Eastertide

May 1, 2021

Scripture Reading: John 15:1-8
‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

The imagery of Jesus as the vine and we as the branches have always been meaningful to me. However, the words that caught my attention just now as I read the scripture above were God is the vine grower. Oklahoma experienced a catastrophic ice storm in October. The wind was hurricane force sending the ice crystals on a horizontal path that stripped old, healthy tall trees of every branch, twig, and leaf. A couple of the trees were destroyed and have been cleared from my yard. They fell into my utility lines, ripping my electrical box off my house. My lawn service thought two others could be salvaged and left them to see what spring would bring. All winter, they appeared as very tall fence posts. One is looking good. What seems to be a small tree is growing from its top. I am not so sure about the other.

People are not trees, and I do not like the idea of tossing them aside when they do not produce the fruit they were created to bear, but we live in a world troubled by evil and must discern how Christ-followers follow Christ in such an environment. We are called to tell the good news of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth, sharing the love of God in everything we do. Evil, it seems, is working just as hard, perhaps harder, to pull us away from answering that call.

The first thing that comes to my mind is that since God is the vine grower, the job of pruning and tossing into a fire is God’s, not ours. We are not the judge, jury, or prosecutor. This fact tells me branches we might through away; God might be saving for a particular task.

My second thought is we must try to see others the way Jesus might see them. If we read the stories of Jesus’s healing, we see the variety of ways he brought forth wholeness. He immediately touched some, and they were healed. The woman in the crowd touched him, and she was healed. Jesus healed the mentally ill man from Gerasene and returned to talk to him, later advising him to stay where he was and share his story in his homeland. Jesus saved the life of the centurion’s son from afar and marveled at the soldier’s faith. There might not be as many branches to throw away if we follow Jesus’s example and bring wholeness to a broken world.

.Prayer: Lord, cleanse us of the desire to judge. As you make us whole, help us see the ways we can help others find wholeness. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.