Word to the Wise
Sunday, May 2, 2021 - 5th Sunday of Easter - B
[Acts 9:26-31; 1 John 3:18-24; John 15:1-8]"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. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples." [John]
One cannot help but notice the repetition of the word "remain" in the passage from the Gospel According to John in today's gospel scripture. It is not the only place the word appears in this gospel and it is a clue to the relationship between Jesus and his Father, Jesus and the disciples, and the role of the Holy Spirit in the continuing mission. At the same time, "remain" is a mysterious term.
When we become close friends with someone, they become an abiding presence in our life, a kind of "given." They become a part of our own self-definition. We could not imagine our lives without including their presence. They "remain" in us and we "remain" in them. When Jesus says, "Without me you can do nothing," we can see the extent to which he summons us into relationship with him. This is not an "arms-length" relationship in which he is some kind of benevolent employer. It is a union of persons in a common identity even if, by definition, we don't become totally the other.
For some, this kind of relationship is intimidating. It can imply a loss of liberty or personal identity. But, as the last line of today's passage indicates, the reason for the relationship is to enable the disciple to go on mission, to "bear fruit." Without this relationship, any disciple or the whole church loses its reason for preaching the gospel. We would become simply one more humanitarian institution or individual, promoting a "be nice" agenda. Nor can Jesus just be a kind of "welcome guest" in our lives. He and we must "remain" in one another. AMEN