scripture

Abiding in Christ

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Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Abiding in Christ” John 15:1-8

Last week, our gospel reading invited us to consider Jesus the Good Shepherd. This week, John’s gospel brings us another of Jesus’ bold statements of identity, “I am the true vine.” Herding sheep and tending a vineyard are tasks far removed from our daily experience, but these agricultural metaphors would have been familiar to Jesus’ listeners. In Jesus’ world, vineyards were an essential part of the landscape. Grapes were eaten as fresh fruit, dried into raisins, and mashed into jams. Grapes were turned into wine, sweet syrup, and vinegar. Vineyards passed from generation to generation within families. As fruit ripened, whole communities pitched in with all-hands-on-deck to bring in the harvest.

When Jesus told his disciples, “I am the vine, you are the branches,” he was alluding to grafting, a vineyard practice that is as important in the wine industry today as it was for first century vine growers. Brent Young, a viticulturalist at Jordan Vineyard and Winery in Sonoma, CA, gets animated when he describes the work of grafting new varieties of grape onto old root stock. First, old grape vines, which are well-established and especially suited to the soil, are cut off, leaving a stump that is allowed to freely bleed and weep for about a week. Then a specialized team is called in. The vinedressers move along the row of cut vines, scoring each stump with a sharp knife. Next, the vinedresser slips a few small budding branches or scions into the scores. The scions are then carefully wrapped to secure their new home in the old vine. Over the following weeks, something wonderful happens, the old root stock gives life to the new scion. It grows, branches, and eventually bears new fruit.

Jesus’s words, “I am the vine, you are the branches,” were meant to comfort and exhort his friends. As Jesus spoke, it was his last evening with the disciples. He had washed his friends’ feet and shared a special meal with them. Judas had already slipped away to betray him. The disciples needed a word of wisdom to guide them through the terror that would soon grip them. Jesus was the true vine, his life revealed God’s will and word for humanity. His death would demonstrate God’s limitless love. Soon the true vine would be cut down, yet the disciples could endure because Jesus was an essential part of them. He would always be with them and, grafted into him, they could put forth miraculous new life and branch out in his purpose.

In viticulture, if the budding scion that the vinedresser attaches to the root stock loses its connection, it withers and dies. Separated from the vine, no life-giving sap can nurture and sustain it. Likewise, Jesus reminded his friends that they would need to abide in him. The Greek word for abide that Jesus used here, meinate, means to stay or remain, to live, dwell, lodge. Abiding in Jesus means cultivating an ongoing, inward, personal bond with the Lord that imparts nurture, meaning, and purpose for our lives.

We long for the meaning and purpose that come with abiding in Christ. But unlike the viticulturalists at the Jordan Vineyard and Winery in Sonoma, we don’t have an expert team of vinedressers to ensure that we keep our connection with the lifegiving true vine of the Lord. I’d like to focus on three ways that we can abide in Jesus the true vine.

Abiding in Christ means feasting upon his words in scripture, whether listening to Sunday sermons, reading the Bible, or participating in Christian Education. The late Fred Craddock, who taught preaching and New Testament at Emory University, once shared that the most influential person in his life was his Sunday school teacher, Miss Emma Stone. She gave him his first Bible and taught him to memorize scripture verses, saying “Just put it in your heart.” Miss Stone taught Fred a verse for each letter of the alphabet. Years later, Craddock reflected upon the importance of those twenty-six verses of scripture that he learned as a child, saying “I can’t think of anything, anything in all my life that has made such a radical difference as those verses. The Spirit of God brings them to mind time and time again.”

We have likewise been sustained by the abiding promises of scripture. In our bleakest moments, we find ourselves praying with the words, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art with me” (Psalm 23:4). When we’ve made a mess of things and lost our way, we hold to the promise that “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whosoever believeth in him may not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). When we are feeling vulnerable or overwhelmed, we remember the words of the Apostle Paul, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13). What are the holy words that help you to abide in Christ?

