John 15:1-8
Jesus’ metaphor of the vine and the branches challenges our notion of self-identity.
- I am nothing…if not independent.
- When we are infants…one of our first early phrases is: “I can do it myself.”
- “Yes…I will do it myself…thank you very much.”
- OK then…we want choices. And we want independence.
The Lord be with you
And also with you
So…what I wish Jesus had said is:
- “I am whatever you want me to be.
- And you can be whatever you want to be:
- Vine…pruner…branch…soil…knock yourself out.”
What Jesus actually said is: “I am the vine. My Father is the vine grower. You are the branches…now deal with it.”
- The casting has already been finalized.
- All these countless vines and branches are all tangled and messy.
- And it’s just too hard to know what is what.
- Not only are we dependent on Jesus…but our lives are uncomfortably tangled up together.
- The Christian life is a vine-y…branch-y…jumbled mess of us… and Jesus…and others.
- Christianity is a lousy religion for the “I will do it myself set.”
Nowhere does Jesus teach more clearly that we are not independent do-it-yourself-ers.
- Nowhere does Jesus demonstrate more clearly that we cannot go it alone.
- That we cannot pull ourselves up by our bootstraps when life puts us down.
- That it is completely unreasonable to expect anyone else to either.
Now see in your mind’s eye a wild grapevine growing around an
old wall.
- We can see that the vines and
branches are all tangled and messy.
And it is just too hard to know what is what.
- Sometimes our lives look like this.
- Maybe our families feel like this.
- Maybe the places we work or
study or play are a lot like this.
A vine-y…branch-y…jumbled mess.
Now see in your mind’s eye a cultivated grapevine.
- The vine grower has put posts up to anchor the main vine in place.
- The individual branches have been sorted out…trained and disciplined.
- They rest on a wire structure that supports them from below and from above.
- All the dead branches…all the non-
productive branches…
- And anything else that does not
contribute to healthy growth has been removed.
Grape vines and branches that have been cultivated end up producing masses of grapes.
- They look quite different from that wild grapevine growing around that old fence.
- This is what God wants for us.
- This is God’s desire and promise for each one of us.
- For this community of faith…for all people everywhere.
This is what God will do with us if we are willing.
- This is what God is already doing with us if we have the eyes to see it.
- The image of the vine and branches shows us that Christ is the source of all life.
- The one through whom all things have come into being (John 1:3).
- Our very existence is dependent on God.
- Who nurtures and cultivates us.
- We are not and cannot be the vine that gives life to all.
- Neither are we the vine grower…the one who cultivates…stakes…supports and prunes the branches.
- Even though all too often we act like we have the knowledge and right to hack at the branches around us.
We are not the vine…we are not the vine grower…we are branches to whom God has given a choice.
- We can choose to abide in Christ…or…
- We can choose not to abide in Christ.
Jesus tells us what is at stake in making that choice:
- Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine.
- Neither can you unless you abide in me.
- Those who abide in me and I in them…bear much fruit (John 15:4-5).
- To abide is all about remaining…staying…tarrying somewhere…taking up residence…making oneself at home.
- Jesus teaches us that there are many abiding places…many places to be at home in God’s house.
- In fact…he is preparing a special abiding place for each one of us (John14:2).
Jesus teaches us that in choosing to abide in him…we are giving him space to
make him at home in us (John 14:23).
- Today we hear that those who abide in love are the ones who are abiding in God.
- And in whom God abides (1 John
4:16).
Abiding in Christ means admitting that we are not independent…do-it-yourself-ers…who can boast “I did it my way.”
- Abiding in Christ means accepting that we are dependent on Christ and on each other.
- It means graciously receiving the support Christ offers us…
- Most often through the caring of our brothers and sisters.
- It means consenting to being pruned.
- To letting go of the things that hinder our growth in love.
- Things like fear and hatred…greed and jealousy…grudges and resentment…shame and guilt…
- And all the other vine-y, branch-y tangly things that mess us up.
Abiding in Christ is not always comfortable or easy.
- But abiding in Christ is always about
belonging.
- Abiding in Christ is always an affirmation of our capacity to make a positive difference in the world around us.
- If we so choose.