John 15:1-8

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Today’s reading: Jesus as the True Vine… The word “vine” (Jesus) appears four times in these eight verses; the word “branch” (us) appears six times; the word “fruit” appears eight times. Jesus is directing His words to His disciples – and to us “down the road”? They (we?) are to bear fruit. And in our bearing fruit, the Father is glorified.

So what does it mean “to bear fruit”? It always seemed to me that the short answer, the simple answer is in our bringing converts to the faith. However, to keep the analogy reasonable, if the branches are humans (Jesus’ followers) then it would follow that an unbeliever or a potential convert, also a human being, would also be a branch – maybe a weak twig or a diseased branch, but not a piece of fruit like an apple or a bunch of grapes.

So what would the fruit be? Looking ahead, the very next section in this chapter is all about love. The word “love” appears nine times in the next nine verses (vv. 9-17). So I’m wondering if “bearing fruit” means manifesting love – love for our fellow human beings, but more importantly, love for Jesus, His Father, and the Holy Spirit. But I’m getting ahead of today’s reading. I’ll have to think deeper on this “fruit” topic.

Slava Bohu!

John 14:25-31

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” The second “Holy Spirit” section in John 14-16… But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (v. 26) Here we have two more Holy Spirit activities. First, He will teach the apostles (us?) “all things” – presumably “all things” that we need to know and when we need to know them. I daresay that whenever the light dawns on a Scripture passage that has been confusing to me (or to you) – that’s the Holy Spirit at work.

Second, the Holy Spirit will bring to remembrance Jesus’ words to the apostles (to us also?). Again, I extend this item a bit to imagine that words, thoughts, and phrases come to mind when we need them, whether Scriptural verses or any bit of solid Biblical teaching. A Christian leader once said to me, “They can argue your theology or your religion, but they cannot argue your personal life.” That phrase came to mind just a few months ago, in early June when Carol and I were visiting with my brother, Dickie, and I began to share some “miracles” from my past. He acknowledged that he did not dispute my stories, but he still has a faith barrier. But my remembering those words spoken to me made the difference in my conversation with my brother.

I’ve fallen in love with the Holy Spirit!

Slava Bohu!

John 14:12-24

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Some of you have heard this already. Our theme this past Creative Arts Camp was the Holy Spirit. Way back when, Kelly asked me to talk about the Holy Spirit using John 14-16 as my source material. It was transformative in me as I learned more about Him – who He is and what He does! And now we have reached that first John 14 mention of the Holy Spirit in today’s reading and three items popped out that were part of my earlier study:

1. Jesus will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper… (v. 16)
2. …the world cannot receive [Him], because it neither sees Him nor knows Him… (v. 17)
3. …He dwells with you and will be in you. (v. 17)

This last item is particularly intriguing, especially the phrase “will be in you”. I wonder if Jesus was looking forward to Pentecost, when the disciples received the Holy Spirit?

When we put it all together we see that the Holy Spirit is in the world, working, but the world cannot see Him or know Him. However, those of us who are in Christ have that Holy Spirit, both the knowledge of Him and His power indwelling us. Therefore we can pray for the Holy Spirit to work with our unbelieving family and friends. They do not know Him, but He knows them. When we ask God to work in their lives, that’s essentially what we are asking for. GLORY!

Slava Bohu!

John 14:1-11

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” For the next twelve days we have Jesus’ final discourse, John 14-17. I often have a hard time following Jesus’ words as written by John, so I’ll be praying extra hard for my own understanding!!

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? (v. 9a) What struck me here, surprisingly, was Jesus calling Philip by name. I did not do a full search, but I could not recall any incident where Jesus called one of the disciples by name, except when He said, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat…”. (Luke 22:31) I was touched by Jesus’ personal approach. No doubt He knew all twelve names, but we don’t see Him using those names. So why did it strike me? We sing a song at church where the chorus begins “He knows my name…”. Maybe that’s the title of the song. But at any rate, He DOES know our names! Every one of us…! And if we know Him personally, then we can have loving conversations between us and Him. I’m not there yet, but it’s a goal. GLORY!!

Slava Bohu!

John 13:36-38

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” There are not many incidents that are recorded in all four gospels, but Peter’s denial is one of those few. It must have been striking to all four writers to first hear Peter’s insistence of His dedication to Jesus, then to hear Jesus’ prophecy that Peter would deny Him. Presumably John and Matthew were at the table and Mark probably heard it firsthand from Peter. And as we already know, Luke is serious about doing his homework. But these connections are there for most of Jesus’ ministry, yet not everything is covered in “quadruple tradition”. Peter’s denial is; it must have been powerful to those at the table!

Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward. (v. 36b) These words from Jesus to His disciples must have been extremely comforting to Peter and the others after Jesus’ Ascension. Yes, receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was powerful, but it’s also true that our mind can play tricks on us. Having the memory of Jesus’ words would have been an anchor, of sorts, during troubling times. And, as has been the case with so many other words from Jesus, it’s an anchor on which we can depend in our own lives.

