Sermon preached at St. Alban's on May 25, 2014
Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year A
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann
This past week I went back to Nashotah House for the Annual Alumni Meeting and Graduation. Such is the connection I enjoy with the House that every year since I
have graduated I return a couple of days early in order to help with the
preparations by mowing its park-like grounds. This ordinary activity combined with
twice daily traditional Anglo-Catholic worship is very therapeutic for my body,
mind and soul. Although after two days on a mower I’m not so sure about the body part of it. In any case, I hope to always do this as long as I am physically
capable.
As I mowed, I had this morning’s Gospel running through the back of my
brain trying to come up with a suitable analogy with which to illustrate it, but
I kept hitting a dead end. It wasn’t until I was driving home that it literally dawned on me that all of my cerebral searching was an effort in futility, because this Gospel passage is the suitable analogy. There is no better description of what
St. John is trying to convey than viticulture, because this passage is not just
a botanical metaphor describing the Church as the vine with its branches, but
also describes the relationship connecting the vine and its branches with the
vinegrower or with the vinedresser as it says in the Revised Standard
Version.
First of all Jesus is the vine. This is no mystery, because he says so. In fact, he’s not just any vine, but the “truevine.” But what does he mean by that?
Well, the symbol of the vineyard is no stranger to Judaism. The Old Testament is riddled with its imagery. For example, in the fifth chapter of the prophet Isaiah the “house of Israel” and the “people of Judah” are referred to as “the
vineyard of the Lord of hosts.” Again and again God expects His chosen people to produce “grapes” of a proper quality, in this case, justice and righteousness as befitting the chosen participants of His covenant, but instead they produce “wild
grapes” by constantly and consistently rebelling against God and His commandments. Consequently, as foretold by the prophets, Israel is cut off from the Promised Land and carried into exile. Always the vine depicts Israel as the collective people of God.
But in saying that he is the “true vine,” Jesus is saying that he alone is the true Israel. He alone as the Divine Word made flesh is completely obedient to God’s
commands. He alone aligns his will with that of the Father. As a result, he accepts the moral weight of the mantle of the true representative of God’s chosen people upon whom God’s purpose for the world is resting.
Just as David, the shepherd boy who became a man after God’s own heart, represented all of Israel against Goliath, so too, Jesus, the Son of God, “the root and descendent of David,” represents all of those who abide in him against the ruler of this world. And all of those who abide in him; those who believe in him, as God’s chosen Messiah, are the true people of God. In other words, his disciples are the second component of the analogy.
You see, a vine is not just a barren stalk of fibrous wood. A vine also consists of numerous branches. Not after-thought add-ons casually attached for mere decoration, but vital appendages integrally connected to the vine; together the vine and branches are constituents of the whole, essential for its perpetuation.
Without the branches the vine has no practical purpose, and without the vine the branches are good for nothing other than fuel for the fire. They must work together in concert for the purpose of the vinedresser, for the vinedresser is the third component of the analogy, and He is God the Father. The Father’s purpose for
His Son and His people are the growth, formation, and production of fruit of a
proper quality.
You see, in viticulture, left to themselves without proper husbandry the naturally unruly branches grow inwardly and entangle themselves, one within the other, preventing maximum growth and fruition. In order to overcome this problem the vinedresser does several things.
First a young vine is not allowed to bear fruit for three years. It is severely cut back each year to conserve its strength and energy.
Secondly, when the vine is mature, the vinedresser identifies the branches which are most likely to produce fruit from those that will not. By cutting out the non-productive branches from the vine the vinedresser is able to direct and cultivate the remaining branches toward the light of the sun, which is necessary for the sustainable growth of the vine and its fruit-bearing capabilities.
Thirdly, turning his attention to the remaining healthy branches, the vinedresser selectively prunes away the smaller buds, which if left attached, drain the life-giving nutrients from the larger, healthier buds, thus reducing the overall quality of all the grapes.
Cut back, cut out, and prune; all actions of the vinedresser’s knife, which don’t sound very pleasant on the receiving end, yet they are necessary for the welfare and production of the vine. But in this passage of John’s Gospel it’s important to notice that only the latter two acts of the vinedresser are mentioned; cutting out in order to destroy the unfruitful branches and pruning in order to improve the remaining branch’s ability to bear fruit.
And it’s interesting to note that grammatically, in the Greek, both of these actions are in the present tense, which indicates that they are ongoing activities.
In other words, it is God the Father who cuts out the dead wood from the
Church by His living Word, and it is through this same Word that He continually
prunes the remaining branches for the health and vitality of the whole vine. As the letter to the Hebrews states, “Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart”.
So the question we have to ask ourselves is where are we in this process? As baptized Christians we are the branches of Christ Jesus the Vine, but do we listen closely to his words?
Are we healthy, fruit-bearing branches? As the saying goes, “If we were charged in a court of law for claiming to be a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict us?” Do we put God first in our lives? Do we love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind? Do we love our neighbors as
ourselves? And if not, are we willing to undergo the precision of the Vinedresser’s knife in order to prune away the imperfections from our lives which drain us of Jesus’ life-giving properties and diminish our capacity to bear the fruit of the Father’s love? Or are we withering away because we are no longer viable branches abiding in Christ Jesus the True Vine?
Brothers and sisters in Christ, if we want to remain a vibrant part of the True Vine; abiding in Jesus as he abides in us; our relationship must be cultivated. It is essential to regularly hear and study the word of God, and frequently partake of the Sacraments of the Church, especially the cutting-edge precision of confession and the life-giving sustenance of Holy Communion. Only in this way are we able to bear
the fruit by which the world will know beyond a shadow of doubt that we are
disciples of Jesus Christ. This is our Christian duty in accordance with our Baptismal Covenant, and there is no better analogy by which to describe it. In Nomine Patris
have graduated I return a couple of days early in order to help with the
preparations by mowing its park-like grounds. This ordinary activity combined with
twice daily traditional Anglo-Catholic worship is very therapeutic for my body,
mind and soul. Although after two days on a mower I’m not so sure about the body part of it. In any case, I hope to always do this as long as I am physically
capable.
