Abide in me

...my cup overflows....

I was reading one of the lectionary readings today (hang with me, I think I can relate this back to the Psalm.) -- John 15:9-17.

The verse that struck me right as I read it was verse 13:

No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.

I don't believe that I have ever literally been asked to lay my life down for a friend -- certainly not like Jesus did. I think, though, that we are often asked to "lay down our lives" for our friends and family. Consider "laying down your life" to mean setting down your routine. We are called to a certain life, and we lead that life. We work, we play, we raise our children, we walk the dog. It is a routine, ordinary life, but we find joy in it, and in it, we answer our calling to serve.

But sometimes, we are called beyond that. We are called to lay down our lives, and maybe, sometimes, that means that we step out of our routine, setting it aside. I have a friend whose father is in the hospital. In many ways, the son has stepped out of his normal routine to be available to his parents, to care for them. His sister has left her home and come to be with her parents, setting aside her life. As pastor set aside his normal Sunday to pick up something that my friend would normally have done, relieving him to be with his parents. People go to visit, setting aside their normal schedule to be a support. As friends, I know that my husband and I would set aside whatever we needed to in order to be available to help our friend through this time.

Why do we -- family and friends -- do this?

Read verse 12:

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

We are called to love one another. Setting aside our lives for each other is a way that we abide in the love of Christ, and he abides in us. It is how we shine the light of God in each other's lives. It is the means by which each of us sees God.

What is the result?

Read verse 11:

I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

It seems very strange to say that actions in times of stress like this bring joy, but I believe it to be true. Don't think of joy as happiness. Joy is something else. Joy is the knowledge of the presence of God. Being shone Christ by someone else's actions in love, brings joy. Do we remember that shining the light of Christ by showing love to someone else brings joy as well? I know that it does. It is joy to me to be a friend. I'm not at all happy by what is happening in my friends life; it makes my heart ache. But I, and all of his family and friends, would find joy in helping him. I find joy in seeing how many people are reaching out to help, if they can. It is how our joy is made complete.

What does this have to do with the Psalm? When we abide in love, and when Christ abides in us; when we show the fruit of that love through our actions, by laying down our lives, we find that our cup overflows. It doesn't matter if we give or receive the love of Christ. Our cup overflows. When God dwells among us, we are blessed.