What makes for an abundant life? Jesus says to his disciples, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” In other places in this Gospel, he talks about coming so that people may have eternal life, and in this Easter season, we talk a lot about resurrection life, and about Easter life, and about new life. It sounds simple, it sounds wonderful, it’s what we need to hear right now. But what is life? What is this thing that Jesus promises in abundance? What does he mean?
Well, we could start with a medical definition of life––life is when our heart is still beating, our brain is still operating, our lungs are still breathing. Those seem to be pretty standard baselines.
But already we’re in murky waters––what about people who are brain-dead, where these things are all happening but only because there are machines helping. If a machine is breathing for someone, is that life? Is that abundant life? What about people who are able to breathe on their own, whose bodies are functioning well, but who are at the most extreme spectrum of dementia? Who can’t talk or recognize the loved ones who come to them? Is that life? Is that abundant life?
I suspect that as I ask these questions, you are already beginning to form answers in your mind. And I suspect that even as you do, you may be having second thoughts about your first reactions. The difficult thing about the question of ‘what is life’ is that there is no universal answer to this question. Each of us answers it in our own way, based on how we have lived our own lives up to now, and even now, our answers might change.
It’s an important question though, because our answers shape how we live right now. We are actually experiencing this. Everyone has their own opinion on what life is, and on what kind of life is the best life to live, and now that we are collectively choosing to limit our lives for the sake of others, we are having to figure out what those limitations should be. What do we need to live, and what makes life worth living? What makes life abundant? What is essential, and what is extra?
Some things are obvious––food is essential. Shelter is essential. I think we have rediscovered that relationships and companionship are essential. I think we can agree on all these things. But what about personal freedom? Is getting outdoors essential? What about a functioning economy? Or meaningful work? Is music? Is art? Are any of these things essential? Would we risk our biological life––our physical life––for them? Do they give us abundant life? These aren’t rhetorical questions, and once again, we are back to each of us having our own answers. It’s just that now, we have to make real-life decisions based on them that impact not only ourselves but those around us, and we don’t all agree.
We don’t all agree and there are lots of people trying to tell us what the answer should be and promising that if we follow their advice, we will experience abundant life. Some people promise that opening up the economy will give us all new life. Others promise that staying closed is the only way forward. Some people promise that herd immunity will give the whole community true life. Others promise that universal testing and vaccinations are the only way. I like to believe that each group has very sincere reasons for promising what they do, and that each really does believe that they are right. And so the question becomes, who do we trust? Whose promises are reliable? Whom do we allow to shape how we live right now?
This is really what it’s about. It’s not about whether or not we can agree on what is life, it’s about whom we trust to give us that life, whose promise we trust about how to achieve that life, whatever that life might turn out to be. I don’t think we can ever come to an agreement on the definition of what life is, never mind what abundant life is. I don’t think we can come to an agreement because I don’t think there is one single answer. What life is for me, will not be the same as what it is for someone else. I got life this weekend from sitting on the roof of our deck and taking it apart. That’s not life for everyone. I could promise you that doing the same would give you life, but I would be making a lot of assumptions about what gives you life.
So, if you don’t trust me, who do you trust to give you life, whatever that life might be? Who do you allow to shape the way you live right now? Well, as Christians, we trust the one for whom we are named, Jesus Christ. We trust the one who says, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly,” even if we don’t know exactly what that means. We trust the Son sent by the Father who created the world and started life. We trust the One who sent the Son, who delivered God’s people from slavery in Egypt, who worked through Elijah and through Jesus to raise the dead, who brought the people back from exile, who sent the Spirit upon Jesus at his baptism, who raised him from the dead. We trust the One who knew us in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139), who sent the Holy Spirit to us at our own baptism, and who has been with us every minute of our lives. We trust God––Father, Son, and Holy Spirit––because we have seen God deliver on these promises of life, and we have experienced that life, however momentarily, for ourselves. We don’t know exactly what the promised life looks like, but we do know exactly who the promise-giver is.
Of course, there are certain things that Jesus said and did that tell us a lot about what kind of life he is promising. We know that, in the Gospel of John, his first miracle was to attend a wedding and turn the plain water into good wine. So there is definitely something there about the quality of life being important.
We also know that Jesus’ second miracle was to bring back from the dead the child of a royal official, one of Herod’s lackeys. So we know that there is definitely something there about life being for everyone, for our enemies as well as our friends.
We know that the life Jesus promises is eternal, it is life that comes after death, Jesus does not promise there is no death. This is hard when we’re enjoying the life we have, but it’s also a gift when we realize that death is inevitable. There is something after this.
And, we know that the life that Jesus promises is for all. It’s for the community––it’s not just for the rich, or the privileged, or even the deserving. It’s for each of us and for all of us. The life that Jesus promises is not life for some at the cost of others. It does not require compromise. It is, somehow, through the mercy and might of God, for all. Good life, abundant life, eternal life, for enemy and friend alike.
And so, knowing that, it turns out that we do have an idea about makes for an abundant life. We live so that life might be good, for ourselves and for others. We love our neighbours as ourselves. We live believing that this life is not all we have, that there is more to come. We live trusting in the promise that Easter is real, because we live trusting the promise-giver himself. We trust the One who laid down his life for ours, we trust the One who was himself raised to new life, we trust the One who sends the Holy Spirit to us. We trust the One, Jesus Christ, who said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Thanks be to God. Amen.
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