Sermon Notes for February 25, 2007
February 25, 2007
“The True Vine”
John 15:1-5
FIRST READ THE PARABLE OF THE UNCLEAN SPIRIT.
1. To begin with, since we are doing the parables for Lent and not all of you were here on Ash Wednesday, I want to say a few more words about the parable of the “Return of the Unclean Spirit” which I found to be quite enlightening. In fact, I am actually finding this whole process a lot more interesting than I expected. I guess, like many of you, when it came to the parables I either didn’t get it … or I had heard them before and wasn’t interested.
But, perhaps, as we get older, we find new insights and things that previously didn’t make sense – suddenly take on new meaning. Isn’t that the way it goes sometimes?
Or, perhaps since I have been taking time off to be involved in prayer and meditation … at least twice a year … I find myself coming at things in a new way. And I hope that this can somehow be conveyed to you as well. And I am hopeful that some or all of you will take time to be involved as we go along.
2. Now, as I have been saying, as we know, the whole emphasis on Lent has traditionally been on self-denial, penitence, and confession of sins. And while this is not a bad idea and while we should always be always reminded of the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice at Easter…it gets old at times.
And so, people’s enthusiasm for repeating the same old phrases loses some of its impact. As a result, I think that what is needed is some fresh look at things from time to time.
Which is what we are trying to do during Lent: namely get involved in understanding Jesus parables as a way of deepening our understanding of God’s Kingdom, our place in it, and what God’s purpose is for our lives.
3. In this light, the parable of the “Unclean Spirit” is not difficult to understand if we take a good look at it.
The direct meaning of the parable is that a man who is struggling with some demon or difficulty in life … and finally it leaves him. Feeling that he has rid himself of this problem the man does nothing. His house is in perfect order, clean as a whistle. However, there is only one problem – the house is empty. In short, having gotten rid of the problem – the man is content to do nothing.
Ever have that happen to you? You know, you are struggling with some problem, some worry, some anxiety in your life and finally, finally, it gets solved and you say, “Great, now I am just going to sit back and relax.” And, boom! What happens? A new set of problems show up and you are back in the soup again.
In a way, it is kind of like retirement. People think after working all their lives that retirement will just be a piece of cake. Don’t have to get up in the morning until you feel like it, no particular place to go, nothing to worry about … and what happens? Life can suddenly become so boring you can’t stand it. Right?
4. No unfortunately, life is not just about doing nothing; it has to have a purpose. And the purpose cannot be just about satisfying our own desires. Life is not about doing nothing…it is about doing SOMETHING.
And, SO, in our religious life, being a good person or a good Christian is not just about doing nothing BAD. It’s about doing SOMETHING GOOD.
And, yet, this is just what many people are led to think. You know, simply to be a good religious person all you have to do is “be good.” Meaning: don’t do anything bad. Don’t break the law, don’t smoke or drink, don’t swear, don’t tell lies, and so on…
These are, of course, the don’ts of religion. Don’t do this, don’t do that etc. Kind of like the Ten Commandments as in “Thou Shalt not … etc.
5. But Jesus parable raises an important question … which is that just avoiding doing anything bad … and trying to rid ourselves of evil spirits (while good in itself) is not enough. Because, if we don’t go on to do “good things” our house simply remains empty and sooner or later … the bad things return, and sometimes in greater number.
In other words, Jesus view of human nature is that we live in a spiritual world … of good and evil forces … sometimes powerful forces … and being complacent about evil things is to be naïve.
No, instead we must always be on guard. We must not just be on the defensive … we must go on the offense. We must not give bad things a chance to catch us off guard, so to speak.
6. So, this is one of the reasons for studying the parables … to develop or improve on our spiritual practice of prayer and meditation … to seek to grow in understanding of God’s Kingdom … and to gain insight into how God can lead us to becoming stronger more compassionate people …
And another part of living a spiritual life is to understand where the source of our life comes from. This is the meaning of the second parable for today: The True Vine in John 15:1-5.
Grape growing was common in the Mediterranean – and Jesus understood that people were very familiar with this subject. Hence, the grape vine becomes an important metaphor for something else” namely our spiritual life in relation to Jesus Christ – God’s revelation of Himself.
7. In the Old Testament the nation of Israel is likened to a vineyard which God has planted. But, in Jeremiah (Chapter Two) something bad has happened. The grapevine has turned away from God and now produces bitter fruit. The same message appears in Isaiah (Chapter Five) where the grapes become wild grapes of inferior quality. In these prophecies it is revealed that God (who is the Gardner) will no longer protect them (which is what a good Gardner does) but will leave them unpruned and overgrown by brambles.
But, in Jesus parable, God is no longer just the Gardner. God is now also the Vine itself.
