May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: Pentecost Sunday
PROPER: A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: May 19, 2002
Holy Baptism
TEXT: Acts 2:1-11 – And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. . . All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
I Corinthians 12:4-13 – To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. . . . wisdom, utterance of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues.
John 20:19-23 – When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
ISSUE: The Holy Spirit descends upon the apostles and they are sent to the world. It is a story of new beginning and birth of the church through the blowing of God’s breath upon the apostles. It is the Spirit of God blowing away the sin of the world. It is the empowerment of the disciples and calling them to awareness of their spiritual gifts. The Pentecost is the ultimate gift of God to his followers to be the ambassadors of his Christ in the world.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Today we are celebrating in the church the major feast day of Pentecost. The Scriptures give us two accounts of the Pentecost experience for the early church. Apparently there were two traditions about Pentecost that circulated in the early Christian Community.
The earliest very basic account of the Pentecost experience is given in St. John’s Gospel account. According to John, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon some of the Apostles comes as early as Easter Day. The disciples are gathered in the upper room with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish and Roman authorities. Jesus appears. He says to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
The symbolism in this event for the early church was that of creation. The event is reminiscent of the creation of Adam. “Then the Lord God formed a man (Adam) from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Thus, the man became a living creature.” (Gen. 2:7) Notice that the disciples are sort of entombed, or enwombed, themselves in this locked room, but Christ breathes life, The Holy Spirit of God into them. It is a birth story of the Christian community, of the church. The living Spirit of God, given through Christ is given to them.
The impact of the word ‘receive’ is, as in Receive the Holy Spirit, can also mean to “take, grab, or grasp” the Holy Spirit. The apostles are to initiate the taking of the Holy Spirit and take it to the world to which they are sent.
The apostles are given authority to forgive sins. Sin in the Gospel of John usually means to be unfaithful, to accept Christ as savior and Lord. If you don’t who will? Unless they proclaim Christ and the way of Christ, the world will be left with its sin of unbelief and without faith. For the Gospel of John, by the time he was writing, faithfulness in a time of anxiety and uncertain was an absolute necessity. Therefore, it was important to take Christ, to grasp the Holy Spirit of God to be your renewal or rebirth in the world, and to breakforth with hope and proclamation of the love and the glory of God revealed to the world.
The earlier story of the Pentecost experience is given in St. Luke’s story of The Acts of the Apostles. In Luke’s story the disciples have gathered at Jerusalem for the Jewish Feast of Pentecost. This feast occurred fifty days after the Passover, and celebrated the first harvest. It also celebrated the giving of the Law, the Ten Commandments to Moses. While the Law was given by God, now you have an account of the Holy Spirit of God being given to the early apostles and members of the early Christian Church. Gathered together, a mighty wind blows upon them and flames of fire appear above their heads. They are empowered to proclaim the love and glory and might acts of God in every language of the people gathered at Jerusalem for this feast.
It is fascinating to understand that in this period, people believed that there were many evil spirits that abounded. They stayed close to home at night. They avoided the wilderness areas. The sea was often seen as a place of evil spirits. People could become possessed by bad spirits, and cause them to sin and be separated from God. When, then, you see, the power of the mighty rushing wind was for what purpose? But, of course, the coming of the Holy Spirit was to blow the evil spirits all away! Allow the loving Spirit of God to be the permeating and infiltrating Spirit for the world.
We know too, that the apostles were still young in their effort and calling. They were like warm embers, but once the Spiritual Wind of God blows upon them, the flame up and become ‘on fire’ with Holy Spirit of God. They begin the process of vivid storytellers telling the stories of the Mighty Acts of God, who saves and delivers them from oppression and evil and they continue the work of Christ in the world, raising up the poor, addressing injustices, healing and caring for the sick, the widow, the orphaned, the disenfranchised and oppressed.
The story of their speaking in many languages seems to be an answer to the Genesis story of the Tower of Babel. In that story, the people build towers in order to storm heaven and become like gods. The Pentecost story is the coming of God’s Spirit upon the people on the earth, so that the Apostles and disciples of Jesus will become the agents of Christ proclaiming the message to all the nations uniting them into one community of the people of God. God’s Spirit and breath of life that has the power to recreate and blow evil away is proclaimed to the earth so that the Kingdom of God can eventually be fully realized.
St. Paul’s take on the coming of the Holy Spirit was that the Spirit of God gives spiritual gifts and/or abilities to all people. Some make good teachers. Others are particularly wise in certain areas. Still others are good at languages and tongues and at the interpretation of spiritual insights. Some are miracle workers, that is people empowered to change other people’s lives. For instance Annie Sullivan, who was Helen Keller’s teacher, and who gave Helen the ability to hear, speak, and use sign language. Dr. Jonas Salk found a cure for Polio, and helped to eliminate that dreaded disease. Paul saw in the early Christian community numbers of Christians with blessed abilities that could be used for the promulgation of the Gospel of Christ.
