Abiding in the True Vine Preached on April 29th, 2018 At Wollaston Congregational Church Scripture: John 15:1-8 Our gospel reading for today introduces the metaphor of Jesus as the true vine, and the disciples as the branches. This comes from a lengthy discourse Jesus is having with the disciples, during what is known as the “Last Supper.” Jesus has washed the disciples feet. Judas has gone on his way to betray Jesus. And so now, Jesus imparts his most critical teaching before he is taken away from them. These are his parting words. The metaphor of the vine has to do with a grape vine that bears good fruit. Jesus identifies himself as the real vine, to which all branches are connected. Jesus explains that branches that do not remain connected to the true vine cannot live. They wither and die and are thrown into the fire. While vine branches do not have a choice whether or not they are connected to the vine, disciples and the disciple community do have a choice. Jesus reminds them to make the choice to abide in him. The reason for the vine’s existence is to bear fruit, and so the disciple community is encouraged to bear fruit. This is a lasting image for the audience of John’s gospel, the very early Christian church. My reflections on this morning’s gospel message led me to do a little research on the care of vines in order to produce the best fruit. I learned that a well cared for vine can live for many, many years. The oldest known living vine is in Maribor in Slovenia. It has been alive since the 17thcentury and still produces 77-120 lbs of grapes each year, which make about 100 miniature bottles of wine. I also learned that a vine can become very large. The largest grape vine in the world is in the gardens of Hampton Court, a royal palace near London. This vine has circumference of 12.5 feet and the longest branch is 246 feet long. It was planted in 1768, grown from a cutting from another vine. It’s largest crop was in 2001: 845 lbs of grapes. And so, you see, that even at this great age the Hampton Court vine is bearing good and plentiful fruit. But there were other questions in my mind, following the reading of this parable of the vine. Questions like: What does it mean to remain connected to Jesus, like a branch connected to the true vine? And what does this vine look like, these days, so long after Jesus first told this parable? Are we – you and I – and us, the church together, one of the branches? And what is the fruit – you and I – and also us, the church together, are expected to bear? There’s a tendency among predominantly white, North American protestant congregations like us, to think of ourselves as the only branch on the Christian vine. After all, Protestantism dominated in North America and Europe during the 19thcentury and for much of the 20thcentury. We worry, as attendance declines in churches like ours, that Christianity is dying. But that could not be further from the truth. In fact, the Church is growing, particularly in the global South, shifting from North America and Europe. According to the Washington Post- “A century ago, 80 percent [of Christians] lived in North America and Europe, compared with just 40 percent today. In 1980, more Christians were found in the global South than the North for the first time in 1,000 years. Today, the Christian community in Latin America and Africa, alone, accounts for 1 billion people.” [1] It turns out that the branches growing out from the true vine of Jesus have become very long indeed. They wrap around the whole globe. If we are concerned about the vine of the Church continuing to thrive and grow, we may look to other lands for reassurance. And if we are concerned for branches of the vine in this region we may look to the immigrant and black churches. They are thriving as the main line church is being pruned away. It is important that we are aware of this ebb and flow of Christianity in the world. Even so, if we want to be a viable branch, bearing fruit, we need to learn what it means to abide in Jesus. This week, as I was scanning news from various Christian circles, I learned about a meeting of American evangelicals in Ohio. This group included prominent pastors, scholars, and professors. The goal of the gathering was to disentangle the word “evangelical” from its current attachment with far-right partisan politics and refocus it on Christ and the Church. One of the attendees, the President of Fuller Theological Seminary, Mark Labberton, remarked that the gathering was not “an occasion for celebration of evangelicalism,” rather, it had “[emerged out of] worry, sorrow, anger, and bewilderment.” He stated that many white evangelicals had turned the “Gospel into Good News that is fake” and lamented that “US evangelicalism [has] been complicit in violence against people of color for centuries” pointing out that “where denunciation was needed there [has been] only silence.” There was a varied response to this call to refocus on connection with Christ. In particular, the younger leaders and those of color, called for repentance for complicity