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Last Sunday,  Jack preached on Jesus' I am statement:  I am the shepherd of the sheep.

‘Life in the Vine'

Last Sunday,  Jack preached on Jesus' I am statement:  I am the shepherd of the sheep.   John 15: 1 -8  contains another one of Jesus' famous I Am statements, which include:    I am the light of the world;   I am the bread;  I am the vine.

Here,  Jesus uses a gardening analogy by referring to something common where he lives---  vines.   Where Jesus grew up just outside Nazareth,  you can see vines growing on both sides of the road.    But they are not the same kind of vines that you and I mentally   picture, which we are most familiar with seeing.

In Israel,  they are stumps of vines, lying close to the ground,  and they may be propped up with a rock to keep them off the hot red soil.   Also,   in Israel,  the vines are pruned back drastically.   That way,  they have a better chance of maturing and  bearing grapes.

When Jesus uses the vine and branch image,  he is teaching us something of what our relationship to Christ is like.    If we are the branch and Christ is the vine....that tells us that we need to keep Christ central ....at the heart of everything.....whether that is:  family vacations....family life,  school,  our places of work,   marriage.    Our question should be:  Where does Christ fit into all of this?      If we are not firmly grafted to the vine source...then we are really no longer branches.

Of course,  in this analogy,  Jesus is not talking just about the vine and the branch,  but he is clearly concerned about what is produced.....the fruit.    He may be thinking about those who profess but do not practice.....whose faith consists of words,  but not deeds.

And he suggests that if there is no fruit.....meaning works and witness---then one can easily just be--all leaves, bearing nothing.

For 2000 years there has been a discussion going on among Christian disciples.....and some tension over the exact connection between grace and works.

Here's one way to think about that:   A branch is a branch  because it belongs to the vine.    But if it bore no fruit,  it would be a dead and useless branch.

A branch cannot bear fruit on its own.  It needs the nourishment, support and growth.....from the central source.....the vine.   It is very easy and common for us to get confused...and direct our loyalty to all sorts of people and causes and emotions....a building, a preacher, a denomination....rather than the one true vine.

Whenever we allow all the interests and concerns of the world to sap our talents and energy,   then we are in need of some pruning.   But when we are united to him, pruned of our pride and ego and need to succeed,    then we can forgive,  love,  have sympathy,  serve others,  understand, and grow.

Jesus said:   "Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Another way to think of the vine and branch lesson is to think about staying connected.

Perhaps never before in all of history have people been as connected as they now are by internet, cell phone,  texting,  emailing, twittering,  or is that tweating---facebook, myspace, blackberry-and skype.  

And actually,   believe it or not.....all of those technological ways we are connected actually contribute a sense of isolation from one another.    

A newspaper reporter had a different slant on "being connected" when he interviewed a successful entrepreneur.

He asked:  "How did you do it? How did you make all this money?"

The entrepreneur replied,  "I'm glad you asked"   actually, it's rather a wonderful story.  You see, when my wife and I married,  we started out with a roof over our  heads, some food in our pantry, and five cents between us.  I took that nickel,  went down to the grocery store,  bought an apple, and shined it up.  Then I sold it for ten cents

"What did you do then?"  Asked the reporter.

"Well," he said,  then I bought two more apples and shined them up, and sold them for twenty cents.  The reporter thought this was going to be a great human interest story.

"Then what?"  the reporter asked excitedly.   "Then my father in law died and left us 20 million dollars"  the businessman said.

That man had prospered, not by his own ingenuity,  but because he was connected.

Neither being connected by knowing the right people,  or being connected by constant communication  has anything to do with the vine and the branches story Jesus told,  because he was NOT talking about having access to power and wealth or knowing the right people.  

Jesus was talking about the awesome power of love, and staying connected to that.

The themes of love and connection, and the branch being connected to the vine are certainly appropriate ones for today----which is celebrated in the church as Festival of the Christian Home,  or Mother's Day.

The Festival of the Christian Home is a more generic or inclusive title,  because it also includes fathers,  grandfathers,  grandmothers, any kind of relative or caregiver that makes up a family.    When we focus just on Mother's Day,  there will always be those for whom that is a sad idea.....because they wanted to be mothers,  but that never happened,  or a person's mother may have had so many problems and issues of her own that she was never able to make her child feel special and loved,  and there is still pain from that.

But despite those circumstances,  we want to celebrate mothers today.   We honor mothers for the load of responsibilities they carry,  and for the sacrificial love they give.

I was reading about a young mother who was a full time homemaker but who was still having difficulty coping with a 3 year old,  a 1 and a half year old and a newborn baby.  Her husband came home one day to find five dozen diapers hanging on the line in the back  yard.