Look around this parish alone and there are many skills and abilities that can be put to use. There are organizers and pushers, who helped accomplish the building of the new ramp. There are teachers in the Sunday School, and young people committed to being our acolytes, and those who read well at the Services. We are rich with musicians who help raise our moral and give inspiration to the worship. There are many skilled and talented people here. These are they who have received the Spirit, taken the Spirit. We are baptizing children today, and their baptism is their experience of rebirth into the community of faith and of people of the Spirit of God. It is, of course, important that they be raised up in the faith of the church so that their spiritual gifts whatever they may be can be used in the concern for others, and as St. Paul put it, “their gifts may be used for the common good.” May God’s Holy Spirit blow away from the evil winds and spirits of the world that may draw them away from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Receiving, taking hold, or the grasping of the Spirit of God is a matter of helping the world to live, which is often committed to death, violence, terror, and vengeance. It is a matter of being indignant and deeply concerned over the starving children of the world. It is being appalled at racism, and abandoning forgotten elderly people to hopelessness in forlorn nursing homes. Abraham Lincoln at the end of the civil war did not hold a grudge, or attempt to punish the South, but made efforts before his assassination to rebuild the South. At the end of World War two, our nation did not wreak havoc in Europe or evoke a call to vengeance, but spent millions in the Marshall Plan to rebuild. These efforts were a far cry from continuing the pain and suffering, and intended to renew and reshape the world.
In all of these stories of the coming of the Spirit, what we have is a Presence of God, a spiritual presence of God that seeks to surround us, encompass us, that desires to indwell us in our work and recreation, and at whatever age we may be. It intends to empower us for ministry of God’s love in the world. Jesus appeared to the disciples and breathed upon them, renewing and empowering them, to allow the mighty wind of God to blow all the evil spirits and evil spiritedness of the world away.
Sunday, May 19, 2002
Sunday, May 12, 2002
Easter 7 – Ascensiontide
May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: Easter 7 – Ascensiontide
PROPER: A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: May 12, 2002
TEXT: Ascension & High Priestly Pray of Jesus
John 17:1-11 – “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word . . . . . . Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”
Acts 1:1-14 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, , in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
ISSUE: This Sunday, like the last Sunday of Epiphany, is a transitional Sunday from Easter-Ascension into the season of Pentecost. We are given the Ascension Story in Acts, and the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus in John. Jesus’ work is accomplished. He has brought a clearer understanding of the likeness and presence of God to people who were and often felt ostracized from the presence of God. In the conclusion of his ministry, he offers a prayer for his followers that they will receive the Holy Spirit, and be empowered to carry on the ministry.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This Sunday is another one of those transitional Sundays, like the last Sunday in the Epiphany, which you may recall dealt with Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain top as the conclusion to his manifestation as the Son of God, and prepared the way for his temptation in the wilderness and his ministry that led toward the cross. On this last Sunday of the Easter Season, and referred to as well as Ascension Sunday, we leave behind the resurrection stories of Christ, and begin to look forward to Pentecost, the season commemorating the coming of empowering of Jesus’ disciple by the Holy Spirit.
In John’s Gospel, we have the concluding statements of Jesus’ farewell address to his disciples. According to John, the Farewell Address takes place around the table at the occasion of the Last Supper, before Jesus is taken for trial and crucifixion. The verses from the 17th Chapter of John are referred to as the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. He is in communion with the Father. Aware that his crucifixion and death are imminent, Jesus offers himself back to God. His work is done. He has brought to many people the understanding of what God is like: “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world.” God is likened the Good Shepherd, the Light of the world to enlighten the lost and lonely, the True Vine which gives new life and the hope of a new Israel or people of God, and the Bread of life he spiritual food. He is God’s enlightenment, love, spiritual nourishment for the people, rich and poor, and especially the peasants who were often considered indispensable and labeled as sinners. All that was considered to be fallen and lost among the people are restored to God through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
Jesus has given to his disciples and followers eternal life, which is access to the giver of all life, communion with God. Here is should be noted that eternal life does not mean duration of life, but quality of life. He gives them and opens up to them God’s love, forgiveness, a peace that comes from being in union with God, reconciled to God, friends of God. God is truly honored by his ministry, and God will honor him.
The second part of the farewell prayer is Jesus’ prayer for his disciples. He prays that they will be protected while remaining and living in the world. Indeed, they needed that protection. The early Christians did not enjoy the protection that was afforded to the Jewish Synagogues. The Romans knew well they could not get the Jews to pay homage to the Caesar. But Christians were something new, and was becoming another religion separating from Judaism. Not to pay homage to the Caesar was unpatriotic and could and did lead to persecution. Followers of Jesus were also being expelled from the synagogues, and were facing loss of family, friends and business contacts. Jesus therefore prays especially for their protection, and for their unity and oneness with one another, so that they could be safe, and carry on the work of Jesus in the world.