The new meaning of Jesus’ parable is now that we are the branches (which are to bear fruit). So, in order to bear fruit we must be connected to the vine otherwise we will wither and die and be pruned to make room for new branches so the plant will continue to grow.
8. In other words, our task as spiritual people is to stay connected to the vine which is our true life. And this is the task of the church -- to help us stay connected and to grow in our ability to bear fruit. And, as a church, we are to help each other to grow, as well.
But, the ultimate responsibility is ours to bear. We cannot borrow someone else’s spiritual life!
Now there is a warning in this parable – and that is this: if we do not take care of our spiritual life we will lose our connection to the vine – to God. If this happens, we will wither away -- for God will prune away the unproductive branches. In fact, we might say that, at times, God even prunes away the unproductive side to our nature in order to protect us and to help us to grow.
Now, in the short run, this can be painful, can it not? And yet, stop and think for a moment, how something or some event in your life … painful though it was … actually helped you (in the long run) to be a stronger more productive person. Does this make sense? Does it make sense that God can use our misfortune or even our mistakes to make us stronger? This is because, to follow the metaphor, God is a good and caring Gardner.
9. What this means is that we live in a dynamic and often conflicted world. And just as the parable of the unclean spirit and the empty house reminds us that being good is not just about NOT BEING BAD – we cannot be led to believe that when we fail to stay connected to the Vine … and do not live up to the purposes that God wants us to fulfill … God will be some kind of overly tolerant parent who puts up with all kind of childishness on our part. No more so, we can say, than a good parent tries to raise a child to bear fruit and not merely run wild. Do you see the connection? The good parent disciplines the child out of love like the gardner weeds the garden. On the other hand, the bad parent either abuses the plants or neglects them because he really doesn’t care what happens.
If God “seems” to be harsh it is because God seeks to combat that which is evil and unsound and unwholesome. This is the power of goodness which is God. And we are to respect God for His love and goodness and not to see God as angry and revengeful and punishing. For, if you think about it, the person who truly fears God is the one who seeks to do wrong, who is self centered, and lives only for himself. On the other hand, it is really the power of evil which is out to destroy that which is good. God, therefore, we must understand, is on the side of good.
10. Now, we often like to consider ourselves more learned, more advanced as people than in previous generations. But listen to these words from one of the Church Fathers – Clement of Alexandria:
Some, who think themselves naturally gifted, do not wish to touch either philosophy or logic; nay more, they do not wish to learn natural science. They demand bare faith alone, as if they wished, without bestowing any care on the vine, straightway to gather clusters from the first. Now the Lord is figuratively described as the vine, from which, with pains and the art of husbandry, according to the word, the fruit is to be gathered.
No, Clements writes that …
We must lop, dig, bind, and perform the other operations. The pruning-knife, I should think, and the pick-axe, and the other agricultural implements, are necessary for the culture of the vine, so that it may produce eatable fruit. And as in husbandry, so also in medicine: he has learned to purpose, who has practised the various lessons, so as to be able to cultivate and to heal. So also here, I call him truly learned who brings everything to bear on the truth; so that, from geometry, and music, and grammar, and philosophy itself, culling what is useful, he guards the faith against assault.
Who was Clement of Alexandria (a.ka. - Titus Flavius Clemens)? We only know that he was the first member of the Church of Alexandria to be more than a name, and he was one of its most distinguished teachers and writers. He was born about the middle of the 2nd century, and died between 211 and 216.
11. What we do know is that in his interpretation, blind faith is not enough, as some people think. For how can we be skillful or productive in any aspect of our life … without practice and guidance… correct? Who among us here has not achieved some level of ability in some aspect of life which came from training, discipline, practice, patience, trial and error, and hard work?
And yet some people think that in matters of religion we can just “have faith” and – wa-laah! – instant results.
Or, to use example of John Wesley about the porch, the door, and house … we get to the doorway and think … "hey, this is it? This is all there is..."
And, as I have been saying … that is kind of what we were all taught, wasn’t it? “Just have faith and you will be all right.”
And then there are those who are still out on the porch … getting saved again and again … when God calls us to go on into the house – and live out their faith.
12. Well, enough for today … We will continue next Sunday by discussing the first two parables in your Lenten Bible Study … the parable of the mustard seed … and the parable of the hidden treasure. My suggestion is that you follow the directions on page two and three. Choose one of them to mediate about. Then spend a little quiet time in contemplation (at least five minutes). Then ask “What does this parable have to do with me in my life today?”
Now maybe nothing will come to you. Or, maybe nothing will happen right away. But, you just might be surprised. For, God is much closer to each of us than we have any idea. But, first we have to be quiet and listen. And this is just one way of staying connected. And if we stay connected … we WILL BEAR FRUIT.
