Readings: Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 22:25-31; 1 John 4:7-21; John 15:1-8
A question from a poem by Malcolm Guite: “What might it mean to bide and to abide
In such rich love as makes the poor heart glad?” (1)
Words in the English language can create such powerful images and feelings, and many of the most powerful can be found in our worship. Hope, for instance, for Christians is more than just a passing thought, more than just a wish or wishful feeling. It is deep, connecting the past with the present and the future and into eternity. Peace, when spoken by Christ, conjures up a sense of everything being alright: he is here. “Peace be with you.” Even when inside we are churning or our thoughts are distracted, hearing “Peace”, “Peace be with you”, can still us and bring us – even if only temporarily – rest and peace. And I think abide is also one of these words. Nowadays it means to tolerate something, or to accept a decision. But in our readings this morning it has a deeper meaning which, for me, brings me home. Abide. Dwell with me, in me and I will dwell with and in you. This is comfort. We sing of this deep abiding in that great hymn: abide with me, fast falls the eventide, the darkness deepens, Lord with me abide. In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. (2) Dwell with me. Stay with me, in all I have to face, and all will be well.
And today we have some beautiful passages full of imagery and hope and peace. And abiding. From the epistle: God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” We are called to abide in love, in God’s love, in love for and from God and for and with each other. If we abide in love, we abide in God and God abides in us. It is a deep and intimate indwelling, intimacy. Abiding, we are home in God’s love and God’s love is home in us. That is comforting. That is hope and peace and love. It is the comfort of knowing that if we love God, if the love of God dwells in us, abides in us, and we abide, dwell, in the love of God, then, as Julian of Norwich says: all shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.
But there is much more than this in the word abide, in what it actually means to abide in God and for God to abide in us. And for this we turn to the Gospel. Abiding in God, in Jesus, if we truly allow God’s love to abide in us, then and only then can we be fruitful, can our actions bear the fruit of the Spirit. Only when we abide in God and he in us can we become who God hopes we will be, who God inspires us to be. Jesus tells us: “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.“ Jesus already abides in us, makes his home in and with us. We need to be willing to dwell in, to be indwelt by, God, by the Spirit so that we can come to fruition, so that we can do God’s work and God’s plans for us through us can come to fruition. Without God, without Jesus, without the Spirit, our plans, our fulfilling of our potential in God’s plans will come to nothing. It is imperative that we abide in God and God abides in us for us to be disciples. Only by abiding in and being abided in we can become true disciples, true messengers, true followers of Christ and live his life and message in the world, filled and guided by the Spirit and love of God.
So how do we abide in God and let God abide in us? How do we know we are abiding? It is through our actions. It is through showing this in our love for others, our true love for others. The love that follows the example of Christ, who first loved us. The love of God who loves us from the beginning to the end and beyond. Who abides in us in life and in death, as the hymn tells us. The epistle tells us that: “We love because (Jesus) first loved us.” Jesus’ love shown and given to us inspires our love for others. We cannot say that God is with us, is abiding in us if we hate others, if we do not show that we love our brothers and sisters, all God’s children. Again, from the epistle: “Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.” If God’s love truly abides in us then we will seek an end to hatred, to prejudice, to conflict. If God abides in us, and God’s love fills our hearts then we will seek peace and hope and love between those who hate, between those who are in conflict. Because it is only through allowing the love of God to abide in our hearts, allowing Jesus to truly abide and dwell within us that we will be able to love, to forgive, and to deeply love our neighbour, our fellow children of God, as deeply as God loves us. There is no room for hatred in the Kingdom of God. As Malcolm Guite says: “Only through Christ and the way of the cross will you conquer. Only when you love your enemies and bless those who persecute you, only when you meet your adversaries with the words “Father, forgive” will Christ, who is love, conquer through you” (3). We can only come to fruition and bear good fruit if God, Jesus dwells within us and through his love, in his love, with his love, we show this in our love for God and our love for each other and all people. And this answers the question Malcolm Guite’s poem puts to us: What might it mean to bide and to abide In such rich love as makes the poor heart glad? (1) It means peace, hope and above all love. Love for and from God and love for and of our neighbour. Whoever and wherever they are. And so, I pray that God’s love may abide deep within us and that we may all abide deeply in God, in God’s love, and that we will show this by going out into the world to live, work and love all God’s people to God’s praise and glory. As the epistle says: “The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” By doing this we show we abide in God and do God’s will. And, And as Jesus tells us: ”My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” Amen.
- https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2016/04/11/i-am-the-vine-a-sonnet/
- Hymn 6, Hymns Old and New, Kevin Mayhew
- Malcolm Guite Poet’s Corner (25/8/2023) https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2023/25-august/comment/columnists/malcolm-guite-poet-s-corner