He said:  "I saw the white flags in the back yard. I take it that you have surrendered."

I'm sure it is tempting,  but most mothers hang in there.

There are homes and families of all kinds, of course.   Not all are biological.

Some families are blended;  children are step and adopted and  foster.

Some families are just circumstantial,  bound together by love..

For those who HAD mothers or who ARE mothers,   there is probably some kind of a Mom Voice that lives in our heads.   And probably all those mother voices have a few famous lines in common.

How many times do I have to tell you?

Because it's good for you.

No running in the house.

Wash your hands.

Don't talk with your mouth full.

When I was your age.

Some day you'll thank me.

And Perhaps the most universal of all:  Because I said so!

Of course the reason for Mother's Day is that we want to give back to our mothers some of the blessings they gave to us.  We want to honor them with care and gratitude and gifts.

A mother's love and care can and does shape the child's identity as a healthy human being.

Let me share with you this paraphrase of the familiar love chapter, 1 Corinthians chapter 13:

If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place,  but have not love,  I am a housekeeper ...not a homemaker.  If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements,  but have not love,  my children learn cleanliness---not godliness.  Love leaves the dust in search of a child's laugh.  Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.  Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.

Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.  Love is present through the trials.  Love reprimands,  reproves and is responsive   Love crawls with the baby,  walks with the toddler,  runs with the child, then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.  Love is the key to salvation's message to the child's heart.

Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection.  Now I glory in God's perfection of my child.   As a mother,  there is much I must teach my child,  but the greatest of all is love.

That relationship between a mother and a child is not unlike the kind of relationship between us and Jesus,  suggested by the vine and branch image that Jesus speaks about in John 15.  

Both mean we are not alone.  Someone shares our life.  Someone is there for us.   There is nothing sadder than the person who is not connected to anybody.     Prisons are filled with them.   One example that comes to my mind is  Ted Kaczynski,  the Unabomber who cut himself off from his family and colleagues and friends.   Of course, that was due to his severe mental illness,  but  whatever the reason--- the result was total isolation.

There is something about isolation that is devastating to the human spirit,  whether that isolation is chosen or caused by circumstances beyond our control.   

Human beings cannot survive in total isolation---completely cut off from other human beings,  without love----any more than the branch can survive without its source of life,  the vine.

The family of Christ really cannot survive either,  without God being central to everything.    When God is central,  hate turns to love,  greed moves to generosity,  revenge changes to forgiveness.

And we go and witness because we love him who loves us.   We go because we know the joy of being in him  (Life in the Vine)  and we want   to share that privilege with others.      

You know,  the truth is,  some people, or followers, do wither on the vine...lose contact with Christ and the church....lose out on all the possibilities that come with being part of a supportive congregation.    They never grow and mature in their faith.

God knew that our enthusiasm would grow weak and dissipate.   He knew that we would need to be reminded again and again.   And he knew that we would have constant need to uphold each other,  to develop deep and meaningful relationships here in his family.   So he gave us this.....his house,....his fellowship....which we might experience and enjoy.    Again and again.   We come together with the other branches to celebrate our belonging,  our attachment to the vine which is Christ.-----who is the source of abundant life.

When we are truly living an abundant life...one in which we are growing in grace all the time.....I don't believe that we can ever be truly satisfied with the dry, unconnected, withered life, which has fallen away from the vine and the source.----

or for that matter----even a life which has not yet gotten connected to that source in the first place.

The love that is spoken of in this chapter is the Greek form of love-or  "agape".....

When we speak of love in our modern world,  often we are referring to romantic love, or eros...

Or family love.....familios....

But the essence of Agape love is self sacrifice.   In Scripture, it is the universal power that holds together the Triune God as one......

The love between God the Father, and God the son......

The love of God that is poured out in the world in the form of Jesus Christ......

And the love that God wants us to know....Christ's sacrifice for us, so that we might have eternal life,  and be connected for eternity,  living in the presence of God.

We are grafted onto the Vine of our Creator,  through the gift of the Son.

We know because vineyard owners tell us that the strongest point on any vine is the place where the vine and branch are joined together.     That is a very different phenomenon from a tree.   If you pull on a branch that goes into a tree,   it will always break at the trunk of the tree because in a tree,  that is the weakest place.

But in the grapevine, ---where the vine and branch join---  that is the strongest point.    Jesus tells us that where we are attached to him.....there is all the strength we need to hold on in the time of testing.

He has said again and again.  Abide in me and I will never let you go. 

When we are joined to him,  we have a source of power,  a presence and a purpose.

Our purpose is to lead productive lives,  where we bear fruit----and show ourselves to be Christ's disciples,  and use our lives and all our gifts for the glory of God.

Amen.