We also abide through prayer. We all have stories of learning to pray. Sometimes we learn in church. Author and spiritual director Jane E. Vennard writes that although she came from a family of staunch church goers, they never prayed together. Yet every Sunday in church, she was inspired by the beautiful prayers of her pastor. He had survived childhood polio, which left him partially paralyzed, but on Sunday mornings he stood in the pulpit with the help of crutches, stretched out his arms, and lifted his face to pray with a look of pure joy. The beauty and ardor of those prayers inspired Jane to her own lifetime of prayerful connection with God.

Others among us learned to pray from family members. One woman tells the story of learning prayer from her German grandmother. Every night, she would run up the stairs to her grandmother’s room, climb into bed with her, and snuggle under the blanket while her grandmother prayed. An adult now, she says, “I don’t know what she was saying, but her words seemed full of love, just like her arms around me.”

We have similar stories of parents, grandparents, or caring friends who modeled for us a prayer-filled life. As we’ve grown, we’ve learned to make prayers of our own. We share table graces with our families. We recite the Lord’s Prayer each morning as a daily devotion. We find holy refreshment in centering prayer. We may even resort to what author Anne Lamott says are the only two prayers we will ever need to know, “Help me, help me, help me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” How has prayer equipped you to abide in Christ?

Abiding in Christ comes naturally when we are part of a community that loves and serves the Lord. I think about this church’s United Presbyterian Women, women like Evelyn Outcalt, Anna Ferree, Jan Bristol, Carroll Dixon, and Gert Bickford. They were the heartbeat of this church for many years. Most of them were already in their eighties when I came to Saranac Lake almost two decades ago, yet they still gathered monthly for fellowship and spiritual friendship. They had been woven together by years of rummage sales and potlucks, births and celebrations, family tragedies and deaths. They were there for one another with prayers and casseroles, Hallmark cards and simple kindnesses. In that faithful fellowship, they knew the abiding presence of Jesus.

The UPW may be no more, but we continue to find Jesus in this church community. We abide in Christ as we gather each Sunday morning to praise and worship him. We abide in Christ with singing as harmonies are learned and voices blend to the glory of God. We abide in Christ when we grapple together with the big questions of faith in Bible and book studies. We abide in Christ with the fellowship of Coffee Hour, camp outs, and picnics. We abide as we merge our gifts for leadership and care as elders and deacons. How have we abided, growing closer to God and one another in the body of Christ?

Jesus taught his friends that as they abided in him, they would bear fruit. Our growing identity as branches of the true vine is revealed in fruitful works and ministries that reveal the love of Christ to others. When we are grafted into the true vine, we work together to serve others. We find ourselves teaching Sunday School, extending Coffee Hour hospitality, and cooking healthy meals for friends in tough times. When we are grafted into Christ, we serve our vulnerable neighbors. We grow produce in the church garden and share it at the Food Pantry. We pray fervently for folks in every kind of need with the prayer chain. We support neighbors in crisis with the Deacons’ Fund. We help vulnerable world neighbors, like the widows of Mzuzu, through the Women of Grace. As we abide in Christ, his ministry finds new life in us, and the world is blessed by that good fruit.

We may never be viticulturalists, but we have been grafted into the true vine. We are the branches. May we abide in Jesus with scripture, prayer, and the blessing of Christian community. And may we bear good fruit to the glory of God and for the good of our neighbors.

Resources

Jane E. Vennard. “Learning to Pray,” The Alban Institute at Duke Divinity School, July 24, 2006. Accessed online at alban.org.

Brent Young. “Field Grafting Grapevines,” wine education video, 2012. Jordan Vineyard & Winery. Accessed online at Field Grafting Grapevines | How Grapes are Grafted to Change Varieties | Wine Education Videos (youtube.com)

Robert M. Brearley. “Homiletical Perspective on John 15:1-11” in Feasting on the Gospels, John, vol. 2 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press), 2015.

