| ‘I am the true vine, and
my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch
in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit
he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already
been [pruned] by the word that I have spoken to you.
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.
Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch
and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into
the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words
abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will
be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that
you bear much fruit and become my disciples.’ |
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| John 15:1-8 |
| Jesus tells his followers to put their trust in the Vine
and the Vinegrower. That makes God the official Pruner. Yet
knowing God is behind the pruning doesn’t set my mind
at ease! Cuts hurt. Who wants to be pruned and snipped away
at, even if it means more fruit in due season for pies, tarts,
jams and all things sweet? |
| God is the Vinedresser. I started wondering this week if
much of what we consider painful pruning isn’t God nipping
away at the ties that bind us. You know, the things we cling
to even though they are toxic. The distorted relationships
that keep us from moving forward. Habits we love that are bad
for our psyche and our souls. Clip, clip..clip, clip. The Pruner
cuts away at things that we continue to do, but hate. Things
in our lives such as Paul confessed when he said, “I
do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want,
but I do the very thing I hate.” (Romans 7:15) When God
removes the thing we “hate,” yet repeatedly do,
an empty space is left which is open to new, lively growth. |
| The Vinegrower is engaged in one particular Greek verb throughout
our passage which is translated both “to prune” and “to
cleanse” in the NRSV. The intent of either is the same.
Pruning vine branches involves cutting them back to the bare
stem. There is not much of a difference between pruning and
removing branches. Maybe they are cut away, maybe they are
yanked off. No matter which way they go, our passage makes
it clear we are all being worked on by God. We are both “branch” and “branches”.
Don’t get hung up on being part of a branch that is thrown
away! The passage assumes the understanding that those branches
are only one part of us, the whole of which God cherishes and
loves. |
| Jesus proclaimed his followers are already pruned because
we have heard the word of God in him. Then he goes on to say
we must be constantly pruned to prepare us for the continual
bearing of fruit. Growing up in the Phoenix metropolitan area
there was little opportunity for me to witness the seasons
of a vineyard. Now since I’ve lived in the Fingerlakes
wine region through a fall and spring this passage makes more
sense to me! Every fall, if we are lucky, we are witness to
lush branch-filled, grape-filled vines in vineyards. You can
hardly see the vine for the branches shoot out from those tiny
wires, daring to grow an abundance of grapes despite the challenge
of birds, animals, lack of water and scorching sun. The fruit
is harvested and enjoyed. In the early spring, all those branches
are pruned away—the root of the vine is left bare. Naked
to the world, it awaits the growth of its branches to fulfill
its mission; bearing fruit. |
| Jesus is the vine, God is the vine-grower and we are the
branches. We tend to hear “you” and think Jesus
was addressing “me” as an individual. Well, in
this passage the “you” is plural. We have already
been pruned by the word Jesus has spoken to his community.
We are told “abide in me as I abide in you” plural.
All this abiding talk binds the community of believers together
through their source, the great Vine. The community is to be
alive with action just as its source is. Jesus gave us both
gift and task. God chose to abide with us always, a gift of
grace that empowers us to bear fruit. This gift enables us
to place our faith in God no matter what situation we are in.
There are no conditions to the grace of Jesus abiding in us,
but there is a commission, for the Gardner is constantly at
work on us branches. |
| Does pruning always mean a drastic cutting though? Could
pruning mean an awakening of our senses to the knowledge that
God is with us always? What about a little revelatory snip-snip
here and there by the careful gardener? Willa Cather wrote
in Death Comes for the Archbishop, |
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| Amen |
| Beth E. Godfrey - May 14, 2006 |
| Central Presbyterian Church, Geneseo, New
York |
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| 1. Kathleen Norris from Journey by Kathleen Norris,
2001, University of Pittsburgh Press. |
| 2. John M. Buchanan ed. The Christian Century, in “Sunrise.” April
4, 2006. |
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