Coming and Going and Abiding

John 14:23-29

Jesus answered him, "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me." I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.

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Well, the time sure flies, doesn’t it?  It’s been just over three months since my first week at Littlefield, and it has gone by so fast. And as fast as it seems for me, some of you have expressed that it is even more so for you because your other interns have been here for the better part of a year. And so today is my last Sunday as an intern with you, and so I suppose this might be called my Farewell Discourse.

That is also what this section of Scripture is drawn from – it’s known as Jesus’ Farewell Discourse – the four chapters in the middle of the gospel according to John where Jesus prepares his disciples for the future.  He explains that he is going, but they will not be left alone. He gives them a sneak preview of the arrival of the Holy Spirit who will remain with them while he is gone. He reassures them that he will come back for them. He tells them to love one another, and to not be afraid. And he tells them how important it is for them to abide in God, even when God incarnate is no longer pitching his tent on earth with them.

This is not welcome news to the disciples, and it’s not easily understood, either. This beloved teacher, this rabbi who has told them, “I AM the Way, the Truth, the Life” , I AM the bread of life, I AM the light of the world, I AM the gate for the sheep, is heading out the door, so to speak.

He tells them he is going to the Father, to prepare a place for them, in his Father’s house where there are many dwelling places, abiding places.

This word “abide” shows up over and over again in the gospel according to John. The Greek word is meno – to abide, to remain. There is a permanence to it, a continuing and  enduring nature. According to John’s gospel, Jesus abides in God and God in him. Jesus calls us to abide in him, most directly in the passage just after this. “I am the vine, you are the branches. Abide in me as I abide in you.”  “Remain in me as I remain in you.”

It’s not the same word used in the first chapter of John’s Gospel, that well-known prologue: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. “And then a few verses later: “and the Word became flesh and lived, or dwelt (depending on the translation), among us.” That word is skeno – literally, to pitch a tent. It’s temporary housing.  God incarnate came to live among us for a brief time, pitched a tent among us, to live and walk among us for a season.

The Triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, abides with us, remains with us, forever.  We are adopted, and we are children of God. God’s house is our permanent residence, our abode.

The first two verses in our passage spell this out, although Jesus refers to this over and over again in his Farewell Discourse. Jesus says,“if you love me, you will keep my word, and my Father will love you and we will come to you and make our home with you.” The word used for home in this passage is menon – from meno – to abide, to remain. Our permanent home.

Then he continues, and says, “Those who do not love me do not keep my words…and the word that you hear is not my word, but is from the Father who sent me.”

In these two verses he is telling us that his Father remains in him, just as Jesus remains, or abides, in God. We will come to you and make our home with you.  The words you hear from me are from God. Jesus remains in God; God remains in Jesus. They will come to us and abide in us, remain in us.

The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will come and remain with us, and will teach us everything. Don’t be troubled or frightened in your hearts, Jesus says. I leave you my peace, much more than the world’s peace. What a comfort and security these words are!

Our human tendency, when we want something to be permanent, is to build a strong and secure structure that will withstand the tests of time.  This might be a physical structure, or it may be a financial one, or a military one, or a structure created for our own personal control. We remember clearly the story of the three little pigs and so we build our houses from brick, never straw.

If we live near water, we put our house up on stilts, or pylons strong enough to withstand whatever amount of flooding has been calculated as probable for that area.  We build up our 401k’s, to fund a secure and comfortable, predictable future. We do extensive leadership development and succession planning in our businesses to assure our future success.

We build and store bombs we don’t ever intend to use, as deterrent against enemies, potential and real. We try our best in all things to surround ourselves with complete protection and security.

But we know, deep down, the truth, that everything we rely upon for security and protection and stability is as temporary as a tent.

Our homes, our nest eggs, our corporations, our churches, the protections we build up will one day be used up or will come tumbling down. Our nuclear families grow up, change, move away, come apart, shift into different forms. The 30-year careers come to an end, just like the four month internships.  All these things are much more like pitching a tent than abiding.

We truly abide in God, and remain in God alone.  And when we abide more fully, remain totally dependent, leaning completely on the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit over and above any of these so-called permanent structures, then we truly are becoming disciples. We do not know where on earth this may lead.  But we do know where it ultimately leads; it leads to where Jesus has prepared a place for us, where our Lord waits at table for us. And we know that we are part of a community of faith, and that we need the community so that we can sustain each other along this journey.

Just as Jesus abides in God, so do we abide with one another and with Christ. Our security is in Christ, and only when we abide in Him, when we remain in Him, are we truly secure forever. Not just later, but here and now. And this is security that far exceeds the imaginary protection of the temporary structures we build.

St Augustine once wrote a beautiful explanation of this. It not only speaks to the contrast between temporary and permanent, but also it speaks to the musician, the singer in us all.  He wrote:

"Let us sing alleluia here on earth, while we still live in anxiety, so that we may sing it one day in heaven in full security...We shall have no enemies in heaven, we shall never lose a friend.

God's praises are sung both there and here, but here they are sung in anxiety, there in security; here they are sung by those destined to die, there, by those destined to live forever; here they are sung in hope, there in hope's fulfillment; here, they are sung by wayfarers, there, by those living in their own country. So then...let us sing now, not in order to enjoy a life of leisure, but in order to lighten our labors.  You should sing as wayfarers do – sing, but continue your journey...Sing then, but keep going."

What a joy and privilege it is to have become part of this Littlefield community. And as temporary as it may seem, I know that together in this community we abide in Christ. When we go out as wayfarers from this community, we abide in Christ. When we carry God’s mission into the world every day, we abide in Christ. With believers in every time and place, wherever we are, wherever we go, we abide in Christ.

Thanks be to God! Alleluia!