Sermon Text

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord—the vine—Jesus Christ. Amen.

These days, it seems that more and more that subjects I used to dismiss in high school as “probably useless to me” are once again finding their way into my life and work. I remember sitting in my biology class during our unit on plants, seriously questioning the value of memorizing highly specialized terms like osmosis, cytoplasm, and mitochondria. After all, I was going to be a computer programmer or a physics teacher one day...or maybe a pastor who is interested in the relationship between Christianity and the natural environment. Go figure. God—apparently the vindicator of high school biology teachers everywhere—has one crazy sense of humor.

In today's gospel reading from John, Jesus himself is teaching a bit of a biology lesson. Using the visually striking metaphors of vines, branches, and fruit, he beautifully illustrates for his disciples the relationship they share with him. These 8 verses are a small but poignant part of a larger story unit consisting of John, chapters 14 to 17, where Jesus is teaching the disciples at the Last Supper. This unit is unique to John.

But this text and its broader unit are not the only unique points of interest here. The central issue of these 8 verses from John 15 is a change of pace from Jesus' usual subject matter. This time, the problem at hand is not poor conduct or lack of understanding or faith on the part of the disciples. It's not hunger, disease, or poverty. It's not even bad behavior on the part of Jesus' favorite targets, the religious leaders. No, the problem at this juncture in the Gospel of John is the impending repercussions of something Jesus is about to do—namely, dying on the cross so that all who believe in him may not perish, but have eternal life. The problem is that Jesus' death will cause him to be physically separated from the disciples.

To guide the work of the disciples after his crucifixion, then, Jesus develops this analogy of vines and their typically entwined and interwoven branches to illustrate the interconnectedness that is to exist in the Christian community despite his physical absence. He calls them to live life in him, but the disciples would discover that life in Christ would necessarily be different from the life with Christ to which they were accustomed. Their connectedness as branches of Jesus the vine would be difficult to maintain in the wake of events that would, at least in the physical sense, result in the vine being cut off from them. After all, branches cannot live separate from the vine, and they quickly become weak and limp, finally separating from each other as well.

Even after Jesus' resurrection and ascension demonstrated divine victory over sin and death, and the Holy Spirit was sent to ensure a connection between Jesus the vine and the human branches, humanity yet lives in a manner suggesting that the vine has been cut off from us. Tensions between people and groups have escalated to the point where the branches would appear to be coming untangled. War, civil injustices, and lopsided distribution of human necessities like food and clean water are driving people apart all across the globe. In more individualistic societies like ours, there is also great temptation to think of ourselves as self-made, self-deterministic branches rather than ones God is continually pruning and trimming—according to God's purposes and desires.

Neither is the church exempt from these difficulties. Although the church, God's called, gathered, and enlightened branches, rightly believes and confesses that the risen and ascended Jesus is a living and flourishing vine, we don't always feel comfortable interacting with the other branches. Sometimes this stems from disagreements between individual Christians, and other times from the differing perspectives on God expressed by the many denominations and churches. So, while we do well to acknowledge that we are all connected to the vine, we often come up short in our comfort level for being as closely entwined as God would have us be.

As the struggles of disciples ancient and modern have shown, then, the interconnectedness and harmony of the Christian community (not to mention the world at-large!) is far from perfect when left to its own resources. The branches cannot live or bear fruit without Jesus, the true vine. But Jesus reveals to the disciples in our gospel reading how he intends to keep everything together. This is through the community abiding in him, or perhaps more clearly stated, living each day with faith in him. Faith, inspired and nourished by the Holy Spirit, is the means by which the community is to abide in him. It is the foundational virtue of life in Christ, the virtue which leads to the hope and love that intertwine us more profoundly.

And, lest we forget, Jesus reminds us that the branches—his disciples—rely not only on the vine but also on the vinegrower, God the Father, who trims afflicted and unproductive parts from the branches so that they may bear more fruit. Thus, the life and nourishment that is provided by Jesus the vine through abiding faith is meticulously nurtured and made more abundant by the creator of heaven and earth, of all things seen and unseen.

