We are not alone

“…Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4)

John 15:1-8 (Year B: 5^th Sunday of Easter, 29^th April 2018)

In modern society, it is not uncommon for people to have a strong sense of being alone in a crowded and busy world. At the last Census of Population, in the Republic of Ireland, 400,000 persons, or just over 11% percent of all adults, were living on their own.  This figure is set to rise.  At some point in our lives, we are likely to live on our own for at least a while following any number of circumstances including bereavement, separation or travel to study or work away from home.  In former times, people moved around less and the concept of the extended family meant that the elderly lived with, and were cared for, by their families more than is the case today.  Improvements in life expectancy mean that many of us are likely to live well into our 80s or even 90s.

In a highly connected and digitally charged life, many people seem to be constantly ‘connected’ to others by phone, email or some form of social media chat. Yet, it can happen that people can be very much ‘on their own’. This can be even so in Church where we gather regularly.  There is nothing wrong about that but it is a clear social trend in a fast-changing society. As young people come of age they are less likely to go on holidays with parents or, indeed, to regularly attend church (Christmas might be an exception when attendance is almost compulsory in some families for the day that is in it!). The great tradition of getting spruced up in ‘Sunday best’ and all going together, as a family, to church is a rarity nowadays as competing sporting events and the pressures of modern living have invaded Sunday mornings (and evenings for those who might have gone to church morning and evening on a Sunday two generations ago).

Today, many people feel isolated, cut off, unsure, rudderless. This passage from the gospel of John is for them. Without God, in our lives we are cut off from the living tree. With the God of life and love in our lives we are connected into a living tree and we can flourish and grow. But we grow with pruning. Note that the branches that bear fruit (because they are growing) are the ones that get pruned (or ‘cleaned’ to use the literal Greek word καθαροὶ (katharoi). ‘Katharoi’ of heart is also used in the Beatitudes: ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.’ (Matthew 5:8).

We should welcome seasonal pruning!.  The point of our journey is not only to follow together with others but to bear fruit and to bear it in plenty. We are, each, no matter who we are or where we are at, called to flourish and to bear fruit. That is the excitement, the mystery and the unknowing of Christian discipleship at the very outset. We cannot foresee where exactly it leads and how. We trust.

In the Christian journey there is no need for lone rangers.  Church is meant to be what it says: a gathering in and a sending out.  It could be described as a field hospital for the walking wounded. We need help, support and healing on the journey but we also need to keep moving and reaching out beyond the boundaries of the hospital where others seek healing and relationship. We need to acknowledge the uniqueness of each branch on the tree. But, we need to stay connected in and nourished as branches of the one tree. We are made for one another and it is a joy to be welcomed into such a fellowship. 

Perhaps, nowhere is this unity best expressed than in the sharing of wine of the new covenant in the Eucharist when many Christians have the great privilege not only of eating but drinking as well. There, the ancient tradition, as testified in the 1^st/2^nd  century Didache recalls the ancient Jewish blessing over the bread and over the wine and sets it in the era of the new testament and covenant:

We give thanks to You, our Father, for the holy wine of David Your servant which You have made known to us through Jesus Your servant.

By sharing the one cup of joy and fellowship and partaking in the spiritual food, life and joy of the blood of the risen Lord we are healed, set free, re-united and send out no longer as lone rangers but as gifted team players.  This 5^th Sunday of Eastertide was made by the Lord let us rejoice and be glad. Once again, let us rejoice (Philippians 4:4).

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Further reading: notes and questions, verse by verse

Preliminaries

This passage forms part of a flow from Chapter 13 up to and including 17. Jesus is instructing and strengthening the first disciples. This is no mere discourse of ‘how to be holy and get to heaven’. It is much more than that. It is about enlightening the minds of the disciples and those who will hear these stories, teachings and parables. We are one body and one vine and God the Father is the vine-grower. We are inserted into this living thing by means of Jesus who is the ‘true vine’.

Many of the images, stories and examples used by Jesus come from the natural world including the world of agriculture and the land.  Images of seeding, growing, pruning, harvesting, preparing, manufacturing, selling, buying, storing, giving, taking and keeping arise throughout all of the gospels. I wonder what images, stories or parables would be told today in a fast-moving and fast-changing post-industrial and increasingly digital society?  One key aspect, at least, of the stories told about Jesus and by Jesus is the presence of personal relationship as a core point of the story. Along with this we hear about organic development and not mechanical determination. Put simply, we hear stories about

• Ordinary people;
• relationships and struggles; and
• whole-istic view of reality embracing, meaning, source, development, change, feeling, action and will.

In other words, the Gospels are not a book of philosophical theory (although they can well inform such a theory). Neither are they a book of mechanical engineering and cosmic physics to explain how the world was created and developed. And they are not a political manifesto or tract (although they may and should inform such matters). The Gospels (note plural) are what they say on the tin: Good News. Good news to change lives, to change relationships, to change societies. We must work out what this means and what to do today, here, now. The Gospels are vital signposts and lighting paths. We can truly say:  ‘Your word is a lamp for my steps and a light for my path’ (Psalm 118:105).

So, the gospel writers told stories about Jesus or stories told by Jesus. These stories connect with the world of those hearing and telling and re-telling the stories. We need to hear these stories anew every time they are told. And, we in our turn need to tell them with a twist and relevance for today’s audience in today’s world whether it is a favela in Sao Paolo or a busy drop-in centre in Dublin. The stories echo down the ages.

1-3:   Pruning back and growing

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 cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 

We are joined together in one living organism.  To bear fruit we need to be cut back: to lose some things and experiences. This can be so hard at times. The fruit we bear may be new relationships, renewed relationships, healed relationships as wells works of art, research, cooking, voluntary work, public service, etc.

4-6   Remaining in love

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. 

Abiding in God and his abiding in us is possible.  However, this abiding is the fruit of mutual love just as mutual love is sustained by God’s abiding in his through his word.

7-8:  Abiding, flourishing, glorifying

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.

Discipleship is a matter of being rooted in love – the unique love of God, of bearing fruit in our daily lives and in giving glory to our Father in heaven each and every day of our lives together as disciples.