5 Easter B - "I am the vine"

5 Easter B

Transcribed from a sermon given on May 6, 2012

At St. Barnabas, Arroyo Grande CA

By The Rev. Valerie Ann Hart

The image that Jesus uses in the Gospel today of the grape vine would have been very familiar to his listeners. Back in Jesus’ time, much like in the Central Coast today, the growing of grapes for wine was one of the major cash crops - maybe the major cash crop for that area. So whether they were farmers or not everyone would have been familiar with the grape vine and on how grapes on grew on a vine. Just like around here. 

I imagine most of us have seen a grape vine or at least gone wine tasting at a vineyard and saw them out through the window, right? The vine is the foundation of the grape plant. The grape vine is the root system that is larger than the vine itself. The roots travel out and down, and the bigger the roots, the deeper the roots, the healthier the vine is. And in fact for some of the grape vines the roots system are ten, fifteen, twenty years old because the longer they have been there the more secure and deeper they are. Sometimes when they are growing grapes they will take one kind of grape as the root system and take another kind of grape and attach that to those roots because the roots bring a certain kind of strength and certain types of wine are better with a different root system. 

Then we have the branches. Usually if you see a grape vine that has been around for a while you see a few really thick branches Those are the ones that haven’t gotten pruned back. They have little ones that are coming off of it. Good pruning of a grape vine is really important to keep it healthy. You have the branches that come off of this sort of like a tree. It’s like a trunk and branches with little branches that come off. 

Now in order for those branches to survive they have to get the water they need and the nutrients they need in the water that is brought up by the roots, then through the trunk and then it goes out to the branches. So if something happens to one of those branches, if it gets broken off from the vine, we know what happens. You can watch it when there is a wind storm and a branch is broken from a tree. It withers and within a few days all the leaves turn brown and it dies. It needs that moisture, it needs those nutrients. Sometimes when there is a big windstorm a large branch will break off and fall down but it hasn’t completely separated. There is just a little bit that is still attached. Such a branch might live for a while because it is still getting a little bit of nutrients through that connection, but it is not getting the full amount, and it will, over time, get weaker and weaker. The same goes if you are going to take a new branch and put it on to an existing vine, when you do that it is really important that the connection is secure, that it is done right, so that all the moisture in the vine can get into the branch. Without that the branch may survive, but not be healthy, and it won’t bear fruit. 

This is the imagery that Jesus uses to describe himself.  That he is the vine. The imagery of the vine and the vineyard is something that comes up many times in the Old Testament. You will find in the Psalms and some of the prophets the idea that the people of Israel are God’s vineyard; God has planted them in the land. God tends them and cares for them. So this image is something that would be very meaningful to the people listening to Jesus. 

So let’s think about this imagery. What is Jesus saying? He is saying that he is the vine and that his roots go deep, they go deep into God. And what is the moisture, the water and nutrients that the vine pulls up and brings to the branches. Well it is pretty clear in the letter from John that we read today that it is love. That it is all about love. John writes, “God is love.” And he adds that you abide in love, and are called to express that love to others. 

So we can imagine Jesus as having deep roots in the love of God and that he takes that love of God and brings it up through him and gives it to us as the branches. That we are nurtured by that love, that we are strengthened by that love, that we are given the power and the strength and everything we need to become that which God intends for us to become. We have all the nutrients, all the love, all the strength that we need. And not just to grow into a healthy branch and have leaves, but to have buds and flowers and eventually to bear fruit.

The wonderful thing about fruit is that fruit feeds people - fruit feeds others. So what is the fruit of all this energy and power and love that Christ gives us? Well if you read Paul, he talks about the fruits of the spirit, but he always at the end says, “And the greatest of these is love.” So the fruit that we are to bear is love. This is agape love. It’s not about nice pleasant emotional feelings, its not abstract, it is a love in which we care for one another. 

If you cannot love your neighbor that you see how can you say you love God that you can’t see? The fruit that Christ is looking for is the fruit of love. Love expressed in giving to others, and caring for our brothers and sister. 

The take away for me of this is twofold. One is a reminder of the incredible abundance of love that Christ gives us. That we are richly fed with everything that we need in order to be whole and healthy and spiritually true. That that abundance, like rain on us, comes through Christ. Secondly it is a reminder that we need to be grafted well onto Christ because if we are just barely connected we can’t get the nurturance, we can’t get what we need in order to thrive. We might survive, but not to thrive. So the more we abide in Christ, the more connected we are to the vine, the more fully we can live our lives and express God’s love in the world and be instruments of God’s love for others.

