You in Me - I in You
Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; 1Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21
If you were to ask that question of a little child, he or she might point upward and say "God is up in heaven."
If you were to ask an older child that same question, and you happened to be driving along Main Street, that boy or girl might point here, to this building, and say "God is there, in church, that's God's house."
If you were to ask an adult that question, that person might answer that God can be found in the scriptures, in the sacraments, and in other people.
Each one of those answers is correct. God is in heaven, in church, in the scriptures, in the sacraments, and in other people. We can point to those things and people as places where God may be found. But I doubt any of us if we were asked "Where is God?" would point to ourselves and say "God is right here, in me." Yet this Sunday's Gospel might lead us to give that very answer.
There Jesus says, the Father will give us "the Spirit of truth . . . you know him, because he remains with you, and will be in you." Then Jesus goes on to say, "I will come to you . . . you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you." Those words in the Gospel indicate that God dwells within us. That is something that begins with the Sacrament of Baptism by which we become children of God, members of the Body of Christ, and dwelling places of the Holy Spirit. We are reminded that God is in us each time we receive the Eucharist. We are united with Christ in one "holy communion" as he comes to us in consecrated bread and wine.
God dwells within us, and God's presence becomes more and more apparent the more we love God and keep the commandments that Jesus Christ has given us. As he says "Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me." And what are his commandments? To love as he loved, to forgive as he forgave, to serve as he served. The more we do those things the more the presence of God shines forth from us.
“You in Me – I in You.” This is Jesus message of good news for us today.
“You in Me – I in You.” No matter what the future holds, we will never be alone.
“You in Me – I in You.” We have purpose and meaning to life because we are loved by God.
“You in Me – I in You.” We have purpose and meaning to life because God loves us and the natural
outcome of that is that we love God and love one another.
“You in Me – I in You.” “If you love me you will keep my commandments.”
What is it for Jesus to be "In" us, or us to be "In" Jesus? We can get some idea of it from a popular phrase we use today. We speak of people really "getting into" something. She really "gets into" her job as doctor, for example. That means, she gives her heart and soul to the work; it consumes her energy and becomes a great passion; she gives it everything she’s got. If we say, "He’s really into football," we know that his wife had better watch out come Sundays from September to February because everything else goes on the back burner. To get into something is to make it your own, to intertwine your deepest self with it, to - in a way - ingest it.
Now Jesus promises that kind of closeness with the coming of the Spirit. Jesus being "In" the Father; Jesus being "In" us; and we - through the presence, working, guiding, prodding, teaching, leading, caring and protecting of the Spirit -- becoming "In" God.
Think of it - God "getting into" you! We're not just talking about a vague influence. We're not speaking about some hazy inspirational strength that one would gain from the memory of Christ and his example on earth. It’s far deeper. Far closer. Far more mysterious. And far more intimate than that.
Jesus, through the words of our Gospel, is meeting us this morning with a message of a Person, a divine Person, who will be by our sides . . . to be our strength in all weakness, our Peace in all trouble, our Wisdom in all darkness, our Guide in all confusion, our Comforter, our source of Righteousness when sin is strong, the Giver of Victory over temptation, our Companion and Friend in moments of great loneliness.
We're talking about a Divine Spirit-Being, God the Holy Spirit, coming so close to believers that he touches their very hearts, a heart-to-heart relationship, sharing in the most intimate, deepest manner possible. “You in Me – In in You.”
In Matthew’s Gospel, in the account of his conception, we are reminded that Jesus is Emmanuel, “God with us.” We proclaim that in song each week during the Advent season. But here, in today’s Gospel, Jesus reveals that the Good News is even better than that. He is not only, “God WITH us;” he is “God IN us,” a presence so intimate that his Holy Spirit empowers, enlivens, energizes, inspires and sends us out, just as Jesus himself was sent to make the Father known. It can be frightening and seem an insurmountable task. But Jesus assures that we will not be left orphaned.
