The
Son is the vine; the Father is the vine-grower.
I’ve experienced this metaphor for the relationship between God, Jesus
and the disciples in several varieties.
First, there’s the coloring book version: green vines and purple grapes
winding around a chalice with a little loaf of bread there for good
measure. Then, there’s the artsy-crafty
kind: dried grape vines fashioned into decorative wreaths for any season of the
year – even the religious ones. Many of
you experienced the kinetic type at our last EVENT: stomping on grapes to make
a mash for wine making. Some of you helped with kneading bread dough too.
When Steve and I visited Sonoma County last
month, I got a brand new perspective on this gospel story. Not only did we get to taste some amazing
wines, thanks to my friend Ken - - the same Ken who rescued me from my near
cactus garden fall years before - - but we also drove around and visited
several wineries. More than once, Ken
said “you are tasting wine that was grown just outside these doors.” He explained the different varietals and how
several wines can be made from the same grapes using different techniques. Steve was taking all this in. I just kept staring at the vineyards….acres
and acres and acres of vineyards as far as the eye could see. “Jesus is the true vine, and my Father is the
vine-grower,” I thought to myself. Wow.
If
this metaphor gave me any enlightenment, it was that the reach of Christ is
beyond comprehension and the vine-growing Father provides loving care. The Spirit’s help is most definitely required.
Grapevines don’t just bear fruit by themselves; they must be tended through a
special creative process that makes possible the wine we choose to enjoy with
friends and family. Ken gave me a great
way to remember this process – each of the rooms at his office are named for
steps in the process: Bud Break Lobby, Harvest Board Room, Crush Conference
Rooms, Fermentation Tank (Kitchen), Storage Tank (copy & work room), and Wine
Cellar & Tasting Room.
With
a little imagination, you can make each of these vineyard processes match up to
a step in one’s spiritual journey. Let’s
see:
·
Bud
Break: stirring of the spirit – sensing God’s presence with us – knowing that
something is ready to burst forth
·
Harvest:
engaging in a ministry – gathered together with others of the same stuff ready
to fully become the Christian we’ve declared ourselves to be
·
Crush:
experiencing difficulty or temptation as we are led into becoming
something/someone new, a crushing experience often
·
Fermentation:
maturing…sometimes with heat added…but knowing we get better with age
·
Storage:
those times when not much is happening, when we need to set idle and await
God’s next move
·
Wine
Cellar & Tasting: arriving where God wants us to be and enjoying the gifts
of the Spirit
But,
Ken’s clever room name scheme forgot a step, I’m afraid. It’s the step that we know is necessary and
the one we probably fear the most: The
Pruning Room.
While
most of us don’t own vineyards, we do understand the concept of pruning. It’s when we cut out the plant material that
is keeping the tree or bush or vegetable from growing at its fullest
potential. We hear it referred to as
‘cutting out the dead wood’ and that is true some of the time. However, pruning also means cutting back live
growth or removing sucker plants in order that the plant can concentrate on
growing straight or producing better tasting produce. When we talk about it that way, it sounds
violent. It’s especially so when we talk
about ‘cutting out the dead wood’ as taking away employment from people we no
longer believe to be productive or who we deem too expensive to keep around. Unfortunately, I’ve heard too many church
people interpret this part of the gospel in this violent matter. “If you don’t accept Jesus, you’ll be cut
away and burned in Hades.” That makes
me shudder.
I
believe that this message in John’s gospel has more to do with the consequences
of not being in community (with God and with each other) than it does with
dogma. Jesus wants us to abide in him as
he abides in us.
This
is an intimate relationship into which we are invited. We are vines emerging from a central root
that are to cling to each other, support each other, and eventually that
relationship will be visible to the world because of the fruit that is being
produced. Those vines that choose to
stray from the community cannot access the community’s resources. Without support, without love, they
wither….some die.
The
community for whom this gospel was written was under persecution. It was imperative that they stick together –
supporting each other in prayer – in order for the faith (and them!) to stay
alive. There would have been no benefit
in quarreling about matters tangential to the message of God’s love for them –
love that was made manifest in the death and resurrection of Jesus the
Christ. What mattered was how they loved
each other and how that love spilled out into the dangerous world they lived
in, like grapes heavy on the vines.
It
also matters that we remember that the vineyard is not ours, but God’s. The vine dresser knows best how to coax the
best fruits from the vines. God may ask
us to pinch off or cut out some idea or emotion or habit that is keeping us
from fully taking our part in the community or preventing us from producing the
best fruit. I don’t think it would take
much effort on anyone’s part to come up with a few of those things for
ourselves if we just think about it for a minute or two. Yes, this pruning is uncomfortable, but it is
necessary for a fruitful relationship with God and equally fruitful
relationships with each other. This pruning
may be uncomfortable but it is not to be feared. God is not punishing us; God is helping us
grow.
So
come to the table, drink and eat, and abide in Christ. The wine we are about to
share is our tangible reminder that we are divinely entwined with one
other. Entwined and rooted in the same
Lord who is Love.
(c) 2012 C. B. Park/All rights reserved
