May 8, 2022 – Mothers’ Day
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois
John 15:1-8[1]
Who is the gardener in your family? For me, it is my mother. I have
memories of her working away in the back yard, digging weeds, pruning the
bushes, planting flowers. Gardening kept her moving and brought her joy. When
my parents moved into the mountains away from lawns and gardens, she still found
a way to garden. There was a patch of meadow by their house where my mother
diligently weeded out the invasive species. It was hard work – on her knees
most of the time – and never-ending, but she loved it. She now lives in an apartment,
but still finds ways to tend to and nurture the world around her.
Even though most of us have never tended a vineyard, anyone who has
gardened or seen a grapevine can understand the symbolism in this passage. The
branches wind around one another, support one another, and – if they are not
well tended – can get rather unruly. Too many stray branches will reduce the
fruitfulness of the entire vine, so the vine-grower must prune regularly.
Branches that break off from the vine wither, and cannot bear fruit. They must
be gathered and tossed in the fire. A vineyard is a long-term, labor-intensive
investment. Tending a vineyard can be almost as much work as raising children.
My mother tended another garden – our home, where my sister and I were
the branches. Just as the vine needs sunlight, water, and good soil, so we
needed fresh air and shelter, nourishment, and a loving community. Mom provided
a home for us in which we lived, grew, and ultimately became fruitful. I can’t
think of home without thinking of mom.
The word abide means “to live
in” or “to make a home in.” In THE MESSAGE translation of the Bible, by Eugene
Peterson, verse 4 of John 15 reads, “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I
do in you.”[2]
Jesus takes this motherly image of home and applies it to himself; he is to be
a home for the disciples. For the early
It is the relationship with God, the one who tends the vine, which is
emphasized here. Bearing fruit is not a prerequisite to being a branch. The
branch bears fruit because of its
relationship with the vine, and the care of the vine-grower. My mother raised
us to make a difference in the world, and because of her tender care, and
necessary pruning, my sister became a teacher and I became a pastor.
Of course, just like my mother tending the garden, the maintenance work
is ongoing. The weeds need to be dug up. The branches that fail to produce
fruit need to be pruned. My mother was diligent to weed out my misbehaviors,
and prune my unproductive endeavors. Jesus warns the disciples that God, too,
is engaged in weeding and pruning. As another scholar, Stephen Cooper wrote,
“The imperative to bear fruit in works of love is reinforced by the image of
the branch that fails to respond positively to God’s pruning and providential
care. That branch ‘withers’; cut off from its source of life and fruitfulness,
its usefulness is reduced to wood for the fire.”[4]
When we cut ourselves off from the love of God, when we focus our energy on
destructive behaviors and fail to act with love, we are cut off from the vine
and we wither.
But there is a big difference between being pruned and being cut off
from the vine. When we are cut off, we abide no longer with the source of life.
Those who go it alone find failure more often than success. And even success is
bitter when it cannot be shared and enjoyed with a loving community. When we abide
in the community of God’s love, however, we find joy that can be shared, and we
also find the grace and strength to support us in tragedy and failure. It has
been said that we are stronger together that we could ever be on our own. Alone,
we are just individuals, in danger of withering like branches. But as members
of the family of God, we are part of the vine itself.
As branches of the vine, we must be pruned in order to bear more fruit.
We must put aside all that gets in the way of living out the commandments of
As in nature, the
pruning and the abiding are held together. When we remain that close to Jesus,
we attuned to him and he to us, the remarkable result is that what we want will
be what God wants, and it will surely come to pass. “If you abide in me, and my
words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (v.
7). All that is extraneous is carefully and lovingly removed. What remains is
centered and focused in God’s word.[5]
As we seek to center ourselves in God’s word, to live out the
commandments of
[1] Unless
otherwise noted, the scripture quotations contained herein are from the New
Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of
Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the
U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2]
John 15:4. Scripture taken from THE
MESSAGE. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by
permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
[3]
Barbara J. Essex, Homiletical Perspective on John 15:1-8 in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised
Common Lectionary, year B, volume 2, David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown
Taylor, General Editors (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008), pp.
472-477.
[4]
Stephen A. Cooper, Theological Perspective on John 15:1-8 in Ibid.
[5]
Nancy R. Blakely, Pastoral Perspective on John 15:1-8 in Ibid.
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