And the fruit that the disciples are to bear? Well, again, I don't have much affinity for biology, but I discovered with a little research that fruits are, essentially, vehicles for transporting seeds. Some are sweet and delicious like grapes, while others are inedible and odd looking like the maple tree's little helicopters, but the long and short of Jesus' insistence on the branches bearing fruit is that his disciples will transport the seeds of the good news of Jesus to new people and places.

Certainly, we live in a different time than the disciples who were gathered around him at the Last Supper, but the vineyard still looks much the same. Like Christ's original branches, we are branches with much growing to do and much fruit to bear, and we do these things by loving our neighbors as Christ has loved us. We can and should invite people to church, and we can and should selflessly pray, advocate, and provide for people in need. By doing these things with faith that Christ can and will act, we abide in Jesus and enjoy the abundant life that he, the true vine, provides.

So, as we observe this Eco-Sunday, let us delight in this message of hope that Jesus has constructed from the earthiest of metaphors. We are indeed connected with the natural environment and all creatures because that God is the creator of all things seen and unseen, and we respect and embody this interconnectedness by striving to live more gently with the earth. But appreciating how God has entwined all of creation begins first and foremost in cultivating relationships with the human branches around us, whom the Holy Spirit inspires, the Son, Jesus Christ, nourishes, and the Father enhances.

And so, beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God—the Father, and the Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Some Commentary Links

Here are a few sources from which I've derived some inspiration for this sermon:

• Full texts of the lectionary lessons courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library
• Reflections from Pastor Brian Stoffregen on CrossMarks.com
• Dr. Hedahl's 2009 commentary on WorkingPreacher by Luther Seminary
• WorkingPreacher's weekly Sermon Brainwave Podcast from 2009 on the Easter 5B texts
• The Text This Week portal for John 15:1-8
• Gospel Analysis from "Sermons from Seattle" (Pr. Edward Markquart of Grace Lutheran Church, Des Moines, WA)

An Emerging Sermon Outline!

Text: John 15:1-8—Spring Eco-Sunday (Easter 5B)

Love for/care of creation starts with the same between people.

Some Background: Vines

• The branches of vines are entwined, twisted together. Not so much like tree branches, which are arguably more independent structures.
• Interconnectedness of creation
• But the interconnectedness of creation begins with the interconnectedness of humanity. Just as diseases or parasites on one branch can negatively impact neighboring branches, so can animosity anger spread from one person or group to others.
• Connection to the vine allows each branch to live.
• A branch may intersect with new branches as the vine continues to grow and climb.

Page One (Law in the Text)

• Literary Context: Farewell Discourse, John 14-17. John is the only gospel where Jesus teaches extensively at the last supper. He speaks almost nonstop for four chapters. You'd think he would be in a hurry, but this doesn't appear to be the case.
• Unlike the vast majority of scenarios in the gospels, the problem at hand is not poor conduct or lack of understanding or faith on the part of the disciples. No, the problem at this juncture in the Gospel of John is the impending repercussions of something Jesus is about to do—namely, dying on the cross so that all who believe in him may not perish, but have eternal life.
• The problem is that Jesus' death will cause him to be physically separated from the disciples.
• So, Jesus develops his analogy of vines and branches to illustrate the closeness that is to exist in the Christian community despite his physical absence. Elaborate here on the illustration, maybe begin to draw in tech...
• With all the content here, it is difficult for the disciples to focus, and it takes the community a long time trying to figure out what Jesus means—hence the reason for the three letters of John in the NT, which helped the community continue the discussion.

Page Two (Law in the World)

• Unfortunately, it's still difficult for us to understand and embrace what Jesus is talking about in today's gospel lesson.
• Tensions and conflict between denominations, religions, nations, and neighbors
• Liken this to disease in a vine—starts somewhere, then spreads
• Certainly, the world today appears to be full of blighted branches.

Page Three (Gospel in the Text)

• The Gospel of John, along with all the other NT writings, demonstrates that the interconnectedness and harmony of the Christian community (not to mention the world at-large) is far from perfect when left to its own resources.
• The branches do not flourish and bear fruit without Jesus, the true vine, but Jesus reveals how he intends to keep everything together. This is through the community abiding with him, or—probably more clearly stated—living each day with faith in him.
• And the branches—the people and churches—rely not only on the vine but also on the vinegrower. As the vinegrower, God trims from the branches the afflicted and unproductive parts, that the branches may bear more fruit. I'm not much of a biologist, but by definition, fruits are vehicles for transporting seeds. Some are sweet and delicious, while others are inedible, but the long and short of Jesus' insistence on the branches bearing fruit is that the branches—those in the church—will transport the seeds of the good news of Jesus to new people and places.

