Fifth Sunday of Easter
Cycle B St Austin April 29, 2018
In the Gospel
we just heard Jesus said to his disciples, “I
am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower.”
This past week I drove out to Fredericksburg, and I was surprised to see
all the wineries that have sprung up between Austin and Fredericksburg. There are dozens of them. I don’t know who is drinking all that wine,
but they just keep popping up. So our
Gospel today about vines and vine-growers is genuinely Texan.
Jesus is the
true vine. To be fruitful and productive
we have to be rooted in Him. He says in
today’s Gospel, “Remain
in me, as I remain in you.” It is a statement of
profound closeness that is mutual. “Remain in me, as I remain in you.”
However, the
word “remain” doesn’t have much allure or appeal to it. What do you think of when you hear the word
“remain”? Doesn’t sound like the
left-overs, what is left after all the good parts have been eaten? // All the good players are out on the court but
the second stringers remain on the
sidelines. // Who wants to remain
when something attractive or fun or important is going on? “Remain” is just not a particularly
attractive word.
The New
Revised Standard Bible translates this as “Abide
in me, as I abide in you.” ‘Abide’ instead of ‘remain.’ Well, that is a little better, but abide is
rather archaic. We have the noun, an
abode, from the same root. An abode is a
place where you live. But how often do
you refer to your house as your abode? Or
say “I abide in Austin.” Not very
often.
The New Jerusalem
Bible takes this idea one step further.
It translates this verse as “Make
your home in me, as I make mine in you.” Hmmm. To me, “make your home in me” has much more
warmth and attractiveness than “remain in me.”
Home has a sense of belonging, of security, of comfort and warmth, that “remain”
does not.
Jesus is inviting us to make our home in Him, and He will
make His home in us. That is a more
attractive, certainly a more intimate, idea than “to remain”.
Jesus invites
us into a very close and warm relationship with Him. Such a close relationship is challenging. You never know what Jesus is going to ask of
you. But it is also very tender. And it is productive. Jesus assures us, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you,
ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you.”
The
result is that we are called, / expected, /commanded, to produce fruit. Not grapes obviously, but the fruits of the
Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
These kind of wonderful fruits do not
develop from mere “remaining”. These
fruits come from going much deeper in a relationship with Jesus, from not just
being present, but making our home in Him, and He in us. In relationship with Jesus is where we find
our sense of well-being, of comfort, of meaning and purpose. We make our home in Him and He in us. And it is a relationship that is fertile,
that is productive, that produces the wonderful and lasting fruits of the Holy
Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control.
That
is why Jesus tells us, “By this is my father glorified, that you bear much
fruit and become my disciples.”
So,
make your home in Jesus. Invite Him to
make His home in you. And you will truly
be fruitful. AMEN.
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