“The True Vine”
John 15:1-5
FIRST READ THE PARABLE OF THE UNCLEAN SPIRIT.
1. To begin with, since we are doing the parables for Lent and not all of you were here on Ash Wednesday, I want to say a few more words about the parable of the “Return of the Unclean Spirit” which I found to be quite enlightening. In fact, I am actually finding this whole process a lot more interesting than I expected. I guess, like many of you, when it came to the parables I either didn’t get it … or I had heard them before and wasn’t interested.
But, perhaps, as we get older, we find new insights and things that previously didn’t make sense – suddenly take on new meaning. Isn’t that the way it goes sometimes?
Or, perhaps since I have been taking time off to be involved in prayer and meditation … at least twice a year … I find myself coming at things in a new way. And I hope that this can somehow be conveyed to you as well. And I am hopeful that some or all of you will take time to be involved as we go along.
2. Now, as I have been saying, as we know, the whole emphasis on Lent has traditionally been on self-denial, penitence, and confession of sins. And while this is not a bad idea and while we should always be always reminded of the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice at Easter…it gets old at times.
And so, people’s enthusiasm for repeating the same old phrases loses some of its impact. As a result, I think that what is needed is some fresh look at things from time to time.
Which is what we are trying to do during Lent: namely get involved in understanding Jesus parables as a way of deepening our understanding of God’s Kingdom, our place in it, and what God’s purpose is for our lives.
3. In this light, the parable of the “Unclean Spirit” is not difficult to understand if we take a good look at it.
The direct meaning of the parable is that a man who is struggling with some demon or difficulty in life … and finally it leaves him. Feeling that he has rid himself of this problem the man does nothing. His house is in perfect order, clean as a whistle. However, there is only one problem – the house is empty. In short, having gotten rid of the problem – the man is content to do nothing.
Ever have that happen to you? You know, you are struggling with some problem, some worry, some anxiety in your life and finally, finally, it gets solved and you say, “Great, now I am just going to sit back and relax.” And, boom! What happens? A new set of problems show up and you are back in the soup again.
In a way, it is kind of like retirement. People think after working all their lives that retirement will just be a piece of cake. Don’t have to get up in the morning until you feel like it, no particular place to go, nothing to worry about … and what happens? Life can suddenly become so boring you can’t stand it. Right?
4. No unfortunately, life is not just about doing nothing; it has to have a purpose. And the purpose cannot be just about satisfying our own desires. Life is not about doing nothing…it is about doing SOMETHING.
And, SO, in our religious life, being a good person or a good Christian is not just about doing nothing BAD. It’s about doing SOMETHING GOOD.
And, yet, this is just what many people are led to think. You know, simply to be a good religious person all you have to do is “be good.” Meaning: don’t do anything bad. Don’t break the law, don’t smoke or drink, don’t swear, don’t tell lies, and so on…
These are, of course, the don’ts of religion. Don’t do this, don’t do that etc. Kind of like the Ten Commandments as in “Thou Shalt not … etc.
5. But Jesus parable raises an important question … which is that just avoiding doing anything bad … and trying to rid ourselves of evil spirits (while good in itself) is not enough. Because, if we don’t go on to do “good things” our house simply remains empty and sooner or later … the bad things return, and sometimes in greater number.
In other words, Jesus view of human nature is that we live in a spiritual world … of good and evil forces … sometimes powerful forces … and being complacent about evil things is to be naïve.
No, instead we must always be on guard. We must not just be on the defensive … we must go on the offense. We must not give bad things a chance to catch us off guard, so to speak.
6. So, this is one of the reasons for studying the parables … to develop or improve on our spiritual practice of prayer and meditation … to seek to grow in understanding of God’s Kingdom … and to gain insight into how God can lead us to becoming stronger more compassionate people …
And another part of living a spiritual life is to understand where the source of our life comes from. This is the meaning of the second parable for today: The True Vine in John 15:1-5.
Grape growing was common in the Mediterranean – and Jesus understood that people were very familiar with this subject. Hence, the grape vine becomes an important metaphor for something else” namely our spiritual life in relation to Jesus Christ – God’s revelation of Himself.
7. In the Old Testament the nation of Israel is likened to a vineyard which God has planted. But, in Jeremiah (Chapter Two) something bad has happened. The grapevine has turned away from God and now produces bitter fruit. The same message appears in Isaiah (Chapter Five) where the grapes become wild grapes of inferior quality. In these prophecies it is revealed that God (who is the Gardner) will no longer protect them (which is what a good Gardner does) but will leave them unpruned and overgrown by brambles.
But, in Jesus parable, God is no longer just the Gardner. God is now also the Vine itself.
