Abiding…1 – The word abide

Memory goes back some 63 years.  1954…first-year Greek language at Auckland University.  The formidable Dr E M Blaiklock was Professor of Classics -- he was also a prominent Baptist layman, back in the days when that was still notable.  He stood for scholarship in Christian preaching and teaching, and I can assure you he stood for no nonsense and no favours among his students.  Looking back to that other world now, I see how it was exactly that conjunction of classical discipline, and living Christian faith that caught my imagination.

Of course, Dr Blaiklock would never confuse the lecture room for the bible study group.  But one day in his presentation the two did come fleetingly together – and I remember it clearly.  We had encountered, I think in Plato, the Greek verb menein (μενειν).  It means to stay, to remain…  It can mean to wait, or be still.  Dr Blaiklock left his notes for a minute and said, “…if you’re interested, this verb is given a special meaning for Christian believers in the Greek of John’s Gospel… in fact the English translators had to find a special English word for it.” …and sure enough… just one example:

Abide in me, as I abide in you.  Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. [John 15:4] 

That word abide is not a word we use frequently in our normal conversation.  It’s an older, stilted word – and the translators of the earliest English bibles chose it because they realised that here in John it is now having to describe something special, the relationship of love and steadiness between the believer and the risen Jesus.  It is a relationship, said the Greek writers of John’s Gospel, a bond, of menein, abiding - Abide in me, as I abide in you.

Now, at my age and stage I have had all I ever want of false trails, shallow enthusiasms, great revelations, inspiring keynote preachers, spiritual sentimentalism, superstitions and solutions.  For some faith is really very simple – you live as consistently as you can according to the parts of the Sermon on the Mount you remember, which express decency and reasonable generosity.  Indeed, the world would then be a better place.  But Jesus was offering a bond of love which is more than respect and moral imitation, and general decency.  Abide in me, as I abide in you.  This abiding relationship grows and deepens, strengthens and warms the heart, comes to nourish and order our lives, becomes indispensable.

So there are different aspects to consider over the next few weeks.  How do we find this relationship works in practice?  Is it the same for each of us?  How can I think of it, speak of this bond of abiding, simply and without embarrassment?  Moreover, how is it love…? Jesus taught: Abide in me, abide in my love…  We will go down some of those roads.  But for the present perhaps it’s enough to say this…  In Christian Meditation, each time we choose to be still and silent for a time, asking for nothing, content to be present to God in Christ… each time, we are already in the room of abiding.  Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, but only as it abides in the vine, no more can you, unless you abide in me.