John
15:1-8
I am the Vine, You are the Branches
The events in the bible occurred
during a time when folks were a little more connected to the production of
their food. The agrarian images may
allow us feelings of nostalgia, but too often we miss what the reference is
intended to tell us. Last week it was
sheep and shepherds. This week it is grapevines. And I wonder how many of us have ever tended
a grapevine or noticed what is involved in tending a vineyard. So, I made sure that the opening image of our
e-news was of a well tended grapevine. It
is in the yard of a neighbor, Joe Allen. That is the same image which kept coming up in
the PowerPoint this morning. And I actually
put a few copies in the narthex and on some of the pews.
Joe does what you are supposed to
do with grape vines – he prunes them. And
when you prune as you ought, what you get is a very well established vine, and
only a few runners which are following the wires of the trellis.
I always admire Joe’s little
vineyard. When I realized I would be
preaching on John 15, I took a little extra time to look at those vines, and to
learn from them what Jesus is trying to say to us when he calls himself the
vine, and his Father the vine-grower, and us the branches.
When Joe prunes, the vine looks
pretty pitiful. It was only a few days
or weeks earlier when the trellis is totally hidden by the leaves and
fruit. There are sometimes birds hiding
in there – big birds – eating their fill.
On more than one of our early morning walks, Laura and I have come upon
a deer. The vine looks so huge. And then, Joe cuts all that away. And you have a vine and only a few branches
are left.
And one would be inclined to ask,
“Why?”
The answer is that leaves and a
thick cover don’t produce fruit. Only
strong and vigorous branches.
When Jesus says that the
vine-grower is coming, with pruning shears in hand, I think about Joe’s
grapevines. And as much as I hate to
think of the removal of thick green leaves, I know that when God prunes it
strengthens the harvest. It may look a
bit weird or counter-productive to push aside and even discard what is pleasing
to the eye and so easily mistaken for indications of plenty. But this is what God does. The vine-grower knows the end toward which we
need to move. And while the steps needed
to get to that end might not seem good to us, the one who tends the vine has
the wisdom to know what to do.
Sometimes the Church and its
ministries become too attached to the leaves and the overgrowth. In too many instances, we shy away from the
pruning necessary if we want next season’s harvest to be rich and lush and
flavorful.
There may be times when the pain of
pruning so overwhelms our senses that we fail to share in God’s celebration of
the harvest which this pruning makes possible.
That is the first thing I want to
draw from this text for this congregation, today. We may see Farewell as painful – and it can
be. But it is also a Godspeed. And Godspeed is what joins our gaze to that
of our Father (the vine-grower) who is able to see how this separation allows
the good news to move from one location to many, many others.
Here is the second thing I observed
about Joe’s grape vines. And, I want to
be careful. I realize that this observation
may not sit well with a number of God’s precious children.
That vine, growing out of the
ground, isn’t very straight. It is
really crooked. And while few things
ever grow perfectly straight. At least
part of the reason a grape vine bends from side to side is because of the
tugging of the branches. The branches,
when they get going, pull mightily on the vine.
And the force they exert does affect the vine.
As an image, not as some divine
revelation, this encourages me to remember how responsive the vine (and the
vine-grower) are to the efforts of the branches.
Jesus establishes his Church; and
then he entrusts it Peter, and James, and John, and the rest of his
followers. God and Jesus may never
change, but the way they live in the midst of the Church does change.
We waste too much time trying to
return to an earlier mindset or to some construct of doctrinal
affirmations. The ancient creeds of the
Church will always be foundational and essential to our life as
Christians. But, from the image of the
vine and its branches draw the awareness that over the years and through the
seasons what happens in the life of the branches exerts influence and bends the
vine.
In preparing for next season’s
growth, the vine-grower will take note if the vine is being pulled too far in
one direction or another. And the
pruning shears will address the problem.
Do not be afraid or shy away from
the ways in which you, as a precious branch on the vine is tugging and
pulling. Even when you realize that the
vine is being moved.
Among the things most important for
any preacher to communicate is the depth of God’s love for us and the assurance
that God interacts with us. To be a
person of faith is to live in the presence of God and to know that God is
living among us. Branches are not dead, impassionate
objects. They are living and growing and
changing and producing.
The last image I would attempt to
share with you from Joe’s vineyard, is how the vines and the branches have
utterly destroyed the trellis. The power
and strength of those little bitty branches have snapped 4X4’s in half. Joe has patched it up, with some new boards
and stakes, but it is a losing battle.
The vines and the branches are going to do what they are going to
do. And the structure imposed by a mere
mortal ain’t going to get in the way.
Keep that in mind. Like others, I have come to think that the
Church is going through a time of transition every bit as significant as the
one experienced in 1517 a.d. The vine,
the branches are likely to crush more than a few of the structures so carefully
crafted by decision makers and policy setters.
That is okay. Don’t fret. Trust the vine and the vine-grower.
If you haven’t observed a vineyard,
I hope you will find a chance to do so.
The images of the bible drew on what people experienced in their daily
lives. Our lives are so distanced from
an agrarian culture it may be difficult for us to comprehend the image. That is one of the reasons why so many new
writers are retelling the ancient stories in differing ways. Their images and style may surprise or shock
us – shock us because or lack of knowledge about vines and branches, about
sheep and sewers of seed makes it difficult for us to grasp the twists and
turns of Jesus’ images.
1.
Don’t be afraid of the pruning
2.
As a branch – tug with all your might in
order to correct the previous misalignment of the vine - even as you remain
open to the possibility that yours might be the tug which needs a
counterweight.
3.
And when structures and institutions come
crashing down – do not be afraid. The
vine and the branches are much stronger than frames erected to hold them.
Amen.
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