It’s dark, and the disciples are shaken. Their Master–the one whom they’ve seen silence storms and raise corpses, the one from whom horrific demons flee and to whom tiny, trusting children flock–the God-Man who has spoken light and love and healing right down to their very bones–the One who has promised to give them life everlasting–this Jesus, has just told them (again) that He must leave them–tonight. Rising from their passover supper, this trek will take them to that shadowy garden, Gethsemane. Perhaps now passing in cool midnight air through a ghostly vineyard, Jesus gestures to the tangled rows of vines and branches, heavy with fresh-grown clumps of good grapes. “Already you are clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Abide in me…” He begins (Jn. 15:4).
We’re all familiar with the metaphor. (What a brilliant teacher our Lord is!) As the branches have no prayer of producing sweet grapes if they don’t stay connected to the life-giving flow of nutrients and water from their vine, so we have no prayer of living our days as God has commanded–with compassion and courage, honesty and generosity, forbearing patience and bold faith–if we don’t stay connected to Jesus, and the life-giving flow of his Spirit. Christians must ABIDE in Christ.
But what does that mean, exactly? And what does that look like here in Wenatchee, WA in 2022? Combing through the extended conversation between the Lord and his disciples on that fateful night should give us some clues:
“Believe” (14:1) “Do the works that I do” (14:12) “Ask in my name” (15:7) “keep my commandments (15:10)” “keep my word”(14:23) “bear much fruit” (15:8) “Love me” (14:21) “love one another as I have loved you” (15:12) “remember the word I said to you” (15:20) “take heart when you have tribulation” (16:33) be guided by the Holy Spirit (16:13) “know the Spirit, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (14:7) “Because I live you also shall live” (14:19)
Clearly, at the heart of our Christian living is a deep reality of connectedness, of bright, living relationship, of union and communion with our Christ. Yet, many of us–students and staff alike–struggle through our storm-tossed or sleepy days with how exactly to walk this out. Like the disciples, we too can be shaken at the charge to cling in real relationship to a Savior we cannot currently see or touch or hear. This is why we’ve chosen a careful study of ABIDE IN CHRIST for our Secondary School chapel theme for the year.
Here’s a peek at the roadmap:
Abide…because you KNOW HIM, LOVE HIM, TRUST HIM! [testimonies]
Abide…BY HIS WORD
Abide…IN HIS SPIRIT
Abide…SIDE-BY-SIDE w/ EACH OTHER
Abide…THROUGH THE STORMS & SHADOWLANDS OF SUFFERING
Abide…ON HIS TERMS
Abide…COME WHAT MAY
As we walk this road together this year at TRA, would you join in prayer and heart that Jesus, our true Vine, would nourish and strengthen us afresh, to bear good fruit, full of life, and flowing from His Spirit?
-Nathan Hettick, TRA Chaplain
