Hello friends and welcome.
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk-in-docs,
And this is the very last Lenten Reflection.
As we've journeyed all the way over the last 46 days,
Reflecting on the I Am statements of Jesus and the Gospel of John through the lens of Easter and Lent,
Preparing ourselves to enter into the Passion.
And I invite you to join me at what will be 5am Australian Eastern Standard Time on Easter Sunday morning,
Which will be Easter Saturday anywhere between afternoon and evening,
Depending on where you are in the world.
And to join me in a live session that you can register for at the top of my Insight Timer Teachers page.
You'll see the live session there,
Day 47.
And I invite you to join me together as we bring this all together,
All these I Am statements.
If they tell us something about Jesus,
What do they say about who we are?
As we conclude Lent,
Walk through resurrection life of Sunday and into the remainder of our year.
So I hope you'll join us and gather together in that together.
For now,
Though,
This last session,
I invite you to take a deep breath in and out.
Get comfortable,
Let your body settle into stillness and let your heart open to the presence of God.
As you listen to the words of Jesus in John chapter 15 and verse 12.
This is my commandment,
That you love one another as I have loved you.
And as I have loved you,
I want you to love one another as I have loved you.
One last time,
I want you to imagine yourself standing in the vineyard,
But it's harvest time this time.
And so it's summer,
The air is warm,
It carries the scent of grapes and earth.
The vine stretches wide,
The branches are heavy with fruit,
Big clusters of grapes hang in abundance,
Glistening in the sunlight.
You can even reach out,
You run your fingers over them and you feel the fullness and the weight.
It's been a wonderful and fruitful season.
Now,
This,
Friends,
In this whole I am statement,
This whole passage from John 15,
Is the image that Jesus gives us of a life that abides in him,
A life that bears fruit,
A life that remains in the vine.
And the fruit that he speaks of is love.
Now,
In a vineyard,
Like any agricultural enterprise,
Bearing fruit doesn't happen by accident.
It's a result of deep connection of the vine.
It comes from careful tending by the vine grower.
A branch doesn't decide to bear fruit on its own.
It can only bear fruit when it receives the life flying from the vine and allows that life to produce something good through it.
Jesus tells us that love is the natural fruit of abiding in him.
This is my commandment,
He says,
That you love one another.
How?
As I have loved you.
Love's not something then that we manufacture out of sheer effort.
It's not a performance.
It's not another task to be checked off on a list.
It's the natural result of remaining in Christ and being nourished in the presence of Christ and being shaped by the grace of Christ.
And yet,
Friend,
Let's not kid ourselves.
Love isn't something that we just wallow in.
We do,
But there's an action that comes as a result of that love.
In fact,
For love to be love,
It really does require action.
A vineyard full of grapes is beautiful,
But fruit's meant to be shared.
It's meant to nourish,
Meant to bring joy.
In the case of the vineyards I've worked in,
The grapes were taken and they were crushed and they were pressed,
But then they were treated.
And out of that,
They were shared as wine with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people who shared that with others in their immediate circles and further.
The love of Christ,
In a similar way,
It's not just to sit within us and stay there.
It's meant to overflow through us into the world around us.
I wonder,
Who or what in your life is God calling you to love more fully?
Perhaps someone who's being difficult to love.
Perhaps there's someone in your circle who you can notice has been overlooked.
And maybe,
Maybe the person that God's calling you to love more fully is yourself.
Just in a moment of stillness and silence,
I invite you to ask yourself the question,
Where can you extend kindness,
Mercy,
Grace,
And love today?
Maybe love looks like patience with someone who frustrates you.
And maybe it looks like forgiveness,
Where hurt has taken root.
Perhaps it's generosity towards someone in need.
Maybe it's just in the simple act of showing up and being present for a friend.
You know,
Love doesn't always have to be grand gestures.
It's often found in the quiet,
Unnoticed acts of care,
Stuff that we might think doesn't matter.
But boy,
Can it matter to the person who receives that love.
So one last time.
As you stand in this vineyard,
Imagine picking a cluster of grapes,
Feel their weight in your hand.
This is the fruit of your life in Christ.
It's meant to be offered to others.
It's meant to bless.
Who will you share this love with today?
As we close today,
Let's share a prayer.
God,
May our lives bear the fruit of your love.
Let us abide in you,
Drawing our strength from you.
So that we may love you as you have loved us.
Amen.
And as always,
Grace,
Peace and love go with you,
Be with you,
Hold you and buoy you.
Every step of the way,
Today and every day.
In a case you don't join us tomorrow for our live final session on day 47.
Here on day 46,
Our last recorded Lenten study,
I want to thank you for being a part of this journey with all of us together,
For the comments,
For the blessings that you've extended over the last 40 days,
46 days.
Thank you so much.
I pray that God has blessed you abundantly in some way through this Lenten journey.
And I pray above all that you'll be held in the life of resurrection.
And that as you walk beyond Easter,
You would go with great joy and great peace.
And so for those that can join me tomorrow,
Join us tomorrow,
Until then,
Grace and peace be with you.
Please go and register for the live event and we'll see you tomorrow.
Grace and peace.
Amen.