Page Four (Gospel in the World) & Conclusion

• Jesus' words speak as clearly to us as they spoke to the early Christians. Like them, we are branches with much growing to do and much fruit to bear, and we do these things by loving our neighbors as Christ has loved us. We can and should invite people to church, and we can and should selflessly pray, advocate, and provide for people in need. In doing so, we abide with Jesus and enjoy the abundant life that he, the true vine, provides.
• So as we observe this Eco-Sunday, let us delight in this message of hope that Jesus has constructed from the earthiest of metaphors. We are indeed connected with the natural environment and all creatures, in that we share God as the creator of us all, and we respect this interconnectedness by living gently with the earth. But appreciating how God has entwined all of creation begins with cultivating relationships with the human branches with whom God has surrounded us.
• And so, beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Amen.

Readings 1/4/11

Interestingly, I thought the pro- and anti-Powerpoint articles were lean on facts and big on talk. They very much seemed to develop the sense of a battle between irreconcilable ideologies, as the Yurs article from yesterday suggested. I was especially surprised by the anti-PowerPoint article and its generally weak supply of facts. Throughout the article, it seemed to me as if Quanbeck was ranting about one or two really poorly conceived tech sermons and not considering the possibility that it could be done well. Being a career computer guy, I sympathize with his position that computers are always apt to fail, but I think he goes a bit overboard in dismissing reliability of present-day presentation software.

I thought the plagiarism article was interesting. It is a novel thought to suggest that pastors may secure more time during the week for evangelism and mission ministries by "borrowing" sermons. While I don't think it's something people should do often, I do think it is occasionally good to bring in another preacher's perspective as long as you credit the other person. For example, my internship supervisor once preached a sermon by Barbara Brown Taylor on the Prodigal Son. She was impressed by Taylor's work and wanted to share this great homiletical find with her congregation. Thus, I think some use of others' work can be enlightening for people as long as pastors craft sermons uniquely suited to their congregations most of the time.

Witte's paper was interesting in its many references to scriptural inerrancy, a denominational tenet that doesn't strike me as particularly relevant to using video and multimedia techniques in preaching. The second half of the paper, in my estimation, could stand quite well on its own and would have a greater interdenominational appeal. It echoes many sentiments of the other readings from this class, and seems very consistent in the idea that technology isn't always called for and should be well thought-out when it is used.

Preaching With Technology--Sermon Start

I'm thinking ahead to first call here, so I have selected Easter 5B (2012) as my lectionary week. After taking the Ecology and Religion class here at the seminary, I got the idea to take an opportunity during each of the four seasons to focus on stewardship and care of creation. For now, I'm calling the idea "Eco-Sundays." These Sundays will give us a chance to think about all that God has made, and we can put some thought into our role in God's global work. Eco-Sundays aren't here for the purpose of figuring out how to save the environment by ourselves; rather, they give us pause to celebrate God, our creator, as the common unity that all of creation shares.

For this first Spring Eco-Sunday, I have selected a week that lifts up love between people and connects that with God's love. It is good to love flowers, trees, bunnies, and bugs, but our love and care for God's broader creation starts with the same for our fellow humans. It was hard to select a text to preach on for the week, as all of the lessons are wonderful:

• First Lesson: Acts 8:26-40 (Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch)
• Second Lesson: 1 John 4:7-21 (a classic wedding text)
• Gospel: John 15:1-8 (Jesus is the vine, we are the branches)

So far, my first inclination is to go with the gospel lesson and expound upon the ecologically-friendly image of vines. In particular, the intertwining of the branches of vines is an interesting visual way to think about our coexistence with each other and all that God has made. On the theme of interconnectedness, I may also be able to draw in a bit from the second lesson. John and 1 John were written for the same community and are highly compatible, and I love a lot of the writing in 1 John.