Jesus’ trial and crucifixion followed the offering of this High Priestly Prayer. His prayer is answered. He is honored and exonerated by God through his Resurrection. The world and Jewish Sadducees-Roman authorities had declared him guilty and sentenced him to death. But he is fully acquitted and resurrected by God to life, and given the honor that only God could give: “Truly this man is the Son of God.”
The story is concluded by the Gospel account of Luke, and his second book, The Book of the Acts of the Apostles. It is the final lifting up of Jesus Christ to the presence of God where we believe he reigns as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. According to the story, Jesus goes to the Mount of Olivet forty days after his resurrection, near Jerusalem and the disciples are gathered there with him, and named. Mary the mother of Jesus is there as well. The gorgeous central window here at St. John’s above the altar depicts the scene. What we do not see is the two angels, likely to have been Moses and Elijah, who were also present at Jesus’ transfiguration. They too had been, it was believed, ascended to the heavens to be with God. It is another way in which the great honoring of Jesus is expressed. He is lifted up with the greatest of the men of God.
The question for us is what does all this mean. Do not get caught up in whether or not Jesus actually prayed this High Priestly Prayer, or was the Ascension of Jesus an actual historical event. The importance of all this story is its meaning for the world today. The prayer, the suffering, the crucifixion, followed by resurrection and ascension do have a profound meaning for us. They reveal to us something of the very essence of our faith. Jesus came into the world to reveal the true God. He reveals an honorable God of love and forgiveness, a God that is approachable, as he is, and a God whose intention is to raise up all that is fallen and to restore human dignity.
Throughout the ministry of Jesus, the aim of his ministry is to raise up the fallen, and restore the lost. He lifts up the sick, the lepers, and restores them to health and hope. He touches them that no one else will touch. He raises the dead. He gives new enlightenment to the blind, new understanding of the forgiveness of God to the deaf, and new intelligent words of love to the dumb. The lame are given new vitality and freed from spiritual paralysis. The poor, the disenfranchised, the ostracized become his friends. The healing gives hope. The parables and sayings we have of Jesus give new and profound understanding of God’s remarkable grace, unearned love.
In addition to the healings, miracles, and teachings, you have the suffering as a result of the cross. Jesus’ life is offered even to death. “No greater love is there than a person lay down their life for their friends.” The crucifixion of Jesus is just such a sacrifice that reveals his love, and the resurrection reveals the power of God to honor and raise him up. Jesus is the new Adam. He is the new man who is obedient to the end, and he is raised up to sit a God’s right hand. If in Adam all died, now in Jesus Christ the new Adam, all are raised up, restored, given hope and love.
A new empowerment is about to be given. The disciples, the followers, the faithful will receive the Holy Spirit of God to carry on in the world the message, the love, the forgiveness, and the hope of God for the world. It is so important that we understand the meaning of the Gospel Story, because it immerses us into the living and uplifting spirit of God. All who are baptized into Christ join forces with him.
We all know what the world is like. The violence and lack of respect for human life is at one of its lowest points in history. Drug dealers think nothing of murdering young children. Violent loss of life in our own area is more than what goes on in Israel and Palestine, in spite of the press that they get. Racial hatred still prevails. What we may say is that there is still a loss of an understanding of the love of God in the world we live. Christianity is not without its enemies, both and home and abroad. Devoted Christians face persecution around the world. But the Gospel calls us not to be defeated, and receive the empowerment to carry on with Christ, in the spirit of Christ to live out the faith of caring, and raising up the oppressed and fallen. To teach, preach, and proclaim in our lives that God lives, that God is love, and to maintain the understanding of ourselves as the body of Christ in the world, lifting it up and helping to restore God’s creation.
Jesus lifted up all that was fallen. He himself was lifted up in honor by God. The next step is for us to receive the Spirit, to live into it, and carry on as the body of Christ in the world today daring to face the world with determined hope.
SEASON: Easter 7 – Ascensiontide
PROPER: A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: May 12, 2002
TEXT: Ascension & High Priestly Pray of Jesus
John 17:1-11 – “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word . . . . . . Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.”
Acts 1:1-14 – “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, , in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
ISSUE: This Sunday, like the last Sunday of Epiphany, is a transitional Sunday from Easter-Ascension into the season of Pentecost. We are given the Ascension Story in Acts, and the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus in John. Jesus’ work is accomplished. He has brought a clearer understanding of the likeness and presence of God to people who were and often felt ostracized from the presence of God. In the conclusion of his ministry, he offers a prayer for his followers that they will receive the Holy Spirit, and be empowered to carry on the ministry.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This Sunday is another one of those transitional Sundays, like the last Sunday in the Epiphany, which you may recall dealt with Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain top as the conclusion to his manifestation as the Son of God, and prepared the way for his temptation in the wilderness and his ministry that led toward the cross. On this last Sunday of the Easter Season, and referred to as well as Ascension Sunday, we leave behind the resurrection stories of Christ, and begin to look forward to Pentecost, the season commemorating the coming of empowering of Jesus’ disciple by the Holy Spirit.
