John 15:4
Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.
 
John 15:1 is one of many “I Am” statements in the Gospel of John. John 15 is also called Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse.” Jesus loves to use agricultural metaphors and word pictures. He utilizes nature as a teacher and a conduit of truth. In this passage, He personifies nature and identifies Himself with a common symbol known in the Mediterranean world: grapevines. He is contextual to the land, and the metaphors of vine and branches bear witness to who He is and what it looks like to have a relationship with Him. Today, I want us to look into the verb “remain” with this vine, because the seeds and the fruit of the Gospel are in the verbs of Jesus.
 
The verb “remain” appears eleven times in the NIV translation of this passage. Some of my favorite translations for remain are: “To abide, to dwell, to continue, to tarry, to endure, to sojourn.” There is movement and energy in these active words that mean "remain." In the First Nations Indigenous Translation of the New Testament, the indigenous scholars translate remain as: “stay joined.” In this translation, the impetus of the verb "remain" takes on a whole different embodiment. I particularly love how “stay joined” is an active invitation to stay connected. That is all I have to do. Not a cerebral activity nor a theological debate. Just stay connected. The vine does the rest and the nourishing.
 
Jesus is the rooted One, and we are the “staying joined” ones. Perhaps like me, you have always felt the pressure to produce fruit, but the text says we bear the fruit. And yet before the bearing comes the remaining. There is a divine symbiosis happening between the Vine and the branches. The mystery is in the abiding, in the connection, the place where the vine ends and the branch begins. The place where the branch buds is where the fruit begins. Let the seed of abiding germinate in your life, to graft yourself into the Vine that is Jesus.
 
God of the Vine, help us to remember that we are rooted and grounded in the soil of Your everlasting love. May we slow down and pay attention to how we can stay joined to the Vine. Help us to remove all that hinders that connection. May we remain quiet and calm, connected to the vine that is Jesus. May His presence provide all we need as we sojourn with other pilgrims in life’s journey.
 Amen.

 -2 Timothy 4:2-4
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (vv. 3-4)
 
Paul’s charge to Timothy is to preach the Word persistently and faithfully. When Timothy does so, some will turn away even when the preaching is true and challenging. Perhaps especially when it is true and challenging. There are those of us who don’t want to hear the message preached because it makes us uncomfortable. I say “us” because I am certainly included.
Many Biblical teachings make us uncomfortable: calls to repent, to mourn or lament, and calls to meekness or mourning, as mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount. This uncomfortable teaching may also include calls to honor the sabbath or not to be influenced by our consumer culture in our spending and accumulation of possessions. In a politically divisive age, the call may include challenges to give God a higher allegiance than our political party, or to love those with whom we disagree.
One question that I have found helpful is to ask when I find myself feeling uncomfortable after I experience a sermon or other form of Christian teaching (such as a book or essay) is this: “Am I uncomfortable because the teaching is unbiblical in some way, or is it because I am being challenged to grow in my faith in a new way?” If I am honest, I will admit that most of the time I feel uncomfortable after a sermon, it is the latter: I am challenged to grow in a new way.
This is a simple principle, though not easy to follow, for all disciples of Christ (at least for me): the path to Christian growth often involves us being willing to be challenged in uncomfortable and countercultural ways. We need to be willing to be unsettled and uneasy if we are to grow, and we should be aware of ways that culture tempts us to a more comfortable message than that of God’s word.
This passage also contains an explicit and simple principle for those in church leadership: keep preaching the Word, even when it is challenging and uncomfortable, and when folks don’t want to hear it.
When preparing sermons and Bible studies, I usually start with one question I bring to God: What does this audience need to hear right now? Phrased another way: What message, however challenging or uncomfortable, is God putting on my heart?  Afterwards, I ask a follow-up question. How can I make a connection to this audience? How can I understand them and break down any barriers that make the message harder to hear than it needs to be, without diluting the message itself?
It is interesting to note that when Paul tells Timothy to persistently proclaim the message, along with convincing and exhorting (or, as some translations read, correcting and rebuking), Paul also exhorts Timothy to be encouraging. An uncomfortable message delivered with obvious love, understanding, and empathy is much easier for people (including me) to hear: a message from somebody walking alongside us on the challenging road of being a disciple.
 
