I have often said that we don’t read the Scriptures….they actually read us! And, what I mean by that is depicted in the experience I’m sure all have had where we find that we get something different out of a passage each time we read it. Of course, the passage didn’t change, so we did. Perhaps we were different with each new reading or hearing. Perhaps we were looking for something different. Perhaps we had on different “lenses” through which to view the reading. Anyway, I find this particular gospel reading – which also happens to be a familiar one (even to Episcopalians) – to be one I discover something new or have a new thought about almost every time I read or hear it.
Oh, and its being “familiar” also puts it in the category for me of “biblical metaphors I think I remember.” But, when I actually read it again I realize I didn’t quite remember it exactly right. I’m sure you know the experience, too, for don’t you often find that to be the case? You remember just enough about the story that you think you can recall it – particularly when you want to use it in a discussion or even a debate. In fact, a couple of weeks ago I was involved in a discussion about issues confronting the tension in the Episcopal Church & the Anglican Communion and someone tried to use part of today’s gospel by stating that, “In John, Jesus said we are to cut off the branches that are rotten and burn them!” Yikes! It’s good that we keep re-reading the actual texts so we don’t have to rely on our memory alone….which reminds me…..
Mike Murdoch, writer for The Door magazine, once poked fun at the often confused Christian recollection when he wrote concerning the remembrance of the Bible, “Jesus taught that we must become like children as small as mustard seeds that grow up and give away all their fruit to the poor until they fit through the eye of a needle so that their father will graciously welcome them home and kill the fatted goat that has been separated from the sheep which the good shepherd went looking for but was unable to find among the lost sheep of Israel and so he found a coin which he paid to the innkeeper and so there was great rejoicing in heaven for the lawyer who loved God and his neighbor and had faith the size of a camel.” Again, I say it’s good that we keep re-reading the actual texts so we don’t have to rely on memory alone.
So, what does our text this morning actually say, and what might we get out of it today? You see, ultimately since Jesus uses symbol or metaphor, it’ll boil down to interpretation (or “hermeneutics”). How will we interpret today’s gospel?
Oh, and further revealing our need to be cautious in our interpretation (and perhaps since the Pope’s election was so recent) I’m reminded of the story of Moishe and the Pope….
About a century or two ago, the Pope decided that all the Jews had to leave the Vatican. Naturally there was a big uproar from the Jewish community. So the Pope made a deal. He would have a religious debate with a member of the Jewish community. If the Jew won, they could stay. If the Pope won, the Jews would leave. The Jews realized that they had no choice. So, they picked a middle aged man named Moishe to represent them. But, he agreed to do so only under the condition that neither side would be allowed to talk. Moishe thought that would at least give him a chance. The Pope agreed to the terms of the debate – there’d be no talking.
The day of the great debate came. Moishe and the Pope sat opposite each other for a full minute before the Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers. Moishe looked back at him and raised one finger. The Pope waved his fingers in a circle around his head. Moishe pointed to the ground where he sat. The Pope pulled out a wafer and a chalice of wine. Moishe pulled out an apple. Suddenly the Pope stood up and said, “I give up. This man is too good. The Jews can stay!”
An hour later the cardinals were all around the Pope asking him what happened. The Pope said: “Well, first I held up three fingers to represent the Trinity. He responded by holding up one finger to remind me that there was still one God common to both religions. Then I waved my fingers around me to show that God was all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground and showing that God was also right here with us. I pulled out the wine and the wafer to show that God absolves us from our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of original sin. He had an answer for everything. What could I do?”
Meanwhile, the Jewish community had crowded around Moishe. “What happened?” they asked. “Well,” said Moishe, “First he said to me that the Jews had three days to get out of here. I told him that not one of us was leaving. Then he told me that this whole city would be cleared of Jews. I let him know that we were staying right here.” “And then?” asked a woman. “I don’t know,” said Moishe. “He took out his lunch and I took out mine.”
Thankfully, we can talk in the Episcopal Church! So, let’s look then and talk about how we might want to interpret today’s gospel metaphor….
You don’t have to be a gardener to understand the language in this passage. We know that grapes, raisins, and wine come from grape vines. That’s the easy part. But, what does the vine grower do to produce a plentiful and healthy harvest? Do you know? Well, I didn’t, so I “googled it” and learned a lot about being a vine grower….
Just for a moment, picture a vineyard in the late fall or early winter. It is time for pruning: a vine grower walks into his vineyard with a very sharp knife. Beginning at one end, and working his way down the rows, each plant is pruned; no plant is ignored. There are obvious dead branches sucking away the life-giving force of the vine. They must be pruned to save the vine. Other branches are pruned back too so that they will bear more fruit in the next growing season. Then there are the branches that are just not strong enough to hold the weight of the fruit. It is better to prune those back now rather than to let the inevitable break happen. Some of the vine branches just don’t seem able to hold up to the early appearance of heat or the dryness of the season. Or maybe it was the moisture of the increased rain in the spring that stressed the vines. These vines need some extra help. The vine grower may cut into the vine and graft another more viable variety onto it to make it stronger and hope for the new fruit that will come from the joining.
It doesn’t seem like an easy job to be a vine grower, does it? You have to know what a healthy vine looks like and when to prune. You can’t prune in the spring or summer because pruning causes bleeding and weakens the vine. If you make a mistake and prune too late you know there is no cure for the sap bleeding that occurs, but the problem will decrease when the leaves finally emerge. So, what do you think? Could you do this job? And, what might all this mean for understanding the gospel today? Well, it’s important because in our passage today, who is the vine grower in Jesus’ imagery? Perhaps the answer seems simple, yet for some reason we oftentimes forget whose job it is to do the pruning. In our reading today, John has Jesus describe God as the vine grower who has planted a vine, and the vine is He, Jesus. But, it is God who removes every branch that bears no fruit and prunes the other branches so they will bear more fruit.
The branch cannot bear fruit unless it abides in the vine and John tells us that neither can we bear fruit unless we abide in Jesus just as Jesus abides in us. And here is where the familiar phrase comes into the text. Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches.” Jesus tells us that by abiding in him we will bear much fruit and that apart from Jesus we can do nothing. Those of us who do not abide in Jesus will wither and be thrown away, just as withered branches are thrown into the fire and burned.
So, if not the pruning, then what is our job? To be the branches who bear fruit – which, if we could remain focused on that, would have us more worried about ourselves than others (other branches)! God is the vine grower and Jesus is the vine. Our roles are to be the branches. And, this seems to describe our roles in God’s mission. God planted Jesus in our lives and that vine produces branches.
Yet, if we are the branches then we are also going to have to deal with the cutting part. Remember, the vine grower is pruning each branch so that it might bear more fruit. And, to me, that sounds like it is going to hurt. And, every branch is cut even if it is bearing fruit now, because by cutting it will bear more fruit next season. So, if we are the branches, then what in us is being cut or pruned?
And, what is the fruit that Jesus calls us to bear as his branches? Well, it is love!
So, plan on leaving here this morning not by taking your knives out to go into the world to do some pruning. Leave the pruning to God. That’s not our job as branches. Instead, plan on leaving here this morning prepared to bear fruit – to love.
Now, let’s go bear some fruit! Amen.
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