In John’s Gospel, we have the concluding statements of Jesus’ farewell address to his disciples. According to John, the Farewell Address takes place around the table at the occasion of the Last Supper, before Jesus is taken for trial and crucifixion. The verses from the 17th Chapter of John are referred to as the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus. He is in communion with the Father. Aware that his crucifixion and death are imminent, Jesus offers himself back to God. His work is done. He has brought to many people the understanding of what God is like: “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world.” God is likened the Good Shepherd, the Light of the world to enlighten the lost and lonely, the True Vine which gives new life and the hope of a new Israel or people of God, and the Bread of life he spiritual food. He is God’s enlightenment, love, spiritual nourishment for the people, rich and poor, and especially the peasants who were often considered indispensable and labeled as sinners. All that was considered to be fallen and lost among the people are restored to God through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
Jesus has given to his disciples and followers eternal life, which is access to the giver of all life, communion with God. Here is should be noted that eternal life does not mean duration of life, but quality of life. He gives them and opens up to them God’s love, forgiveness, a peace that comes from being in union with God, reconciled to God, friends of God. God is truly honored by his ministry, and God will honor him.
The second part of the farewell prayer is Jesus’ prayer for his disciples. He prays that they will be protected while remaining and living in the world. Indeed, they needed that protection. The early Christians did not enjoy the protection that was afforded to the Jewish Synagogues. The Romans knew well they could not get the Jews to pay homage to the Caesar. But Christians were something new, and was becoming another religion separating from Judaism. Not to pay homage to the Caesar was unpatriotic and could and did lead to persecution. Followers of Jesus were also being expelled from the synagogues, and were facing loss of family, friends and business contacts. Jesus therefore prays especially for their protection, and for their unity and oneness with one another, so that they could be safe, and carry on the work of Jesus in the world.
Jesus’ trial and crucifixion followed the offering of this High Priestly Prayer. His prayer is answered. He is honored and exonerated by God through his Resurrection. The world and Jewish Sadducees-Roman authorities had declared him guilty and sentenced him to death. But he is fully acquitted and resurrected by God to life, and given the honor that only God could give: “Truly this man is the Son of God.”
The story is concluded by the Gospel account of Luke, and his second book, The Book of the Acts of the Apostles. It is the final lifting up of Jesus Christ to the presence of God where we believe he reigns as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. According to the story, Jesus goes to the Mount of Olivet forty days after his resurrection, near Jerusalem and the disciples are gathered there with him, and named. Mary the mother of Jesus is there as well. The gorgeous central window here at St. John’s above the altar depicts the scene. What we do not see is the two angels, likely to have been Moses and Elijah, who were also present at Jesus’ transfiguration. They too had been, it was believed, ascended to the heavens to be with God. It is another way in which the great honoring of Jesus is expressed. He is lifted up with the greatest of the men of God.
The question for us is what does all this mean. Do not get caught up in whether or not Jesus actually prayed this High Priestly Prayer, or was the Ascension of Jesus an actual historical event. The importance of all this story is its meaning for the world today. The prayer, the suffering, the crucifixion, followed by resurrection and ascension do have a profound meaning for us. They reveal to us something of the very essence of our faith. Jesus came into the world to reveal the true God. He reveals an honorable God of love and forgiveness, a God that is approachable, as he is, and a God whose intention is to raise up all that is fallen and to restore human dignity.
Throughout the ministry of Jesus, the aim of his ministry is to raise up the fallen, and restore the lost. He lifts up the sick, the lepers, and restores them to health and hope. He touches them that no one else will touch. He raises the dead. He gives new enlightenment to the blind, new understanding of the forgiveness of God to the deaf, and new intelligent words of love to the dumb. The lame are given new vitality and freed from spiritual paralysis. The poor, the disenfranchised, the ostracized become his friends. The healing gives hope. The parables and sayings we have of Jesus give new and profound understanding of God’s remarkable grace, unearned love.
In addition to the healings, miracles, and teachings, you have the suffering as a result of the cross. Jesus’ life is offered even to death. “No greater love is there than a person lay down their life for their friends.” The crucifixion of Jesus is just such a sacrifice that reveals his love, and the resurrection reveals the power of God to honor and raise him up. Jesus is the new Adam. He is the new man who is obedient to the end, and he is raised up to sit a God’s right hand. If in Adam all died, now in Jesus Christ the new Adam, all are raised up, restored, given hope and love.
