Greetings,
My friends.
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood Monk-in-Dogs,
Welcoming you to another reflection on the I Am statements of Jesus from John,
As we walk through Lent and towards Easter.
Today we continue to reflect on Jesus' words,
I Am the True Vine.
So as we begin,
I invite you to slow down.
Let go of whatever might be pulling at you in the moment.
Take a deep breath in and out.
Simply be here and aware of God's presence.
Listen to the words of Jesus in John chapter 15,
Verse 9.
Listen.
Abide in my love.
Imagine yourself with me for a moment,
Walking towards a house filled with warmth.
It's evening and soft light is glowing through the windows.
You open the door and the scent of something familiar greets you.
You step inside and somehow you know here is a place where you are fully known and fully loved.
There's no need to prove yourself.
There's no need to pretend.
This is your home.
Jesus invites you to make your home in his love.
Not to visit now and then.
Not to stand at the threshold uncertain.
But to dwell,
To settle in.
To let his love be the place where you live.
And yet for many of us,
Let's be honest,
Abiding in love is not always easy.
I invite you just to reflect for a moment.
Where in your life do you resist resting in love?
Maybe you feel unworthy.
Maybe you're afraid that if you let yourself be truly seen,
You won't be accepted.
You know,
Let's not give too much of myself here,
Lest someone see something that I don't like.
Maybe you've been hurt before and trusting love,
It's just downright risky to you.
Maybe life has sort of led you in the direction to feel like love has to be earned.
Or that it comes and goes.
Or that it depends on your performance somehow.
And yet Jesus whispers gently into the depth of our hearts.
Make your home in me.
As I make my home in you.
This isn't some pithy words or a grandiose mission statement.
This is an invitation.
Make your home in me.
Settle,
Rest,
Dwell,
Abide.
As I make my home in you.
Let's just sit with that,
Just for a moment.
Now as we've learned,
In vineyards,
A branch can't survive unless it remains connected to the vine.
But here's the thing,
It doesn't have to strive to attach itself.
And it doesn't have to struggle to bear fruit on its own.
It simply stays.
Its life,
Its growth,
Its fruitfulness all comes from one simple act.
And that is abiding.
And I believe that Jesus uses this image of the vine and that word abide to teach us something incredibly profound.
And that is that unlike it seems to be for most of us in so many ways,
In so many times,
Our spiritual life doesn't depend on our own efforts.
It really doesn't.
What it depends on is just being conscious of our connection to the source,
To the true vine,
To Christ.
When we try and live on our own strength,
When we believe that we have to earn love or that we're alone in our struggles,
We block the very source that wants to sustain us.
Abiding is about trusting.
Trusting that we're already loved.
Trusting that we don't need to secure our place in God's heart.
Trusting that a place in God's heart has already been made for us.
And in fact,
We're already dwelling there.
We just need to become alive to it,
Awakened to it,
Conscious of it.
Abiding is about a trust that when we remain in Christ,
His love will flow through us,
Shaping who we are and how we live.
So what does that look like in everyday life,
Do you think?
Well,
I think it might look like prayer.
But not prayer as a duty,
But prayer as a returning home.
It looks like prayer as a remembering again and again that you're already beloved.
It looks like letting go of the voices that say you're not enough and listening instead to the one who calls you his own.
As we come to the end of our time today,
I invite you once more just to imagine yourself in that house again,
That home of love.
The warmth,
The smells,
The comfort you feel.
Look around.
Feel that warmth of belonging.
This place is not a dream.
It is real and it's yours.
You're not a visitor.
You're not a guest.
This is your home.
And let the words of Jesus settle deeply into your heart where he says,
Abide in my love.
Know that belonging and stay in that belonging,
Resting in that love.
May God help you to dwell in the love of Christ.
May God help you to trust that you already have a home in Christ.
And may the life that comes through you flow from that place of simply abiding in the vine.
And may grace,
Peace and love carry you and buoy you as you rest in your home.
Amen.
Until tomorrow,
My friend.
Peace be with you.
