5th Sunday of Easter
Acts 8:26-40; Psalm 22:25-31; 1 John 4:7-21; John 15:1-8
John 15:1-8
[Jesus said:] 1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. 2My Father removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit my Father prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide 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. 5I 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. 6Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.”
Love that Flows
Grace to you, beloved of God, and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Despite having a degree in Biology, Botanic was never much of my cup of tea—no wonder I am not an enthusiastic but situational gardener. Nonetheless, I very much like to consume the fruits that plants produce, so I have grown to appreciate what it takes to assist them in generating what will become tomato sauce, fajitas, zucchini casseroles, etc. I have to admit, growing your own food can be fun.
As I said before, my wife is the avid vegetable gardener and a much better botanist than I am. Therefore, in preparation for this sermon, I had to submit myself to a refresher course in plant physiology.
I went through these beautiful online video presentations about roots, stems, leaves, and transport of water and nutrients through the plant xylem and phloem system of vessels. The more I watched, the more some of the ways Jesus identified himself in the Gospel of John kept coming to mind.
Bear with me.
The video begins by showing how plants absorb water through their root systems and release steam through their leaves to create their own humid microclimate. I immediately thought of corn sweat. I also thought of Jesus’ proclamation to the lady at the well: “But those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”
Then came the part about the soil and how the root system absorbs essential nutrients like phosphorus, potassium, and sulfur from the decomposition of organic matter by microorganisms. Oh, I am the good shepherd. Hey, what pastor? Where do you think the manure came from in those times?
Next was photosynthesis: water, CO2, and photons combine to produce carbohydrates that feed the whole plant. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Then, oxygen is released into the atmosphere, allowing us to breathe and live. Again, Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
I was powerful. Jesus is God’s presence for us, in full harmony with the beauty of creation as God intended. I got emotional. My lifetime careers – biology and faith – combined to give life to the world. I wanted to hug a tree; more specifically, I wanted to hug a grapevine.
I wanted to hug a grapevine as an expression of how much we are bound to the love that only Jesus can give us. “I am the vine, you are the branches.”
According to the tenets of plant physiology, nutrients flow through the plant, in this case, the grapevine, mostly through passive diffusion generated by concentration gradients. For instance, there is more water in the root system than in the leaves, so the water flows effortlessly to where it needs to go. In the same way, there is a higher concentration of carbs generated by photosynthesis in the leaves. Therefore, it flows effortlessly from the leaves to the remaining parts of the plant. The beauty of the passive flow systems of transportation of nutrients in plants is that they take place without energy consumption, which the plant can use to generate flowers in the spring when the total daylight is right. When those flowers get cross-pollinated by external agents that the plant cannot control, but creation does, the branches bear the fruit of the vine. All the grapevine needs to do is to use the gifts it is given.
Now, add this image of a living being thriving through the natural and effortless cooperation between its parts with the one the author of the first letter of John provides us. “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” Jesus is God among us, so Jesus is love, and those who abide in love abide in Jesus, and Jesus abides in them.
I am the vine, Jesus said, and we are the branches. We cannot abide with him and him with us without love for him and for one another. We just need to take the gift and let love do what love does. Without love, my sisters and my brothers, we are just a building of noise cymbals. Without love, we can’t be nourished, and we can’t sustain the ministry of the vine. Without love, we whither and we fade.
The good news is that we know that Jesus never let go. So, all we need to do is remain with Christ, and he remains with us. There is so much love in him that it will flow naturally and effortlessly to us so that we can use our energy to bear fruit, grow, and welcome all whom the Spirit sends to us through streams of living water, even eunuchs from lands distant and unknown. They belong, too. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Bridging Faith 