Wired for Connection - Easter 5
God is sitting in heaven when a scientist says to God, “look, we don’t need you anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing. In other words, we can now do what you did in the beginning. “Oh, is that so?” tell me”, replies God. “ Well”, says the scientist, “we can take dirt and form it into the likeness of you and breathe into it, thus creating a human being”. “Well’ says God, “that’s interesting. Show me” So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil. “Oh, no, no, no,” interrupts God, “Get your own dirt”.
There are several “I AM” sayings in John’s Gospel which John uses to proclaim the divinity of Jesus Christ. John makes it clear: Jesus is the Word made flesh, God Almighty in human form. This is important, because coming to grips with the Incarnation is the first step in knowing Jesus as the Son of God and the Lord and Savior of your life. This morning we’ll take a closer look at one of these “I AM” sayings: “I am the vine. You are the branches.” The point I want to emphasize in the sermon this morning is what follows: “They who abide in me, and I in them, bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
A while ago I bought a new printer and I was having difficulty getting it to work. A friend said, “you just have to program it properly; they’re wired for connection”. This is the message of today's Gospel: we’re wired for connection with God and with one another. The central imagery of today’s Gospel emphasizes the communal and relational aspects of the Christian faith. The image of the vine challenges us as a society that places so much focus on the individual: individual identity, individual achievement etc. In this context, the church is often seen as something apart from the rest of our lives. Our strength is in the connection, in our relationship to Jesus Christ in community with each other through the Church. Working together in the unity of God’s Spirit, we’re able to accomplish all that God would have us do and be.
The people of Israel knew all about vines and vineyards. They knew the secrets of proper planting and grafting and pruning. They also knew the responsibilities of keeping a vineyard, that when plants fail to produce, it’s up to the keeper of the vineyard to dig them up. After all, they’re not there for show. Unless the vines and the branches bear fruit, they’re taking up valuable space. So, the keeper of the vineyard would do everything possible to plant choice vines and cultivate them and nurture them along so that, in time, he could enjoy the fruits of his labor.
In Jesus’s analogy He is the vine and we are the branches. Think about that: You’re not here by accident. You’re a child of God created in God’s image and put here for a special meaning and purpose. And consider the implications of that: who you are and, to a large extent, what you are, is largely a product of when and where you were born, the circumstances of your surroundings and the genealogy of your ancestors. Throughout your life, God, the vinedresser has been using the events and circumstances, and people, including the painful experiences to prune and shape us.
I thought about this on my trip to Hyupan, Mexico last year. Children there experience life differently than children in Canada. They speak a different language, they eat different foods, they are immersed in a very different culture. The difference is profound and will be at the heart of everything they think, say and do for the rest of their lives. Now, apply that to where you are in your life today and consider the possibility that where you are is no accident, that God placed you here intentionally to serve a specific purpose in the building the kingdom on earth.
The point is this: God plants, and just as God plants, God prunes, and pruning is necessary for the health and vitality of the plant. Left to their own devices, plants and trees will grow randomly in every direction. No, pruning is necessary to ensure proper growth. And it only gets more painful as we grow older: When something or someone we love is taken from us, it hurts.
The ancient Hebrews believed God was responsible for everything, both good and evil. God is all-powerful, and, as far as they were concerned, nothing could happen, one way or the other, unless God ordained it. In the New Testament, Jesus gave us a different way of understanding God. As Christians today, we don’t believe God would ever harm us in any way. At the same time, we don’t look to God to give us immunity either. A tornado is just as likely to strike your house as your neighbor’s. What we believe is that God will use both the joys and the pain of life to strengthen us and draw us closer to.
The word ‘abiding’ is used several times in this Gospel passage. The Greek word for ‘abide’ (meno) carries a range of meanings: staying in place, enduring, holding out, that imply the steadfastness of God’s presence in and for God’s community. God’s care is constant, and whatever pain or suffering results from God’s pruning and cleansing is always redemptive.
How do we abide in God?
- We pray individually and collectively
- We pay attention to the Word of God.
- We gather together to celebrate the Eucharist which feeds and nurtures us.
- We pay attention to what’s going on in the world and respond as we are able with our particular gifts and resources.
Bearing fruit abundantly is the result of our abiding in God. God is always seeking us, we don’t have to use any special techniques to experience the presence of God. Our task is to order our lives and quieten our spirit so that we can be aware of God’s abiding presence. As I said at the beginning, we are wired for connection. Amen.