As I mowed, I had this morning’s Gospel running through the back of my
brain trying to come up with a suitable analogy with which to illustrate it, but
I kept hitting a dead end. It wasn’t until I was driving home that it literally dawned on me that all of my cerebral searching was an effort in futility, because this Gospel passage is the suitable analogy. There is no better description of what
St. John is trying to convey than viticulture, because this passage is not just
a botanical metaphor describing the Church as the vine with its branches, but
also describes the relationship connecting the vine and its branches with the
vinegrower or with the vinedresser as it says in the Revised Standard
Version.
First of all Jesus is the vine. This is no mystery, because he says so. In fact, he’s not just any vine, but the “truevine.” But what does he mean by that?
Well, the symbol of the vineyard is no stranger to Judaism. The Old Testament is riddled with its imagery. For example, in the fifth chapter of the prophet Isaiah the “house of Israel” and the “people of Judah” are referred to as “the
vineyard of the Lord of hosts.” Again and again God expects His chosen people to produce “grapes” of a proper quality, in this case, justice and righteousness as befitting the chosen participants of His covenant, but instead they produce “wild
grapes” by constantly and consistently rebelling against God and His commandments. Consequently, as foretold by the prophets, Israel is cut off from the Promised Land and carried into exile. Always the vine depicts Israel as the collective people of God.
But in saying that he is the “true vine,” Jesus is saying that he alone is the true Israel. He alone as the Divine Word made flesh is completely obedient to God’s
commands. He alone aligns his will with that of the Father. As a result, he accepts the moral weight of the mantle of the true representative of God’s chosen people upon whom God’s purpose for the world is resting.
Just as David, the shepherd boy who became a man after God’s own heart, represented all of Israel against Goliath, so too, Jesus, the Son of God, “the root and descendent of David,” represents all of those who abide in him against the ruler of this world. And all of those who abide in him; those who believe in him, as God’s chosen Messiah, are the true people of God. In other words, his disciples are the second component of the analogy.
You see, a vine is not just a barren stalk of fibrous wood. A vine also consists of numerous branches. Not after-thought add-ons casually attached for mere decoration, but vital appendages integrally connected to the vine; together the vine and branches are constituents of the whole, essential for its perpetuation.
Without the branches the vine has no practical purpose, and without the vine the branches are good for nothing other than fuel for the fire. They must work together in concert for the purpose of the vinedresser, for the vinedresser is the third component of the analogy, and He is God the Father. The Father’s purpose for
His Son and His people are the growth, formation, and production of fruit of a
proper quality.
You see, in viticulture, left to themselves without proper husbandry the naturally unruly branches grow inwardly and entangle themselves, one within the other, preventing maximum growth and fruition. In order to overcome this problem the vinedresser does several things.
First a young vine is not allowed to bear fruit for three years. It is severely cut back each year to conserve its strength and energy.
Secondly, when the vine is mature, the vinedresser identifies the branches which are most likely to produce fruit from those that will not. By cutting out the non-productive branches from the vine the vinedresser is able to direct and cultivate the remaining branches toward the light of the sun, which is necessary for the sustainable growth of the vine and its fruit-bearing capabilities.
Thirdly, turning his attention to the remaining healthy branches, the vinedresser selectively prunes away the smaller buds, which if left attached, drain the life-giving nutrients from the larger, healthier buds, thus reducing the overall quality of all the grapes.
Cut back, cut out, and prune; all actions of the vinedresser’s knife, which don’t sound very pleasant on the receiving end, yet they are necessary for the welfare and production of the vine. But in this passage of John’s Gospel it’s important to notice that only the latter two acts of the vinedresser are mentioned; cutting out in order to destroy the unfruitful branches and pruning in order to improve the remaining branch’s ability to bear fruit.
And it’s interesting to note that grammatically, in the Greek, both of these actions are in the present tense, which indicates that they are ongoing activities.
In other words, it is God the Father who cuts out the dead wood from the
Church by His living Word, and it is through this same Word that He continually
prunes the remaining branches for the health and vitality of the whole vine. As the letter to the Hebrews states, “Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart”.
So the question we have to ask ourselves is where are we in this process? As baptized Christians we are the branches of Christ Jesus the Vine, but do we listen closely to his words?
Are we healthy, fruit-bearing branches? As the saying goes, “If we were charged in a court of law for claiming to be a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict us?” Do we put God first in our lives? Do we love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind? Do we love our neighbors as
ourselves? And if not, are we willing to undergo the precision of the Vinedresser’s knife in order to prune away the imperfections from our lives which drain us of Jesus’ life-giving properties and diminish our capacity to bear the fruit of the Father’s love? Or are we withering away because we are no longer viable branches abiding in Christ Jesus the True Vine?
Brothers and sisters in Christ, if we want to remain a vibrant part of the True Vine; abiding in Jesus as he abides in us; our relationship must be cultivated. It is essential to regularly hear and study the word of God, and frequently partake of the Sacraments of the Church, especially the cutting-edge precision of confession and the life-giving sustenance of Holy Communion. Only in this way are we able to bear
the fruit by which the world will know beyond a shadow of doubt that we are
disciples of Jesus Christ. This is our Christian duty in accordance with our Baptismal Covenant, and there is no better analogy by which to describe it. In Nomine Patris
