« Reviewing the House of God | Main | Peter Lord on Prayer »
Sunshine and What Time Is It
By daniel | January 20, 2005
Hello, my beloved,
It?s been quite a long time since last I wrote you. I had my wisdom teeth cut out. They said I wouldn?t remember a thing. They were wrong. So wrong.
But now I?m back in the saddle and I have a little something I?d like to discuss with you if you?re game. Take a moment and slowly read John 15:1-12, giving special attention to verses 9-12. This is the famous vine-and-branches passage wherein Jesus explains to us that if we?ll abide in him and see to it he has place to abide in us we?ll spontaneously bear lots of fruit, fruit that will last. This “abiding” is a little enigmatic, prompting several ethereal, quasi-mystical interpretations through the years. That?s a funny thing, since Jesus interprets his own statement right in the passage. And his thoughts here can really help us understand how to experience his love directly, which is necessary for us as his bride.
To give Jesus room to abide in me I need only see to it his words abide in me (v.7), and the disciplines and habits that support that are well known: reading, study, discussion, meditation and the like. To abide in him I need to “abide in [his] love” (v.9). It reads, “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also 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. These things have I said to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. This is my commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.”
At first this sounds like, “Okay, I?ve loved you. If you want me to keep loving you, do what I say.” But that contradicts the nature of the word used here for love ? agape, referring to love that is utterly generous and without condition. Not only that, but such a conditional statement of love would contradict everything else Jesus ever said about the love of God for us.
It?s helpful to consider carefully verses nine and ten. Jesus loves us the same way the Father loves him, and we know from earlier pages of John?s gospel that the Father adores the Son, in whom he is “well pleased.” That?s clear enough. It gets sticky when Jesus says that he abided in the Father?s love specifically by doing what the Father told him. Could the Father have stopped loving the Son? What could he mean, “I have abided in my Father?s love”?
Imagine you?re in your house on a bright, beautiful, sunny day. Whether or not you take the necessary steps to get outside and bask in the warmth, the sun is still shining. Only those who go outside and stay outside abide in the sunlight. Likewise, the Father has always been fiercely loving the Son. And the Son has always taken pains to bask in that love, to abide in its warmth. We are ever and always loved by our Christ, but we only experience it if we take the necessary steps to abide in that warmth. Cognitive assent to the fact of Christ?s love for us accomplishes little in the bearing of fruit. I can personally observe that my wife is a hottie all day long, but that?s not how the stork gets his job done. Jesus loves me, this I know, but I have to experience it in the mundane repetitions of my life if I am to bear fruit.
So, how do we do that? How do we cultivate a steady experience (deeper than just feelings, but including them when appropriate) of the titanic love of Christ? A good starter question might be “How did Jesus cultivate a steady experience of the Father?s love?”
Here it?s helpful to consider some comments Jesus made about his connection to the Father. Rifle through John?s gospel and glance at the following: 5:30; 8:29; 10:14-15; and 11:41-42a. Reading these I?m convinced that Jesus lived in a continuous awareness of the Father. He had a practiced intimacy with God. And this only makes sense. I experience my wife?s love only as I exercise myself to engage her meaningfully and regularly. Intimacy requires encounter, and encounter requires intentionality.
Now, the thing about Jesus that differs from me (one of the many things) is that while I, through certain tried-and-true habits of Bible study and prayer, maintain a consistent intimacy with God, Jesus maintained a continuous one. Do you see the enormous and life-determining difference there? I do.
So did Frank Laubach. A missionary to the Philippines in the early 1900?s, Frank came to be one of the most useful and happy saints in the last hundred years. This, doubtless, is due to his “game with minutes.” He wanted a steady, unbroken communion with God. No one starts off encountering God all the time. So, he started with sometimes. Every 15 or 30 minutes he would turn his attention to God. This proved very difficult at first, but he stayed at it and almost immediately began reaping the results in his inner life and outer work. Soon he moved to more frequent intentional engagements, and eventually came to settle at turning his attention to God for one second of every minute.
He got more done (though that is hardly near the point). He enjoyed what he did. He came to know God in a way most of my comrades would envy. He became happy, and where he walked the world changed around him. He started to make Jesus-patterned ripples all over Manila.
The example of Jesus, his plain command to abide in his love just like he abided in the Father?s, and the practical mechanics demonstrated by our brother Frank conspired together with God to provoke me to an experiment of my own. I?ve tried Frank?s experiment several times, but invariably I last about a week and forget what I?m up to. Also, turning my attention to something as colossal as GOD is a bit much for me to pull off in a few seconds.
Before I tell you what I am doing I?d like to tell you why I?m doing it and why I?m telling you about it. First, I?m not doing it because I?m strong. Rather, it?s the weakness of my love for Jesus that provokes me to change. Like Frank Laubach, “I am disgusted with the pettiness and futility of my unled self.” Second, I?m telling you because I need help. As I said, I?ve tried experiments in continual prayer before. I need the community if I?m to pull this off.
Frank had a game with minutes, and I?ve got a deal with the clock. I am exceedingly time-conscious. I hate to be late. I have so many irons in the fire and so many places to be that I?m constantly checking the clock. That?s just about the only thing I do constantly. So, instead of bemoaning the fact, I?ve decided to use it. Every time I become conscious of the time I?m turning my attention to Jesus, the rabbi from Galilee. I never forget to check the time and I am familiar enough with the rabbi of the gospels that I can pretty easily engage him directly in a few seconds, whatever I am doing. I?ve been at this for three or four days now, and I am much helped. I don?t know if I?ll need the crutch of the clock forever, but I?m glad for it now.
Here?s where you can help. I?m asking my friends (and you certainly qualify) to occasionally ask me what time it is. This will nudge me toward consciousness of Christ without making a big to-do. Don?t ask me all the time, as that will make it trite and I?ll quickly lose interest in what I?m doing. Just, if you remember and if you feel at all led, just pop the question and let me keep going. If you don?t want to, that?s cool, too.
I told you about my experiment because I?m weak and selfish and so often petty. Not because I?m strong and I think you ought to look at me. I need some help. I hope my sharing this with you has not been an offense. I struggled with the idea of letting you in on it, and I struggle a bit even now as I close the letter. I don?t like drawing attention to myself, but if you can help me with the question, and if I can help you by passing on a good idea, then I don?t know how we could either of us drop the ball and still claim to love each other. So, there you have it. My deal with the clock.
I love you dearly. I am falling more deeply and steadily in love with Jesus, and I?m glad because it will produce fruit in those I love as well. Thanks for your help. Draw near to him and he really will draw near to you. The Bible tells me so.
Happily yours,
Virgil
Topics: Uncategorized |
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.