John 15: 1-8

Jesus said, I am the vine you are the branches

This makes a lot more sense if you know something about vineyards

At first reading, if you are a town or city person, it can seem that Jesus is all about retribution

Be productive or go!

But a vineyard is a place where there is always change happening in order to bring about fruitfulness

The pruning helps a plant to grow

The old things have to go so that there is new growth to bear fruit

Nathan Nettleton, who writes Laughing Bird liturgical resources, has this to say about vineyards

The first thing you notice is that that grapevines are supported in a shape, not just twined along like Christmas garland on a bannister

You will also notice that the sculptured shape of the grapevines has a distinct trunk to the vine and then a thick tangled mass of branches at about shoulder height.

The branches are so profuse, and tangled, and heavily leaf- clad that without careful examination it is difficult to tell one branch from another

It is almost impossible to tell where one ends and the next one begins.

“I am the vine and you are the branches,” says Jesus.

Well, if you stand on the road side looking over the fence at a vineyard contemplating the meaning of that statement,

The first thing you will realize is that this is not a promise that you will stand out from the pack in some special way, or receive any great fame or recognition.

The illustration that Jesus uses here indicates a radically non-hierarchical view of the church.

“I am the vine and you are the branches,”

A tangled indistinguishable mass with one purpose and one purpose only – to produce fruit.

“My father is the vine grower,” Jesus says.

You can speak to any vine grower you like,

And you will find that they do not have a favourite branch in their vineyard.

There are only two types of branches –

Ones that produce fruit and ones that don’t, and the latter get pruned off so then there’s only one type of branch.

Of the fruit bearing ones, no branch stands out as any more important than any other, they’re just all in together, tangled up and producing fruit.

When Jesus says “I am the vine you are the branches” he is describing how to help Christians grow as disciples,

He is not telling how to get rid of some followers while holding onto the more highly favoured

It seems that grapevines are like blueberry bushes in that they produce fruit on new growth

Those who operate blueberry fields know that there needs to be a removal of old growth to allow the bushes to bear the most fruit

Frances Perrin, an elder in Halifax/Lunenburg presbytery operates a family blueberry farm

And at her operation there is a controlled burn each year to get rid of the old growth and help the plant to produce more new growth

The pruning is good for the plant

Similarly with the grapevine

The entire vine is a tangle of healthy branches, together bearing fruit

This passage is so familiar that it can be a challenge to make it come alive for people

A preacher is always striving to find a way to help others become engaged with the Living word of God, so that we are able to hear what God’s spirit has to say to us

A few years ago, when I was at ODM Council I heard about a method of preparing sermons called preaching the verbs

One reads a passage and takes a verb from a sentence and then reflects upon what it might mean

I took this method to this passage

Jesus said “I am the vine… Abide in me as I abide in you”

The verb I chose was abide

To abide is to dwell safely

To be together

It can mean bide a while

To take time

To pause

To reflect

To abide in the vine means to be together, to be joined, to be one

It is an invitation to be in the vine and the vine in you

Life flows from the vine into the branch

To abide allows the life to flow

To abide means that you are definitely there, it is not just a fleeting visit

Abide and be nurtured

Abiding is staying with

It is living with

It is being united with

This secure nurture is what Jesus intends for us

So often the human condition has us raise queries that seem to come from a place of worry or fear

What will happen to the church?

What will happen to my family?

What if …

But the word of Jesus is to abide

And when we abide we become stronger

This passage has the promise that the vine dresser can help to remove what holds us back and as we abide in the vine, we will become fruitful

We can offer our worries to God and the vinedresser is able to cut them away

When the old growth is removed, new growth is possible and on the new growth fruit is born

One of our hymns says “God you touch the earth with beauty, Make my heart anew, With your spirt recreate me pure and strong and true”

To realize how God has touched the earth with beauty, we are spending time in the presence of the creator

We are abiding

In the presence of God we are filled with a sense of God’s power, strength, love and compassion

Listen to the song of the robins, and feel the joy they bring

Look upon the spring flowers bravely pushing through

Embrace the wonder of the new life of spring expressed about us everyone

The energy of new growth, not unlike the new growth of the grapevine

Contrast this image of a thriving community that grows and grows with God to the way we often think right theology should be described

A published author, A. W.Tozer, was quoted at presbytery some time ago

He has definite ideas about what is right and what is not

He said, “Christians don’t tell lies they just go to church and sing them”

This is one form of expression

Such an approach has us as focused on the error more than our goal

It is legalistic, it says do this or else

It is linear black and white thinking

It is God defined in human terms

It is also one description of that which should be

But, What if you colour outside the lines?

What if your gifts are spontaneous and impulsive?

What if you are always in communion with God, rather than only spending set hours in devotion?

What if you are a dreamer?