Luis Menendez-Antuña. “Exegetical Perspective on John 15:1-11” in Feasting on the Gospels, John, vol. 2 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press), 2015. Karoline Lewis. “Commentary on John 15:1-8” in Preaching This Week, April 28, 2024. Accessed online at Commentary on John 15:1-8 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

John 15:1-8

15”I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. 2He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

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Wholehearted Love

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Sabbath Day Thoughts — “Wholehearted Love” Mark 12:28-44

Progressive Insurance has been having some fun at the expense of young home owners. Have you seen the ads? Dr. Rick “coaches” young adults in letting go of the behaviors that are turning them into their parents. In one ad, he stands next to a dumpster with a young woman who introduces her peers to her tissue box covers. You know the kind made from plastic mesh that has been embroidered with yarn. Dr. Rick reminds her that tissues come in their own boxes, and the tissue box covers go into the dumpster.

Next up is a young man who has been holding onto odd pieces of wooden crown molding because you never know when you might need them.

“I do,” quips Dr. Rick, “Never.” Into the dumpster the crown molding goes.

Another man is next. He proudly displays the automobile floor mats that he has saved.

“Do you still own that car?” Dr. Rick asks. The answer is no and into the dumpster the floor mats go.

Finally, a woman bravely stands next to Dr. Rick. She is holding a large stack of plastic tubs, the kind that margarine comes in. She bravely says, “I know now that plastic is meant for recycling, not for saving my leftovers.”

“This is a big moment, people,” Dr. Rick celebrates.

The tag line on the ad is that Progressive can’t save us from becoming our parents, but they can save us a bundle on our home owner’s insurance. I can’t vouch for the truth of that claim—I’m not a Progressive customer. But I do know that I’ve laughed at the ad and its ability to call into question our assumptions and ways of doing things that may not be the best.

In our gospel reading this morning, Jesus calls into question the assumptions of his followers. It’s a lengthy teaching that begins as a scribe, impressed by Jesus’ teaching in the Temple courts, challenged the Lord to name which of the 613 laws of the Torah was the most important to observe. We all know Jesus’ answer by heart. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. As our gospel lesson continues, we are given a glimpse of life in the Temple during that Passover week. Some worshippers have gotten the imperative to love right. They embody that greatest commandment. While others have fallen short.

Jesus first considered the scribes. For first century Israel, they were models of faithfulness as experts in the Torah. As the scribes enter the courts of the Temple, wearing beautiful, flowing, fringed robes, a way cleared before them. In a sign of respect, other worshippers lowered their voices and bowed their heads. Every so often a scribe would pause in his self-importance to offer a perfunctory prayer. Flowery, empty phrases were heaped up, without heart or soul. The disciples, with their secret longing for greatness, would have been impressed by the scribes, but Jesus saw that they had gotten it all wrong. 

With their long years of study, the scribes knew what God required of them: wholehearted love for God and neighbor, especially their most vulnerable of neighbors, especially widows. Because they were unable to inherit, widows were dependent upon the guardianship of others. It was not uncommon for a first century husband to appoint in his will a Jewish legal expert—a scribe—to be the executor of his estate. This gave the executor authority to oversee the widow’s financial well-being. A corrupt scribe found legal ways to swindle a widow out of the provision that had been made for her. According to Jesus, the scribes were devouring for their own benefit the meager means left to the widow. At the heart of it, they loved neither God nor neighbor.

Jesus then wandered into the outer courts and took a seat opposite the treasury and watched the people. The Mishnah tells us that the treasury consisted of thirteen large metal boxes outside the Court of the Women. Those metal boxes had an unusual shape, broad at the bottom and very small at the top, so no one could reach a hand down in and take money out.  A large gift made a loud noise as it was dropped, coin by coin, into the funnel and clinked to the bottom.  A small gift to the treasury made very little noise.

Of all the gifts made, Jesus saw one as the most extraordinary, but his praise must have sounded ridiculous to the disciples. To begin with, the gift was made by a lowly and vulnerable widow, and the gift this widow made was very, very small.  She gave two lepton, two tiny copper coins. Added together, those coins were worth 1/64th of the daily wage for a laborer. In light of today’s minimum wage for New York state of $15 an hour. The woman’s gift would have been $1.88. In the grand scheme of Temple economics, the widow’s gift was practically worthless. 

