Abide, Remain

Back in September, I lost the right-hand everyday-ring that I had worn for about 5 years.  I thought that my hand would eventually not feel “naked” without it, but several months later my right ring finger still feels empty, too light.  So I started looking at rings to replace it, and also considering what word(s) I might have stamped or engraved on it.  My previous ring had “wisdom, contentment, peace” engraved on it, as those were words for my mind and heart in that era. I still recognize those as characteristics or states of mind that I need…but I have increasingly come to the realization that the source of my wisdom, contentment and peace—and all good gifts—is God and His Word.  My daily intention is to prioritize time in God’s Word; the more that I do, the more that I recognize how much I need it.  It is truly a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119: 105);  God’s Word is truly perfect, trustworthy, right, radiant, pure, sure, precious and sweet (Psalm 19).  I am reminded of a story I read once (may have been in the Lutheran Witness?) about a young adult with an intellectual disability; this person approached the Lord’s altar weekly to receive Holy Communion with a simple, repeated refrain: “I need You, I need You, I need You…”.    This is also my refrain.  When my mind is distracted and overwhelmed, when I am confused or frustrated, when I am anxious, depressed, self-critical and full of doubt, I call out to God for His presence—I do this intentionally, and the more intentionally I do so the more of a habit it becomes.  I need You, I need You, I need You.

This habit and attitude is the remaining, the abiding, which Jesus describes in His last discussion with His disciples on the night of His betrayal, in John 14 – 16, specifically in chapter 15. 

“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. I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.  If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.  As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in My love.  If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father’s commands and remain in His love.  I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this:  Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends….You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.  Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name.  This is My command:  Love each other.”

Remain. Abide.  My translation (NIV, 1984) uses the word Remain.  Other translations (KJV and NKJV probably most famously) use the word Abide.  I like both words—as if my liking means anything!—but they carry slightly different connotations. Abide conveys to me something more poetic as well as something more intentionally sacrificial, a tone of faithfulness and loyalty; Remain conveys more steadfast solidity, immovability, endurance.    According to Strong’s Greek Concordance, other translations use “continue” and “stay.”  The original Greek word (“meno”) is defined as “to stay, abide, remain” with usage being “remain, abide, stay, wait, await.”  Other phrases in which this word (or a derivative) is apparently used include “dwell”, “tarry as a guest, lodge”, “to be kept, to remain”, “not to depart, not to leave, to continue to be present”, “ to maintain unbroken fellowship with one, adhere to, to be constantly present.”

One of the reasons the word Abide appeals to me is its usage in the hymn “Abide With Me [fast falls the eventide…].” Written by Henry Francis Lyte (at least according to Wikipedia), the hymn is apparently inspired by both the words used by a dying friend and by the words used in Luke 24: 29, where Jesus had walked and taught two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and they entreat Him to not go on but rather to stay as a guest overnight; the words used in the NIV is “stay with us”, but in other translations it is “abide with us.”  I love the lyrics of the hymn and find them deeply inspiring and comforting.  For the disciples on the road to Emmaus, they asked Jesus to stay with them—to remain, to abide—because at first they did not recognize Him as the Lord, but only wanted Him to stay as a guest for His safety and comfort.  But when He blessed and broke bread with them, they were made aware of His identity as the risen Christ.  The plea that Christ abide, stay, remain, is a prayer for all people; and He does.  He remains with us through His Spirit and through the sacraments—it was with the breaking and blessing of bread that His identity was revealed to them; it is through the bread and wine of His presence in Holy Communion that He abides with us.  And it is through the Holy Spirit’s power that we receive faith and understand the Word—it is through the Spirit’s power that I am able to Abide as a branch remains in the Vine, and through that power that I bear fruit.  

Vicar Lyte’s friend entreated him to “abide with me” at his deathbed.  The words of the hymn begin paraphrasing the words of the disciples and the words of the dying friend, with the nightfall at Emmaus and earthly death being tied together with the word “eventide”:  “Abide with me; fast falls the eventide; the darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.  When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless O abide with me.”  “Eventide” is the title given to the musical arrangement most commonly used with this hymn.  The verses poignantly plead with the living Savior to abide throughout the trials of life, from youth to age and into death.

The words of the hymn appropriately remind me that it is Christ Who abides with me.  Abiding in Him and in His Word may be something that I recognize my need for, that I want and work to prioritize--but ultimately it is He Who chooses to abide with me.  It is His presence that gives me insight into my need; it is His Spirit that grants me faith and blesses me to persevere through trials; it is His Spirit that gives me understanding, insight and wisdom through His Word.  Christ calls us to abide in Him; He enables us to do so by His Spirit, the Counselor and Guide Whom He sent.  

In the beginning of John 15, Jesus tells His disciples that they have already been “cleaned” (also “purified” or “pruned”; having to do with removing what corrupts or is unfruitful; separating the undesirable elements).  It is first in my baptism that Christ cleans me, separates out what is unclean and unfruitful by uniting me in His death and raising me to new, pure and holy life in Him.  Freed from sin and the power of death in my life by the power of God’s Word and Spirit in my baptism, I am now clean.  Cleaned, pruned, I can now abide in Christ in faith and fruitfulness.  Throughout the Old Testament, God demanded that His people be clean—that they separate themselves from what was unclean through rituals and laws, by ceremonial washing and by behaviors which set them apart and preserved them for His purposes.  Now all people who are in Christ are set apart, cleaned and declared righteous; not by ceremonial washing or behaviors—which only served as a foreshadowing and to preserve God’s people for Himself as they obeyed His commands in faith—but now by the washing of Baptism into the holiness of Christ.  I am baptized into the holiness of Christ, washed in His blood; I have died to sin and my sinful nature no longer exists as far as God is concerned—in my baptism I am raised in Christ to new and perfect life.  But I am simultaneously still in this world, still surrounded by the evil influences of the devil, the world and my own sinful flesh; I may be set apart for God into eternity, but I am still living my life on earth.  Simultaneously saint and sinner, I am cleaned and grafted into the Vine and I am called to abide in the Vine and thereby bear fruit.

My prayer to Abide is a prayer simultaneously that God in Christ through His Spirit would abide with me daily; and that I would Remain faithfully, steadfastly, enduringly in Him through faith. There is a reciprocity….but it begins and ends with God.  I am able to Remain only because of His goodness and grace; I desire to Abide only by His power; He holds me so that I do not let go.  I need You, I need You, I need You.

Abide.  Remain. 

This is a prayer for faithfulness, for strong faith and for fruitfulness, for wisdom and contentment and peace, for endurance and perseverance. It is also a prayer for God’s eternal presence, for His Word and His righteousness, for His wisdom both in life and unto eternal life.  That I abide in Him and He abide in me; that I remain faithful and full of faith, and that He remain faithful to His promises and to His character of love and faithfulness. 

So.  I think I will order a new ring.  I found a bronze one on Etsy, brushed bronze that the vendor says will withstand my weightlifting and dishwashing and work as a daily wear ring.  I will ask, I think, for both “abide” and “remain” to be engraved on it, to capture the sense of both words—of poetic faithfulness and unmoving steadfastness, of perseverance and dwelling.  It will be my reminder to Abide and Remain in Christ, and a reminder of God’s faithfulness to me as He Remains and Abides with me in Christ.