Nov. 16, 2003 John 15
“Getting connected” (pt. 2)
INTRODUCTION
I want to teach you a new phrase today. Repeat this after me: “Ham, henek met.” Do it again. [say it] Louder this time. [say it] Now real soft. [say it] Now like you really mean it. Say it with some passion. [say it] Unless someone here speaks Portuguese, none of you has any idea what you just said. You could have been cussing for all you know. Just so you won’t be wondering throughout the whole message what you said and feeling like you need to ask forgiveness for it, let me tell you a little story that comes from an experience that a missionary had while he lived in Paraguay. Here it is in His words.
“While I was serving in Paraguay, a Maka Indian named Rafael came to sit on my porch. I was eating and went out to see what he wanted. He responded, "Ham, henek met." Again I asked what I could do for him, but the answer was the same. I understood what he was saying but not its significance: "I don’t want anything; I have just come near."
“I later shared the incident with a local veteran missionary. He explained that it was Rafael’s way of honoring me. He really didn’t want anything; he just wanted to sit on my porch. He found satisfaction and pleasure just being near me.” - Citation: Stuart Sacks, Villanova, Pennsylvania
1. God commands that we abide.
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” John 15:4 (NIV)
What does it mean to “abide in Christ”?
Meaning
a) A person or thing remains where he or it is; “live, dwell, lodge”
- Lk. 8:27; a man possessed by demons lived in the cemetery
- Lk. 19:5; Jesus remained at Zachaious’ house while they enjoyed a meal together
- And my dog, if I had a dog, would remain at my feet by the fireplace, if I had a fireplace, when I told it to “stay”.
- When you live or remain with a person, even if it for a short time, you can learn a lot about them. I need to ask you all to pray for Jeana and Terry. They have a rough lot in life being married to Greg and Mike. A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity of spending one night in the same room with these two men. At some point in the night, I woke up to hear what I at first could have easily identified as the loud roar of an earthquake, tornado, or volcano. But once I was fully awake, I realized that it was none of these. It was just these two men snoring in unison with each other. It was only because I was dead tired that I was able to get back to sleep that night. I would have never known this about these men if I hadn’t remained with them.
- This is all about physical location. In Jn. 14, Jesus promised that one day, we would be able to “remain” in His physical location.
a) A person or thing remains in the realm or sphere in which he finds himself. – Arndt & Gingrich, Greek-English Lexicon
- 1 Cor. 7:11; separated wife must remain unmarried
- Jn. 9:14; without admitting and confessing your sin, you remain in guilt
- 1 Jn. 4:16; remain in love
- 2 Jn. 9; remain in Jesus’ teaching
- This is all about state of being.
Misconceptions
a) Not about physical presence – The disciples had been in Jesus’ company for 3½ years now. They might have wondered why He was giving them this counsel now. Hadn’t they already been abiding in His presence? Furthermore, Jesus had already told them that He was getting ready to leave them and go back to the Father. They must have been somewhat confused. Obviously, Jesus was talking about more than just being where He was.
a) Not about feelings – It’s a command – something I have to do whether I feel like it or not. And the reason that Jesus put it in the form of a command is because it is not something that I will naturally do. It will not happen accidentally. I have to intentionally make it a part of my life.
a) It is about faith – Jesus promised the disciples, us and all of His disciples throughout time that He would be present with us. Beyond that, we have his open invitation to come into His presence. Though I may not feel His presence and though I have a hard time believing that He would want me near Him, I accept both of those because that is exactly what He said. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, “Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends.” (NLT) Sounds like Jesus was a Baptist, doesn’t it? That verse was written to Christians, not to the unsaved. There are many times that I would rather be in the company of the unsaved than in the company of Christians. But He WANTS our company! He WANTS us in His presence! That is a statement of faith, because there are a lot of times that I don’t want me in my company. To think that Jesus would want me is beyond my wildest imagination! And He wants me at the head table seated right beside Him where we can enjoy a meal together.
TRAN: speaking of eating, let’s look at a meal that Jesus enjoyed at the home of Mary and Martha.
Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42)
a) Still “sat” a) Distracted “distracted”
a) Humble “at Jesus’ feet” b) Demanding “Tell her”
a) Eager “listening to Him” c) Detached “worried / upset”
Those last two words used to speak of what was going on inside Martha – “worried and upset” – could be used in a cooking context because the first carries the idea of agitated and the other could be translated stirred up. In fact, though the text does not say that Jesus did this, I can see Him getting up from where He was and making His way over to where Martha was fixing the dinner. He looks down at a pot that has something boiling in it, and another one in which she’s mixing something up, and He says, “That’s you Martha – boiling over and all stirred up. The more you stir the pots, the more you get stirred up. Mary is at peace at my feet. That’s where you should be right now.”
