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Sermon for Easter 5, 2015
May the words spoken be to the greater glory of God and advance of the Gospel. In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Vines and their fruit. Two of my most absorbing topics over the past few years with my work in the vineyards of Chile…and on the back porch with the fruit of the vine in a glass. The imagery Jesus uses in today’s Gospel passage is typical of him relating his teaching to things that his listeners know about and can recognise in their world. And it still works for us a couple of thousand years later. The thought of lush grape vines basking in the sunlight is a compelling image for our minds to process as we connect that with what Jesus was saying about himself and we, the People of God.
Today’s Gospel passage is a popular one for ordinations, especially the episcopal ordination of bishops. It isn’t, as it happens, the Gospel reading I had at my priesting and as I’m not expecting any time soon to be consecrated bishop, I preach on it today in a less personal way than I might, had it been my ordination Gospel.
The reason it’s used at ordinations is fairly obvious. It reinforces the commission given by the Risen Christ to his Disciples when he tells them to go into the world and be for all people what he has been for them…to be The Christ through teaching, baptising and forgiving sins in his name. These actions were to become in their various forms, characteristics of the ministry of Bishops, Priests and Deacons. With Jesus being the One True Vine planted and tended by God, the branches and consequently the fruit, are the extensions of Himself through those in succession to the Apostles and each of us as the fruit of the vine.
How we are all joined as part of this vine, is through our baptism as a right of passage but how we come to be the lucious fruit of the vine, is by our personal faith. “Believe in me and the vine will floruish”, says Jesus.
The thing is, we should link this teaching with the whole of what Jesus said about coming to know God through him. Sitting on our hands and in a self-satisfied manner thinking that we are lucious fruit because of our belief, really isn’t enough is it? We need to do as Jesus instructed the Apostles to do…to go out and evangelise his message of love and way to knowing God. Especially, we should follow his Commandment to love one another..for doing that in turn enables us to love God. In this way, we much more than sitting on our hands…to use the vine metaphor, we nurture it and thus, enable it to bear lucious fruit. All of this makes us part of the whole…or wholeness of Christ.
I chose the Introit Hymn this morning as an expression of what we may feel as being part of this wholeness, with Christ at the centre. It speaks of Christ as being the foundation and the cornorstone for our lives.
This hymn is often used during services for the dedication of church buildings but of course, it has nothing to do with the buildings themselves…it’s about us, the People of God, being one in the Body of Christ the Church.
This language comes from references in Ephesians and the 1st Letter of Peter where Christ is refered to as the foundation cornerstone of the church….the cornerstone for our lives. Later the hymn speaks of our bodies as being temples for God…the Divine Assistance dwelling within us always, which is a reference to Paul’s 1st Letter to the Corinthians.
The 19th Century Anglican priest who wrote this hymn, John Mason Neale, was a Latin Scholar and he loved digging up old texts and translating not only their words but their intention as instruments of faith. Our final hymn today, All Glory, Laud and Honour is one such example, where we sing our praises of thanksgiving for the Blessed Trinity of God the vine planter, Jesus Christ the vine and the Holy Spirit as the nutrient provider. In this hymn, we give glory, laud and honour to our God for His very being that enables us be the fruit of the vine.
John Neale also wrote other well-known hymns such as Good Christian Men Rejoice and O Come, O Come Emmanuel. He was a very fine lyriscit and a most intersting man.
Poor health caused Neale to cease parish ministry at an early age. To support himself he ran a home for eldery people. At one time he lost his permission to officiate as a priest when trying to revive the chapel in the home. When he tried to revitalize the chapel services there, he was rebuked by the bishop and forbidden to practice as a priest. When he tried to simplify funeral services, he provoked a riot that required police to bring the mob under control. One commentator said, “He clearly lacked the common touch.” Could we imagine today getting enough people together who actaully cared to form a riot? And can we imagine the Police turning out to quell a disturbance about the fact that I or another priest wasn’t conforming the the letter of the Prayer Book for a funeral service. How our world has changed!