Yet, as only Jesus could, he saw into the widow’s heart and realized that she had made an extraordinary gift—everything she had to live on.  The words Jesus used for her offering are holon ton bion autaes, it literally means that she gave, “her whole life.” She alone, of all the worshippers in the Temple, truly loved God with all her heart, soul, mind, and strength.

It isn’t a Progressive ad, but as example stories go, Jesus couldn’t be any clearer. Don’t be like the scribes, whose piety is a big show, whose care for the vulnerable is a sham. Be like the widow, who gives her all for God, even when she has so little. From our twenty-first century vantage point, it’s hard to imagine how counter-cultural—even offensive—this teaching would have been. Instead of patterning themselves after some of the most powerful and spiritually influential people in the nation, the disciples were to identify with someone who was marginal and lowly. This extended example story about the scribes and the widow would have felt like a slap in the face, designed to reorient the disciples to the way of God’s Kingdom.

For those who were poor and vulnerable, however, Jesus’ words would have felt like a treasured affirmation. God wants our whole selves. We can give that, even if we are little, at-risk, even worthless in the eyes of the world. It’s an invitation to live wholeheartedly for God, which according to Jesus also demands that we live wholeheartedly for others.

Rufus M. Jones, one of the most influential Quaker thinkers of the 20th century, taught that, “God’s life and our lives are bound together, as a vine with branches, as a body with members, so corporate are we that no one can give a cup of cold water to the least person in the world without giving it to God.” Our love and care for neighbors flows from our love for God. Indeed, love is the moral debt we owe to our neighbors, no matter how unworthy we may perceive them to be, because they bear the image of God—male and female, young and old, rich and poor, sinner and saint, widows or even young home owners who are becoming their parents. All are deserving of our love. All are an opportunity to put into action our love for God Almighty.

I imagine that as Jesus called his friends over with praise for the poor widow, he was thinking of another gift soon to be made. The widow’s gift anticipated the offering that the Jesus himself would make.  Within days, Jesus would be arrested, unjustly tried, tortured, and condemned to death.  Within days, Jesus would carry the cross through the streets of Jerusalem.  Within days, he would hang on the cross, flanked by criminals, jeered at by spectators.  Within days, Jesus would pour out his very life for the redemption of our world.  Jesus would give his whole life—holon ton bion autaes—for us.  It’s humbling and reorienting to realize that God has given it all for us.

Every Sunday—especially during the season of Lent when we reflect upon the cross—offers us the chance to be renewed in the way of love. We find the courage to make the counter-cultural choice for love when we begin to consider the enormity of God’s self-giving love for us, a love that was revealed in our Lord Jesus. We turn away from the ways that our piety has become like that of the scribes: showy, perfunctory, empty hearted, empty-headed, and empty handed. On our good days, we may even dare, like that poor widow to give our whole selves—holon ton bion autaes—in love for the Lord, who has given so much for us, who comes to us in the guise of our neighbors.

May we go forth to love wholeheartedly.

Resources:

N. Clayton Croy. “Commentary on Mark 12:28-44” in Preach This Week (Narrative Lectionary), March 6, 2016. Accessed online at Commentary on Mark 12:28-44 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

Ira Brent Driggers. “Commentary on Mark 12:28-44” in Preach This Week (Narrative Lectionary), March 10, 2024. Accessed online at Commentary on Mark 12:28-44 – Working Preacher from Luther Seminary

Ashley Fetters Maloy. “Afraid of becoming your parents? Dr. Rick comes to the rescue, smartly satirizing a generational divide” in The Washington Post, March 16, 2021. Accessed online at The story behind Dr. Rick of the Progressive insurance ads – The Washington Post

Victor McCracken. “Theological Perspective on Mark 12:28-34” in Feasting on the Word: Year B, Vol. 4. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009.

Progressive Insurance ad Bing Videos

Mark 12:28-44

28One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” 29Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; 33and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’ —this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.

35While Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Messiah is the son of David? 36David himself, by the Holy Spirit, declared,

‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,until I put your enemies under your feet.”’

37David himself calls him Lord; so how can he be his son?” And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.

38As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! 40They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

41He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”