A new empowerment is about to be given. The disciples, the followers, the faithful will receive the Holy Spirit of God to carry on in the world the message, the love, the forgiveness, and the hope of God for the world. It is so important that we understand the meaning of the Gospel Story, because it immerses us into the living and uplifting spirit of God. All who are baptized into Christ join forces with him.
We all know what the world is like. The violence and lack of respect for human life is at one of its lowest points in history. Drug dealers think nothing of murdering young children. Violent loss of life in our own area is more than what goes on in Israel and Palestine, in spite of the press that they get. Racial hatred still prevails. What we may say is that there is still a loss of an understanding of the love of God in the world we live. Christianity is not without its enemies, both and home and abroad. Devoted Christians face persecution around the world. But the Gospel calls us not to be defeated, and receive the empowerment to carry on with Christ, in the spirit of Christ to live out the faith of caring, and raising up the oppressed and fallen. To teach, preach, and proclaim in our lives that God lives, that God is love, and to maintain the understanding of ourselves as the body of Christ in the world, lifting it up and helping to restore God’s creation.
Jesus lifted up all that was fallen. He himself was lifted up in honor by God. The next step is for us to receive the Spirit, to live into it, and carry on as the body of Christ in the world today daring to face the world with determined hope.
Sunday, May 5, 2002
Easter 6
May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: Easter 6
PROPER: A
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: May 5, 2002
TEXT: John 15:1-8 - "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. . . . . . 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.
ISSUE: Jesus is the true vine, that is, he is the new Israel. What Israel has failed to do Jesus does. He reveals and lives out the glory of God, which is what it means to bear fruit. Just like a client in the Middle Eastern Patronage system was to do, honor the patron. Jesus honors the Father. He encourages his disciples to join in honoring God. Today the world needs to know of God, and to honor his Holy Name and ways.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Farewell Address of Jesus to his disciples continues in John's account of the Gospel. In this section of the farewell discourse John has Jesus referring to himself as The True Vine. John has Jesus say, "I am the true vine." The disciples and John's community of early Christians are seen as the "branches of the vine," who are to bear good fruit. It is a beautiful metaphor, but we must be careful not to be too simplistic about what it means, lest we minimize it, and have people believe - as popular secular religion does - that all you need do, as a Christian, is good works.
When Jesus says, "I am the true vine.” several unique images would have been triggered in their minds. Common to the Gospel of John are several so called "I AM" statements. Jesus reportedly says: I am the Bread of Life. I am the Light of the World. I am the Good Shepherd. I am the Door. I am the Gate. These were for the people of this time, especially the Jewish community very profound statements. The name of God in the Hebrew language was Yahweh. Yahweh meant basically, "I AM," being. God is the subject and predicate of all things. God is the Bread of Life, the Light, the Door, the Shepherd, etc., and Jesus reveals and is revealing in these statements the very Glory of God. The "I AM" statements for the early church bound Jesus together with God; it was a closely knit relationship. When he says, "I AM the true vine," this statement got people's attention.
Another thing important to understand that the imagery or metaphor of the "vine" would also get people's attention, and it would have reminded these people of some very profound parables and beliefs in the Hebrew Scriptures, Old Testament, writings. Israel and Judah, the Jewish people, were thought to be God's vine to bear fruit in the world. In Psalm 80: 8-15, Israel is seen to be God's vine saved from slavery in Egypt and planted in the Promised Land. Israel was to bear fruit for the world. Isaiah 5:1-7 writes, "Israel is the vineyard of the Lord Almighty; the people of Judah are the vines he planted." Also, the prophet Jeremiah wrote: "I planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. But look what you have become! You are like a rotten worthless vine." The imagery here portrays the people of God as being God's vine, but because of their unfaithfulness and turning to false gods, they bore sour grapes and did not bear good fruit.
Jesus then is portrayed by John's Gospel account as the True Vine. He is the new vine to bear fruit in the world. Those who are faithful are invited into solidarity and fruitfulness with him. It is at this point that we begin to appreciate what it means to bear fruit. It is not merely doing good works. It is honoring God.
Jesus was known for doing some good things. But he was not really a social worker, although he embraced the poor, had a healing ministry, and did what we call some good things. What the ministry of Jesus was essentially about was honoring and revealing the accessibility of God to all disenfranchised people, as the available God of Love and God of Forgiveness. Where the first vine (the unfaithful Israelites) failed to truly honor God, Jesus does honor God through his obedience and the calling a fellowship into solidarity with God. God is the vinedresser; Jesus the vine; and the community in solidarity with him is the branches. Life depends upon that relationship with God the Father.