NOTE #1 – It’s easy to feel guilty about abiding.
Mary chose to spend time with Jesus instead of helping in the kitchen. There is a temptation to feel guilty about not joining in on the work. If people from the church were to come to my house on the lunch hour, they wouldn’t find me working on the sermon, making phone calls, etc. They’d find me reading and praying. Should I feel guilty about that? Do you have the right to judge me for that or to feel superior because you are actually “doing” something? There will always be things that need to be done – things that you feel guilty about not having accomplished yet – and things that your spouse, boss and children keep reminding you about. You are going to have to make some choices. Hard choices. Who are you more willing to disappoint – the people you love or the God you love? You are going to have to disappoint someone.
NOTE #2 – It’s easy to forget Jesus in our work for Him
Food is important. Work is important. I’m sure Jesus enjoyed the meal that Martha prepared. Have you ever had guests over and been so anxious about preparing the meal and making sure that everything went just right that when the guests were gone, you discovered that you had spent no time with them or that you could not enjoy the time you spent because your mind was on the dessert that was in the oven? Next time, order pizza!
That kind of experience is exactly what happened to Martha. I think that there had been a time in Martha’s life when her priorities were different. If you look back up at vs. 38, it says that Martha was the original contact point with Jesus and that it was she who invited Jesus into her home. At some point, there had been a first time for Martha to meet Jesus. And I can see her being the one to sit at Jesus’ feet adoring Him and soaking in every word that came out of His mouth. But now, she had gotten so wrapped up in activity that she had forgotten who she was doing the activity for. She was like the church at Ephesus spoken of in Revelation. Jesus said of them, “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. ... You have forsaken your first love.” (Revelation 2:2,4)
It would be nice if we could just give away all that we have and sit up on a mountain and pray all day. God doesn’t want us to do that. Work is important to Him. He says that whoever does not work will not eat. But according to Matthew 6, there is more to life than food, clothes and the work that provides them. Good works are a part of the fruit that we produce. It is impossible though for us to produce good works for the Lord unless we have spent time with the Lord of the work. Spending time with Jesus always must precede spending time in His fields. Being must always precede doing.
Moses (Exodus 33)
a) It grew out of a daily conversation. (vs. 11)
a) It’s purpose was to get to know God. (vs. 13)
a) It was more important than anything else. (vs. 15)
Let me ask you something, if you stay in the presence of a nuclear reactor long enough, will it change you? Sure it will. You’ll start to glow. And that is exactly what happened in the life of Moses when He stayed in God’s presence. (Ex. 34:29 “...his face glowed because he had spoken to the Lord face to face.”) When you and I choose to stay in His presence, there will be some changes that happen in us too.
1. God changes everyone who does abide.
I learn to do what pleases Him.
a) Obey His commands. (vs. 10); John 14:15 – “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” NOTE: You cannot abide with Jesus if you refuse to do what He says. That includes being in church on a regular basis. It’s a command, and Jesus is found here.
a) Stay in His company. You’ve got to be willing to invest large chunks of time just sitting at His feet, being in His company.
The two go hand-in-hand with each other. I cannot be present with Jesus – in His company – if I am walking a different direction than He is.
“...this is what He requires: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8 (NLT)
I learn to value what is important to Him. (vs. 7)
“Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?” Amos 3:3 (NLT)
It is as Jesus’ words – the way He thinks about things, the goals that He has for His world and my life, the attitude that He has toward people – as those words get into my life, then what is important to Him becomes important to me. And those are the things that I begin to pray about. Rather than praying about things that really have no eternal significance, I pray for things that God wants to do anyway. Things like the salvation of friends and neighbors, justice in the world, revival in the church, godly people to become our authorities. As I pray for those, the Lord says, “That’s what I wanted anyway” and He grants those requests.
The reason that many of our prayers don’t get answered is because what we are praying for is based on our desires and what is important to us.
“Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world – wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important – has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from Him.” 1 John 2:15-16 (Message)
“Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” James 4:4 (NIV)
God already told us what is important to Him and what must be important to us.
“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness...” Matt. 6:33
The more time that I spend with Him, the more my value system will change and become like His. (Romans 12:2)
I learn to love Him like He loves me.
“O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.” Psalm 139:1(NLT)
We’ve been singing some new songs lately. But I think that the most beautiful and profound song that I have ever sung is a song that I learned as a child – “Jesus loves me.” Funny thing is that Jesus is also the one who knows all about me. That can be a scary thing to know that there is someone in your life that you have no secrets from. It can even make you want to run away and find a place to hide. That’s exactly how David felt.
