2021.05.02 | Abiding Love
“Abiding Love”
The Rev. Dr. Arlene K. Nehring
Eden United Church of Christ
Hayward, CA
Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 2, 2021
Jesus was a master of metaphor and one of the great practical theologians of all time. He used metaphors and images to get his messages across to primarily illiterate audiences in a manner that was clear and memorable.
His reference to himself as the vine and his followers as the branches, in today’s gospel story, are a case in point. Jesus lived and served in wine country, so the image of vines and grapes and the way he applied the metaphor to himself and his people was instantly clear to all who had ears to hear.
The metaphor expresses the intimate and integral relationship between himself and his followers, who embodied a spiritual extension of their relationship with God.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me, and I in them bear much fruit…” (John 15:5a)
Jesus uses the term “abide'' multiple times in today’s gospel lesson. Abide is a term that is rarely used outside of church circles. What does it mean?
“Abide” comes from the Greek root “menō,” which means “staying in place,” “enduring,” “holding out” steadfastness, and reliability on God’s presence in and for others.1
As Christians, we often sing the hymn “Abide with Me” on Maundy Thursday and at funeral services, but we rarely sing it on Sunday mornings, because the lyrics in the song aren’t usually a match for the Sunday morning lections. Instead, they lend themselves more to vespers services and Holy Week observances.
The term “abiding” is a peculiar one in modern English vocabulary, and it is also, sadly, a counterculture idea that is contradictory to the values propagated by our transactional, fast-paced, self-serving culture. This is so, because abiding with someone or some group requires time, contemplation, intention, and solidarity, in good times and bad. And, well, these kinds of sentiments and actions just aren’t particularly valued or rewarded in our culture. Today everyone wants to know what the deliverables are, how soon those deliverables are going to be delivered, what the price is in dollars and cents, and whether someone else can provide the same deliverables in less time, for less money.
Sad, but true, abiding is no longer de rigueur (in fashion). This is unfortunate because abiding is a quality and a behavior that is essential to nurturing the moral and social fabric of a faith community and of a moral society.
As Christians, as a nation, and as a global village, we would do well to reclaim the value and the practice of abiding. Perhaps you agree. But what would it look like, feel like, sound like--if we reclaimed the value and practice of abiding with Christ, his disciples, and our neighbors. A few examples follow.
II
One way to abide with a young person today could involve engaging that student in one-to-one tutoring or story time. Most of our young parents are so slammed with responsibilities these days as they strive to keep up with their jobs at home and in the workforce, while school campuses are closed but classes are in session. Some students thrive via computer-based learning--others, not so much. Offering to work with a grandchild, a niece or nephew, or a neighbor’s student while parents are preparing a meal or in a zoom meeting that requires their full attention would be a great blessing.
Similarly, this pandemic is no cake walk for teachers or school administrators, including master teachers who had pretty much perfected their art, but who now have to engage their same student population in a whole new way and with technology and methods that may not be as familiar to them.
Offer words of encouragement. Share tech tips. Write thank you notes. Call the parent engagement specialist at your local school and offer to help distribute food and other essential resources for our families. And now that many of our elementary schools are shifting to hybrid learning strategies, offer to help the office staff manage the logistics of early dismissals and late arrivals for school groups, so that we can stay in compliance with public health guidelines and begin to return to some semblance of oncampus learning.
The new Transitional Age Youth (TAY) shelter that’s in development for the Hayward area offers another opportunity for us to abide with some of our neighbors. This shelter will serve unhoused youth, ages 18 to 26, who are finishing high school, enrolling in trade schools and colleges, and seeking employment so that they will be better situated to care for themselves and their loved ones.
Significant efforts are underway to secure public and private funding for this shelter, which will be managed by Covenant House California, and operated under the name of “Hayward Village.” But no amount of money will guarantee the success of this ministry. Money can buy a house, but only people can create a home and a sense of belonging to our community.
For the residents who will be lodged, for a time, at this shelter, they--like all of us--need more than a roof over their heads and food on the table. They need neighbors to welcome them into the community. They need mentors to help them develop their networks for educational and professional advancement. And, they need to know that they are valued and cared for--not only for what they do--but for who they are.
For members of the Hayward Village who are also seeking asylum, they will need companions for the long journey that this process entails. It’s hard to overstate the number of documents that an asylum seeker has to complete, and the number of steps that must be taken on the seven year or more journey it takes to become a US citizen--if everything goes well. The process is much more involved for those who have difficulty securing legal representation, raising funds for court and legal fees, and whose very circumstances that led to their migration have deterred their ability to collect evidence that would support their cases.
A further opportunity to abide with others awaits with friends and family who have been displaced professionally by the pandemic. Some industries have been temporarily changed by the pandemic. Others may never recover. In order to meet their personal and family obligations, employees in certain sectors of our economy are simply going to have to reinvent themselves. Facing this fact and slogging through the educational and professional development process to change careers at midlife isn’t easy for the person going through this experience, or their supporters. There are rarely quick fixes. This is why abiding with displaced workers is so critical to their self-esteem and success.
One of my favorite examples of persons engaged in this spiritual practice of abiding that Jesus describes is a group of volunteers who call themselves “Abiders.” They are all residents living at one of the Cedar Communities in the West Bend, Wisconsin area. Abiders covenant with one another and other residents to serve as companions when someone is seriously ill or making their transition from this life to the next.
Abiders know that not everyone has family or loved ones who live nearby or who have the means to come to their bedside at times like these. So Abiders offer this companionship and ministry of presence. They don’t do anything. They focus on being with other community members in times like these.
Ironically, the Abiders Ministry has been disrupted by COVID-19, because of public health concerns about contagion. For over a year, visitation and hospitals, nursing homes, and retirement communities have been limited and even completely restricted.
This fact has made the ministry of professional healthcare workers all the more significant. To be sure the medical and technical interventions that healthcare workers provide on the frontlines with patients is vital, but that is not all. More often than not, during the pandemic, these professionals have been the only people allowed at the bedside of patients who have been stricken with the virus, or the only people able to intercede for residents in these communities.
Pastors, like myself, have not been allowed to visit, and daughters, like myself, have not been permitted to travel or enter their parents’ retirement communities. So the kindness and care of professional staff have become all the more critical, and I thank you for being present for all of us--patients, parishioners, and pastors alike. Thank you for all that you have done, and thank you also for who you are--abiders--branches of the True Vine.
III
Friends, believe the good news of the Gospel, whenever and wherever we abide with another, we fulfill Christ’s commandment to be the branches of the True Vine. Whenever and wherever, we abide with another, we find that our sense of meaning and purpose in life is strengthened, and I guarantee you, the moral fabric of our society is strengthened, and God is glorified. Amen.
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1 Nancy R. Blakely in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year B, Vol. 2, Lent through Eastertide, David L. Bartlet and Barbara Brown Taylor, eds. (John Kox : Louisville, KY), pp. 473 and 475.