in racism and sexism. [2] Of course, not all of the evangelicals’ issues are our issues. But many are. The United Church of Christ likes to lift up the areas in which we are doing well. But our churches would also do well to confess to sins of omission and silence. We would do well to examine our history as it relates matters of racism, going back to the days of slavery in the United States. And New England Protestant Churches would do well to look closely at the origins of the businesses that provided their endowments and funds for construction. New Englanders like to claim an abolitionist history, but an article from the Boston Globe in 2016, presents evidence that the slave trade helped to build our economy. Writer Kenneth Cooper says “Brown University has confessed that its early benefactors, including its namesake, owned or operated slave ships. Newport, R.I., has been identified as a leading port for such vessels. Aetna in Hartford CT has acknowledged writing life insurance policies on slaves.” The Globe article cites the book “New England Bound,” by Wendy Warren. This tells of slavery in early New England foreshadowing Southern practices. The slave masters belonged to the Puritan tradition: one of the strands that made up the Congregational Church. These Puritans claimed that God had sanctioned holding African and native slaves. [3] Some time ago I read the newsletter of a UCC church in the greater Boston area. I learned that this church had actually owned a slave, bequeathed by a benefactor. I was shocked to note that this story was written up quite factually, without a hint of a shame or a suggestion of confession or repentance. Of course, most of us were not taught about the contribution of slavery to the New England economy in our history classes in school. But the expression “ignorance is no excuse” comes to mind. This past Thursday, a couple of members of the book group and I attended a presentation made by Debby Irving, the author of the book we are currently reading, “Waking up White.” [4] The presentation’s title was “I’m a good person, isn’t that enough?” It’s a rhetorical question, of course. Yes, you and I, we are good people. And yet, to be living, viable branches on the vine we are to go further than simply being good, in order to bear fruit. In her book, Debby Irving explores her discovery – as a wealthy white American - of the “hidden history” of racism. She confesses to the fact that, in spite of being a history major in college, she had been ignorant of this information. Often the question that comes up, when audiences have heard Irving’s presentation is “what can we do?” And so, along with her colleagues, Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr. and Dr. Marguerite Penick-Parks, she has put together something called the 21 day challenge. This challenge invites participants to do one action to further their understanding of power, privilege, oppression, and equity. For each of the 21 days there are articles and books to read, music to listen to, videos to watch, and things to notice. I am hoping that members of the book group, and other church members will be willing participate in this challenge. In order to bear fruit - the fruit of this branch we call Wollaston Congregational Church – we must abide in the true vine: Jesus. At first hearing, Jesus’ parable of the vine and the branches may sound like comforting words for weary souls. The verbs “remain” and “abide” may sound passive. After all, a vine does not get up and walk around. But a vine is a living organism, and like all living things if is not growing it is dying. As a church, we do not necessarily need to grow numerically. But we do need to be growing ever deeper in our connection with Jesus and his expansive love for all people. Sometimes this will mean examining our own personal stories. Sometimes it will mean examining the story of our church and our community. It is not too late to bear the fruit of confession and repentance for our church and our community. And so, I urge us all to be bold and to live into the call to connection to Christ, the true vine. May all God’s people say, Amen [1]https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/20/think-christianity-is-dying-no-christianity-is-shifting-dramatically/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.405a6c29229d [2]https://www.newyorker.com/news-desk/on-religion/at-a-private-meeting-in-illinois-a-group-of-evangelicals-tried-to-save-their-movement-from-trumpism [3]https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2016/06/22/slave-trade-helped-build-early-new-england-economy/GqMvV4Al8Yjmf8YjP6Ot4N/story.html [4]Debby Irving, “Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race”, (Cambridge MA, Elephant Room Press. 2014)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
If you enjoy a sermon or have a question, please leave a comment. If you would like to quote any of my material in your own sermons or writings, please use appropriate attribution. I look forward to hearing from you!Archives
April 2022
Categories |