“Where can I flee from your presence?” Psalm 139:7 (NIV)
Have you ever thought or said something like this: “If you really knew me, you wouldn’t love me.” Maybe that would be true of some people, but it certainly isn’t true of God. God knew everything about you before you were even born. And He still chose to love you.
Instead of turning away in disgust because of all that God sees in your life, the Bible says that He thinks good things about you.
“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God!” Psalm 139:17 (NLT)
That verse goes on to say that every morning when you wake up, God is going to still be there. The way that it’s put, it’s almost as if the author is surprised when he wakes up and finds that God hasn’t walked out on Him because of what God saw Him do or the disgusting thing that God saw in His heart. Because of His great love, He’s never going to walk out on us!
It is that kind of love that draws us into His presence (1 John 4:19) where we can learn to love Him as we get to know Him. I’ve known some people that the more I got to know them, the more I avoided them. But thankfully, I have also had the pleasure of knowing some people that the more I got to know them, the more I wanted to know them and the more time I wanted to spend with them. Jesus falls into the second category.
Do you have someone in your life that you look forward to every visit that they make, and when it comes time for them to go, you’re just never quite ready for it? Maybe you dream about a relationship like that. Jesus is a relationship like that for people who have learned to abide in Him.
Bruce Wilkinson describes it this way: “Abiding is all about the most important friendship of your life. Abiding doesn’t measure how much you know about your faith or your Bible. In abiding, you seek, long for, thirst for, wait for, see, know, love, hear and respond to...a person. ... “In our Western-style rush to do and perform for God, we often falter at the task of simply enjoying His company. Yet we were created to be dissatisfied and incomplete with less. ... ‘As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God’ (Psalm 42:1)
“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” Matthew 22:37 (NLT)
You say, “I already do love God.” Let’s test that statement.
“...here is how to measure it [your love] – the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends.” John 15:13 (NLT)
Jesus showed His love for me by laying down His life for me. Now as I spend my life with Him and grow in my love for Him, I choose to daily die to myself. That’s how I show my love for Him.
I learn to love what He loves.
“I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you.” John 15:12 (NLT)
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39 (NLT)
As I spend time at the feet of Jesus listening to His voice and focused on His eyes, I see that His attention is directed toward two things – me and the people around me. More than anything else, Jesus loves people.
It’s easy to get mad at people and just write them off. It’s easy to get disgusted with people over the things that they do. It’s easy to give up on people and quit trying to impact their lives because we figure that they will never change. Jesus doesn’t respond that way to people, so how can I if I am going to spend time in His presence?
CONCLUSION
In the book, No Bad Dogs, by British dog trainer Barbara Woodhouse, she says dogs understand love better than we do. She writes, “In a dog’s mind, a master or a mistress to love, honor, and obey is an absolute necessity. The love is dormant in the dog until brought into full bloom by an understanding owner. Thousands of dogs appear to love their owners, they welcome them home with enthusiastic wagging of the tail and jumping up, they follow them about their houses happily and, to the normal person seeing the dog, the affection is true and deep. But to the experienced dog trainer this outward show is not enough. The true test of love takes place when the dog has got the opportunity to go out on its own as soon as the door is left open by mistake and it goes off and often doesn’t return home for hours. That dog loves only its home comforts and the attention it gets from its family; it doesn’t truly love the master or mistress as they fondly think. True love in dogs is apparent when a door is left open and the dog still stays happily within earshot of its owner. For the owner must be the be-all and end-all of a dog’s life.”
“The real test of our walk of Faith isn’t seen in our work or activity, or even in our theological purity. It’s found in this: when we have an opportunity to wander away, to disobey, to leave His presence, do we choose instead to stay close to Him, to abide in Christ, to obey?”
INVITATION
My goal this morning was to excite you so much about what could happen in your life as a result of abiding in Christ, that you would be willing to do whatever it took to get into and stay in the presence of Jesus. Someone might say, “Wasn’t that your goal last week, Chris?” Yes, it was. But some of you weren’t here last week, and some of you needed further convincing. The reason you need to be convinced is because you choose whether or not to enter into a relationship of abiding. No one will force you. It isn’t easy. It isn’t cheap. But it is possible, and it is worth it. Next week, we will talk about how you do it and what it’s going to cost. But for now, will you choose to do it. Will you allow God to prune away whatever might be holding you back? Will you respond in repentance to whatever discipline God is bringing into your life right now? Will you come to Jesus and say, “Ham, henek, met. I don’t want anything; I have just come near.”
