Easter 6B Sermon
John 15:9-17; 1 John 5:1-6

May the grace, mercy and peace of God our Father be with us in the name of his son, our risen Lord and savior Jesus Christ; Amen.

How are you with goodbyes? I am personally not very good at them, mostly because I don’t like to do them. When I think about the prospect of not seeing someone for a long period of time – or even, ever again – I have a history of getting emotional. Having never travelled very far from home in my younger years, I never realized those emotions until I was preparing to go on internship. My home congregation, Linden Lutheran, was having a farewell tea to send me off to Fairmont, Minnesota for a year, and the pastor had me stand up. They gave me a small gift, and I was about to tell them how grateful I was for all of their support and how much I would miss them during the next 12 months. But as I began to speak, the words quickly – and unexpectedly - choked up in my throat and the next thing I knew, I was bawling like a baby! It took me totally by surprise, and I was actually a bit embarrassed because for the better part of a minute, I was quite frankly inconsolable! Even though I was looking forward to internship, I hadn’t thought about the people I was leaving behind; a part of me just wanted to stay.
        In the 1980s, a singer named Jackson Browne had a well-known song on the pop charts called, “Stay”. In that song, he bemoans the fact that another show is over, and the long, difficult task of packing up instruments and equipment is about to start, followed by a bus ride to another city that looks just like the one they are leaving. In the final section of the song, Browne sings:
People stay just a little bit longer; We want to play -- just a little bit longer; Now the promoter don't mind; And the union don't mind, if we take a little time, and we leave it all behind and sing one more song. Oh won’t you stay just a little bit longer; Please, please, please say you will; Say you will. Oh won’t you stay just a little bit longer, Oh please, please stay just a little bit more; Now the promoter don’t mind; and the roadies don’t mind, If we take a little time, and we leave this all behind and sing one more song.
Sounds like someone who doesn’t like goodbyes either.
          Imagine being with Jesus and his disciples on their final night together. I don’t think that the disciples realized what was happening, but it is certain that Jesus did. And if you read all of this section of John (chapters 14-17) which is known as the, “farewell discourse,” you would say that Jesus doesn’t like to say goodbyes either! In the Greek language, the word, “meno” means stay – or as it has been repeated over and over in these last two weeks’ gospel readings, it means, “to abide”. I think that the human part of Jesus really wanted to remain with his friends, even though he knew that after he endured the cruelty of the cross, he would experience the perfect joy and peace of heaven that would be the result of God’s victory over sin, death and the devil.
          In his time with the disciples, Jesus is reminding them and himself that staying with them physically is not a permanent solution – for they all would be going out to the ends of the earth to proclaim the gospel and baptize in Jesus’ name. They would all die eventually and their relationship would die as well. But by following through on his mission, Jesus transforms the relationship that he has with the disciples and with us forever. He mentions that in this passage. He no longer calls them servants – he calls them friends. As their rabbi, they were subservient to him. They literally followed him around, sitting at his feet and doing as he commanded them. It has been a good and just relationship for them – Jesus has been a loving rabbi, one that has never asked anything of them for his own benefit or to prove his power and authority over them. That humble, servant-like nature was a bit rare between rabbi and students; that is why the relationship between Jesus and the disciples is so close. Jesus was definitely the master, but he was a loving, gracious master who didn’t only speak of the kingdom of God, but lived the kingdom of God!
          So, as Jesus works through his goodbyes, he teaches one more important thing: that they will abide or stay in his presence as they love their brothers and sisters as much as they love him. Letting Jesus go, the disciples are called to see Jesus in their brothers, sisters, friends, strangers, and even enemies around them. That is what abiding in God means; that is how you stay in God’s presence.
          On this Mother’s Day, I realize that many of you have said goodbye to your mothers. I am sure that many of you are like me – you remember your mom as a vibrant, energetic young woman, but in her older years, she is no longer the person that she was when she was cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, sewing and so many other tasks that were necessary while raising her child or children. At 82 years old, my mother uses a cane to steady herself after having a couple of strokes and heart bypass surgery over the years. She and my father rarely – if ever – cook, and their dinners are usually spent at Bob Evans, Panera Bread or MCL. My older sister cleans her house regularly, and the rest of us help out where we can. Much like Jesus and the disciples’ relationship, ours with our mother has changed over the years to the point where it is more of a friendship than one being in authority over the other. She even speaks of the fact that any time the Lord is ready to take her to heaven, she is ready to go! But the problem is – even though we know that she will be in Jesus’ presence when that happens, and the aches and pains and shortcomings of her human body will be healed, we don’t like to say those kinds of goodbyes! We have too many memories of family holidays, dinners, school sporting events and concerts – graduations, weddings, baptisms and all of those times that we have shared with our mother, and still share with her! Maybe we are afraid of what like will be like when she is gone.
          Much like Jesus’ directions to abide in his love, we must always remember to abide in the love that our mothers shared with us as we were growing up. We cannot stay young forever – we cannot stay with our parents forever. But the promise of Jesus on his final night is that we can stay in his presence and in the presence of God forever by loving others the ways that Jesus loved everyone with whom he came into contact, the way that our mothers loved us over the years, and the way that we have experienced kindness and blessing from those who we call friends in our lives.
          There is one more English word that is also a translation from the Greek word “meno” and Jesus uses it when he refers to the fruit that we should bear as branches attached to the vine. He says we are to bear fruit that lasts – lasts, remains, stays, abides - they all are the same word in the original language of the New Testament. Just as many of you women have learned to love your children from the love that your mothers showed to you, so also the disciples learned to love from Jesus. They bore fruit that abides, remains, stays and lasts. And quickly, the Christian faith has spread across the globe not because Jesus makes a great logical argument for the existence of God and our relationship with him; but the Christian faith has spread because Jesus has abided – yes, lasted - with the world. That has happened because through the years, his disciples have borne fruit that lasts. Indeed, that is the secret to remaining or abiding with God forever: taking Jesus’ example of love to heart, and trying to emulate it as much as possible, knowing that we will fall short – but also knowing that Jesus will forgive us and put us back into those situations where we can get it right the next time!
          The concluding act of love was demonstrated on the cross. In our faith, we know that Jesus not only died FOR us – this death was the sacrifice that defeated the devil’s hold on us – but that he died BEFORE us. We will all die, that is true, but dying like we live – by love – we are vehicles through which the love of Jesus abides in this world. Jesus’ death blazed the trail for our death; a death that is not the end of it all, but a threshold through which we travel to reside in the perfect peaceful presence of the one who loves us so much that he had a hard time saying goodbye on his last night on earth.
          As you remember and honor your mother today, take to heart Jesus’ teaching about abiding in love. Jesus shared a special kind of love – one that was close and personal and sacrificial. If that sounds a lot like the love you have experience in your mother, then give thanks to God for that gift, and share the same love with your children and everyone around you. In that way, your mother’s love abides long after she is gone – just like Jesus’ love abides with us forever. May it be so, in the name of Christ our Lord; Amen.