Slava Bohu!

Luke 22:31-38

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” As is often the case, Luke’s account of Peter’s denial is much more different than Matthew and Mark. First, he has Peter speaking only once, not twice as in Matthew and Mark. Second, Luke has this section where Jesus says that Satan wanted to come after Peter, but that Jesus prayed against that and further prayed that Peter would strengthen his brothers – all of which happened (vv. 31-32). Third, Jesus continues after Peter’s denial with this section on money bags, knapsacks, sandals, and swords.

My Study Bible helped me with two items today. First, Jesus’ reply in verse 38: They said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.” The Study Bible pointed out that Jesus was probably not speaking literally when He suggested that the disciples sell their garments and buy a sword, but that troublesome times were coming for His disciples and that they should be ready. Then when they mentioned the two swords, His reply, “It is enough.” was probably spoken “tongue in cheek”, not literally.

Second, as to Jesus’ “money bags” comment in verse 36 (“But now, whoever has a money belt is to take it along…” ), the Study Bible said that in the past Jesus and His disciples had been dependent on peoples’ (strangers?) generosity, but now they needed to be prepared to pay their own way. In Acts 18:1-3, 20:33-34 we see that Paul lived those words out, paying his own way as a tentmaker. Frankly, personally, I feel like “tentmaking” with a mission focus is the better way to go out as a missionary. Naturally I’m sure many would disagree with my position therein!

Slava Bohu!

Mark 14:26-31

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Following up on my comment from yesterday, here is Peter’s second pronouncement, as written by Mark: But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” (v. 31) The NKJV has “vehemently” and the NASB has “insistently”. All three words suggest a level of intensity in Peter’s second pronouncement not found in Matthew. Yet with all his good intentions, Peter still failed. There’s an old adage, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I never believed it, especially if we are living a Spirit-filled life. Sure, we fail, but we find repentance in Jesus and we move on. That’s what Peter did. Read Acts chapter 2 to see what Peter became in his Spirit-filled life. We have that same power available to us. Thank you, Lord!

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 26:30-35

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” I had an all-day conference here in the DC area, so I am just now posting. Tired…!

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. (v. 30) There is a chronological problem here. Matthew and Mark have Jesus going out to the Mount of Olives while we still have four chapters in John (14-17) which presumably occur during the Last Supper.

Verse 35 struck me: Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same. The part that struck me this time was that all the disciples agreed with Peter. I don’t recall that item in this section – what always sticks out to me is Peter’s denial and the Lord’s prophecy of his denial. The other strange thing about Peter’s denial is that he had already said that he would never fall away. Then came Jesus’ prophecy spoken directly to Peter, then a second pronouncement by Peter that he would never deny him. Yet he did. Peter’s behavior warns us of caution in making promises to Jesus. I think He would rather we wait until we hear from Him as to what He wants of us before we make our own plans as to how we will behave toward Him. I know that from experience…!

Slava Bohu!

John 13:31-35

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (vv. 34-35) It would not be true for me to say that I do not like these verses. (My, what an opening line…!!) HOWEVER, these verses always take me back to 2003, when I was an Assistant Treasurer for the Diocese of Lexington; Stacy Sauls was the bishop; the triennial Convention of the Episcopal Church was that August; and I was second alternate in the Diocese to attend the Convention. I did not attend, but I was active in the Diocesan events and discussions leading up to the Convention.

You may recall that a major issue before the Episcopal Church at that Convention was the confirmation of Gene Robinson, an actively practicing gay man, as bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire. Although Bishop Sauls never formally announced his position on this issue, from what he said in our meetings it was abundantly clear to me that he was in favor of confirming Robinson as bishop (and he later voted to do so). As I recall, his “mantra” in these discussions was essentially to cite the essence of these two verses, as in something like “Whatever else is going on, we are called to love one another.” Further, it’s not difficult to go online and find the essence of these verses in support of gay marriage and other LGBT issues.

These two verses are simple enough and provide guidance for all of us as to how we are to live. Love one another. Period. Many in the church obey this commandment, but add the admonition, “Love the sinner, hate the sin…” or “We are a welcoming church, but…”.

In reading these verses anew I asked myself if maybe Jesus was speaking these words only to those at the Last Supper table with Him. So I went online and typed in “love one another 12 apostles”. One reference in particular was telling. It listed nearly 100 New Testament verses on “Love one another” (https://www.openbible.info/topics/love_one_another). Most of the Gospel verses listed were from John, but there were at least seven from the Synoptics. To me it’s clear that Jesus was not speaking only to the 12. Check it out yourself.

So where do I stand? I’d like to think that I am in line with traditional, historical Christian teaching on these issues. Specifically I think I can make two statements: (1) I am opposed to gay marriage; (2) I am opposed to having practicing homosexuals in positions of church leadership. There are probably other statements I could make if we were to have a longer discussion (like sex-change operations).

Beyond all that, we have another Biblical guideline given to us by Jesus: Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. (Matthew 7:1-2, ESV)

Your comments…?

Slava Bohu!