To fully appreciate what it means for Jesus to be the true vine and the church to be the branches, you need also to understand the first century Middle Eastern and Roman culture. In this time the very large majority of people were very poor. The poor were often dependent upon the small wealthier class for special favors such as for jobs, land, goods, funds, or for some position of power. Life was for some dependent upon your patron. In some instances there was a broker who would enable the poor clients to find or become associated with the appropriate patron. In some instances a city official served as a broker. Since it was not always possible because of the poverty to pay back the patron who provided certain favors, the client or poor would honor them, and speak well of them, and refer to the broker and\or the patron as their friend. A person's honor was so important in this culture, so the poor gave to their patron great honor, increasing their prestige and connection of friends.
Out of this kind of cultural background, God was seen as the ultimate Patron. Jesus was God's broker. In the falleness, the brokeness of the community and the human condition, in a time of persecution, anxiety, and weak government, people of the dearly Christian community looked to God for God's favor. Jesus reveals the presence, the loveliness, the generosity, and the abundance of God's love for his creation. In the spiritual poverty of the human condition, the abundance of God's freely given love for his people is seen as grace, the unearned and gracious gift of God, for which we have no means to repay. (When we talk of "God's grace" in the world today, people don't understand that, because our cultural structure is different. We have to earn everything, and nothing is free.) What, however, we can do is to be faithful and to honor God, so speak of God with tones and worship of great Thanksgiving. American culture likes to pay back and to think of ourselves as self-made men and women who don't owe anybody anything. If we owe God anything we think in terms of doing good deeds. Well, and good, but it is also presumptuous to think we can pay back God merely by good works for the Gift of Life and Breath, for the beauty of the world, for Forgiveness, and Consciousness, and Memory, and Reason and Skillfulness with a few good deeds. We as the followers of Jesus Christ who reveals the Glory of God to us owe God Honor and Thanksgiving and Praise, not just good works and deeds.
God is the Vinedresser, the one who provides and cultivates the vine. The true vine is Jesus Christ. He is the broker of God, who like a vine infiltrates the spiritual needy world. We are the branches or canes of the vine of Christ called upon to bear fruit, that is, to honor God abundantly. In the imagery of the Vine, Israel was supposed to honor God but failed frequently in that mission. Jesus becomes to New and True Vine, and the work of the branches, the church today is to honor God's holy name for God's continuing grace.
In the reading from Acts 17:22:31 today, Paul honors God, not by great deeds, but by telling the Athenians people who have worshipped many gods of the unknown God, the God that have not known. Paul bearing fruit begins to honor the Great Patron Father God as he speaks of the Glory of God.
Honoring God is like celebrating Mother's Day. We know only too well that usually our mothers endured much for each of us. Our gifts to them are often inadequate in comparison. How do you repay someone, who has given us life, but to honor them? Is that not more certainly true of our relationship with God who gives life in all of its abundance? That fact is often forgotten, as we become distracted by the world and its demands. Jesus Christ came into the world to get our attention once again, to honor the Father, and to call us back to the source, and he calls us into the family of God, into union, solidarity, and fellowship. He is the Vine, and we are the intimately connected branches to bear fruit in terms of honoring and glorifying God.
The question is sometimes raised, Can I be a Christian and not be connected with the church. The answer is “No.” We are a community in Christ needing God, Christ, one another.
Surely we all know that something in our world, in our culture is missing. It is a very prosperous time, but a time of great cruelty, prejudice, hatred, unkindness, ethnic cleansing, power-plays, treacherous terrorism, to which Sept. 11th bears witness. It is a world broken away from the source of love and creation. It is a world seemingly cut-off from its original source. It's not enough to be nice and do good things alone. We, in intimate union with the Lord of Love, and Prince of Peace, need to speak and live glowingly of the God, who has given to us all more than we could ever desire or pray for. We worship and adore and that's extremely important. Through worship, adoration, thanksgiving, prayer we become united with Christ to be the infiltrating vine that permeates the spiritual hunger and depravity of the world with the fruit that honors the Glory of God and his renewing, restoring, and reconciling way. Jesus' farewell to his people is to see him as the infiltrating, meandering, life giving spirited vine, the source of their sustenance, and to join him in bearing the fruit that honors God in a godless world. And it is only in that intimate relationship with him, that we can do anything of worth or to see the value in our own lives.
Now a word or so about pruning the vine: We are inclined to think of the canes or branches cut off from the vine as a kind of punishment for unfruitfulness or unfaithfulness. They get thrown on the fire, which to many of us is an image of hell fire. People are inclined to simplify the Gospel in to rewards and punishments. It simply means that the older unfruitful branches were cut off and used for fuel, a not too abundant thing in the time of Christ. Branches that did not bear fruit were harmful to the vine. They sapped its strength without much usefulness to the vine. Pruning was good for the vine, and actually increased the fruitfulness of the vine. And its meaning may well mean that in each of our lives, in order to be truly fruitful people, free people, unencumbered people, we need to free ourselves of too much activity, too much material stuff, and be free to allow ourselves to serve God as fully as we can. We can become too possessed by too much stuff that slows us down. When the Israelites left Egypt to honor and worship God, and enter the Promised Land, they didn’t drag the Pyramids with them. They went forward unencumbered. Churches that get too caught up in secular programs, tradition, and real estate can lose sight of their real mission to reveal the Glory of God, and to honor God with heart, soul, and mind.
