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    What's Out in the Conversation
    A conversation about this week's lectionary Bible passages

When the editors of the Revised Common Lectionary put lessons from the Book of Acts (as last week’s lesson,  Acts 8:26-40,  and this week’s lesson, Acts 10:44-48) in the place usually occupied by a lesson from the Older Testament, they may have been hoping that we would be reminded of two passages from that portion of God’s revelation.  In Deuteronomy 23:1, (now, this sounds strange to us today) God commanded: "No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis has been cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord." Then, at a later date, we hear God say, in Isaiah 56:3-5:  “Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will surely separate me from his people’; and do not let the eunuch say, ‘I am a dry tree.’ For thus says the Lord: To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”  

The Scripture documents God’s willingness to change God’s mind, and to welcome those who once were prevented from full participation. The story of Philip and the one we call the "Ethiopian eunuch" (see last week’s commentary on Acts 8:26-40) stands as concrete evidence of the willingness of God constantly to change God’s mind in order to welcome more and more persons into the family of God’s house.  The new life in Christ invites all, in a radically new way, into the waters of baptism.

In Psalm 98, God is alive and moving, continuing to speak new things in our time, and calling us to a constantly enlarged mission. Such a sparklingly surprising God deserves a new song – praise that grows out of this moment. It is perfectly acceptable for us to sing joyously the praise of previous generations. But our own experience of God’s grace ought also to be celebrated. Let’s write God a new song of celebration.

When God spoke of Jesus as "my beloved Child” (Mark 1:11), God was suggesting a new meaning for family. So, when the author of 1 John 5:1-6 suggests that everyone who believes that Jesus is the “Sent One of God,” becomes a "Child of God," this new family is given definition (verse 1). Everyone becomes my brother or my sister. Just a few verses earlier, the author observed: "Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and the one who loves is born of God and knows God. . . . God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in that person" (1 John 4:7, 16b).

In the first seventeen verses of John 15, Jesus is quoted as using the word "abide" eleven times. Five of those instances occur with the passage assigned for today. Such word choice is not by accident. It wants us to take note of something very important. In the first eight verses, Jesus urges us to "abide" in him: "Abide in me and I in you" (John 15:4). The great work of God’s salvation is done. It’s as if Jesus were saying to us: "You need no longer be concerned about your relationship with God. You are already in me. Now, relax and just abide."

In John 15:9-17, Jesus sharpens our focus. Our abiding in Jesus is not without work to do. But that work is surprising. We might expect Jesus to suggest that abiding in his love would be demonstrated simply by our love for Jesus. But Jesus has something very different to say: "As God has loved me, so have I loved you, abide in my love. . . . This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." We abide in Jesus’ love by giving that love away to others for who Christ died but who do not yet know about his gift. We best abide in Jesus, by constantly welcoming all into the family of God’s house.