But early19th Century England was very different. There was growing sense in the Established Church that it was being threatened by change. And it was, with the seeds of the Oxford Movement being sown and so-called Papist Practices being adopted by some clergy. In better health and slightly later in history, Neale would have made a formidible Tractarian in the pulpit with his insistance on accurately reflecting Early Church theology and practice. Today we are grateful recipients of his dedicated work.
Keeping in the theme of the vine, we can see through history how it has been adhered to by so many witness to their Faith in Christ…and many who have died for it.
This past Friday was the Feast of the Apostles Philip and James. These two evangelists for Christ were ministering in the post-resurrection early church, where they are their companions were being persectued by an establishment terrified that change would come from a growing community of faith following in the way of Jesus.
The week began with the Feast of St Mark the Evangelist, then on to Catherine of Siena who was martyred so horribly for her faith, then after Philip and James on Friday we had yesterday Athanasius, the theologian Bishop of Alexandria. The list goes on day after day in our Lectionery observances, including the saints and martyrs of old with those of more recent times.
The common theme across all these individuals, is not only their resolute adherence to their personal faith, but also and most importantly, how they enact that faith, to be the fruit of the vine.
We get a clue into how to go about this by listening to the Epistle story of this morning from the Acts of the Apostles. It’s about that strongest of themes in the teaching of Jesus…it’s about love of and for one another. It’s all based on the foundation of that “love thy neighbour” Commandment he gave us.
Let’s just remind ourselves of the words from Acts this morning.
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.”
These words come from a meeting between Philip, now out and about evangelising, doing what Jesus had asked, in a meeting with an Ethiopian court official. The two men are divided by race, religion and social class. The Ethiopian is reading Isaiah, one of the Hebrew Scripture passages the new Christians identified as prophecy about Jesus. “What does it mean”, he asks.
“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”
and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”
So Philip has the difficult task of explaining that the crucifixion, where Jesus was killed like an animal sacrifice, was the most sublime offering of love.
Philip recounts that the love he has for God, is a love that acknowledges that God loves him so much that his own follies, mistakes, unkindnesses and cruelty don’t stop God piercing through into the depth of who he really is.
Philip says that being loved by God demands that we love others. He tells the Ethiopian what happened to him when he was baptized. He says that in baptism he was grafted into Jesus, the true vine. He uses the metaphor Jesus used. Something familiar to his listener. Philip explains his belief that being a Christian means that we accept our vocation in life is to bear fruit – the fruit of love for Christ – and to make disciples by loving one another.
Brilliant! Philip not only espoused his belief in the words of Jesus, he also used the way Jesus communicated to get his message across.
So here it is…an example for us to follow just as Philip did. This is how we can enact our personal faith. We are made one with Christ at our Baptism…Yes! We are nourished in our personal faith through study and prayer…Yes! We acknowledge the Real Presence of Christ in our individual lives and are nourished by that too when we make our Communion…Yes!
But moreover, we are part of the Body of Christ, fruit of the vine, the living church, when we share that personal faith with others as one…and do so through love for one another…just as is written in the Acts of the Apostles passage and the words of Philip this morning. Philip being in the person of his Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ…and hence again, the reason this Gospel passage is used so often at ordinations.
How wonderful a healthy grape vine looks…all in leaf and with fruit before the harvest. In the Winter it looks almost dead…black and leafless. And there is the reality. Out of that dormant state can come new life and new fruit. That won’t happen if we sit on our hands and hope someone else will tend the vine. God has given us the way to ensure new life and Christ Jesus is that way. Sharing his way with others is integral to ensuring this for ourselves. The offer of that sharing is here in the words we hear this morning:
“I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener”, Jesus says.
“He who abides in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit.”
In a moment of silence, let us now take into our hearts and minds, the offer given us by God through Christ and go out and on to be the fruit of the vine.
In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.