Word to the Wise
Wednesday, May 22, 2019 - 5th Week of Easter - Wed
[Acts 15:1-6 and John 15:1-8]"I am the true vine, and my Father is the wine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing......By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples." [John]
I live in West Texas, which has become one of the most productive wine grape growing areas in the country. It is not as well known as the California areas, but wonderful wines are made out in this vast territory. Each year there is a big wine festival in Brownfield, TX, in Terry County just south of Lubbock, where I live. The sight of vines at various stages of the growing year is familiar. Once the crop is harvested, the vines must be pruned to create the potential for the next crop. The process is ancient, and would have been as familiar to Jesus' listeners and the early Church as it is to us today. Jesus' image of himself as the vine and disciples as the branches is, therefore, a profound image of our relationship to him. "Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing."
The word "remain" appears often in the Gospel According to John, and it implies a presence that is created by faith. When we become close friends with another person, they become "present" to us even if we live far apart geographically. Our friendship "remains" in us. In the case of the image of the vine and branches, the relationship is not one of equality as in our ordinary human friendship, but rather one of nurturing and healthy dependence for the sake of bearing fruit. The whole point of our faith is to become disciples of Jesus and bear fruit by bringing others to faith in him. AMEN