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This is the day God acts, let’s give thanks and celebrate in it.
In our society, we tend to view ourselves as independent people, which becomes evident when we begin to introduce ourselves. We begin by sharing our job titles and the locations we live or work. Our accomplishments get laid out, one by one intending to bear witness to the many things we have done in our lives. However, the deep roots that got us here, aren’t witnessed in those descriptions.
Our individual perspective allows us to believe that we learn and grow due to our own efforts. From there, the speed at which things happen, also comes as a direct result of our abilities. Therefore, all of our success are the fruit of our labor.
Then we come to worship and get planted into the scripture read today. It begins when Jesus says, “I am the vine, you all are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in them will bear fruit!”
Here is where we actually begin. We are not the independent individuals that we perceive ourselves to be, instead we find ourselves part of a community of branches that are all connected, in the vine of Jesus.
Things move at a different pace when we are planted.
In the soil, a vine grows deep strong roots, while rising— up– out of the ground like a small tree trunk. As a vine grows tall and strong- out of the vine—branches begin to expand upward and outward— winding and twisting every which way. Some branches begin to attach themselves to trellis, holding on while others only connect to the vine. The vine and branches grow seamlessly together. One is unable to discern where the vine ends and the branches begin. The vine and branches are completely interconnected with one another.
From the vine, nutrients and water are taken in— and flow outward, nourishing all of the branches, providing what is needed not only for the plant to survive— but also an abundance, enough to thrive! From the vine— comes LIFE! The vine remains rooted solid and strong—planted deeply in the earth – while branches growing above are much more unruly. Branches are so numerous, that they twist around one another—getting all tangled up in whatever they come near while anything hanging down blows gently in the breeze, still connected to the vine.
Here’s where we are… the branches. Jesus words—translated in English—sometimes get a bit twisted when we hear them, because we understand you as a personal- a one-on-one discussion, instead of noticing that this is a conversation that included many people. Jesus is the vine…. You all are the branches. It’s plural. This is a piece, that gets lost in our English translation. All of us, are connected to Jesus…. joined together so closely that human eyes cannot see where the vine ends—and the branches begin. Each branch… nourished from the vine…. And is part of the whole.
If the branch was separated from the vine, the branch would be nothing. It dries up… becoming merely a stick. A branch is not the vine; it needs to be cared for and nourished— and connected for any life to be possible. The branch must live in the vine to survive, much less to thrive.
It sounds a bit strange, wording the interdependence of the vine and the branches as living together, doesn’t it? Yet that’s how Jesus explains the relationship we are called to be part of. Jesus says, LIVE on in me, as I do in you.
That idea of living in Jesus— just as Jesus lives in us can feel vulnerable. Jesus words, “live on in me” connects with the visual word that we get in Psalm 90 where God is our dwelling place. The image of living on in Jesus, feels like coming home— welcomed, safe, and beloved. ☺ Living on in Jesus, takes root in our hearts. After all, we are baptized into the family of Jesus. Similarly, the second part of that verse in John continues with the part, as Jesus lives in you. St. Teresa of Avila described our souls as a house that God lives in. It’s beautiful, right? The idea of Jesus living in us connects even deeper into our souls. We live in Jesus— just as Jesus lives in each of us.
Over and over, Jesus reminds us that life and success are not about US as individuals: it’s about US— as a community that lives in Jesus. Being a Christian is not an individual activity: just me and Jesus…. It’s about Jesus living in all of us: and all of us living on in Jesus.
Some of you may have just had flashbacks of life in college. There you were living in dorms and apartments where you had to share rooms and bathrooms as you learned how to live in constant relationship with other people. ☺ You’re welcome. That’s the whole point! Living together is messy. We lose some of our personal space while gaining the health of the community. Suddenly this is our house, our community, our people, our Jesus. It’s engrained in who we were created to be part of the whole.