God made us as we are, and some of us are logical and some are visionaries

All ways lead to God

It is not the style of our faith observance or our tradition that we want people to notice, but God

The truth is not found in the format but in God upon whom our lives are founded

What people want is what Jesus is offering

We are invited into relationship with God

God is more than a rule maker

God is also our midwife, our Abba. Our Good Shepherd

We cannot fully comprehend the depths of God’s compassion

It is hard to accept that one who is perfectly holy, just and correct can find a way to manifest these qualities without harshness

But God does

What if you are like our friend Philip that we read about in Acts this morning?

Philip in the Acts lesson seems to be a spontaneous fellow

The spirit gave him a message and he responded

We too can be that open to the Spirit

When the spirit falls upon us, we can be molded and filled, made new to bear fruit

In Acts 8: 26-40, Philip is led to the Ethiopian eunuch

The eunuch was one who searched for God and thought that he was always going to be distanced from God

When he went to Jerusalem, he would only be allowed in the outer court of the temple

He was not born into the nation of Israel so he was kept on the fringes

The eunuch longed to know God better

And so the Spirit of God directed Philip to go to this man and explain the scriptures to him

Philip listened to the voice of the spirit and went out to where the Ethiopian was

The two men spoke to one another about the prophecy that the Ethiopian man was reading

Philip heard his questions and answered them

And the Ethiopian was baptized

Philip began with where the Ethiopian was and respectfully answered questions

This story seemed to me to be a bit like a story I heard a while ago about a dog who was rescued

A story was made public about a stray do that was roaming in an unsettled area

The dog was alone, hungry, mistrustful and afraid

People tried to lure the dog with food to catch it and give it care

But that didn’t work

The dog was hungry, but it was more afraid than it was hungry

No one was able to lure the stray dog close enough to catch it

Then someone tried a different approach

One woman laid on the ground in the fetal positon, with her back to the dog and pretended to be in distress

She laid out this way for several hours and the dog came close

The next day she tried the tactic again and the dog came close enough to be able to be brought into a shelter

The dog has received water, food and treatment and it is responding well

It takes time to reach those who need help

If we are willing to put that many hours of effort into a dog

What might we do for people?

What might we do for the sake of the gospel?

Ministry is time intensive

It is Diakonia, which is service among others

It is visiting and small group instruction

It is praying with and walking with

It is Community where we experience touch, laughter, singing

We may think that we want messages that we perceive as strong and firm that show that the gospel is important

But how did Jesus approach us? He said, “I am the vine”

Not a cedar of Lebanon, but the ubiquitous and ordinary vine

We can try to be good Christians on our own but that doesn’t work

We need to be grafted into the vine

The problem with Christendom lies here

The behaviours were what counted

If you were a good citizen you could be described a good Christian

The two were synonymous to some

However when you are grafted into the vine

Jesus will touch you on a deeper level than your outward actions

Your heart will be turned to God

There will be new growth in your life

And you will bear fruit.

It is easier to be on the inside of the church building trying to put together a program that will entice people to come and join us

In spite of what our human wisdom may say, we are called to be grafted onto the vine

And a healthy vine spills out with new fruit bearing growth all over the place

When we abide in the vine we will find that we bear fruit

Invitation to the Offering

 

While the season of Easter unfolds, the gifts of spring emerging around us also remind us of God’s generosity in Christ and in creation. As we present our gifts to God, may our generosity reflect God’s goodness to us and our hope for abundant life in Christ Jesus.

 

Prayer of Dedication

 

Generous God, we bless you for your gift of life renewed through Christ’s love, and through springtime growth in fields and gardens. Bless the gifts we offer you. May they bring hope and renewal to others as we serve in the name of your greatest gift, Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord. Amen.

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession

Lord Jesus Christ, we draw near to you in prayer this day,

trusting that your love changes lives

and your resurrection brings hope into the world God loves.

You have drawn near to us and walk with us through every challenge.

We are so grateful for signs of hope even in the midst of the pandemic,

for vaccine distribution and recovery plans,

for generosity and creativity offered in so many surprising corners.

As we lay before you the concerns on our hearts today,

draw near to those we name, and bring the gift that is needed.

We lay before you, Lord, those who are in the news headlines this week

and situations in the world where justice and renewal are badly needed:

(Keep silence for 10 seconds)

We lay before you, Lord, those who are in hospital or care

and all those who struggle with illness, pain or health burdens of any sort:

(Keep silence for 10 seconds)

We lay before you, Lord, families under stress, relationships that are strained,

and friends and neighbours in need of reconciliation:

(Keep silence for 10 seconds)

We lay before you, Lord, people seeking food, homes or jobs in these hard times,

and those worried about economic recovery from the pandemic:

(Keep silence for 10 seconds)

We lay before you, Lord, those who face discrimination daily,

and who lack respect and opportunity because of their identity,

or fear violence in their daily lives:

(Keep silence for 10 seconds)

Lord Jesus, we believe that you hear our prayers

and will be faithful to our requests and concerns.

Help us seize the moments you give us to reach out to our neighbours

and show them the love you have to share.

And so we pray together the words you taught us:

The Lord’s Prayer