Jesus said to his disciples, “I am the true vine… abide in me as I abide in you.” Last week Jesus said “I am the Good Shepherd”. These readings remind us of the importance of community. They call us into a new and wonderful way of living as part of community with others that is closely bonded to our Heavenly Father. As Christians we are branches in the true vine. Separate a branch from a vine and it will eventually die. We are sheep protected by the Good Shepherd.
If we wander off from the pack we become vulnerable to attack from predators.
As branches of the true vine we are called to bear fruit that continues the work of Jesus seen at Easter – the work of love – though this isn’t always easy. How do we respond with love to some of the horrific events we’ve seen lately? The stabbings in Bondi killing innocent people including a new mother. How do we love a person who stabs a priest while preaching God’s word? How do we love a gang that uses machetes and axes in a shopping centre while families are innocently shopping. How can we love when the news around us leaves us spiritually and emotionally drained? How do we proclaim the Good News about Jesus when we think there is just too much happening around us and in the world? Maybe you feel like closing yourself off from the world and others.
The answer is never easy and yet as branches of the vine this is what we are called to do – to love our enemies – to pray for them – to ask our Heavenly Father to forgive them for they know not what they are doing – even though we are tempted to respond with – they knew exactly what they were doing. And yet this is the Gospel message – a message spoken to us where we are commission to proclaim forgiveness to all nations as witnesses of these things. We love others because God first loved us – even while WE were yet sinners. We share the Good News with others because that is the Great Commission.. We speak and act in ways that support this message of love because we are branches of the true vine that loves us and we are witnesses of God’s love. If the vine loves us the branches, how can we not love others?
John, in our 2nd reading, reminds us that if we love one another, God lives in us. As God abides in us the love grows more and more even into those situations that ordinarily we would not be able to love. But what is love? As John has been telling us in the past few weeks – love is not an emotion it is an action. To understand true love we look to the One who sent Jesus into the world to die for us to create a clear example of love. A different kind of love to what we will ever experience in the world we live in. The vine grower, God, is aware of what each vine needs to bear fruit. The vine grower loves the branches because they are what produce his fruit. Likewise, God examines our hearts, provides for us, and can also remove those parts of ourselves that bear no fruit or are the cause of no fruit growing – anger, hate, jealousy.
The vine grower knows the vines and knows that every branch can bear fruit. When we abide in God, we are commissioned to seek our place in this world, loving others, living into the mission of the Church, restoring people to unity with God and each other in Christ. Going sometimes where we don’t expect to go like Phillip. One moment he is beside an Ethiopian trying to make sense of God’s word and no sooner does he baptise him that he finds himself somewhere totally different. The spirit blows where he wills. The image of Jesus as the true vine is a powerful one. Just as a vine is the source of life and sustenance for the branches that are attached to it, Jesus is the source of our spiritual nourishment and growth as he gives us himself in Holy Communion – as he makes us God’s children through Baptism.
The source of that energy is not from ourselves but comes from Jesus, the true vine of which we are branches. Sadly, when we do try to run on our own energy we will begin to burn out and eventually our faith will run out. That’s why Jesus told his disciples after his resurrection to WAIT. Wait until the promised Holy Spirit – the power from on high – comes and clothes you – empowers you. So we are called to remain connected to him, through worship, prayer, study of the Bible, and fellowship with other believers. When we do this, we are able to grow in our faith and bear fruit that will last for eternity.
Jesus also tells us that the Father prunes the branches that do bear fruit, so that they will be even more fruitful. This pruning process can be painful, as it often involves removing things from our lives that are hindering our spiritual growth.
It can be people – it can be the way we spend our time, talents or treasures. They are things we wouldn’t normally volunteer to give up which is why Jesus says the vine grower must prune them. But we can trust that just as a gardener prunes a vine to help it grow stronger and produce more fruit, so too God lovingly prunes us to make us more like Christ.
But, just like the Ethiopian eunuch in our first lesson, we will not always understand. We may ask, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” The Ethiopian was trying to do it by himself – like a branch that has come away from the vine.
And sometimes we need to be grafted back in. And that can be a hard and painful process too. How many times have we been afraid to ask for help? Or even embarrassed to ask, “Who can help me?”
One of the many things we learnt from the pandemic was that it was not good to be alone. We needed our community back.
As branches we needed to be reconnected to our true vine with one another rather than branches our on a limb. In fact it was one of the very things God recognised when he created Adam to tend to his garden – it is not good for man to be alone. It’s why Jesus chose 12 disciples rather than being a lone wolf. It’s why Jesus sent out his disciples in pairs. Or as we hear in Ecclesiastes 4:12 Though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him–a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Which shows the importance of those 2 branches being connected to the vine – the 3rd cord.
Jesus’ example of love is about being in relationship with people and God. Love God with all your heart – the vine – and love your neighbour – the outpouring of the fruit of love to one another. We have Philip’s example of love teaching, sharing about God, and baptizing. We have the disciples’ example of love by following Jesus, even with threat of imprisonment and persecution. All of these are important examples of what is possible if we remain connected to the vine rather than on our own.
As we understand this we can begin to understand why Satan is trying so hard to divide the church – our own Lutheran Church included. It has been Satan’s tactic since the beginning of creation. Separating Adam and Eve from each other – Adam and Eve from God – Cain from Abel. Then throughout history – the divided Kingdom of Israel – God’s people chasing after Baal – Ashtoreth and other gods. Then in the New Testament – Peter separating himself from the other disciples and sinking in the stormy sea – the disciples fleeing at Jesus arrest – the Corinthian Church a church of division – one follows Peter, one follows Apollos – to which Paul reminds them – is Christ divided? Then in church history -the great schism of 1054 when the Eastern and Western Church divided – the Reformation seeing the separation of Lutherans and Roman Catholics – and on we go today with a myriad of denominations. And yet, in all this we confess – I believe in ONE holy, Catholic/Christian and apostolic church – one baptism for the forgiveness of sin.
Our world needs a church that examples love and unity. A church that is able to example restoring our brokenness. As we remain in the vine God transforms us and we transform the world. When we abide in God, God abides in us. God abides in our relationships with one another and then in our surrounding communities. God transforms us and will allow us to bear fruit that transforms the world. Amen.
