothing closes churches as fast as apathy;
The attitude
Of “I don’t care,”
Or the believe that there is something more important than
A relationship with Jesus Christ and His Body.
Please do not give me excuses or justification.
I’ve heard them all, anyway.
None of us answer to clergy.
Each of us answers to God.
Rush,
You may feel that you are stronger than this,
That we can continue to go on
Without any attention to slowly declining worship attendance
Or shrinking membership.
Yet, as I scan the landscape of Christianity and culture
In Upstate New York right now,
You know as well as I
The land is filled with closed churches.
Two former church buildings in our hamlet
Have “For Sale” signs hanging in their front yards.
Closed, boarded up, and repurposed church buildings
Serve as an ominous symbol
Of a life of faith built on terms
Other than God’s terms.
I do not mean to frighten or judge anyone.
I do mean to shed light on riding this old horse into the ground.
The goal isn’t about keeping churches open and clergy employed.
The goal should be
About living in the love of Christ
And experiencing His joy.
…
Three.
I’ve noticed there are a group of people
Happier than mothers on Mother’s Day;
People who don’t have to search for the love and joy of Christ,
Because they are already abiding in it.
Some in this group are rich with money, others,
not so much.
Some are youth, some middle aged, others are elders.
Some are new Christians,
others have been walking this journey all their life.
Some speak Spanish, some speak English, others speak something I’ll never understand.
They are easy to pick out in a crowd.
They are the ones loving God
And loving their neighbors.
Indeed, they are known as Christians
Simply by their love.
Those who love God
Make praise and thanksgiving of God their highest priority.
Period.
Nothing is more important in this earthly life.
Praising and glorifying God is done in worship,
What we’re doing right now,
With the Word of God lifted up with one hand
And our Prayers and Sacraments with God lifted up with the other.
…
On this Cinco de Mayo Sunday,
I am led to give thanks to God for my five opportunities
To travel to Nicaragua and Guatemala
On short-term mission trips.
There
I found an environment of fear and despair,
Generations of poverty and malnutrition,
Crime, and violence,
People with disabilities and their families, forgotten and thrown away,
Single mothers struggling to survive one day at a time.
At the same time
I discovered Church,
Part of the same Body of Christ to which we belong,
That is vibrant,
anchored in love,
overflowing with joy.
I discovered Church,
The same capital “C” Church
That our own Erma is experiencing this morning in South Africa,
That so abides in Christ
That is transformed into Christ’s pure and abundant love.
O the joy!
Of abiding in Christ’s steadfast love!
…
Loving God is only half the equation.
Loving God on Sunday
Means serving God and God’s people
the other 6 days of the week.
It’s as simple as that.
How do you spot people in a crowd
Who are living John 15:
“I am the Vine and you are the Branches”?
These are the people
Who please God 7 days a week,
365 days a year;
Returning praise and thanks with love on Sunday
And who reach out with discipleship and love
Every other day of the week.
Love God.
Love neighbor.
People that abide in love
Stick out in today’s world like a sore thumb.
Let us be those people.
Let us be people who love
And who are known by our love.
When we abide in God’s love
Our joy will be complete.
Amen.