Gracious God, thank You for loving me enough to want me to grow in my relationship with You. You also love me enough to challenge me. I am grateful for the gift of Your Holy Spirit, who always walks with me when those challenges make me uncomfortable. Help me to do the same with others when I am called to speak truth that is uncomfortable. Amen.
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2 Timothy 4:2-4
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (vv. 3-4)
 
Written from a prison cell in Rome to his son in the faith, Timothy, Paul’s epistle contains wisdom regarding making disciples. But if we broaden our lens, the letter also contains valuable insights into what we might call “church life.”
Our passage today is a good example of that. Though written as a charge to a church leader (Timothy was a pastor in Ephesus), it should cause all who desire to be followers of Christ to pause and reflect: How do I resist sound teaching in favor of messages that suit my desires? To phrase this in Paul's poetic and witty imagery: How do I like to have my ears tickled?
Reading that some “will not put up with sound doctrine” and will “turn away from the truth,” many Christians may focus on eternal salvation. It might be easy to think that the persons Paul writes about deny the gospel itself: the divinity or resurrection of Jesus, or the message that we are saved through Jesus. Certainly some people do reject Jesus’ divinity. But I suspect Paul had something different in mind: namely, folks who accept the story of the resurrection but still reject aspects of Biblical teaching on how believers are called to live.
One reason is the context. Paul is writing to Timothy about the pastoral responsibility to preach the word and the opposition to that preaching. He mentions that those opposed to sound teaching will try to find alternate teachers to say what they want to hear. It doesn’t say that they have stopped believing in Jesus or have left the church; they are still looking for teachers.
If I were to boil this down to one word, I would say that the central issue is comfort. Even those who proclaim Jesus as Lord may want to avoid challenging teaching that makes them uncomfortable. And there is a lot of solid Biblical teaching that makes us uncomfortable.
Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, for example, should make us uncomfortable, especially the opening passage in Matthew 5:1-12. Jesus speaks of the blessedness of being poor in spirit and meek.  Over the past few years, churchgoers, even church leaders, rebel against this, saying that the Sermon on the Mount no longer applies. Or consider when Jesus speaks of those persecuted for their faith as being blessed. If we would rather be in power than be persecuted, this will make us uncomfortable too (and perhaps prompt us to look for other teachers). The blessings on those who mourn, as well as the many Biblical examples of and calls to lament (such as Romans 8:22-23 and the Psalms of lament) also make many in the church uncomfortable. We’d rather focus on what makes us feel good. And the messages of prophets from the Old Testament, through John the Baptist, calling people to repent, may be at the head of the list of messages that make us uncomfortable. After all, Jeremiah was accused of being unpatriotic and even treasonous for preaching unfavorable messages and calling the nation of Judah to repentance.
Of course, all of this relates
 to discipleship. The challenge to spiritual growth at its very core is that we can be made uncomfortable as we learn to be stretched and to submit to the Holy Spirit. I want to invite you all to join me in considering ways that solid Biblical teaching makes us uncomfortable.
 
Gracious God, we acknowledge times we have ignored or pushed aside messages from Your Word because they made us uncomfortable. Make our hearts soft and receptive to the words we need to hear so that I might grow closer to You and more like Christ. Amen..

​As we are coming out of Easter season, preparing to head into Summer soon, I can’t help but reflect on how fast we have gotten here. After welcoming a daughter into our lives and the addition of a new family member, gratitude and thankfulness is what first comes to mind. Looking at the needs of a child and seeing the seasons change so quickly, new meaning is brought to a verse I’ve read throughout my life in Luke 2:19. From the birth of Jesus, the visitors who came and saw Him said many glorious things of the person this baby would become, and verse 19 says that “Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”
The expectation and the hope you have for your child is something beautifully expressed for a mother, and it shows the continuous thought and mindfulness Mary had for her precious child. As I’ve witnessed my daughter grow, I’ve also seen the tender love and care from her mother to keep every moment precious and storing up these treasures in her heart. I’m thankful and appreciative to see the kindness and compassion from a front row seat, and this year, Mother’s Day has a special new meaning.
I hope we can all take the time to celebrate our mothers, and those who have been a mother-figure to us to bring the compassionate and tender care that God has instilled in a mother’s heart. Let us appreciate and remember them as God’s gift to us.