John’s Gospel and the Farewell Speeches call for the fellowship of Christ to be an abiding organic community of the people of Christ who are a witness to the world of the God of Love. There are many places, rooms and mansion for us to abide with Christ in the Kingdom of God. It is as if Christ were a real vine, and we were the branches bearing a bountiful, fruitful, witness to the Glory of God.
SEASON: Easter 6
PROPER: A
PLACE: St. John's Parish, Kingsville
DATE: May 5, 2002
TEXT: John 15:1-8 - "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. . . . . . 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.
ISSUE: Jesus is the true vine, that is, he is the new Israel. What Israel has failed to do Jesus does. He reveals and lives out the glory of God, which is what it means to bear fruit. Just like a client in the Middle Eastern Patronage system was to do, honor the patron. Jesus honors the Father. He encourages his disciples to join in honoring God. Today the world needs to know of God, and to honor his Holy Name and ways.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Farewell Address of Jesus to his disciples continues in John's account of the Gospel. In this section of the farewell discourse John has Jesus referring to himself as The True Vine. John has Jesus say, "I am the true vine." The disciples and John's community of early Christians are seen as the "branches of the vine," who are to bear good fruit. It is a beautiful metaphor, but we must be careful not to be too simplistic about what it means, lest we minimize it, and have people believe - as popular secular religion does - that all you need do, as a Christian, is good works.
When Jesus says, "I am the true vine.” several unique images would have been triggered in their minds. Common to the Gospel of John are several so called "I AM" statements. Jesus reportedly says: I am the Bread of Life. I am the Light of the World. I am the Good Shepherd. I am the Door. I am the Gate. These were for the people of this time, especially the Jewish community very profound statements. The name of God in the Hebrew language was Yahweh. Yahweh meant basically, "I AM," being. God is the subject and predicate of all things. God is the Bread of Life, the Light, the Door, the Shepherd, etc., and Jesus reveals and is revealing in these statements the very Glory of God. The "I AM" statements for the early church bound Jesus together with God; it was a closely knit relationship. When he says, "I AM the true vine," this statement got people's attention.
Another thing important to understand that the imagery or metaphor of the "vine" would also get people's attention, and it would have reminded these people of some very profound parables and beliefs in the Hebrew Scriptures, Old Testament, writings. Israel and Judah, the Jewish people, were thought to be God's vine to bear fruit in the world. In Psalm 80: 8-15, Israel is seen to be God's vine saved from slavery in Egypt and planted in the Promised Land. Israel was to bear fruit for the world. Isaiah 5:1-7 writes, "Israel is the vineyard of the Lord Almighty; the people of Judah are the vines he planted." Also, the prophet Jeremiah wrote: "I planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. But look what you have become! You are like a rotten worthless vine." The imagery here portrays the people of God as being God's vine, but because of their unfaithfulness and turning to false gods, they bore sour grapes and did not bear good fruit.
Jesus then is portrayed by John's Gospel account as the True Vine. He is the new vine to bear fruit in the world. Those who are faithful are invited into solidarity and fruitfulness with him. It is at this point that we begin to appreciate what it means to bear fruit. It is not merely doing good works. It is honoring God.
Jesus was known for doing some good things. But he was not really a social worker, although he embraced the poor, had a healing ministry, and did what we call some good things. What the ministry of Jesus was essentially about was honoring and revealing the accessibility of God to all disenfranchised people, as the available God of Love and God of Forgiveness. Where the first vine (the unfaithful Israelites) failed to truly honor God, Jesus does honor God through his obedience and the calling a fellowship into solidarity with God. God is the vinedresser; Jesus the vine; and the community in solidarity with him is the branches. Life depends upon that relationship with God the Father.
To fully appreciate what it means for Jesus to be the true vine and the church to be the branches, you need also to understand the first century Middle Eastern and Roman culture. In this time the very large majority of people were very poor. The poor were often dependent upon the small wealthier class for special favors such as for jobs, land, goods, funds, or for some position of power. Life was for some dependent upon your patron. In some instances there was a broker who would enable the poor clients to find or become associated with the appropriate patron. In some instances a city official served as a broker. Since it was not always possible because of the poverty to pay back the patron who provided certain favors, the client or poor would honor them, and speak well of them, and refer to the broker and\or the patron as their friend. A person's honor was so important in this culture, so the poor gave to their patron great honor, increasing their prestige and connection of friends.
