August 19, 2015

Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.
John 6:56

For the last several weeks the gospel lessons have focused on the bread of life discourse.  As I was reading through Chapter 6 again, this passage caught my attention.  What does it mean to abide in?  What does it mean for us to abide in Jesus?  What does it mean for Jesus to abide in us?

I think we all probably have a basic understanding of what that word, abide, means.  Dictionary definitions include: to remain; to continue in a particular condition; to endure; to wait for; to act in accord with; to remain steadfast or faithful.  Even though we all probably have a basic understanding of what abide means, I think it is helpful to be able to actually see those definitions or synonyms, as they can help to give us a broader understanding.

As we go through our life and experience the many changes and chances it brings, from schoolyard friendships to any number of jobs held to our spouse and children, we learn that life is fluid.  Friendships and jobs can come and go.  Very few of us never leave the city or town in which we were born.  Some of us have experienced multiple marriages.  Even for those who have been married only once, that marriage is not the same today as it was when we were first married.  Through all of those many changes and chances of our lives though, we remain in Jesus and he remains in us.

As we go through our lives we learn that nothing lasts forever.  Friendships bloom and grow and fade away.  We change jobs or careers.  We relocate, sometimes across the country and sometimes across town.  It's often cynically said that the only thing that lasts forever are death and taxes.  But as we've gone through the bread of life series these past several weeks, we are told that Jesus offers us eternal life.  In all of our uncertainties and changes, Jesus endures.  In that endurance, Jesus abides with us.

As we go through our lives we can experience disloyal, unreliable and untrustworthy situations.  Whether that is from a child who says, “No, not me . . . I didn't break the window,” or from an employer who promised no layoffs, or politicians who make promises they knowingly can't keep, there are times in our lives that don't deliver as promised.  But Jesus is steadfast and faithful and remains with us to the end.  In his faithfulness, Jesus abides in us.

There are many changes and chances that we experience in our lives.  There are times that don't live up to our expectations.  There are times when we don't live up to the expectations of others, let alone ourselves.  But one thing is certain and that is that this church will continue to offer a foretaste of the heavenly banquet.  We will continue to offer a glimpse of things to come.  We will continue to offer the body and blood of Jesus Christ, which is holy food for holy people.

And in that holy act of receiving Holy Communion, in that holy act of partaking of the body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we can be assured that Jesus is faithful, that Jesus endures and that Jesus remains.  In that act of receiving Holy Communion, we abide in Jesus and he in us.

Amen.