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| 6th Sunday of Easter Christ Church Covington May 05, 2002 I think I’ve mentioned in sermons past that the Gospel of John is a multi-layered richly symbolic answer to the question, “Who is Jesus Christ?” Today’s reading from that Gospel is no exception: “I am the true vine,” Jesus says. Now the author of this Gospel, and Jesus himself were undoubtedly aware of the significance of vine imagery in the Hebrew Scriptures we call the Old Testament. The vine was a metaphor for Israel, God’s people, the kingdom of God’s own creation, and the object of his continual attention and care. This vine in the Old Testament, however, didn’t exist simply to be treasured and cherished by God, it existed also to bear good fruit for God to reap. Against that Old Testament background, Jesus assertion that he is the true vine does a couple of things. Firstly, it casts aside the notion that the vine is a specific geopolitical entity. It is not a nation-state or a particular country. This vine, this cherished vine of God’s, is identified as a person: Jesus Christ, the incarnate and eternal Son of God. All that is beloved and precious and chosen of God in this world is so because Jesus Christ was and Jesus Christ is. Secondly, Jesus’ assertion that he is the true vine means that God not only tends and keeps this vine, but also that it is God’s expression of Himself in the universe, in this world. I’ll come back to that in a minute. What I’ve said so far has served to illustrate the point that the John’s Gospel continually answers the question, “Who is Jesus Christ?” But, this passage goes a step further; it tells us who we are. Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” Jesus and His disciples are knit together organically; we are one living being, one organism. Drawn out of individuality, disciples live one sacramental life, the life of Christ. Yet our oneness is not the point of our union, just as chosen-ness was not the point of being God’s people in the Old Testament. Our oneness the means by which we are fruitful, the means by which we bear fruit, not for ourselves, but for the Father whom Jesus maintains still tends and keeps the vine and its branches. If you look around at Christ Church, we are growing as a parish. This time next year, you’re going to marvel at the new faces and places you see when you come here. We like church growth. “It’s a good thing,” as Martha Stewart would say. But the point of being a church is not simply to grow. Growth for growth’s sake is not a pursuit that will stand the test of time for a Church. Christ Church’s future is bright because its parishioners are one in and with Jesus Christ, oriented toward bearing fruit for God. Not for Christ Church or its clergy or leadership, or our image or reputation, but bearing fruit for God – everything we do here really must be a means to that end, and I’m convinced that it is. Notice the position we’re in in this new vine of Jesus Christ. No longer simply a thing acted upon by God, as described in the Old Testament. In this new vine, the branches draw their life from the Son, on the one hand, and are cleansed and made ever more fruitful by the Father on the other hand. God comes at us from all directions in the paradigm that Jesus illustrates in this morning’s Gospel, which might beg the question, “What is there left for us to do? With God doing all this work on us, what are we supposed to do? How does a branch respond to all of this? How do we participate? “…abide in me…” says Jesus. If our lectionary had continued our reading for one more sentence, you’d have heard Jesus say, “…abide in my love.” Live his life and communicate his love. Proclaim the Good News and encompass the world with His love for His sake. Become His disciples and bear much fruit. It’s a simple as that. Amen. The Rev’d Robert M. Odom M.Div., Curate |
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