Abide in my (Unexpected, Surprising) Love

It is an awesome thing to think that this command in John 15:9 “abide in my love,” has been uttered by the infinite God.  If ever there was a command to embrace, this is it.  In fact, it is made even more mind-blowing when Jesus says immediately before this command that “just as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.”  How can this be?  Jesus loves us with the depth and power that God the Father loves the Son!?  We are well past what we could ever possibly know as creatures.  No creature will ever be able to plunge the depth of the love between the divine persons: Father, Son and Spirit.  Nonetheless, Jesus says that this unknowably powerful love is already poured out upon us and for us. 

While there is an unknowable feature at play in all of these majestic statements, Jesus does connect it to something we can know.  Abiding in his love is connected to his commandments.  Jesus says “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.”  This is really important.   Keeping his commandments is something we can understand.  It is tangible and concrete.

But does being tangible and concrete necessarily mean it is limiting?  It would be easy to think that.  The commandments are like a country, and when you keep the commands you live in that country enjoying its produce.  That is true.  When God says, “Thou shalt…,” you can know that when you are obeying that command there are good things that happen when you do it.  And when God says “Thou shalt not…,” you can know that stopping short of those boundary lines will keep you from grave harm and continuing to enjoy the good things.  So yes, there are many fruits to enjoy when you are keeping positive commands, and they will not be undermined as long as you are not transgressing the negative commands.  Wonderful blessings exist in the country of “Thou shalt….”

But that is not all that is commanded…

There are other commands that are of a different sort.  While they are likewise tangible, they are more open ended.  Instead of borderlines of a bountiful country, they are more like airfare tickets to new uncharted lands; lands you have never been to, with fruits and forests and geographic formations you have never seen before.  These are commands like…

“Wait on the Lord” (Psalm 37:7,9,34; Proverbs 20:22)

“Call on me” (Psalm 50:15; 105:1)

“seek my face” (Psalm 27:8; 105:4)

“follow me” (Luke 9:23; John 12:26)

“humble yourself” (James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:6)

What kinds of commands are these?  These are commands that call us to stand back and see what unexpected and wondrous things God’s grace will do.  These are commands that will take us places, that will unlock hidden doors, that will unleash floods of…of…of I don’t know.  But it will be good and surprising and worship-producing. 

As I write this I am waiting for my family to arrive from a week-long trip to the grandparents.  While they were away, I worked up a little surprise for the kids.  For the 9+ hour trip back home they have been trying to guess what the surprise is.  They are never going to guess it.  Why?  Because it is something we have never talked about before, in any way, shape or form.  It would be too hard to fully describe it to them, so all I have said is “wait and see.”  Therefore, all they have to do is come to me and it is theirs.  Is “wait and see” a command?  Yes it is.  But it is a command to let grace fall upon them.  It is a command to come to me and see how much I love them. 

Abiding in the commandments of God is certainly keeping all the “thou shalts.”  But more than that, the commands that are more open-ended are commands to cling to him and see just how creative God is in his goodness.  When you trust him in the “thou shalts” and when you trust him in the “wait on me” you will be abiding in the gloriously unexpected and surprising love of God.