The new meaning of Jesus’ parable is now that we are the branches (which are to bear fruit). So, in order to bear fruit we must be connected to the vine otherwise we will wither and die and be pruned to make room for new branches so the plant will continue to grow.
8. In other words, our task as spiritual people is to stay connected to the vine which is our true life. And this is the task of the church -- to help us stay connected and to grow in our ability to bear fruit. And, as a church, we are to help each other to grow, as well.
But, the ultimate responsibility is ours to bear. We cannot borrow someone else’s spiritual life!
Now there is a warning in this parable – and that is this: if we do not take care of our spiritual life we will lose our connection to the vine – to God. If this happens, we will wither away -- for God will prune away the unproductive branches. In fact, we might say that, at times, God even prunes away the unproductive side to our nature in order to protect us and to help us to grow.
Now, in the short run, this can be painful, can it not? And yet, stop and think for a moment, how something or some event in your life … painful though it was … actually helped you (in the long run) to be a stronger more productive person. Does this make sense? Does it make sense that God can use our misfortune or even our mistakes to make us stronger? This is because, to follow the metaphor, God is a good and caring Gardner.
9. What this means is that we live in a dynamic and often conflicted world. And just as the parable of the unclean spirit and the empty house reminds us that being good is not just about NOT BEING BAD – we cannot be led to believe that when we fail to stay connected to the Vine … and do not live up to the purposes that God wants us to fulfill … God will be some kind of overly tolerant parent who puts up with all kind of childishness on our part. No more so, we can say, than a good parent tries to raise a child to bear fruit and not merely run wild. Do you see the connection? The good parent disciplines the child out of love like the gardner weeds the garden. On the other hand, the bad parent either abuses the plants or neglects them because he really doesn’t care what happens.
If God “seems” to be harsh it is because God seeks to combat that which is evil and unsound and unwholesome. This is the power of goodness which is God. And we are to respect God for His love and goodness and not to see God as angry and revengeful and punishing. For, if you think about it, the person who truly fears God is the one who seeks to do wrong, who is self centered, and lives only for himself. On the other hand, it is really the power of evil which is out to destroy that which is good. God, therefore, we must understand, is on the side of good.
10. Now, we often like to consider ourselves more learned, more advanced as people than in previous generations. But listen to these words from one of the Church Fathers – Clement of Alexandria:
Some, who think themselves naturally gifted, do not wish to touch either philosophy or logic; nay more, they do not wish to learn natural science. They demand bare faith alone, as if they wished, without bestowing any care on the vine, straightway to gather clusters from the first. Now the Lord is figuratively described as the vine, from which, with pains and the art of husbandry, according to the word, the fruit is to be gathered.
No, Clements writes that …
We must lop, dig, bind, and perform the other operations. The pruning-knife, I should think, and the pick-axe, and the other agricultural implements, are necessary for the culture of the vine, so that it may produce eatable fruit. And as in husbandry, so also in medicine: he has learned to purpose, who has practised the various lessons, so as to be able to cultivate and to heal. So also here, I call him truly learned who brings everything to bear on the truth; so that, from geometry, and music, and grammar, and philosophy itself, culling what is useful, he guards the faith against assault.
Who was Clement of Alexandria (a.ka. - Titus Flavius Clemens)? We only know that he was the first member of the Church of Alexandria to be more than a name, and he was one of its most distinguished teachers and writers. He was born about the middle of the 2nd century, and died between 211 and 216.
11. What we do know is that in his interpretation, blind faith is not enough, as some people think. For how can we be skillful or productive in any aspect of our life … without practice and guidance… correct? Who among us here has not achieved some level of ability in some aspect of life which came from training, discipline, practice, patience, trial and error, and hard work?
And yet some people think that in matters of religion we can just “have faith” and – wa-laah! – instant results.
Or, to use example of John Wesley about the porch, the door, and house … we get to the doorway and think … "hey, this is it? This is all there is..."
And, as I have been saying … that is kind of what we were all taught, wasn’t it? “Just have faith and you will be all right.”
And then there are those who are still out on the porch … getting saved again and again … when God calls us to go on into the house – and live out their faith.
12. Well, enough for today … We will continue next Sunday by discussing the first two parables in your Lenten Bible Study … the parable of the mustard seed … and the parable of the hidden treasure. My suggestion is that you follow the directions on page two and three. Choose one of them to mediate about. Then spend a little quiet time in contemplation (at least five minutes). Then ask “What does this parable have to do with me in my life today?”
Now maybe nothing will come to you. Or, maybe nothing will happen right away. But, you just might be surprised. For, God is much closer to each of us than we have any idea. But, first we have to be quiet and listen. And this is just one way of staying connected. And if we stay connected … we WILL BEAR FRUIT.
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