4 Easter B - Good Shepherd Sunday

4 Easter B - 5/7/06

The Rev. Valerie A. Hart, Ph.D.

St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, Brentwood

Yesterday, as you may have seen on the news, the Diocese of California elected its new bishop. You can find information about him at the diocesan website. If you want more information about the process you can speak to one of your delegates.

In the Gospel reading for today Jesus says that he is the Good Shepherd.  The diocese has elected a new shepherd, and in the prayer of that day we asked that God “send us as shepherds to rescue the lost, to heal the injured, and to feed one another with knowledge and understanding.” I like that prayer a great deal because it speaks to me of how we are all called to continue the ministry that Jesus began.

Let’s take a moment to think about the roles of a shepherd.

1.   The shepherd comforts the sheep. In the 23^rd psalm is a psalm of incredible comfort. It says, “your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” In the midst of struggle and pain the greatest comfort is to know that you do not walk alone. Jesus is a companion with us, he is the shepherd who walks beside us, even when we are going through deep and dark valleys. The shepherd comforts just by his presence.

2.   The shepherd also leads. The shepherd knows the way to green pastures and still waters. Sheep are not too smart. They would get lost, and perhaps starve, if they did not have someone to show them the way to good food and water. The shepherd walks ahead and the sheep follow behind.

3.   Although sheep have a tendency to follow, they also have a tendency to be very stubborn. Sometimes the shepherd leads, but the sheep don’t move. At times, instead of leading the shepherd has to get behind and nudge the sheep along. Sometimes it’s a gentle encouragement, sometimes the staff that is such a comfort can also be a motivator.

4.   But of course if the sheep are moving they do not always follow the direction the shepherd has been leading them. Sheep are led easily, but they are also easily led astray. The slightest distraction, and they have forgotten all about following the shepherd. An attractive bit of grass, a pretty flower, another sheep wandering, and the sheep is headed in the wrong direction. So the shepherd sometimes needs to use his shepherds crook to reach out and pull the sheep back on the right path. Sometimes that comforting staff needs to be used for discipline.

5.   Sometimes the flock gets separated. Then the shepherd has to bring the flock back together again. He has to go searching and seeking the sheep that are lost, even if that means leaving the others for a while. It’s not that the shepherd cares more for one sheep than another, it is just that there are times when one needs more attention.

The shepherd has a lot of duties. The owner cannot be in the lead and also making sure that the slow ones in the back keep up. He can’t be comforting the sheep that are afraid and also be searching for the ones who have strayed. If the flock is large, the owner of the flock will get help. Sometimes sheep dogs can help keep the flock together. But they are not able to decide where the flock is to go. They don’t know where the fresh water or green pastures are, but they do know the shepherd. A well trained sheep dog is constantly looking to the shepherd to know which way to steer the sheep. The dog runs around the flock, barking at one who is starting to stray, nipping at the ones moving too slowly, keeping an eye out that none get too far away, but always he is encouraging the flock to follow the shepherd.

The shepherd may also hire other people to help shepherd the flock. These hired hands also need to look to the shepherd, the owner, for direction. A good hired hand can be trusted by the owner to take the flock where he is told. If the owner says to take the flock up the mountain side, that is what the hired hand should do. Along the way he encourages the sheep and does his best to keep the sheep from straying. Of course the hired hands sometimes make mistakes. They are not has competent as the owner, they may get lost themselves, or not be able to find a lost sheep. And, as Jesus makes clear, the hired hand does not give his life for the sheep.

We are all called to help the shepherd. We are not the owners of the flock. There is only one owner, and that is the one who created the flock, the one who knows his sheep better than they know themselves. There is only one shepherd, and that is Christ. He is the one who values the sheep even more than his own life. It is Christ who died and rose again to demonstrate to the sheep that they are truly loved. Christ is our shepherd and through his death he showed us how deeply we are loved.

We are called to help the Shepherd. We work for him. We are to always look to him to know where to guide the sheep. We call the bishops the shepherds of their dioceses because they are given authority to lead the flock. They don’t lead the flock where they want to go, but where they understand the owner, the Good Shepherd, wants the flock to go. Bishops are the hired hands who are trusted by the shepherd enough lead the flock. Clergy on the other hand often refer to themselves as sheep dogs. We’re the ones running around barking all the time.

But we are all called to do the work of the Good Shepherd, not just those of us who are ordained.