Out of this kind of cultural background, God was seen as the ultimate Patron. Jesus was God's broker. In the falleness, the brokeness of the community and the human condition, in a time of persecution, anxiety, and weak government, people of the dearly Christian community looked to God for God's favor. Jesus reveals the presence, the loveliness, the generosity, and the abundance of God's love for his creation. In the spiritual poverty of the human condition, the abundance of God's freely given love for his people is seen as grace, the unearned and gracious gift of God, for which we have no means to repay. (When we talk of "God's grace" in the world today, people don't understand that, because our cultural structure is different. We have to earn everything, and nothing is free.) What, however, we can do is to be faithful and to honor God, so speak of God with tones and worship of great Thanksgiving. American culture likes to pay back and to think of ourselves as self-made men and women who don't owe anybody anything. If we owe God anything we think in terms of doing good deeds. Well, and good, but it is also presumptuous to think we can pay back God merely by good works for the Gift of Life and Breath, for the beauty of the world, for Forgiveness, and Consciousness, and Memory, and Reason and Skillfulness with a few good deeds. We as the followers of Jesus Christ who reveals the Glory of God to us owe God Honor and Thanksgiving and Praise, not just good works and deeds.
God is the Vinedresser, the one who provides and cultivates the vine. The true vine is Jesus Christ. He is the broker of God, who like a vine infiltrates the spiritual needy world. We are the branches or canes of the vine of Christ called upon to bear fruit, that is, to honor God abundantly. In the imagery of the Vine, Israel was supposed to honor God but failed frequently in that mission. Jesus becomes to New and True Vine, and the work of the branches, the church today is to honor God's holy name for God's continuing grace.
In the reading from Acts 17:22:31 today, Paul honors God, not by great deeds, but by telling the Athenians people who have worshipped many gods of the unknown God, the God that have not known. Paul bearing fruit begins to honor the Great Patron Father God as he speaks of the Glory of God.
Honoring God is like celebrating Mother's Day. We know only too well that usually our mothers endured much for each of us. Our gifts to them are often inadequate in comparison. How do you repay someone, who has given us life, but to honor them? Is that not more certainly true of our relationship with God who gives life in all of its abundance? That fact is often forgotten, as we become distracted by the world and its demands. Jesus Christ came into the world to get our attention once again, to honor the Father, and to call us back to the source, and he calls us into the family of God, into union, solidarity, and fellowship. He is the Vine, and we are the intimately connected branches to bear fruit in terms of honoring and glorifying God.
The question is sometimes raised, Can I be a Christian and not be connected with the church. The answer is “No.” We are a community in Christ needing God, Christ, one another.
Surely we all know that something in our world, in our culture is missing. It is a very prosperous time, but a time of great cruelty, prejudice, hatred, unkindness, ethnic cleansing, power-plays, treacherous terrorism, to which Sept. 11th bears witness. It is a world broken away from the source of love and creation. It is a world seemingly cut-off from its original source. It's not enough to be nice and do good things alone. We, in intimate union with the Lord of Love, and Prince of Peace, need to speak and live glowingly of the God, who has given to us all more than we could ever desire or pray for. We worship and adore and that's extremely important. Through worship, adoration, thanksgiving, prayer we become united with Christ to be the infiltrating vine that permeates the spiritual hunger and depravity of the world with the fruit that honors the Glory of God and his renewing, restoring, and reconciling way. Jesus' farewell to his people is to see him as the infiltrating, meandering, life giving spirited vine, the source of their sustenance, and to join him in bearing the fruit that honors God in a godless world. And it is only in that intimate relationship with him, that we can do anything of worth or to see the value in our own lives.
Now a word or so about pruning the vine: We are inclined to think of the canes or branches cut off from the vine as a kind of punishment for unfruitfulness or unfaithfulness. They get thrown on the fire, which to many of us is an image of hell fire. People are inclined to simplify the Gospel in to rewards and punishments. It simply means that the older unfruitful branches were cut off and used for fuel, a not too abundant thing in the time of Christ. Branches that did not bear fruit were harmful to the vine. They sapped its strength without much usefulness to the vine. Pruning was good for the vine, and actually increased the fruitfulness of the vine. And its meaning may well mean that in each of our lives, in order to be truly fruitful people, free people, unencumbered people, we need to free ourselves of too much activity, too much material stuff, and be free to allow ourselves to serve God as fully as we can. We can become too possessed by too much stuff that slows us down. When the Israelites left Egypt to honor and worship God, and enter the Promised Land, they didn’t drag the Pyramids with them. They went forward unencumbered. Churches that get too caught up in secular programs, tradition, and real estate can lose sight of their real mission to reveal the Glory of God, and to honor God with heart, soul, and mind.
John’s Gospel and the Farewell Speeches call for the fellowship of Christ to be an abiding organic community of the people of Christ who are a witness to the world of the God of Love. There are many places, rooms and mansion for us to abide with Christ in the Kingdom of God. It is as if Christ were a real vine, and we were the branches bearing a bountiful, fruitful, witness to the Glory of God.
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