Friday, November 18, 2016

Remain In Me

Remain In Me (John 15:1-8)

Make your home in me, as I make mine in you.  As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself, but must remain part of the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.”  
To remain in Christ is to live in his Word, to put on the Mind of Christ, to Believe in him, to be Obedient to his Will.  To remain in him is to make our home in him, to abide in the Life of Christ, to abandon our soul into the Trinitarian Embrace –to be grafted, through the Faith of Baptism, to the Vine of Life.
         Thus does the Branch receive freely from the Vine to have its needs met.  The Vine knows what the Branch needs and provides for it -as blood gives life to the body, so does the Branch of Christ, give his Holy Spirit to his Branches.  
To be in union with Christ, is then, the key to faith’s doorway: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask what you will and you shall get it.”  For Jesus himself, the Eternal Intercessor, standing before the Father, gives Voice to our needs (Hebrews  7:25)  –because the Vine is in Love -in Union with- the Branch.
         As we remain in him, we receive the Substance and the Sustenance of Life.   The Substance, the Body and Blood of Christ, comingles us with God.  The Sustenance -the Holy Spirit- is the Infilling of the Father’s Love, the Breath which brings us to Life.
In making our home in Jesus, we witness his bringing forth Life from Death.  It means we eagerly submit our sins to the Father’s pruning shears, because our Faith and Hope guarantee we shall bear much fruit –that we shall bring much glory to our Father as Faithful Stewards of his Love.  It means that the cost of Loving others, as Christ Loves us, is infinitely miniscule compared to the reward of Knowing God –of Abiding in his Love.
Jesus, in abandoning my heart into your Mercy, I become possessed by you.  In consuming the Bread of Life, the God of Life consumes my Darkness, exchanging my heart of stone for your Heart of Love.  In drinking your Cup, I surrender to your Will –your Precious Spirit becomes the Blood of my blood, my Source of Life and Love.  
          Jesus, I remain in you only because you remain in me.  All praise is due to you, All Faithful Lord.  You bore the Cross that this lowly branch may be grafted to The Divine.  What Grace, what Gift –to bear your Name, to know your Love, to make Home in my God.

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