A Heart Home
John 15:9-17
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
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I don't usually don't cater reflections to holidays outside of Christmas and Easter. Still, the text for this morning seems fitting for many who celebrate and remember those who are beloved (mother-like) figures in our lives. Like those notable figures in our lives, the passage for today reminds us that love from those people and God is not something that our actions merit but something that we freely receive. It is a type of love that goes beyond personal affection and enters the realm of being. Jesus tells the disciples to continue in this state of love that He modeled, love that we similarly witness in those people we hold close to our heart and call them "mother" or guardian.
How might you tap into that well-spring of love?
And how might you spread the love that God has deeply embedded within you?
Jesus begins to answer these questions by offering us a place of rest like any good parent or guardian, or friend. Multiple times in the opening verse, Jesus tells the disciples to meno (Gk. to dwell, to make a home in) in Christ's love, a love which is just as large as the love the Father shows for Jesus. Jesus is asking us to make a new home founded and built on the love of God, love, that as we stated before, is freely given. It's a source of hope and encouragement that should seriously give us pause to appreciate the fact that no matter what happens, there is a place that we can call home.
And it's not only a place to call home but a place where we are told by Jesus to "relax." This Greek word, meno, often occurs with text that emphasizes rest and a place for us to eat and drink. We can relax because the promise of eternal love is with us. And it remains as a place for us to fill up our small and pitiful contains up with love as we go out into the world and scatter it into the whole of creation that is yearning for something more. This well of love runs deep, and we need to know it runs deep.
We need to know it runs deep because this home is not only the place where we can fill our tiny containers up with love; it's the source of all love that we are called to bring out into a world that is starving for love. In his commentary on the Gospel of John, Frederick Dale Bruner writes, "Out of this huge well of divine love, we can draw the love we need as we move out with our much tinier containers into a love-starved world." (The Gospel of John: A Commentary, pg. 888) Note that we are not moving into a love-devoid world but a love-starved world. And wow, does the world feel starved of love right now.
The world is starving for love; we are starving for love. Right here, right now, I imagine that there are people present who are yearning for love. People are difficult; putting up with others can be challenging, and on some days, you may not even feel like there was love there, to begin with. Believe me, I know. I've seen and heard first-hand accounts of suffering that almost made me want to throw in the towel, call it quits, to go live a "regular" life that's from 9-5, and then leave the work behind at the end of the day. I haven't done that, though, because like you, like this world, I am starving for love, life-giving love.
In those times, I hear the words from this gospel reading where we are asked to follow two fundamental commandments. The first is to trust, trust God. In the home of divine love, we are invited to take a breath. We asked to trust that this divine love can restore our hearts, our souls, a love that washed the feet of the disciples in the act of humility and service.
Secondly, we are asked to have a heart. Yes, I know that we already possess a biological heart, but I'm talking about an empathetic heart, a feeling heart. This heart is meant for others; it's designed to be the channel that pours out God's love to those around you. Following both of these commandments comprise the act of real love. Let's admit that it's not easy to practice, that it's a daily balancing act, yet one that leads us into a more profound sense of what it means to be one person in an infinite universe.
Breathe and relax in the home Christ has established within your heart. Tap into the never-ending wellspring of love when you're weary and tired. Breathe in that love and when you let it go, let it be transformed into acts of love (as we human beings can best express well-intentioned love). Christ kept God's commands, went to the cross, rose from the dead, and did the crucial redemptive work to freely offer a home to call our own in the body of Christ. Trust that it's a space that can draw what your heart needs (breathe-in) and cultivate a heart that feels and acts for others (breathe-out).
Pope Gregory I (Hom. 27in C.A. 4/2:482): “[T]he highest, the only proof of love, is to love our adversary; as did the Truth Himself, who, while He suffered on the cross, [showed] His love for His prosecutors [by praying, ‘ Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’” (Luke 23:34)