Our Gospel this morning is a perfect fit for a renewed lockdown, as we all sit, at home, safely away from one another’s proximity.
I am the vine, says Jesus, and you are the branches.
Even our bulletin art this morning conveys an important message for us all. This beautiful piece of art is a middle-ages icon of the eastern Orthodox tradition, with Jesus and the Bible naturally at the center of the piece, as the abiding word of God is always at the centre.
And then we see each of the apostles out on their own branch.
They’re sitting, apart, yet brought together by what sustains and nourishes them -
We, too, are sitting apart physically, yet are brought together by what nourishes us:
Jesus.
The artwork really conveys a LOT of the message of the parable this morning, and we can also see our own lives and ministries reflected in this.
Because rather than focus on the apart-ness of the people – both then and now – I want for us to celebrate the together-ness of this.
The apostles in the artwork are not alone. They are not unsupported. They are not ‘lone wolves’ out doing their own thing.
Rather, they are entirely interconnected. They are rooted and grounded in the vine that is supporting them. The vine that is nourishing them, sustaining them, invigorating them!
I am the vine, says Jesus.
You are the branches.
This should excite us! For it means that we are grafted into the life-source of God. We are embraced in our baptism into the family of God – not unlike the eunuch that Philip baptises. We are nourished by the source of all life, and invited to be the ones who produce fruit so others too may be nourished – to share the love of God in meaningful and authentic ways – like what John is writing about in his letter.
Jesus is the vine: the deeply rooted, solid base from which we grow.
We are the branches. What privilege! What opportunity! What grace and gift!
And we, like any vine’s branches, like the apostles, like all Jesus followers in all time, we are not going it alone. We are supported by one another, and we are supporting TO one another.
We are interconnected. We are influenced by the others. We share the benefits of the whole.
And yet: not all branches are producers.
So we need to acknowledge the pruning.
It’s a process that happens with most plants – germination and cultivation is a quite involved science, there is artistry to it. Branches that are not healthy and health-ful can drain life-sustaining resources from branches that are doing their best to produce fruit.
So, any horticulturist or gardener can tell you that pruning off what is not healthy can in fact strengthen and improve what is healthy.
Sounds great – until we remember that WE are the branches.
And for some folks, they hear this as a very judgemental, harsh manner. It can make folks almost be competitive in their Christianity, rather than collaborative – because we all want to be the best producers we can be, and avoid being pruned off.
And when we get competitive, we’ve lost the plot.
So here’s a new way to think about pruning, especially in this context.
Jesus does NOT say in this passage that he will send people to hell.
He says he’ll prune out the branches that need to be pruned.
So… what if he’s not talking about individuals, but actions or thoughts within us that can be pruned out? What if God, the divine vinegrower, is going to prune out our anger, our mistrust, our greed? What if we are going to see our fear removed, or our indifference, or our divisiveness? Imagine if only our best, most loving, most Christ-like qualities were to remain?
Imagine!
Actually, let’s do that. Imagine. Imagine what fruit you could bear, as an individual, if all of the negative realities were pruned out of you. Imagine what we as a community could do if we were not being hindered by earthly-focused limitations. Imagine what we could do – collectively as the church of God – if all things undivine were carefully removed and then cast aside so they couldn’t even try to get back into us.
Pruning. It doesn’t have to be scary:
Just as pruning a vine will encourage growth, and health, and well-being, so can the pruning that we can do in our lives.
So here’s a question for your reflection: what spiritual pruning might enhance your life this week, that you can bear much fruit for Jesus’ kin-dom? And how receptive might you be to God doing that pruning?
But let’s talk about that fruitfulness.
Because I think there is a lot of meaning in what Jesus says – and doesn’t say – that we can learn from.
Fruit, we know, takes time to grow. It can happen, at times, so slowly that we may not even see the outcome.
But Jesus doesn’t put a timeline on the growth of the fruit. God knows where and when there will be growth, and allows that growth to happen – when we are healthy on the vine.
Jesus also doesn’t talk about numbers. He’s not going to compare bushel count; when he refers to much fruit he is referencing not quantity but quality. God wants the fruit we bear to be good fruit, because that will do the most good in the world. Sometimes, in our earthly lives, we can forget that: we try so hard to count things and compare; we want to balance our numbers and judge ourselves and others by numerical means.
But that’s our way; not Jesus’ way. Jesus wants us to bear fruit. The fruits of patience, kindness, charity, love, grace, faith, joy, peace, and goodness. Jesus isn’t going to be coming around waiting for a tally; he’s wanting us to do the best we can.
THAT is the fruit that we are called to bear.
And here’s another reflection question for you:
What are you doing with your fruit this week?
Is it ripe enough to be picked, or is it just barely blossoming? Does it need some fertiliser, or is it healthy and abundant?
Are you sharing it? Are you saving it? Is it being used for nourishment and benefit for anyone who needs?
Or are you hoarding it, ignoring it, leaving it to wither and eventually drop down into compost? (Not that there’s anything wrong with compost – it’s full of nutrients for the soil - but we know how it’s made).
So, What are you doing with your fruit this week?
And: whatever you are doing with your fruit: is that what you want to be doing?
And now let’s recognise that bearing that fruit means being part of the heavenly vineyard – growing alongside other branches that are tapped into the vine. For Jesus, you note, does not say that we are branches that will be judged individually – no, he invites us to see the belonging we have to the whole, and to each other. You – all of you – are the branches. We are the branches in the vineyard of the Lord, bearing fruit, being nourished by the interconnectedness of roots and vines and branches.
And here’s my third and final reflection question for you this week:
How will our vines and branches and fruit be as we journey through these COVID-challenged times? How will they be when we start to come out of the COVID reality, when we finally acknowledge that we’re not going back to what was, but living in a new normal of what IS.
How will we present to the world as the branches of God’s family?
How do we want to be present?
And what do we need to do to make THAT happen?
Much to think about, to be sure. And from Jesus’ parable, I’ve teased out for us some substantive questions to ponder and pray on.
So I’ll leave you with those questions, and with a few final words of encouragement:
When we are branching out – remember our roots.
When we are experiencing growth - remember the source of our life.
When we are dormant – remember to celebrate the gift of sabbath.
When we are feeling alone – remember that we are all interconnected.
And when we are journeying wherever our spiritual path is taking us – remember that we abide in Christ: who sustains us, who guides our growth, who embraces our involvement in the Body of God.
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