     We are doing the work of the Good Shepherd when we walk with someone. Just by our presence with them on their journey, they are strengthened and comforted. We express the love of a shepherd when we listen to a person who is grieving, when we visit someone in the hospital, when we silently hold the hand of someone who is lonely.

When we live a life of love and integrity we become an example for others to follow. As the letter from John sates let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. We lead by our actions, we inspire others through our truth. In this way we show a shepherd’s love by our example.

Has there ever been a time when you saw one of your church friends avoiding following a call? You know, they have a sense of what Christ wants them to do, but they keep finding reasons not to move forward. Sometimes we show a shepherd’s love by getting behind and giving someone a nudge, or a loving kick in the….well you know.

We sometimes find it particularly difficult to tell someone when they are getting off the path, when they are going in the wrong direction. We don’t want to hurt their feelings; we don’t want to rock the boat; we don’t want to butt in. But, as said above, we are to live in truth and action. Love involves telling the truth, even when it is difficult or painful. People grow by learning how they have effected others. People get back on track only when someone cares enough to let them know they are going astray.

Finally, there are a lot of stray sheep out there. People wandering around with no idea which direction to go. People who have been led astray and have no idea how to get back to the flock. People who are living lives of isolation without realizing that there is a flock and there is a shepherd. We, as the shepherds hired hands, have a responsibility to seek out the lost sheep and guide them home. It is not enough for us to enjoy the great gift that we have received as followers of Christ, we are also called to share that gift with others.

Some of these may be more comfortable to you than others, I certainly have my comfort zones and my areas of discomfort, but we belong to the Good Shepherd. Christ did not call us to be comfortable. He is there to comfort us, but not so that we could stay comfortable. We are called to do Christ’s work in the world. We are all called to be shepherds for others.

I read about a church that has a group of people who are designated as shepherds. When a new person comes to their church they take on the responsibility of helping that person in their journey with Christ. This begins with making sure they feel welcome. For example they may helped to find their way in the prayer book, or to the bathroom. But it is a caring for the other that doesn’t end after that first visit. There is an intentional effort to keep in contact, to make sure that they meet others, to answer questions about the church, to encourage getting involved in programs, to walk with them through difficult times, to support them on their journey with Christ. These people take to heart the call to be  shepherds, and it is a powerful ministry. Great friendships can come from this, and a great sense of accomplishment.

I’d like to explore starting that kind of program here. Pray about it, see how you are being called to be a shepherd. We are all called. We may have different gifts and different ways of expressing those gifts. Some may be called to the ministry of presence by visiting people in a nursing home. some may seek out the lost and have a gift for telling others about Christ. Others may have a gift of discernment and feel called to help others hear where God is calling them. We are all different, but we are all called, we are all called to serve the Good Shepherd. How will you respond to that call?

2 Easter B

2 Easter B

Transcribed from a sermon given

April 15, 2012

At St. Barnabas Episcopal Church

By the Rev. Valerie Ann Hart

On this second Sunday of Easter season, the Sunday after we celebrate Easter, the readings are an interesting combination of looking forward and acknowledging the resurrection. There is a clear sense when you look at them that the resurrection was not an end in itself, but a new beginning. It begins with the collect for the day, the prayer for the day, which usually sets up the main themes of the readings. If you read it you will see that it prays for all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s body that they may show forth in their lives what they profess in their faith. In other words, it is a prayer for the church, for the people of God.

Then we have this first reading from Acts, which describes in idyllic terms what the early church looked like. Everyone was of one mind and there was complete unity. People sold what they had and gave it to the disciples. Then the disciples gave to the ones who needed it. I do find it kind of interesting that very rarely do I hear this passage talked about by those who say that they want the United States to be a Christian nation. But that’s all right, because it didn’t last for long.

Next we have the psalm that continues the theme of how good it is for people to be in unity. Once again reaffirming how important it is for the church, the whole body of Christ, to be one.

Then follows the reading from the first letter of John in which he states, “We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.” There is this sense of passing on his experience, his experiences with Christ, to the gathered community so that they can know the joy of the resurrected Christ, and to serve as the community of believers.

Finally we read from John’s Gospel the description of Christ’s appearance to the disciples. Right there in that first resurrection appearance to the disciples he breathes on them and says to them, “As the father has sent me so I send you.” There was not even a week off after Easter. After all the trauma of the crucifixion, they experience the risen Christ and immediately they are sent. They have work to do. This is a new beginning.