“You in Me – I in You”. Let that be our mantra. Let it run constantly through our minds this week. In our work and in our leisure . . . in moments of grace and occasions of temptation . . . in our struggles with sadness, loneliness, failure and fatigue . . . in our experiences of joy, acceptance, success and energy . . . in times when we worry about our health or when we take it for granted . . . when we appreciate our blessings, or when we pray for our needs . . . as we take the presence of God to the people who enrich our lives, and to those that challenge our patience. “I in You – You in Me.”
"Where is God?" To answer that question we can point to heaven. We can point to the church and to others. But just as surely, if we’re keeping God's word, we can point to ourselves! Perhaps St. Patrick said it best in this prayer attributed to him:
Where is God? Closer than we ever realized.
“You in Me – I in You.” “If you love me you will keep my commandments.”
What is it for Jesus to be "In" us, or us to be "In" Jesus? We can get some idea of it from a popular phrase we use today. We speak of people really "getting into" something. She really "gets into" her job as doctor, for example. That means, she gives her heart and soul to the work; it consumes her energy and becomes a great passion; she gives it everything she’s got. If we say, "He’s really into football," we know that his wife had better watch out come Sundays from September to February because everything else goes on the back burner. To get into something is to make it your own, to intertwine your deepest self with it, to - in a way - ingest it.
Now Jesus promises that kind of closeness with the coming of the Spirit. Jesus being "In" the Father; Jesus being "In" us; and we - through the presence, working, guiding, prodding, teaching, leading, caring and protecting of the Spirit -- becoming "In" God.
Think of it - God "getting into" you! We're not just talking about a vague influence. We're not speaking about some hazy inspirational strength that one would gain from the memory of Christ and his example on earth. It’s far deeper. Far closer. Far more mysterious. And far more intimate than that.
Jesus, through the words of our Gospel, is meeting us this morning with a message of a Person, a divine Person, who will be by our sides . . . to be our strength in all weakness, our Peace in all trouble, our Wisdom in all darkness, our Guide in all confusion, our Comforter, our source of Righteousness when sin is strong, the Giver of Victory over temptation, our Companion and Friend in moments of great loneliness.
We're talking about a Divine Spirit-Being, God the Holy Spirit, coming so close to believers that he touches their very hearts, a heart-to-heart relationship, sharing in the most intimate, deepest manner possible. “You in Me – In in You.”
In Matthew’s Gospel, in the account of his conception, we are reminded that Jesus is Emmanuel, “God with us.” We proclaim that in song each week during the Advent season. But here, in today’s Gospel, Jesus reveals that the Good News is even better than that. He is not only, “God WITH us;” he is “God IN us,” a presence so intimate that his Holy Spirit empowers, enlivens, energizes, inspires and sends us out, just as Jesus himself was sent to make the Father known. It can be frightening and seem an insurmountable task. But Jesus assures that we will not be left orphaned.
“You in Me – I in You”. Let that be our mantra. Let it run constantly through our minds this week. In our work and in our leisure . . . in moments of grace and occasions of temptation . . . in our struggles with sadness, loneliness, failure and fatigue . . . in our experiences of joy, acceptance, success and energy . . . in times when we worry about our health or when we take it for granted . . . when we appreciate our blessings, or when we pray for our needs . . . as we take the presence of God to the people who enrich our lives, and to those that challenge our patience. “I in You – You in Me.”
"Where is God?" To answer that question we can point to heaven. We can point to the church and to others. But just as surely, if we’re keeping God's word, we can point to ourselves! Perhaps St. Patrick said it best in this prayer attributed to him:
Christ with me. Christ before me. Christ behind me. Christ in me.
Christ beneath me. Christ above me. Christ on my right. Christ on my left.
Christ when I lie down. Christ when I sit down. Christ when I arise.
Christ in the heart who thinks of me. Christ in the mouth that speaks of me.
Christ in the eye that sees me. Christ in the ear that hears me.
Christ when I lie down. Christ when I sit down. Christ when I arise.
Christ in the heart who thinks of me. Christ in the mouth that speaks of me.
Christ in the eye that sees me. Christ in the ear that hears me.