In Jesus time, families generally didn’t live in single family homes, they were multi-generational homes, where your closest neighbors were extended family. People lived together and supported one another. Their family resemblance is obvious to everyone around them seen in their features, their voices and their behavior. A house was not personal property, but our family’s home. Similarly, in the vineyard: a person looks out and sees a continuous extension of branches. One cannot separate a particular branch from the vine, because everything melds together. Even up close, it becomes impossible to determine where the vine ends and the branches begin—because they are essentially made of the same thing…. This is the imago dei: the image of God witnessed in community. These visuals make sense together.
Just as vines give life to all the branches that are connected to it– so too Jesus living in all of us and all of us living in Jesus—gives life to everyone. Living in community is complicated and messy—because it is relationship! Our thriving is interdependent— connected to one another, rooted in Christ. The branches—get tangled up—some rising upwards toward the sun, others wrapping around trellis while some get weighed down by fruit. Branches: are not easily separated. If you try to pull them apart, you end up breaking off leaves and tendrils—that are helping support other branches, bearing some of the fruits weight with them. Attached to the vine, branches are fed and nourished—as they help support one another.
Look at the vine again. Jesus is the vine, you all are the branches. He said, those who live in me and I in them, they will bear abundant fruit…
Each one of us, want to be the ones bearing the fruit. We strive—pushing ourselves harder, faster, longer than others thinking that if we do our best: that we will make things happen. People will see our fruit. But if you’ve been paying attention to the branches that are connected to the vine— you’ll notice something that may have been missed before. The branches can’t produce fruit on their own, the vine does the work. The branches live in the vine, so connected that we cannot see where the change from vine to branch happens: from the vine comes nourishment and life! Through the branches that are closest to the vine, comes the most delicious fruit! The branches produce fruit because they are fed and nurtured through the vine—allowing all of that to move through them, so that it flows outward to produce fruit abundantly!
Jesus said, if you live in me—and I in them—they will bear abundant fruit. Our faith, is in Jesus Christ— God’s steadfast love in human form. That is what our lives reflect, when we are living in Jesus. LOVE is the life that flows from the vine— and through the branches extending outward. It’s not something that we create on our own. We love because Jesus first loved us. As branches, that steadfast love is what flows through us— and continues outward creating the fruits of the Spirit: LOVE, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…. These aren’t fruits we can contain or keep for ourselves, because they didn’t start with us, nor do they end with us.
Norman Wirzba writes in his book Food and Faith, “If people are branches grafted onto the vine of Christ, drawing their inspiration and sustenance from him, their lives will naturally or inevitably witness to the life of Christ.”
We are branches living in Jesus, the vine. The fruit, is our continuous reminder that our lives are not our own. As Christ’s branches—we are beloved and connected…. Fed and nurtured continuously by Christ’s love. We didn’t get here on our own… we branched out—and grew: through the examples and relationships of other branches: parents, grandparents, Sunday school teachers—congregation members, faith mentors, classmates, and community members…. People whose faithful loving examples were branches that allowed Jesus’ love to extend through them. We are the branches… we connect through the prayers of those who came before us— and our prayers that continue to connect us and others through a closer relationship with God, just like the tendrils of the vine help lift and hold other branches. Our relationship is deepened through bible study, devotions, service, stewardship, worship and experiences that continuously help us experience living in Jesus— and Jesus living on in us, continuing to nourish us and give us life.
Just like the vineyards people see and are unable to discern where the vine stops and the branches start, that is how our lives are also. Eace branch reflecting the image of God— through the love and nourishment that is given abundantly. We continue to grow allowing Christ’s love to continue outward, so that when people experience the fruits of the Spirit, they will also be able to receive and be served from the gifts that come from being grafted in God’s steadfast love. Have faith, knowing that they also may be grafted into the faith— and vine that is Jesus Christ. Amen.
Sources
Norman Wirzba, Food and Faith a Theology of Eating, second edition pg 109, 110