We always read his particular Gospel on the first Sunday after Easter. This Sunday is often called Thomas Sunday because we always read about Thomas’ doubt. And that is important because I think every single one of us here, every Christian in the world, has at some point in their lives had some doubt. If you haven’t had some doubt at some point about the resurrection than you really haven’t taken it on as your own or really struggled with this amazing and highly improbable thing that happened. But what strikes me today was not so much Thomas and his doubt, but how Jesus became known to the disciples through the scars on his hands and on his side. The scars are not important in other resurrection appearances in the other Gospels. On the journey to Emmaus with a couple of disciples he becomes known in the breaking of the bread. For Mary Magdalene in the garden outside the tomb Christ made himself known by speaking her name. But here in the Gospel attributed to John, Christ makes himself known through his scars. This is the only place where it is so important. And it is obviously very important to John. Not only does Jesus say peace be with you the first time he appears, but he then shows his hands and his side. It is only after they have seen his scars that the disciples rejoice. And to make sure that nobody misses the importance of the scars, Thomas says I’m not going to believe unless I touch the nail holes in his hand and put my hand in his side.

For some reason the writer of John’s Gospel felt it was very important that the risen Christ still had the scars, and that is what jumped out at me this week as I was thinking about this sermon. Why would that be? Especially since John’s Gospel is the one that starts out by saying, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” It has a very high Christology, this sense of Jesus being the Christ and also being one with God. And yet, when it comes to the resurrection the focus is on the scars. A very incarnate aspect of who the Christ was.

Now I don’t claim to have a final theological interpretation of this, I am sure that lots has been written on it, but I couldn’t find any this week. But I had to wonder why it was so important to John that there be the scars? One of the reasons might have been that one of the primary controversies in the very early church was a debate between the Gnostics and the people who later became the orthodox Christians. Some of the Gnostics claimed that God, Jesus, couldn’t have actually died on the cross but he was watching it, and that whatever it was that was nailed to the cross wasn’t really Jesus. Not another person but some kind of representation because the Christ, the risen one, couldn’t have suffered on the cross.

It is kind of like the problem that the Muslims have with Christianity because they say, understandably, that God could not have suffered. God could not have died on a cross and you are claiming that. And yes we do. We claim that God suffered and died on a cross.

So at the time of the writing of John’s Gospel there was a debate about that. About what was, who was this risen Christ. Was it the man Jesus that died on the cross? Was it an angel? Was it his spiritual essence, but not his body? Who was this? And it is a question we ask today. Who is this risen Christ? For the writer of the Gospel of John it was important to say that this risen Christ still had the marks on his hands.  This risen Christ is the same one that was nailed to the cross. This is the one who suffered. This is the one who died.

So what difference does that make? Well to me it makes a lot of difference. When I pray, when talk to Christ, when I walk with Christ, I find great solace in the fact that it is the one who has suffered. That I walk with the one who was crucified. That through his pain and his suffering there is a connection as a human being. It is meaningful to me that the one I relate to fully experienced all of what it meant to be human, including the pain, and the suffering and the wounds.

And I think this is important when we think about the Church as I was talking about at the beginning of the sermon. The Church, the community of all believers, is the body of Christ in the world. We are part of the body of Christ. And in spite of that first idealized description of them all being together in unity and giving up everything, we know that didn’t last for very long. If you read just a little bit further in Acts you’ll discover that there was one family that didn’t give everything they got for selling their house and there were some repercussions. I’ll let you read that for yourself. It is a very interesting story.

And we know from Paul’s letters that the churches that he began that started out with such unity and joy began to fray around the edges and to not always treat people equally. And we know when we look around the church in the world today that it is far from perfect. It has a lot of wounds, a lot of scars, like the body of the risen Christ. The body of the risen Christ had holes in his hands and his side. And the body of Christ as the Church is also wounded. We have scars. Each one of us has our own personal scars. Each church community has its own community scars. But that is part of what we have to offer. That is part of what we have to give to others - our woundedness. Many of us have read about the concept of the wounded healer. The idea that for the therapist or the doctor or the nurse it is often their own wounds, their own suffering, their own scars that gives them the power to help others and to heal them. And for us as a church community one of the most precious things that we offer to one another is our scars and our woundedness, to walk with one another through our pain and our suffering.

The church, the community of Christ, the Body of Christ in the world, is in many ways broken and wounded and scared because it is made up of people who are broken, and wounded and scared, but Christ’s resurrection was known to his disciples through his scars. Let us be the body of Christ in the world.

Amen